Draw & diagram widgets

The draw and diagram widgets are for work that ends up as a picture: a flowchart of how something gets done, a poster, a logo, a quick sketch, or an image you describe in words. There are nine of them, and they appear in this order in the Add widget menu.

Before you start

• Every widget in this group is on every plan.
• You need a desk open. The Add widget button appears in the header only while a desk is open.
• Image uses your own OpenAI API key. Add it in Settings > AI, under API keys. See Add your own API keys.
• The AI inside Flowchart and Design needs AI to be set up: PlexiDesk credits while you are signed in, or your own Anthropic key. See AI credits and where your AI runs Coming soon.
• A few tools have needs of their own. Mind map's AI Expand uses your own Anthropic key, and some Design tools use keys for stock photos, AI pictures and background removal. Each widget's article says what it needs. See also Widget sizes, limits and what some widgets need.

Add one to a desk

1. Open the desk.
2. Click Add widget in the centre of the header.
3. Click the widget you want.

The Add widget menu groups widgets into columns by what they are for. These nine are in the Draw & diagram column. You can also type in Search widgets… at the top of the menu and press Enter to add the first match. For example, sketch finds Scratchpad, flowchart finds Flowchart, and draw shows the whole column.

The new widget appears beside the widget you touched last, or in the middle of your view.

Other ways to add one

• Press a single key. With no widget active, press G for a Shape or O for a Color swatch. The Add widget menu shows each widget's key in grey beside its name, and you can change the keys. See Add widgets with a single key.
• Right-click an empty part of the desk and choose Add object. Image is under Tools, and Flowchart, Design and Artwork are under Files. Color, Mind map, Diagram, Scratchpad and Shape are under Advanced. The widget is placed where you clicked.
• Use the command palette. Press ⌘ K on a Mac or Ctrl K on Windows, type the widget's name and choose, for example, Add Flowchart. Color, Mind map, Diagram, Scratchpad and Shape are listed once you start typing.

See Add a widget to a desk for every way to add widgets, including the tool rail.

Starting sizes

These widgets start at a set size. To change it, drag the widget's edges, or use the − and + buttons in its title bar. See The controls on every widget.

Flowchart, Design and Artwork are Office files

Three of these widgets are Office editors placed on a desk:

• Flowchart holds a diagram from the diagram editor, PlexiDiagrams.
• Design holds a PlexiiDesign layout.
• Artwork holds a PlexiiDraw artwork.

When you add one, PlexiDesk creates a new file for it, named Diagram, Design or Artwork, and the widget's title bar shows that name until you rename the widget. The same file is listed in Office, for example under Recent, so you can open it there with the full editor. It is one file, not a copy: changes you make on the desk are saved as you work and appear in Office, and the other way round.

Removing the widget from the desk takes it off the desk only. The file stays in Office. To put a file you already have onto a desk, see Put a document, spreadsheet or deck on a desk Coming soon.

The other six widgets keep everything inside the widget itself.

Which one should I use?

For diagrams and ideas

For pictures and print

AI in these widgets

• Image generates a picture from your description, using your OpenAI key.
• Flowchart has an AI map button that draws a whole diagram from a description.
• Design has AI design, which lays out a design from a description, and an Assistant panel that improves, shortens or suggests copy.
• Mind map suggests branches with AI Expand.
• Artwork is for drawing by hand.

Every widget's title bar has an AI button (the sparkle). On Mind map and Diagram it opens that widget's own AI, which proposes branches or shapes that you approve before anything changes. On Flowchart, Design and Artwork it opens the Plexii panel with the widget attached, so you can ask Plexii about it; their own AI is inside the editor, as described above. See Use a widget's AI button.

Articles in this section

• Image widget Coming soon: generate a picture from a description and keep it on the desk.
• Flowchart widget Coming soon: flowcharts, org charts and approval flows, with templates, AI and export.
• Design widget Coming soon: page layouts for print and screen.
• Artwork widget Coming soon: vector drawing and painting.
• Color widget: one colour swatch with an eyedropper.
• Mind map widget: grow an idea into branches, tasks and desks.
• Diagram widget: quick boxes, circles, text and picture nodes.
• Scratchpad widget: sketch by hand.
• Shape widget: one shape with a fill, an outline and a label.

Related tasks

• Add a widget to a desk
• Add widgets with a single key
• The controls on every widget
• PlexiDiagrams overview Coming soon
• PlexiDesign overview Coming soon
• PlexiDraw overview Coming soon