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Org Chart Studio

How to customize and reuse an org chart theme

Preview a theme, change cards, text, avatars, and connectors, then apply or copy that theme to the chart you choose.

Org Chart Studio TeamUpdated6 min read
  • help
  • how-to

Each chart owns its theme. Preview a catalog theme, adjust it, and apply it without changing another chart. If 2 charts should match, copy the theme deliberately.

Preview and apply a theme

  1. Open Themes on the desktop chart.
  2. Choose Browse.
  3. Find a theme and choose Preview.
  4. Check the shared Preview at the top of the drawer.
  5. Choose Apply to chart.

Previewing is a draft. The chart keeps its current theme until you choose Apply to chart. Cancel closes the workspace without applying the draft.

After Apply, the chosen theme is embedded in the current chart. The chart does not depend on a shared library entry that can later change underneath it.

Customize the current chart

Open Themes and choose Edit. The editor groups its controls into Cards, Content, Colors, Text, Avatar, and Connectors.

First, check the cards on the chart. In this example, their corners are sharp.

A four-person fictional chart before theme editing, with rectangular cards and sharp corners.

  1. Open Themes > Edit > Cards.
  2. Under Corner, choose Round. The editor marks the draft as Unapplied changes.
Open Themes > Edit > Cards, then choose Round under Corner. The other card controls remain visible above it.

The sample Preview at the top of the editor shows the draft. The chart itself keeps its sharp corners until you apply the change.

  1. Check the sample Preview.
  2. Choose Apply to chart in the footer.
Check the draft, then choose Apply to chart. Cancel closes the editor without applying it.

Return to the chart and check the same cards. Their corners should now be round. The people, roles, and reporting lines should be unchanged.

The same four-person chart after applying the theme, with rounded card corners and the same people and reporting lines.

Apply saves the draft to this chart. Reopening Edit with no new changes leaves Apply to chart disabled. Cancel before Apply keeps the original Sharp corners.

  • Use Cards for the card treatment, border, corners, and related card design.
  • Use Content to choose which built-in and custom fields appear on cards.
  • Use Colors for the chart palette and department treatment.
  • Use Text to choose a text field, then adjust its font and styling.
  • Use Avatar to show, hide, size, position, and style avatars.
  • Use Connectors for line shape, style, color, weight, ends, and gaps.

The sample Preview updates while you work. Choose Apply to chart when ready, then check the full chart and Export preview at the size you plan to use.

Changing a connector's appearance does not change reporting relationships. Use the manager controls or chart dragging for that job. The line can become curved or dotted; it still joins the same people.

Choose fonts and text size

In Themes > Edit > Text, Typography offers Sans, Mono, and Serif. Use Field to inspect Name, Job title, or Department, then adjust its capitalization or color when needed.

Text size follows the chart-wide Cards > Card height choice: Compact, Comfortable, or Spacious. Card width separately offers Narrow, Standard, and Wide. Studio does not provide a free-form numeric font-size field, so use Card height for a consistent size change across cards and Card width when long names need more horizontal room.

Check the full chart and Export preview. Fitting a large organization onto one page can shrink every card; use a branch or paginated export when text must stay readable.

PNG and PDF render with Studio's bundled Sans, Mono, or Serif face. Editable PowerPoint uses presentation-safe font faces and native text boxes, so the presentation app can lay out text differently. Very small PowerPoint text is limited to 4 points, and card shadows are not carried into editable PowerPoint shapes. Inspect the downloaded deck before presenting it.

Work with department colors

Some themes use a uniform accent. Others color cards by department. Department treatment is part of the theme, while a person's Department value is part of their data.

Use one accent for every department

With a uniform treatment, every department uses the same card and connector styling. The department names can differ without changing the card colors.

The same four-person chart using one uniform blue card treatment and solid right-angle connector lines.

Color cards by department

Turn on department colors when each department should use its assigned accent. This example also uses curved, dashed connectors so the visual change is clear.

The same four-person chart using intentionally selected department chip colors and curved dashed connector lines.

These charts share the same people, reporting lines, layout, and scale. The second changes only theme settings: department colors on the chips, and curved dashed connectors. Editing a person does not pick a new card color.

When department coloring is active, a new or renamed department receives a color through the chart's department palette. Its card geometry stays consistent with the theme. You do not need to reapply the theme when a department is added.

If a department looks wrong after an edit, first confirm the person's Department value in People, then inspect Themes > Edit > Colors. Fix the data when the department name is wrong; fix the theme when the visual treatment is wrong.

Reset or cancel theme work

Reset restores the design adjustments to the current editing session's starter. If you previewed a catalog or copied theme, that selected theme becomes the starter for the draft. Reset does not delete custom fields or their values. Cancel closes the workspace without applying the staged result. Neither command is the people-history Undo button.

If you have unapplied edits and choose a different starter in Browse or Copy, Studio asks Replace your theme changes? Choose Replace preview only when you want to discard the current draft and preview the new starter.

Avatar visibility is a chart display preference. Browsing or choosing another starter theme preserves that preference instead of silently turning portraits on or off. You can change it explicitly under Avatar or in the desktop Layout panel.

After Apply to chart, ordinary Undo will not restore the previous theme. Undo and Redo cover people, fields, and reporting edits.

Copy a theme from another chart

  1. Open the destination chart, the one whose appearance should change.
  2. Open Themes and choose Copy.
  3. Find the source chart and choose Preview.
  4. Confirm the Preview, then choose Apply to chart.

The destination receives its own embedded copy of the source chart's current theme. Later changes to either chart do not update the other one. Copy again when you want to bring them back into alignment.

Sign in first. Both the source and destination must be saved charts in your chart list before you use Copy.

Theme editing is part of the desktop chart workspace. On compact screens, use People to edit records and role details; return to the wider workspace for full theme design.

For spacing and view controls on large charts, see make a large org chart readable.