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Shared layers are orange.

As heavy users of OmniGraffle, the Mac-only wireframing and diagramming app, we spend enough time working on wireframes with multiple canvases for easy file management.

To keep our wireframin' awesomeness under control, and to be as efficient (or lazy) as possible, we use a feature called shared layers. Shared layers make wireframing faster, more efficient, and just plain easier.

What are Shared Layers?

Like normal layers in OmniGraffle, a shared layer sits in your Canvases panel and allows any objects to be placed on it. They are added just like regular layers (right click) and can be distinguished by their orange tint.

The key difference between normal and shared layers is that shared layers can be applied to multiple canvases via drag-and-drop, syncing the shared layer's contents across each canvas. Awesome, right?

How to Use Shared Layers

We love this feature so much we'd like to show you how to use it. Here's a quick guide to using shared layers in your OmniGraffle work.

1. Create Your Canvases

Get started by opening an existing OmniGraffle document with multiple canvases, or by creating a brand new document with a few canvases. Here's a look at what our Canvases panel looks like:

2. Right Click, Select "New Shared Layer"

Once you've got your canvases in order, right click on a canvas and select "New Shared Layer." You'll see a new orange layer appear in your Canvases panel. Give it a name and hit Enter.

Once you've got your shared layer made, add some objects to it; text, images, boxes—anything works. Remember, the point of a shared layer is to sync content across multiple canvases, so be practical about it. We like to use shared layers for header and footer information, stuff that we only need to update once in a document. (This helps us avoid updating a client's name in one canvas and missing it in another.)

3. Drag-and-Drop the Shared Layer to Other Canvases

Finally, when you're ready to apply your shared layer to a second canvas, just select the shared layer in the Canvases panel, then drag and drop it. As you drag and hover over the second canvas, you'll see it highlight (as seen below)—drop it when ready.

Left: Drag and hover over the second canvas.
Right: Drop the shared layer to apply it to the second canvas.

Super Awesome? Check.

And that's it! Three simple steps to creating super awesome wireframes using shared layers in OmniGraffle.

One layer to rule them all. Editing a shared layer syncs its contents across all instances. Edit one, update them all. Super. Awesome.

Shared layers in OmniGraffle are a great way to ensure those finer details aren't overlooked. It's easy to update something in one canvas and forget to do it in another. Shared layers solves that problem easily and intuitively. Just edit an instance of a shared layer and your changes will be applied to all other instances of it on any other canvases.

Have any questions or additional tips for us? Chime in below—we'd love to hear 'em!