Whiteboard shapes

Whiteboard shapes — including sticky notes, geometric shapes and text shapes — provide a flexible set of visual elements you can use to annotate, organize, and collaborate directly on your BPMN diagrams.

These shapes appear on the canvas but aren’t included in the underlying BPMN model, so you can be creative without affecting your process.

Add a whiteboard shape

In the toolbar, click to open the Navigation panel.
In the Elements tab, locate the Whiteboard shapes section.
Select a shape and drag and drop it onto the diagram.

Customize and edit shapes

When you select a shape or a group of shapes, an action toolbar appears directly above it. Use this toolbar to style the appearance, add text, arrange or ungroup shapes.

Action toolbar with color options, text formatting options and expanded More actions menu.

Add and format text

Add notes directly onto any whiteboard shape or use the standalone text shape, then format the text using the action toolbar.

For standard shapes: Double-click inside the shape. A cursor appears where you can start typing.
For text shape: Double-click the text shape on the canvas to edit the existing text.

To format text:

Select the text you want to format.
Use the action toolbar to change the font, size, color, alignment, and styling.

Change fill and border colors

Customize the color of your shapes to help them stand out or to categorize information.

Select a shape to open the action toolbar.
Click to choose an interior color, or click to change the outline color of the shape.
Select a color from the palette, or click Custom to define a specific color value.
Custom color
If you’re using a custom color, adjust the settings in the color picker. The color picker lets you set a custom color by choosing from a color field and color slider, or by manually entering color values.
- Color spectrum slider and color field: Move the spectrum slider to select a hue, then click within the color field to determine the specific shade. For example, to get a dark green, move the slider to green and click a dark area in the field.
- Enter color values: Specify an exact value in Red-Green-Blue (RGB), Hue-Saturation-Light (HSL), or Hexadecimal (HEX) formats.
  - Click to switch between color formats and enter the values in the fields.
Once you’re done, click OK.

Change shape type

Quickly change a shape for a different one directly from the action toolbar.

Select the shape you want to change.
In the action toolbar, click .
Select a new shape from the available options.

Transform shapes

Manually adjust the size and orientation of any whiteboard shape to fit your diagram’s layout.

Select a shape to open the action toolbar.
- Resize: Select the shape and drag any corner handle to change its dimensions.
- Rotate: Select the shape, click and hold the rotate icon , and drag to the desired angle.

Arrange and layer shapes

Manage how shapes overlap on the canvas.

Select a shape to open the action toolbar.
Click and select an action:
- Bring Forward: Move the shape up one layer.
- Bring to Front: Move the shape to the very top layer.
- Send Backward: Move the shape down one layer.
- Send to Back: Move the shape to the bottom layer.

Group and ungroup shapes

Group multiple whiteboard shapes to move, resize, rotate, or change their colors or text all at once.

Select the shapes you want to group.

Hold Ctrl and click each shape, or use the rectangular selection tool if the shapes are clear of other process elements.
In the action toolbar, click .

To ungroup shapes:

Select the grouped shapes.
In the action toolbar, click .

Edit and delete shapes

Use the action toolbar to quickly duplicate, move, or remove elements from a diagram.

Select a shape to open the action toolbar.
Click and select an action:
- Delete: Remove the shape from the diagram.
- Copy: Copy the shape to your clipboard.
- Cut: Remove the shape from the canvas and copy it to your clipboard.