Inserting Image to Diagram

When modeling, you may have the need of expressing domain specific idea and find the predefined notations not enough. In such case, you may want to model with the aid of external images. VP allows you to integrate external images into diagram easily by copying directly from applications such as diagram editors and browsers. This article will show you how to copy images from a web page and integrate them with the shapes in diagram.

Here is a web page that contains the image we need to copy to the diagram in VP.

1. Copy the image that we want to add into the diagram.
   
   
   
2. In VP, open the diagram where the image should be placed.
   
   
   
3. Right-click on the diagram background and select either Paste Model or Paste View from the popup menu.
   
   
   
4. This pastes the copied image to the diagram.
   
   
   
5. Press on it and drag it to the correct position.
   
   
   
6. Double-click on the image to activate the inline editing of the caption. Enter a name.
   
   
   
7. Resize the image if it is too big in size. First, change the scaling to Fit to Shape by right-clicking on the shape and selecting Scaling > Fit to Shape from the popup menu.
   
   
   
8. Adjust the size by dragging the shape’s handler.
   
   
   

1. Now, we are going to connect an image shape with a Use Case. Move the mouse cursor over the image shape.
   
   
   
2. Move the mouse cursor over the Generic Connector resource.
   
   
   
3. Press and drag to an existing shape.
   
   
   
4. Release the mouse button and enter the name of the connector, if necessary.

The appearance of connector can be customized. You may change the line style, color, weight, and the arrow heads. To format connector:

1. Move the mouse cursor over the connector, a Format Line resource shows around the middle of the connector.
   
   
   
2. Click on the Format Line resource, select the dotted line option from the pop-up menu.
   
   
   The connector becomes a dotted line.
   
   
   

More advanced line formatting can be achieved through the Format Line dialog box. To show the Format Line dialog box, move the mouse cursor over the connector, click on the Format Line resource, select Format Line... from the popup menu.

1. This shows the Format Line dialog box. You may adjust the weight and the style of arrow head here.
   
   
   The connector will be updated according to following the settings.
   
   
   

Pinning a connection end point allows the pinned end point of a connector to be fixed, no matter how the connecting shapes are moved. To pin an end of the connector:

1. Move the mouse cursor over the connector, the Pin icons of both ends appear. Click on the Pin icon to freeze the end’s position.
   
   
   
2. Now, you can move the connector’s end freely without having it restored back to the original position.
   
   
   

• Know more about Image Shape - A utility for displaying an image on any diagrams
  Using Image Shape
  
  
• Learn how to resize shapes in a group
  Resizing Shapes in Group
  
  
• Get more tips on diagramming with Visual Paradigm’s Products
  Tips and Tricks on Diagramming
  
  
• Learn more about object-relational mapping
  Object-Relational Mapping

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• Learn more on visual modeling feature from Visual Paradigm for UML’s online documentation [Part 1]
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  • Chapter 2 Working with Projects - This chapter offers basis in working with VP-UML project, such as creating, exporting and merging projects.
    
    
  • Chapter 3 Working with Diagrams - This chapter shows you how to perform the visual modeling in VP-UML such as drawing diagram elements, customizing connectors and editing the diagrams etc.
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