Lucidchart helps you visualize processes, technical systems, people, ideas and lots
more.
This tutorial will help you get started.
First, go to Lucidchart.com and set up a free account.
Or, if you already have one, go ahead and just log in.
Here, on the Documents page, you can manage and organize your Lucidchart diagrams using
the folder tree on the left.
If you’re starting a new project, I recommend browsing through templates by clicking the
“more templates” button.
If you find one you like, open the template and start editing it to suit your needs.
In this tutorial, we’re going to work from a blank template, so we’ll click this +document
button and Lucidchart will open a blank diagram.
We’re now in the Lucidchart editor.
If this is your first time here, it can be helpful to quickly acquaint yourself with
the tools available.
On the left is the toolbox - it shows you all the shapes in each of your open libraries.
You can access more shapes by clicking add shapes button at the top or bottom of the
toolbox.
(Learn more about shape types and libraries in our Shapes tutorial videos.)
Moving up, at the very top of the screen is an orange folder icon.
Clicking it will return you to your documents page at any time.
You can also rename your document by clicking the title of the document here and then entering
a name.
We’ll call this Demo Diagram.
Beneath the title of the diagram are standard File menus were we can do things like download
a PDF of our diagram or turn on spell check or access more resources.
And under that you’ll find options for styling and formatting text, shapes, and your lines.
On the right is a button called “Feature Find” that you can use to find where features
are located in Lucidchart or get resources like help articles or tutorial videos directly
from Lucidchart.
Finally, on the right side of the editor are options for things like overall workspace
settings, adding comments, reviewing the history of your diagram, creating presentations or
adding data and conditional formatting to your diagram.
We have other tutorials that deep dive into each of these features, so check those out
to learn more about how to really take your diagram to the next level.
In this tutorial, we’re going to stick to the basics.
We’ll start by pulling out some shapes.
First, drag a shape out onto the canvas.
Then give it a label.
Notice that when I hover over the shape it has blue squares and red dots around it.
I can click and drag the blue squares to resize the shape, and clicking on the red dots allows
me to drag out lines from my shape.
When I release my mouse, Lucidchart prompts me to add another shape to my diagram.
If you don’t choose a shape here, you can just drag out a new shape from the toolbox
and place it next to the arrowhead.
A red node will glow over the connection and the line will attach to the new shape.
Let’s pull out a few more shapes, connect them with lines, and put together a quick
and easy flowchart.
Okay - next let’s customize the text formatting and give these shapes some color using the
options above the canvas.
You can use these options to format an individual object, or select a group of objects and make
mass changes, or even set defaults for your diagram’s styles.
You can also easily add text to any shape, line, or area of your diagram by simply double-clicking.
Double click in a shape and you can add or edit text.
Double-clicking on lines also adds text.
And double-clicking on a blank area of the canvas gives you an instant text box, ready
for your notes.
Now that we’ve made this document, let’s get some feedback or share it with some other
people on the team.
Click the orange “share” button in the top right corner of the editor and enter the
email address of your collaborator, then select the appropriate permissions using the dropdown,
and when we push “send” our collaborator will get an email with a link to this diagram
and they’ll see it in their “shared with me” folder when they log in to Lucidchart
next.
Know that we can change these permissions at any time or remove someone’s permission
altogether.
For more tips and best practices for sharing, check out our videos on real-time collaboration
and comments.
Finally, beneath the canvas is the footer.
Here we can see what page (or what tab) we’re working on and can add more pages to our project
by clicking the plus button.
We’ve only scratched the surface of what you can do with Lucidchart, so check back
for more tutorials as you start building out new, different, and more complex diagrams.
For now, remember to use Feature Find to easily locate what you need as you’re working,
Happy diagramming!