Omnigraffle 5 Professional

by Omni Group

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B001DSGXH2
• Item model number: 14
• Date first available at Amazon.com: August 4, 2008
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,352 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)
  • #20 in Software > Business & Office > Project Management

Product Description

Need a diagram? Process chart? A quick page-layout, website mockup or graphic design? OmniGraffle 5 Professional handles it all in one amazing application!

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly effective and versatile diagramming solution for the Mac March 28, 2009

By Jeff Chapman

I've been a Microsoft Visio user for years on the Windows platform. When I switched to using the Mac as my primary platform at home, I wanted some kind of solution for creating diagrams such as web site maps, system development flowcharts and so on.

My first solution was to run Visio for Windows under Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac. However, the performance running in a virtual environment never really impressed me. I've got a Mac mini with a 2Ghz Intel Core Duo processor and 2 GB of RAM, but even that wasn't enough to provide a satisfying experience under Parallels.

My next stop was Crossover for Mac, which allowed me to run Visio 2003 on the Mac and associate Visio files to run Visio in a Windows-like setting. This has been an acceptable solution performance-wise; but when it comes to editing files and integrating well with my external hard drives attached to the Mac mini, I really didn't feel it was a seamless experience.

After searching, I gave OmniGraffle 5 Pro a whirl. I've just completed a few site map design projects using OmniGraffle. On the second project, I had to exchange data with Visio, as OmniGraffle is not available for Windows and my Windows-installed laptop left me only the option of using Visio. The VDX (Visio XML Drawing) format allowed me to exchange data between OmniGraffle and Visio without too many glaring issues. There were some formatting problems when I read the VDX file exported from OmniGraffle into Visio (carriage returns and tabs ended up as garbage characters, and a few text boxes were out of place), but I was pleasantly surprised that the export process to VDX from OmniGraffle and then back into OmniGraffle when I came home went as smoothly as it did.

There are a few other thing that Visio users will need to remember when switching to OmniGraffle, such as the need to hit ENTER when adding text to a shape rather than just selecting and typing it as Visio allows, or the different keyboard shortcuts available in OmniGraffle, such as Z for zoom, 1 to switch to the selection cursor and so on. However, I found that after a brief period of adjustment, I was more productive in OmniGraffle.

Also, I found that the buttons and options are there where you expect and need them, and the overall feel of the application is very ergonomic and well-thought-out. (The text options in particular throw you for a loop first - clicking the text icon on the text style palette opens up the fonts palette, which provides more options... this could be consolidated a lot better!)

Although I'm not a big fan of all the floating palettes (which tend to clutter the screen and obscure the document you're working on, if you don't periodically minimize or close the ones you don't need), the combination of Illustrator-like keyboard shortcut options and the easy text input feature for shapes makes OmniGraffle a winner for any flowcharting, mind-mapping or general diagramming option.

Overall, I feel that although I have yet to really explore the options available in OmniGraffle, it has served my needs very well so far. With a little more attention to the usability of the floating palettes, and a bit more detail in the help screens, the application could be improved... but my feeling so far is that OmniGraffle is a very user-friendly, extremely versatile application that will provide a very satisfying experience that beats Illustrator hands-down for people who need to create diagrams and charts of all types on the Mac... and even for those who need a high degree of compatibility with Visio for Windows. I'm sticking with OmniGraffle. And if I had to make a choice between OmniGraffle and Visio, at this point I'd certainly choose OmniGraffle.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Visio substitute January 1, 2009

By claimabstract

I am a patent agent and prepare my own figures for patent applications. I draw network diagrams, flow charts, GUIs, circuitry, and random computer parts. I recently made the switch to Mac. I tried running Visio through Parallels, but got tired of waiting for Parallels to boot up before I could edit or view a drawing. I decided I'd try to find a Mac-native application for drawings. When I did a search for Visio for Mac, I found out that it's not available, but that there's a product called ConceptDraw that sells a replacement package for $200. I found them when I Googled "Visio Mac" and was directed to visioformac.com. I guess I was somewhat displeased with a company trying to give me the impression that they are the official replacement for Visio in the Mac environment. With all fairness to ConceptDraw, I did not try their product out as a result, so I cannot provide any commentary on the quality of that product. I went to see what else was around. After hunting around, I found NeoOffice. While it's somewhat feature-rich, it had a lag issue, I assume because it's Java-based. My attention then was directed to OmniGraffle, which appeared to be ConceptDraw's only other strong commercial competitor. Omnigraffle was appealing because they had a regular version that cost $100. Then, I watched Omnigraffle's intro videos. They showed off Omnigraffle's great, clean UI and how easy it would be for me to do what I had been doing in Visio. Those videos pretty much sold me. When I looked at the webpage that provided a feature comparison between the regular and pro version of Omnigraffle, I discovered that I could import all my previous work from Visio. That alone saved me a ton of time. I purchased the Omnigraffle Professional 5 and have not regretted it for a second. The selection of stencils on graffletopia.com made getting started a breeze. I quickly imported my Visio stencils without issue and imported various drawings I had prepared in Visio with no hiccups. My only gripe is that I wish that Omnigraffle had a PC version that I could tell Windows users to use because, in my opinion, this software is better than Visio for my purpose.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Visio for the Mac? November 28, 2010

By iMe

One of the worst things Microsoft has done against the Mac community is having taken over the company that made Visio back in 2000. Visio not only sets the benchmark for diagraming programs, but those not running Windows and in need of such software, have always sought after a Visio alternative. There are very few Mac alternatives out there, such as ConceptDraw Pro and gliffy. ConceptDraw Pro does cost more than Omnigraffle, and in reality does not do much more. Gliffy is on the other end of the cost spectrum, it's either free, or you can settle for the $5 a month subscription - it works really well; however, it is an online only solution. There's also Mindjet's Mindmanager, but it's more for brain mapping.

I have chosen Omnigraffle, because it is pretty affordable, and is capable of doing a lot of what Visio can do. It's great for software related diagrams, such as Entity Relationships, Flow Charts and UML Diagrams, for the Scientist it comes loaded with Boolean Gates, Circuit Engineering, and Periodic Table stencils. It also comes loaded with a few Org Chart stencils for the corporate professional, maps for the geography expert, and many Space Planning stencils for the interior designer. I mainly take advantage of the Software and Organization Chart stencils; however, just like Visio, it is possible to mix and match. Omnigraffle Pro is also able to open Visio diagrams without much of a challenge; however, it can sometimes take the perfect Visio diagram at times, and change it during the conversion - most of the time the diagrams can be fixed with ease. The conversion of Visio into Omnigraffle is a great way of moving Visio only stencils into Omnigraffle; I have at times only copied all the Visio shapes I need into a .vsd file, and than convert it into Omnigraffle, and create my actual diagram on the Mac with all the shapes I moved over - just an idea.

The other thing i love about Omnigraffle over the other options, and even over Visio, is that there is an iPad app available, which means I can work on diagrams on the go, and even put a diagram together during a meeting while others are sketching it with pen and paper and hoping the meeting ends soon so they can rush to their computers before they forget anything. The app is pricey in my opinion, and there's no discount I'm aware of for existing Omnigraffle users. The app and the Mac software do work really well together.

There is also a large Omnigraffle community out there, and it is easy to find help. If you can not find the right stencil to use for your needs, it might help to take a look at Graffletopia.com; which offers many useful and free stencils.

The Omni team seems to have put much effort into creating Omnigraffle; however, those that have used Visio may already know there is nothing else like it, and using Omnigraffle or any of the other alternatives does take some getting used to. I would highly recommend you try out the different trials, and base your final decision on that, but overall I am happy with Omnigraffle. Good luck and have fun!! Having fun and reaching new creativity boundaries are all part of why we run Mac's, and all Mac software "alternatives" seem to allow for that; giving us an edge over our PC friends.