Ready to learn the basics of diagramming in Lucidchart? You’re definitely in the right place!

The good news: Lucidchart is really easy to learn. In about 15 minutes, you’ll have finished these tutorials and will be diagramming like a pro, saving your company time and money and coming up with more great ideas on how to grow the business.

Here’s an overview of what we’ll cover in this post to get you started—you can start at the top, or feel free to skip around and just read the sections you think would be most helpful!

Inspiration: Why diagram?
Inspiration: What can you do with a diagram?
Create your first diagram
Find the right shapes
Customize your shape’s appearance
Customize your line style
Feature Find

Inspiration: Why diagram?

Diagramming makes it easier to share and understand ideas, information, and processes, which is something that most people find themselves doing a lot when they're at work. When you use diagrams to work visually, you can find new ways to connect the dots.

What’s the ROI of connecting the dots? We’ve surveyed hundreds of users to understand what people gain from using diagrams in various roles throughout a company. To name a few key benefits, people who use Lucidchart to diagram on average:

• Innovate 40% faster.
• Increase productivity by 38%.
• Save an average of 2.9 hours per week when they’re collaborating with others.

When you innovate faster and you are more productive, you save the company time and money and find new ways to solve tough problems.

Inspiration: What can you do with a diagram?

We’ve talked to hundreds of people who diagram, and a better question might be “What can’t you do with a diagram?” We’ve seen people use Lucidchart to:

Document processes

From process flows that clearly show responsibility and project handoffs to user flows that show how people interact with a product to mapping a strategic plan, Lucidchart makes it easy to show what gets done when and by whom.

Create resource hubs

We’ve seen amazing documents that link out to every resource your team could need to complete a project. Diagrams are a great way to make sure that your team members have access to the information they need and see how they fit in the bigger picture.

Show “before” and “after” to prove ROI

Many users templatize “as-is” and “to-be” processes to explain technical solutions to a less technical audience. When people can clearly see the before and after, it’s much easier to get buy-in for your ideas and solutions.

Automate documentation

Thousands of people use Lucidchart to automatically create flowcharts and diagrams, including linking data to shapes, creating org charts, and visualizing AWS network architecture.

Create stunning art

Talk about thinking outside the box—or the shape in this case ;). Check out Van Gogh's “Starry Night” à la Lucidchart.

… and this is only the beginning. To learn more about how other companies are using Lucidchart, check out the “Lucidchart Inspiration” section of the Resource Center.

Another great way to learn what types of diagrams might be useful to you is to take a look at some Lucidchart templates. You can click on a template below to open it in Lucidchart and start exploring:

There are hundreds of additional templates in the Resource Center and in the Lucidchart editor. All of them are free.

How to find templates in the Resource Center:

How to find templates in the Lucidchart editor:

Learning the Lucidchart basics

Ready to create a diagram from scratch? With Lucidchart, it’s a piece of cake. These two- to three-minute videos can walk you through the process in bite-sized steps, or you can check out this step-by-step tutorial for written instructions.

Create your first diagram

In three minutes, you’ll learn how to access templates in the editor, create a document, and get a general sense for where different types of tools are located in Lucidchart.

Find the right shapes

Looking for specific shapes to create org charts, UML diagrams, or a process flow with swimlanes? Here’s a two-minute overview on how to access all of the shapes in Lucidchart.

Customize your shape’s appearance

Transform your diagrams from functional to fantastic with simple shape styling. Locate the shape menu, change the color, opacity, and borders of your shapes, or set a default format for all of the shapes you pull onto the canvas—learn it all in two minutes!

Customize your line style

Become a line styling ninja: use curved or straight lines to connect your shapes, quickly change the direction of an arrow, remove an arrow from a line, or add text to your lines in Lucidchart.

Feature Find

Lucidchart is more versatile than you’d think. When you find yourself asking “Can Lucidchart do …?”, the answer is probably yes. Find things faster with this 50-second tutorial on finding features in Lucidchart.

Congratulations! You’ve got the basics down.

Want to supercharge your productivity and get buy-in faster on your latest projects? Lucidchart’s collaboration features take visual productivity to a whole new level. Stay tuned for our blog post on how to collaborate in Lucidchart.