Welcome to the visual world of Lucidchart! Here, you can build beautiful diagrams easily, edit them with colleagues simultaneously, and save all of your changes instantly.
This article will provide some basic resources that will help you get started. It will guide you through the document page and around the editor, teach you how to create and customize a simple diagram, and acquaint you with the wide range of features that Lucidchart offers. For more detailed articles on specific topics, check out our Knowledge Base and Community.
When you sign in to Lucidchart, you will be navigated to your document page, which is the launch pad of your Lucidchart account. Here you can view and organize documents, create and manage folders, and import Visio and other files. This page also serves as a portal to the account settings page, the admin panel (if you are a team admin), the integrations manager, and, most importantly, the Lucidchart editor.
You can start diagramming from scratch with a new blank document or build from a Lucidchart template.
To create a blank document from the document page, click
from the bar at the top of the page or 
below. The Lucidchart editor will open up in a new browser window so you can start diagramming right away!
To open the template gallery, click on one of the template categories or
from the top bar or click 
next to
When you see a template that you like, simply click on it and it will open up for you in the editor.
You can also create a new document directly from the editor by navigating to File > New Document.
To create a blank document from the document page, click
from the bar at the top of the page or below. The Lucidchart editor will open up in a new browser window so you can start diagramming right away! To open the template gallery, click on one of the template categories or
from the top bar or click next to When you see a template that you like, simply click on it and it will open up for you in the editor.
You can also create a new document directly from the editor by navigating to File > New Document.
The Lucidchart editor is where all of the diagramming magic takes place. Before you start creating, it is useful to become familiar with the different parts of the editor. See the image below to learn the names of the editor's components and read on for summaries of their capabilities.
At the very top of the editor you will see the header.
Click
to return to the document page, click 
to rename your document, and click on your email address to navigate to the account settings page or log out.
Click
to return to the document page, click to rename your document, and click on your email address to navigate to the account settings page or log out.Underneath the header is the menu bar, where you can access a range of actions essential to the diagramming process.
Click on one of the tabs on the left to open a drop-down of options. Some options might be greyed out depending on what is selected on the canvas. For instance, many of the options under the "Arrange" tab apply to groups of objects, so you will only be able to implement them after selecting multiple objects on the canvas.
Some menu bar options can also be performed via keyboard shortcuts, which will be listed in the corresponding row under each tab.
Saving your work
To the right of the Help button you will see the saving status of your document. Lucidchart automatically saves all of the changes you make to your document and stores them in the cloud, so this word should automatically switch from “Saving” to “Saved” each time you edit your diagram.
Feature find
On the right side of the menu bar you will see the following icon:
This is the handy feature find tool, which can help you locate Lucidchart features within the editor. If you’re not sure where to find a feature, simply click on this icon and type your search request into the dialog that pops up. The feature find tool will search the editor and the help center for your query.
Present/Share buttons
Located at the far right of the menu bar,
will take you into presentation mode and 
will take you to the share dialog, through which you can invite collaborators or publish your document.
Click on one of the tabs on the left to open a drop-down of options. Some options might be greyed out depending on what is selected on the canvas. For instance, many of the options under the "Arrange" tab apply to groups of objects, so you will only be able to implement them after selecting multiple objects on the canvas.
Some menu bar options can also be performed via keyboard shortcuts, which will be listed in the corresponding row under each tab.
Saving your work
To the right of the Help button you will see the saving status of your document. Lucidchart automatically saves all of the changes you make to your document and stores them in the cloud, so this word should automatically switch from “Saving” to “Saved” each time you edit your diagram.
Feature find
On the right side of the menu bar you will see the following icon:
This is the handy feature find tool, which can help you locate Lucidchart features within the editor. If you’re not sure where to find a feature, simply click on this icon and type your search request into the dialog that pops up. The feature find tool will search the editor and the help center for your query.
Present/Share buttons
Located at the far right of the menu bar,
will take you into presentation mode and will take you to the share dialog, through which you can invite collaborators or publish your document.Underneath the menu bar is the properties bar.
The left section of the properties bar contains features related to shapes and images.
Click
on the left to open the shape library manager, and click 
to import image files or open the image manager. Search for shapes, images, or icons by clicking 
and entering a keyword. See Access More Shapes and Import and Manage Images for more information.
On the right of the magnifying glass, you will see two arrows. Click
to undo the last change you made to your document, and 
to reverse this action. You can also access these options in the “Edit” tab of the menu bar or by clicking command + z or command + y.
The next section of the properties bar contains text editing options. See Work with Text to learn all about them.
The next section is dedicated to shapes and lines - please refer to Style a Shape and Work with Lines .
On right of the properties bar you will see a series of icons. Click
to add links to an object, 
to magnetize a container, and 
to lock a shape. Click 
to open advanced shape options, and 
on the far right to expand your canvas so it takes up the entire editor.
The left section of the properties bar contains features related to shapes and images.
Click
on the left to open the shape library manager, and click to import image files or open the image manager. Search for shapes, images, or icons by clicking and entering a keyword. See Access More Shapes and Import and Manage Images for more information. On the right of the magnifying glass, you will see two arrows. Click
to undo the last change you made to your document, and to reverse this action. You can also access these options in the “Edit” tab of the menu bar or by clicking command + z or command + y. The next section of the properties bar contains text editing options. See Work with Text to learn all about them.
The next section is dedicated to shapes and lines - please refer to Style a Shape and Work with Lines .
On right of the properties bar you will see a series of icons. Click
to add links to an object, to magnetize a container, and to lock a shape. Click to open advanced shape options, and on the far right to expand your canvas so it takes up the entire editor.The panel on the left of the editor is called the toolbox, and it is composed of sections called shape libraries.
By default, the toolbox will contain Standard, Flowchart, and Basic shape libraries, but you can add more Lucidchart libraries or create custom ones through the shape library manager. Rearrange your shape libraries by dragging and dropping them, minimize or expand them by clicking on the triangle to the left of their names, and remove them by clicking
to the right.
By default, the toolbox will contain Standard, Flowchart, and Basic shape libraries, but you can add more Lucidchart libraries or create custom ones through the shape library manager. Rearrange your shape libraries by dragging and dropping them, minimize or expand them by clicking on the triangle to the left of their names, and remove them by clicking
to the right.The panel on the right of the canvas is called the dock, and it contains a series of drawers each designated by an icon. Click 
at the top of the panel or click on one of the icons to expand or hide the dock’s drawers. The top drawer contains page settings options, and the other drawers are each devoted to a specific feature of Lucidchart. Click on the links below to learn about these features.
Comments
Slides
Revision History
Layers
Themes
Chat
Data Linking
Conditional Formatting
at the top of the panel or click on one of the icons to expand or hide the dock’s drawers. The top drawer contains page settings options, and the other drawers are each devoted to a specific feature of Lucidchart. Click on the links below to learn about these features. Comments Slides Revision History Layers Themes Chat Data Linking Conditional FormattingThe canvas is the heart of the editor and is the space in which you will create your diagrams.
Populate the canvas with shapes and lines by dragging them out of the toolbox, and edit the style of these objects by selecting them and using the properties bar.
Populate the canvas with shapes and lines by dragging them out of the toolbox, and edit the style of these objects by selecting them and using the properties bar.
Underneath your editor you will find the footer.
Manage your document’s pages with the buttons on the left, and adjust your document’s zoom level with the zoom bar on the right.
Manage your document’s pages with the buttons on the left, and adjust your document’s zoom level with the zoom bar on the right.
With Lucidchart’s drag and drop interface, diagram-making is simple and intuitive. Add objects to your diagram by dragging them from the toolbox and dropping them on the canvas, and drag and drop to move them from one place on the canvas to another. Edit an object’s size by clicking on it and dragging one of the blue boxes that appear on its corners or sides.
To draw a connecting line from one object to another, hover over the first object and drag a line from one of the red circles that appears along its border. When you release the line, a menu of shapes will pop up from which you can select a new shape that will automatically be connected to the line. The entire edge of each shape acts as a connection point to attach lines. Once you connect a line to an object, the line will move with the object.
Select an object and start typing to edit the text it contains.
To draw a connecting line from one object to another, hover over the first object and drag a line from one of the red circles that appears along its border. When you release the line, a menu of shapes will pop up from which you can select a new shape that will automatically be connected to the line. The entire edge of each shape acts as a connection point to attach lines. Once you connect a line to an object, the line will move with the object.
Select an object and start typing to edit the text it contains.
If you have already created a diagram using one of the following platforms, you can easily import it into Lucidchart.
Visio (VDX, VSDX, VSD)
Gliffy (GXML, GLIFFY)
Omnigraffle (GRAFFLE, GRAFFLE.ZIP)
To import, click
in the document page or navigate to File > Import Diagram in the editor. See Import and Export Your Diagrams for more information.
Visio (VDX, VSDX, VSD)
Gliffy (GXML, GLIFFY)
Omnigraffle (GRAFFLE, GRAFFLE.ZIP)
To import, click
in the document page or navigate to File > Import Diagram in the editor. See Import and Export Your Diagrams for more information.You can also import datasets from the file tab of the menu bar to build specific kinds of diagrams. We currently support imports of the following data types:
AWS Architecture
Org Chart (CSV)
Entity Relationship (SQL)
UML Sequence Markup
Mindmap (TXT)
Process Diagram (CSV)
Data linking from sheet data (CSV, Google Sheets, Excel)
AWS Architecture
Org Chart (CSV)
Entity Relationship (SQL)
UML Sequence Markup
Mindmap (TXT)
Process Diagram (CSV)
Data linking from sheet data (CSV, Google Sheets, Excel)
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