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Resize Elements

You can change the size of an element, or of several elements in a group, using the cursor or various menu options.

Resize using handles

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Select an element or group of elements in the diagram, then:

  • (Single element) With the mouse, drag the resize handles that appear at each corner and side, to resize the element (the cursor switches to the double-ended arrow as shown in the image)
    If you have enabled the 'Layout > Alignment > <grid options> Smart Placement' and 'Show smart placement guides' options, as you move the resize handles the guide lines display to show where the resizing top, bottom, sides or edge center points are in relation to an adjacent element, but note that the objects must be contemporary - not at different hierarchical levels or in different partitions of the diagram
  • Press and hold Ctrl and use the Arrow keys to resize elements by increments; to make elements:
         -  Wider - press Ctrl+Right Arrow
         -  Narrower - press Ctrl+Left Arrow
         -  Taller - press Ctrl+Down Arrow
         -  Shorter - press Ctrl+Up Arrow
  • Autosize selected element(s) to their default size using 'Layout > Diagram > Select > Autosize Selected Elements', or by pressing Alt+Z

If you select multiple elements, 'Autosize' is also available in the right-click context menu for the elements.

Resize a Set of Objects to a Specific Size

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If you right-click a selected set of objects, you can resize them to the same dimensions (height, width or both) using context menu options.

When you select multiple elements using Ctrl+click, you can right-click and select options that use the dimensions of the last-selected (hatched) object to set the dimensions of the other selected objects.

For example, in this diagram, the Message Class height and width are used to set the height and width of the Account and Message Folder Classes.

The steps are:

  1. Set one element to the required size (for example, Message).
  2. Select that element and the elements to resize (for example, Account and Message Folder).
  3. Right-click on the pre-sized element (Message).
  4. Select the appropriate resizing option ('Same Height', 'Same Width', or 'Same Height and Width').

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