Whiteboards

Free-form boards for brainstorming, concept sketches, OV-1 graphics and flowcharts, linked to the model. A whiteboard is an Artifact labeled Whiteboard with one or more boards, each an unbounded canvas.

Where to find it

• In the navigation rail: Whiteboards → Whiteboards.
• ⌘K → New Whiteboard. Whiteboards also appear on the Diagrams page.

Main actions

• List: search, New from Template… and + New Whiteboard. Tile ⋯: Open, Rename…, Duplicate, Open Entity View, Delete….
• Toolbar: Mode (Select V, Hand H) · Insert (Text T, Sticky note S, Rectangle R, Ellipse O, Line L, Arrow A, Draw D, Eraser E, Frame F, Table, Insert image) · Edit (Undo, Redo, Delete) · View (zoom field and presets, Fit) · Output (Export…, Copy Image) · ⚙ (No Grid, Dot Grid, Line Grid, Snap to Grid, Keyboard Shortcuts) · ⋯ (Rename…, Open Entity View, All Whiteboards, Help, Delete Whiteboard…).
• Left strip: toggles for the panels Shapes (basic, flowchart, arrows, callouts, brackets, systems thinking; type to search), Clipart, Frames, Tables and Charts, and Layers (order, hide, lock, rename).
• Inspector: the properties of the selection (sections Text, Fill, Line, Model, Drawing, Frame, Table, Chart); with nothing selected, the board's own settings.
• Boards strip under the canvas: switch boards, + adds one (⌘↩), ⋯ renames, duplicates, moves or deletes; drag tabs to reorder.
• / opens a palette of shapes, tools and commands; the same commands are in ⌘K while a board is open.
• ✦ AI ▾ → Harvest Requirements… drafts one requirement per sticky note.

Draw and edit

• Drag with a tool to set the size, or click for the default size. ⇧ keeps a square or circle; ⌥ draws from the center.
• Select by click, Shift+click or a box (⌥ selects anything the box touches). Drag handles to resize, the round handle to rotate (Shift snaps to 15°). Smart guides snap to edges, centers and equal gaps; hold ⌘ to suspend snapping.
• Double-click a shape or sticky note (or start typing) to edit its text; select some characters first to style only them.
• Sticky notes: S at the pointer; text shrinks to fit. Tab adds the next note to the right, ⇧↩ one below. The + handles on a selected shape add a connected copy.
• Colors: every color button opens the same panel with document colors (Replace… changes one everywhere), recent colors, a picker with hex/RGB/HSL and alpha, and an eyedropper.
• Draw (D): Pen, Marker, Highlighter, Lasso select and Eraser in the bar over the canvas, with color, weight, opacity and smoothing. Hold still before lifting, or turn on Shape assist, to turn a rough stroke into a clean shape.
• Images: drop or paste files; double-click to crop (Reset Crop restores); Flip ↔ / ↕.

Lines and connectors

• L (line) or A (arrow), then drag. Start or end on an element to connect: drop on a connection point, near the outline, or on the body to let the end follow the nearest side.
• Types: Straight, Elbow (routed around both elements) and Curved. Drag a + handle to add a bend, a segment handle to move an elbow segment, the yellow handle to change a curve; Reset Route removes manual changes.
• The Line section of the inspector sets color, weight, dash, caps, start and end arrowheads (including crow's-foot ends), jumps (Arc or Gap) and labels. Swap Ends reverses the direction; Set as Default makes the style the default for new lines.
• Double-click a line or use + Label to add a label; drag a label along the line.

Model links

• Link: select an element and choose Model → Link to… in the inspector (or right-click → Link to Model Entity…). A round badge shows the class; click it to open the entity. An element can link to several entities (Add Link…).
• Broken links: when a linked entity is deleted, its badge turns red with “!”; Relink… or × fixes it.
• Convert to Model… (right-click: Convert to Model Element…) turns selected shapes, notes, text or pictures into new entities of one class; lines between them can become relationships. Converted elements keep their label in step with the entity name.
• Generate Diagram… opens linked Actions as an Action Diagram or FFBD, or linked Assets as an Asset Diagram laid out as on the board.
• Harvest Requirements… drafts one requirement per sticky note in a document you choose. With AI set up, Draft Statements asks the active AI model for “shall” statements. Nothing is created until Create Requirements; one undo removes them.
• Documents (+ Add → Diagram… → a whiteboard) and presentations (Images ▾ → Whiteboard or Frame (Live)…) insert a board or frame as a live picture or a snapshot.

Frames, tables and charts

• Frames (F or a size in the Frames panel: 16:9, 4:3, A4, Letter, Square) group the elements whose center lies inside them. ▶ Present in the Frames panel shows the frames full screen in panel order.
• Tables: insert from Tables and Charts, the Table tool or the / palette. Double-click a cell to type; Tab moves to the next cell and adds a row at the end. The Table section merges cells, sizes rows and columns and sets borders.
• Charts: column, bar, line, pie, donut or scatter, or select a table and choose Make Chart. Double-click a chart to edit its data.
• Links: select text while typing and press ⌘K to link it to a web address, a board, a frame or a model element; ⌘-click follows a link. ▣ Map at the lower right shows the whole board.

Export

Export… saves PNG (0.5×–4×, optional transparent background), JPG, SVG or PDF (96 or 300 dpi) of the board, the selection, the current view, all boards or the frames (one file or PDF page per frame). Copy Image puts a PNG on the clipboard.

Templates

New from Template… starts from a layout: OV-1 operational concept, CV-1 vision, context diagram, FFBD sketch, mission timeline, causal loop diagram, brainstorm, retrospective, SWOT and N² sketch. In a board, / → Insert Template… places one at the center of the view.

Systems thinking shapes

The Systems Thinking group in the Shapes panel (search “causal loop”, “stock” or “flow”) is for drawing, not simulation: Variable, Causal link (polarity +, −, S or O and a delay mark, set in the Line section of the inspector), Loop marker (R reinforcing or B balancing), Stock, Flow (a pipe with a valve), Source / sink cloud, Auxiliary and Information link. Drag a link's end onto a shape to attach it.

Keyboard shortcuts

Press ? in a whiteboard for this list. Letter keys pick tools only when you are not typing.

Tips

• Every change is one undo step.

Related

Whiteboard Clipart · Make an OV-1 for DoDAF