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Show HN: Diagramming app for power users (Finegram)

18 points by marttilaine 3y ago

Hello all, this is still quite an early release, but it's starting to be a proper diagramming app. At this point I call it a beta release and would love to get feedback from potential users. Highlights: - Fully offline and standalone desktop app - SVG file format - Better usability and workflow than alternatives I've written about these points and more (incl. what Finegram is not) in the linked blog post. You can download the app at https://finegram.com/downloads https://finegram.com/downloads There's also a User Guide with videos of all the features: https://finegram-releases.ams3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/0.7.1/user-guide/user-guide.html https://finegram-releases.ams3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/0.... I'd be super happy to hear your thoughts on this project.

samlin 3y ago
Looks very interesting, most of the time I just want to create simple node graph fastand Draw.io etc. seem overkill for just that and something like this seems very lightweight solution for that. I noticed that it exports as SVG, is there in the future support to export e.g. as DOT format?
- marttilaine 3y ago
  There is potential to import and export DOT and e.g. Mermaid. Of course the editor functionality would be limited to what those formats support, and diagram layout would not be exported 1-to-1, as it's recalculated by the renderer of that format eventually. These are not on the immediate roadmap.
swalsh 3y ago
How important is being fully offline? I've been able to access Lucid Charts from my phone, and from a plane wifi. I can't honestly think of a time where I needed lucid, but didn't have an internet connection. To me, I care about shapes, templates, and productivity tools. Also line drawing, My main motiviation from switching from visio to lucid simply because drawing lines was easier. One thing i'm desperately waiting for someone to solve is integrating AI with charts. Ideally forwards and backwards (the forwards direction works pretty good today with GPT4-V but going back into a diagram fails)
- marttilaine 3y ago
  Thanks for the tip about Lucidchart line drawing, will check out how they do it. What would you imagine as the optimal AI workflow? Iassume it's more complex than just issuing commands like "move AWS-section under Infrastructure"?
riidom 3y ago
Is a linux version planned? You write "No matter which operating system you use [...]" but under non-goals is also no word about linux, which leaves me a little confused :) Apart that, looks interesting!
- marttilaine 3y ago
  Yes, it's planned! My knowledge on distributing a Linux desktop app is a bit limited, but I plan to add .deb and .rpm releases soon.

18 points by marttilaine 3y ago

samlin 3y ago

Looks very interesting, most of the time I just want to create simple node graph fastand Draw.io etc. seem overkill for just that and something like this seems very lightweight solution for that. I noticed that it exports as SVG, is there in the future support to export e.g. as DOT format?

marttilaine 3y ago
There is potential to import and export DOT and e.g. Mermaid. Of course the editor functionality would be limited to what those formats support, and diagram layout would not be exported 1-to-1, as it's recalculated by the renderer of that format eventually. These are not on the immediate roadmap.

swalsh 3y ago

How important is being fully offline? I've been able to access Lucid Charts from my phone, and from a plane wifi. I can't honestly think of a time where I needed lucid, but didn't have an internet connection. To me, I care about shapes, templates, and productivity tools. Also line drawing, My main motiviation from switching from visio to lucid simply because drawing lines was easier. One thing i'm desperately waiting for someone to solve is integrating AI with charts. Ideally forwards and backwards (the forwards direction works pretty good today with GPT4-V but going back into a diagram fails)

marttilaine 3y ago
Thanks for the tip about Lucidchart line drawing, will check out how they do it. What would you imagine as the optimal AI workflow? Iassume it's more complex than just issuing commands like "move AWS-section under Infrastructure"?

riidom 3y ago

Is a linux version planned? You write "No matter which operating system you use [...]" but under non-goals is also no word about linux, which leaves me a little confused :) Apart that, looks interesting!

marttilaine 3y ago
Yes, it's planned! My knowledge on distributing a Linux desktop app is a bit limited, but I plan to add .deb and .rpm releases soon.