{"slug": "omnigraffle", "name": "OmniGraffle", "category": "other", "category_name": "Other software", "description": "", "recommenders": 4, "commenters": 6, "warners": 0, "score": 4.013, "rising": 0.02, "first": "2025-11-02", "latest": "2026-10-30", "why": "I've been using OmniGraffle for this for... 24 years?!... now", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 4, "neutral": 2, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [2, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "I've been using OmniGraffle for this for... 24 years?!... now", "kind": "", "icon": true, "domain": null, "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://www.omnigroup.com/omnigraffle", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["OmniGraffle", "Omnigraffle"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 804792403, "item_id": 50299525, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50299525", "by": "watersb", "date": "2026-10-30", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Also their pro diagramming tool, OmniGraffle", "excerpt": "WinDirStat on Windows, I am not at Windows machine right now but IIRC the original WinDirStat walks the whole filesystem, can take long time; faster forks of it use the NTFS Master File Table (MFT), which more like just looking up into already collected by the system. https://www.idealsoftware.com/opensource/fast-windirstat.html On the Mac, I've used Omni Disk Sweeper for pro a the last 20 years, and it still receive", "context": "Long-time Mac user", "use_case": "diagramming", "switched_from": "", "story": "How to See What's Taking Up Space on Your Mac"}, {"id": 759800832, "item_id": 47487552, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47487552", "by": "ChrisMarshallNY", "date": "2026-03-23", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "OmniGraffle is an essential tool, for me", "excerpt": "I\u2019ve always used a simplified UML style[0], even for system diagrams. OmniGraffle is an essential tool, for me. I spell out what arrows and line types mean. I don\u2019t rely on conventions, as I find \u201cpure\u201d UML to be something that most folks don\u2019t know, so I\u201dm basically writing in hieroglyphics. [0] https://littlegreenviper.com/the-curious-case-of-the-protocol-default/#what", "context": "", "use_case": "System architecture diagrams", "switched_from": "", "story": "More common mistakes to avoid when creating system architecture diagrams"}, {"id": 737058192, "item_id": 46066137, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46066137", "by": "addaon", "date": "2025-11-26", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I've been using OmniGraffle for this for... 24 years?!... now", "excerpt": "I've been using OmniGraffle for this for... 24 years?!... now; and I'm more than ready for something better to come along, but so far nothing's come close.", "context": "", "use_case": "architecture diagrams", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Do teams need a tool to make IT architecture diagrams look better"}, {"id": 732710576, "item_id": 45794411, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45794411", "by": "shoy", "date": "2025-11-02", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "OG has a very cool scale-text-and-graphics feature", "excerpt": "Manually, using Omnigraffle. It's not text-driven like Mermaid or Typst. I made a list of all the commands in the docs, grouped them by similarity and then created tables in Omnigraffle. OG has a very cool scale-text-and-graphics feature that allowed the boxes to re-size nicely on the page. I learned a lot doing it, and thought others would find it useful. So, there's no source to share, other than the OG file. It se", "context": "", "use_case": "helix cheat sheet diagrams", "switched_from": "", "story": "Beginner-friendly, unofficial documentation for Helix text editor"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [{"by": "watersb", "context": "Long-time Mac user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50299525", "date": "2026-10-30"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["diagramming", "complicated diagrams", "system architecture diagrams", "making diagrams", "architecture diagrams", "helix cheat sheet diagrams"], "compared": [{"slug": "typst", "name": "Typst", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50299261", "title": "How to See What's Taking Up Space on Your Mac", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49746986", "title": "I hate you Microsoft", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47476562", "title": "More common mistakes to avoid when creating system architecture diagrams", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46730504", "title": "Ghostty's AI Policy", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46066124", "title": "Ask HN: Do teams need a tool to make IT architecture diagrams look better", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45784596", "title": "Beginner-friendly, unofficial documentation for Helix text editor", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"recommend": 2}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-10": {"recommend": 1}}, "versions": [], "version_unnamed": 0, "family_ref": null, "runs_on": null, "lines": [], "quotes": [{"id": 804792403, "item_id": 50299525, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50299525", "by": "watersb", "date": "2026-10-30", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Also their pro diagramming tool, OmniGraffle", "excerpt": "WinDirStat on Windows, I am not at Windows machine right now but IIRC the original WinDirStat walks the whole filesystem, can take long time; faster forks of it use the NTFS Master File Table (MFT), which more like just looking up into already collected by the system. https://www.idealsoftware.com/opensource/fast-windirstat.html On the Mac, I've used Omni Disk Sweeper for pro a the last 20 years, and it still receive", "context": "Long-time Mac user", "use_case": "diagramming", "switched_from": "", "story": "How to See What's Taking Up Space on Your Mac"}, {"id": 796006306, "item_id": 49750394, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49750394", "by": "ashton314", "date": "2026-09-18", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I still reach for a tool like Omnigraffle if I need to make a really complicated diagram.", "excerpt": "I am a deep enjoyer of Typst. I love it and I use it absolutely everywhere that I can. CeTZ is a really good package, but I still reach for a tool like Omnigraffle if I need to make a really complicated diagram.", "context": "", "use_case": "complicated diagrams", "switched_from": "", "story": "I hate you Microsoft"}, {"id": 759800832, "item_id": 47487552, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47487552", "by": "ChrisMarshallNY", "date": "2026-03-23", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "OmniGraffle is an essential tool, for me", "excerpt": "I\u2019ve always used a simplified UML style[0], even for system diagrams. OmniGraffle is an essential tool, for me. I spell out what arrows and line types mean. I don\u2019t rely on conventions, as I find \u201cpure\u201d UML to be something that most folks don\u2019t know, so I\u201dm basically writing in hieroglyphics. [0] https://littlegreenviper.com/the-curious-case-of-the-protocol-default/#what", "context": "", "use_case": "System architecture diagrams", "switched_from": "", "story": "More common mistakes to avoid when creating system architecture diagrams"}, {"id": 747748016, "item_id": 46734251, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46734251", "by": "tzs", "date": "2026-01-23", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "my zero talent attempts to make something in OmniGraffle", "excerpt": "> No AI-generated media is allowed (art, images, videos, audio, etc.). Text and code are the only acceptable AI-generated content, per the other rules in this policy What's the reason for this? Media is the most likely thing I'd consider using AI for as part of a contribution to an open source project. My code would be hand crafted by me. Any AI use would be similar to Google use: a way to search for examples and exp", "context": "", "use_case": "making diagrams", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ghostty's AI Policy"}, {"id": 737058192, "item_id": 46066137, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46066137", "by": "addaon", "date": "2025-11-26", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I've been using OmniGraffle for this for... 24 years?!... now", "excerpt": "I've been using OmniGraffle for this for... 24 years?!... now; and I'm more than ready for something better to come along, but so far nothing's come close.", "context": "", "use_case": "architecture diagrams", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Do teams need a tool to make IT architecture diagrams look better"}, {"id": 732710576, "item_id": 45794411, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45794411", "by": "shoy", "date": "2025-11-02", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "OG has a very cool scale-text-and-graphics feature", "excerpt": "Manually, using Omnigraffle. It's not text-driven like Mermaid or Typst. I made a list of all the commands in the docs, grouped them by similarity and then created tables in Omnigraffle. OG has a very cool scale-text-and-graphics feature that allowed the boxes to re-size nicely on the page. I learned a lot doing it, and thought others would find it useful. So, there's no source to share, other than the OG file. It se", "context": "", "use_case": "helix cheat sheet diagrams", "switched_from": "", "story": "Beginner-friendly, unofficial documentation for Helix text editor"}]}