Plain text has been around for decades and it's here to stay. Monodraw allows you to easily create text-based art – like diagrams, layouts, flow charts and visually represent algorithms, data structures, binary formats and more. Because it's all just text, it can be easily embedded almost anywhere.
Watch VideoMonodraw is powered by a custom CoreText-based text engine giving you precise control over the layout. You can adjust the alignment, position, line sweep direction and line movement. Adding a border around your text is only a click away, too.
The line tool makes it super easy to connect the shapes on your canvas. Both orthogonal and staircase lines are supported, together with the ability to set a line dash pattern. Anchor points allow you to dynamically attach your lines to other shapes.
The rectangle tool can be used to create boxes – one of the most commonly used elements. You can easily adjust the the border and the background with just a few clicks. "Smart corners" allow you to edit special points which would be preserved even if you resize the rects.
The surface tool is the simplest one of all – it gives you an empty canvas. You can then use the pencil tool or your keyboard to draw. The auto tracing feature can produce great results and save you a lot of time. Character palettes provide convenient access to the plethora of graphical Unicode code points.
When it comes to creating text art, Monodraw helps you out by providing the tools you need.
Shapes can be grouped for effortless management. By composing multiple elements to form a single group, duplication and moving become very easy.
Alignment guides are a life-saver when arranging and sizing your content – no longer do you have to stare at the screen and count the number of characters.
When you need to focus on a particular part of the canvas, the rest of the shapes can be locked or hidden away. This allows you to concentrate on the currently relevant elements.
All functionality can be efficiently accessed via shortcuts, so there is no need to take your hands off the keyboard. Tools are quickly accessible with a single keystroke, without the need for a modifier.
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Monodraw is designed for the Mac from the ground up – everything from the text layout engine to the interface is made to take advantage of OS X. Like all native apps, it just works the way you expect. When you make a mistake, undo is always ready to come to the rescue. Exporting your text art could not get any easier – just copy and paste it into your favourite text editor.
When will the beta be released?
We refrain from announcing availability dates as we don't want to rush things – the quality of our software is extremely important. We have frozen the feature set of the upcoming beta build and are currently working on making sure everything is polished to a high standard.
How would the beta process work?
Once we're happy with the state of the software, we are going to distribute beta keys in batches, on a first-come, first-served basis. Our aim is to slowly expand the pool of active beta testers. The app will be free to use without any restrictions throughout the beta period.
What are the system requirements?
The app currently requires 10.9 Mavericks or later. We have not yet finalised the requirements and it's possible that we might require Yosemite if we need to take advantage of the new APIs. We would generally not hesitate to drop support for older versions of OS X if it allows us to improve the user experience.
How do I keep track of the latest news?
We're going to be posting updates on our blog (RSS feed). In addition, you should follow @Monodraw.
How do I provide feedback?
We would love to hear from you – the best way would be to drop us an email. Alternatively, just tweet us @Monodraw.