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Shape widget

Put one shape on a desk, from a rectangle or star to a line or arrow, with its own fill, outline and label. It stretches as you resize it.

All plansUpdated

The Shape widget is a single shape on your desk: a rectangle, rounded rectangle, ellipse, diamond, triangle, hexagon, star, line or arrow. You choose its fill colour, its outline colour and thickness, and you can put a short label in the middle. The shape always fills the widget, so resizing the widget resizes the shape.

Use shapes to mark up a desk: a coloured block behind a group of widgets, an arrow pointing at the thing that matters, a diamond for a decision, or a few labelled boxes that sketch out a simple process.

Before you start

  • The Shape widget is on every plan.
  • You need a desk open.

Add a shape

  1. Open the desk you want it on.
  2. Click Add widget in the middle of the header bar.
  3. Click Shape.

In the Add widget menu, Shape is in the Draw & diagram column. You can also type shape in Search widgets… and press Enter to add it.

A new shape is a light indigo rectangle with a darker outline.

Other ways to add one:

  • Press G. Click an empty part of the desk so no widget is active, then press G. You can change this key. See Add widgets with a single key.
  • The command palette. Press ⌘ K on a Mac or Ctrl K on Windows, type add shape and press Enter.
  • Right-click the desk. Right-click an empty part of the desk and choose Add object > Advanced > Shape. The shape appears where you clicked.

Change the shape and its colours

The shape's own toolbar appears at the top of the widget while the pointer is over it.

  1. Move the pointer over the shape. A small toolbar appears at the top of it.
  2. Choose a shape from the Shape list.
  3. Click the Fill box to pick the inside colour.
  4. Click the Stroke box, the one with a ring in it, to pick the outline colour.
  5. Drag the Stroke width slider to set the outline thickness, from 0 (no outline) to 8.

Your changes are saved as you make them.

Shape What it looks like
Rectangle A box with square corners.
Rounded A box with rounded corners.
Ellipse An oval, or a circle when the shape is as wide as it is tall.
Diamond A diamond, handy for a decision point.
Triangle A triangle pointing up.
Hexagon A six-sided shape.
Star A five-pointed star.
Line A straight line across the middle of the widget.
Arrow A line across the middle with an arrowhead at the right.

Line and Arrow have no inside, so the Fill box is not shown for them. Their colour is the Stroke colour, and they always stay at least a little thick so they remain visible.

Add a label

  1. Move the pointer over the shape. + label appears in the middle.
  2. Click + label and type.
  3. Press Enter or Esc, or click somewhere else, to finish.

The label sits in the centre of the shape. To change it, click the shape and edit the text. To remove it, delete all of the text.

Resize and move a shape

  • Resize. Drag an edge or a corner of the widget. The shape stretches to fill it, so a wide widget gives a wide shape and a tall one a tall shape. You can also use the minus and plus buttons on the title bar, or Expand > Larger on desk.
  • Move. Drag the widget by its title bar. Clicking the shape itself opens its label for editing, so use the title bar to move it.
  • Make an arrow longer. Widen the widget. Lines and arrows always run left to right across the middle.

See Select, move and arrange widgets and The controls on every widget.

Copy a shape

Right-click the shape's title bar and open Advanced:

  • Duplicate (independent copy) makes a separate copy you can change on its own. Use it to make several boxes in the same style, then change each label.
  • Duplicate (keep synced) makes a copy that stays the same as the original: change the shape, colours or label of one and the other follows, even on another desk. A synced copy shows a link badge in its title bar.

See Duplicate widgets and keep copies in sync.

Shape, Diagram or Flowchart?

A Shape widget is one shape that sits on the desk among your other widgets. If you want boxes joined by connectors that move with them, use a diagram instead:

  • Diagram widget: boxes, circles, text and pictures joined with arrows, inside one widget.
  • Flowchart widget Coming soon: a full flowchart document with templates and export.

Share a shape

When you publish a live view of a desk, each shape appears with its fill colour. See Publish a live view of a desk.

The AI button

Every widget's title bar has an AI button, the sparkle icon at the start of the buttons on the right. A shape has no AI settings of its own, so its AI button opens the Plexii panel, where you can ask Plexii anything. See Use a widget's AI button.

Common questions

The toolbar has disappeared. It only shows while the pointer is over the shape. Move the pointer back over it.

I cannot find the Fill box. Line and Arrow have no fill. Choose another shape from the Shape list to get a fill colour.

Clicking the shape opens a text box. That is the label editor. Press Esc to close it, and drag the title bar to move the shape.

I pressed G and nothing happened. A widget was active, or the cursor was in a text box. Click an empty part of the desk and press G again.

More about this widget Coming soon

Still need help? Contact support at [email protected].