Adding Basic Shapes to a Workspace

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Adding a Shape

You can add a range of basic shapes like squares, circles, and arrows. Once a shape is placed in your workspace, you can add text, join shapes and other objects with line connectors, and perform object scaling. Adding shapes can help facilitate the process of building templates, workflows, and procedure-driven diagrams.

To add a basic shape to a workspace:

1. From the workspace toolbar, select (Shapes).

2. Choose a shape from the Basic shapes menu.

3. Hover your cursor over the workspace area where you want the shape to appear, and a blue preview will appear.
    
   

   

4. Click to place the shape, and a Shape toolbar will appear with more options.
    
   

   

The Shapes and Icons panel will stay open in your workspace, even once a shape is placed. This enables you to seamlessly add multiple shapes without interrupting your workflow.

BluePro Tip: To quickly add or edit text on an individual shape, double-click or hit enter/return on your keyboard to enable text editing. The text toolbar will appear. When one or multiple shapes are selected, choosing (Edit text) will open the Text Toolbar, and you can make bulk text edits - a time-saver for consistent text formatting. Read Adding Text to a Workspace to learn more.

5. Select and drag the shape’s anchor point to resize the shape or change the shape’s direction. Holding the Shift key while resizing will lock the shape’s aspect ratio.
    
   

6. You can also rotate the shape when selected by clicking on (Rotate) and moving the object around.
    
   

Shape Toolbar (Left to Right):

Use the shape’s toolbar to customize the appearance of your shape (by changing color, adding text, and more), pin your shape, add a reaction or comment, and more.
 

Expand to learn more about all options in the Shape Toolbar.

Icon	Description
Shape	Change the shape of an already placed object.
Text Color	Provides several colors to apply to the text embedded in the shape. You also can select a custom color.
Fill Color	Provides several colors to options for the shape. You also can select a custom color and change the opacity.
Border Color	Provides several colors to add to the shape’s border. You also can select a custom color and change the opacity.
Border Width	Allows you to access a slider that provides a range of border thicknesses. You can move the slider gradually left or right to adjust the thickness of the selected border.
Edit text	Allows you to include text. You must select the shape to enter text (you may need to double-select twice depending on the current zoom (or scroll) level). Note that when you add text to one shape, the same formatting is applied to the next shape(s) you create. Formatting options for your text, including font type, alignment, size, style (such as bold and italics), and color, appear once you add text. You can also turn the Reduce to fit feature on or off. When on, it will automatically reduce the text size to fit within the shape’s borders. When turned off, any long-form text will alter the shape’s height.
Pin	Locks the shape to its current workspace location.
Reactions	Gives you the option to add a reaction. For example, a thumbs up to the object.
Comment	Allows you to add feedback or commentary.
Share to Social Media	Allows you to share via Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
(More Options)	Allows you to choose from additional actions such as Present, Layer, Attach, Link To, Copy as a Link, Duplicate, Delete, Export, and view Properties.
Present	Allows you to present a single shape.
Layer	Allows you to Send to Front or Send to Back, moving the shape to the foreground or background. The Shift ] and Shift [ keyboard shortcuts (respectively) also allow you to perform these actions.
Attach	Allows you to attach a child object to a parent object.
Link To	Allows you to paste the link from an object you wish to link to from the shape.
Copy As	Copies the URL of the object to share with others or link to another object.
Duplicate	Creates a copy of the shape, which will appear immediately to the right of the original.
Delete	Removes the shape.
Export	Allows you to export the shape to your local device in selected formats; PNG, PDF, and CSV.
Properties	View the shape’s metadata and add alternative text.

Perform Object Scaling

Object scaling allows you to resize an object without disturbing the aspect ratio.

To resize an object while maintaining the aspect ratio:

1. Select an object in the workspace.

2. Press Shift on your keyboard while using your mouse to grab the nodes or anchor points of the selected object – increasing or decreasing its size.
    
   

3. Scale the object to your preferred size or measurement.

Learn more about Groups Selecting Assets to scale or resize multiple workspace objects.

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Related Questions

• Can I quickly connect shapes or other objects using lines?
  Yes, you can! Read more about Lines, Line Connectors and Modifying Line Routing.

• What other shapes are available to use?
  You can discover more shapes and icons available to use. Check out Using the Shapes and Icon Library.

Ready to apply what you’ve learned? Go to Bluescape Home.