Adding Lines and Text
Connecting Symbols with Lines
You can draw lines to connect the symbols you have added. The Engineering SmartTemplate
automatically allows lines to be anchored to shapes, meaning that, if you move
the shape, the line will stay attached to the shape and adjust its shape to allow that.
Begin by selecting a line type from the Line Shape menu in
SmartPanel. Your cursor now becomes a pencil when you move it into
the Work Area. To connect two symbols, click on the border of one and drag the mouse
to the border of the other.
As you approach the second symbol, connection points appear where you can attach
the line, and your cursor becomes an anchor, indicating that the line will be anchored
to the shape if you release now.
To just draw a line, simply click, drag, and release in the Work Area.
Line Hops
If there are lines in your diagram that intersect but are not actually connected, you
will want to employ Line Hops. This feature causes one of the intersecting
lines to appear to be "hopping" over the other line, showing that they are not
interacting.
In SmartPanel, click Line Hops. In the dialog that
appears, you can choose to show or hide line hops, as well as what shape and size they
are. If a line was selected when you clicked the button, you can specify whether line
hops are used for the selected line.
Add Text
You can add text to shapes, lines, or the background. Simply click Add Text
in SmartPanel, then click in the Work Area where you would like to add
text and begin typing.
