![]() Scapple and Tinderbox are the only mindmapping solutions I’ve seen that allow you to write longer chunks of text comfortably, and out of the two, Scapple seems to be the best at that, since it LITERALLY allows you to do freeform text-chunks. ![]() I found it fantastic for brainstorming my ideas and creating arrows between topics, to show branching paths in decisionmaking, when you do non-linear thinking.Īnother contender is Tinderbox, but it’s incredibly ugly and designed by a programmer, so it’s ridiculously badly designed and complicated. I forgot to say that I am currently almost 100% sure I’ll be buying Scapple as a nice addition to OmniOutliner. They are very close to Version 4 release now, and anyone that buys Version 3 will get a free upgrade. Graphical mindmaps are great for some simple organization, but for the most part they are a huge waste of pixel space on screen since there’s so much whitespace around thee branches, and they don’t support writing more than a few words for each topic before they become unreadable.įor all of those reasons, I use OmniOutliner instead. It’s fantastic for anyone that needs to arrange a big subject into smaller branches, with MUCH clearer overview than your typical, messy graphical mindmap. In fact, it’s in many ways far better than a graphical mindmap, because you can freely (and beautifully) style all of the different levels, attach detailed notes to any entry, the different levels indent beautifully, etc. To prove how close this is to a mindmap, you can export the result in OPML format, which can be imported into other mindmapping software. Basically a text version of mindmapping.Īt the topmost level, you have a central topic such as “Ice Cream” and then it branches down into a second level with subtopics such as “Toppings” and “Flavors”, and then those in turn branch down into further subtopics such as “Vanilla,” “Chocolate,” and “Strawberry. However, they do offer a fantastic product called OmniOutliner, which for those not familiar with “outlining”, is an indented text-list. It CAN do mindmapping but it’s absolutely garbage at it. OmniGraffle is more for GUI design, programmers, algorithm flowcharts, etc. Are there any tools or techniques that have simplified your approach? Please share your planning process for writing or research projects. For a free alternative, Prezi could be used to create a mindmap, but one would lose the simplicity of Scapple, ability to work without a web connection, and would not be able to output files. Currently, Scapple, developed by Literature and Latte, is only available for Macs and the price is $12 for an educational license and $15 for a regular license. If one uses Scrivener for writing, it’s possible to export a Scapple mindmap and import it as an outline to Scrivener. One can drag and drop this group anywhere on Scapple. Images and text in a background shape that holds everything together. While it doesn’t replace my notebook, I’ve used Photoshop and a Wacom Bamboo Create drawing pad to add doodles and notes. Further, to add an image, one merely drags and drops the file onto the digital paper. One types notes and can easily group them together and link ideas/notes to one another. Since I have a reason to use the software, I can really see how the tool can be used.Įssentially, Scapple is a large piece of digital paper. (Thank you, Dropbox.) So, I decided to give Scapple another try and, this time around, I’m impressed. I needed to quickly lay out ideas and move from work to home computers. Last month I started work on a novel and the process is so much more complex than writing a short story. My dismissiveness though had more to do with a failure of vision on my part, than a failure of functionality with the software. After reading “ Making Connections with Scapple” by Amy Cavender two months ago, I downloaded the trial version of Scapple, tested it out, and wasn’t impressed. The app is ideal for things like to do lists and brain storming sessions, without the need for wasteful paper usage.Testing software without a use case is like kicking the tires of a car. There are various compatibility features on offer with other popular applications and services, such as Scrivener and iCloud, and your notes can be exported out into a number of popular file formats. Notes can be moved around, stacked, and removed, while the connections themselves can be labelled. Simply double click (or tap) anywhere to create a new note. Scapper brings back that magic for you.Īt its core, Scapple is an app that lets you scribble notes down in much the same way you would with a pencil and some paper, and then allows you to connect those notes together. In this age of computers and tablets, the majesty of pencil and paper is slowly being lost.
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