Arranging and automatic layout

The Arrange menu (mirrored in the ribbon’s Arrange tab) turns a rough sketch into a tidy diagram. Everything here is one undoable step.

Stacking order

Command	Shortcut
Bring to Front	⇧⌘F
Bring Forward	⌥⌘F
Send Backward	⌥⌘B
Send to Back	⇧⌘B

For finer control over what sits above what, use layers.

Grouping

• Arrange ▸ Group (⌥⌘G): needs two or more objects. The group then moves, styles and arranges as one.
• Arrange ▸ Ungroup (⇧⌥⌘G): dissolves the group, leaving its members selected.

Groups can nest, and you can step into one to edit its contents without dissolving it. For what a selected group looks like, nesting, entering and leaving, and how groups differ from containers, see Grouping objects.

Align and distribute

Align needs two or more selected shapes and snaps them to a shared edge or centre line: Left Edges, Horizontal Centers, Right Edges, Top Edges, Vertical Centers, Bottom Edges.

Distribute needs three or more and spreads them evenly, horizontally or vertically, keeping the outermost two where they are.

Both are also on the ribbon’s Arrange tab and in the canvas right-click menu, where they appear only when the selection makes them meaningful.

Automatic layout

Arrange ▸ Auto Arrange (⇧⌘L) applies the layout that best suits the diagram’s shape. To choose deliberately, use Arrange ▸ Layout:

Layout	Best for
Hierarchical	Flowcharts, org charts, dependency trees: anything with a clear direction of flow.
Organic	Networks and relationship maps with no natural hierarchy; a force-directed spread.
Radial	One central node with everything else arranged in rings around it.
Circular	Ring topologies and cycles; every node on one circle.
Grid	Catalogues and inventories where position carries no meaning.

Orientation

Arrange ▸ Layout ▸ Orientation re-runs the hierarchical layout in a given direction: Top to Bottom, Bottom to Top, Left to Right or Right to Left.

Layout options

Arrange ▸ Layout ▸ Layout Options… opens a sheet for the spacing the layouts use: the gaps between nodes and between ranks. Adjust these when a diagram comes out too cramped or too sparse, then re-run the layout.

Connector routing

Arrange ▸ Smart Route Connectors recomputes every connector path orthogonally, routing around shapes rather than through them. Run it after a layout or after moving shapes by hand.

Combining shapes

Arrange ▸ Combine performs boolean geometry on two or more selected shapes, producing a single new shape:

Operation	Result
Unite	The union of all selected shapes.
Intersect	Only the area every shape has in common.
Subtract	The frontmost shape removed from the one behind it.
Difference	The area covered by exactly one shape: the overlap is cut out.

Fitting containers

With a single container selected, Arrange ▸ Fit Container to Children shrinks or grows it to hug its contents. See Containers, swimlanes and tables.