Please note : This help page is not for the latest version of Enterprise Architect. The latest help can be found here.

Appearance Submenu

You can customize the appearance of an individual element in a number of ways, such as changing the color of its background, borders and/or text. These changes are applied to the selected element only, on each diagram on which it is used. For example, if the Class element Customer is used on three diagrams, and you set its background color to yellow on one diagram, all three diagrams will show the Customer Class in yellow.

Access Element | Appearance

Element Appearance Options

Option

Action

See also

Default Appearance

Select this option to set the border, font and background colors and the border thickness for the selected element, as its default appearance.

Shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+E

 Set an Element's Default Appearance

Autosize

Select this option to automatically size one element or a group of elements in a diagram to the best fit.

Shortcut: Alt+Z

 Autosize Elements

Set Font

Select this option to change the font of the text displayed on the element in a diagram.

 Set Element Font

Alternate Image

Select this option to select an alternative image for the selected element.

Shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+W

 Using the Image Manager

Apply Image From Clipboard

Select this option to insert the image currently held on the clipboard.

(If the image is to be applied from elsewhere in Enterprise Architect, turn off the 'Diagram Frames On Clipboard Images' option in the 'Options' dialog before you capture the image, to avoid having the image applied as a labeled frame)

 Diagram Options

Notes

  • You can also define the default appearance of:
         -  The element on the current diagram only, using the Format Toolbar
         -  All new elements, using the 'Diagram | Appearance' page of the 'Options' dialog
         -  All new elements of a type, using an Element Template
         -  Various new elements of a type, by defining the appearance in a stereotype that
            you apply to the element as you create it
         -  A group of selected elements on a diagram, applying the same change to all elements in the group

Learn more