How to use Mesh Rhino

On desktop, the left panel (headed ADD NEW) holds the shapes, colors, and connectors you add to the canvas. The right panel (headed UPDATE / SEARCH) lets you edit a selected item and search your diagram. Use the collapse arrows on either panel to reclaim canvas space.

On mobile, the panels become bottom sheets. Tap the palette icon in the header to open the ADD NEW sheet (shapes and connectors), and the sliders icon to open the UPDATE / SEARCH sheet. All touch targets are sized for easy tapping.

New users always start on a blank canvas with a short Tips box pointing to the left and right panels. The tips disappear as soon as you begin building.

Mesh Rhino offers 12 shapes: Process, Decision, Start / End (terminator), Input / Output, Document, Database, Cloud, Data Center, AI, Goal, Review, and Video. Open the left panel (or tap the palette icon on mobile) and click any shape.

Clicking a shape opens a small preview box that slides out from the top-left of the canvas. It shows the selected shape at double size so you can confirm what you picked before placing it.

Click the + button inside the preview box to enter placement mode — the cursor becomes a crosshair. Click anywhere on the canvas to drop the shape at that exact spot. You can pick a different shape or connector while still in placement mode and the preview updates instantly without cancelling your placement.

Changed your mind? Click the small X in the corner of the preview box, or press Esc, to cancel placement mode and return to the workspace without adding anything. Once a shape or connector is placed, the preview box slides away automatically.

Double-click any shape to rename it. Drag from its body to reposition it anywhere on the canvas.

Select a shape to reveal 8 resize handles at its corners and edge midpoints. Drag any handle to scale the shape directly. Text inside shapes auto-wraps and shrinks to fit as you resize or type.

With a shape selected, a color palette appears at the top of both the left and right panels. Pick any swatch to recolor the shape instantly. The right panel also shows a connector color palette when a connector is selected.

Mesh Rhino offers 9 connector types: Straight, Curved, Elbow L, Elbow R, Double-headed arrow, Split 1→2, Split 1→3, Split 1→4, and Dog-Leg. Choose one from the left panel. Selecting a connector also opens the preview box — click its + button to enter placement mode, then click the canvas to drop the connector there. You can also drag directly from one shape's edge to another to draw and link a connector in one motion.

Each shape has four cardinal anchor ports (North, East, South, West) shown as subtle circles. Drag either endpoint (tail or head) within the enlarged snap zone to magnet-snap and lock it to a port — order doesn't matter. The connector then follows that shape as it moves. Grab a locked endpoint and drag it away from all ports to unlock it again.

When an endpoint locks, both the source and destination shapes display a bold outline around their full bounding box so you can see the complete connection at a glance. This works the same across every shape type. Multiple connectors can anchor to the same shape or port, and the link count shown in the right panel updates immediately. Double-click a connector to add or edit its label.

The right panel is split into two clearly headed sections so you always edit the right thing.

Update/Change SHAPE appears when a shape is selected. Use it to change the shape's Color (palette swatches), edit its Label text, switch its Type to any of the 12 shapes (the shape keeps its position and label but redraws in the new form), or Delete shape. If nothing is selected, a prompt reminds you to select a shape first.

Update/Change CONNECTOR appears when a connector is selected. Use it to change the connector's Color, switch its Connector type to any of the 9 types (your existing anchor links are preserved), add or edit its Text box label, or transform it with Rotate, Flip, and Reverse (which flips the arrow direction). The Delete connector button removes it. This is the easiest way to update an existing connector without redrawing it.

When a connector edge label is selected instead, the right panel shows a label field for that edge.

Select any shape or connector on the canvas, then press Delete or Backspace to remove it. Deleting a shape also removes any connectors anchored to it.

You can also click the Delete shape or Delete connector button in the right panel when an item is selected. Every deletion is tracked in history, so Ctrl + Z brings it right back. Link counts update immediately to reflect the removal.

Every change is tracked. Use the undo/redo icons in the header, or the shortcuts Ctrl + Z and Ctrl + Shift + Z (Cmd on Mac) to step backward and forward through your edits.

Scroll the mouse wheel to zoom, or use the + / − buttons in the header. Click and drag on empty canvas to pan. The zoom range is 0% to 250%.

On touch devices, use a two-finger pinch to zoom in and out. Pinch zoom is tuned to be smooth and stable — it stays within the 0%–250% range and never blanks the canvas, even when you pinch quickly. Panning, dragging, and selection all continue to work normally alongside pinch zoom.

Use the Fit to view button to recenter and scale the whole diagram into frame at once.

In the right panel, click Locate First Location to jump straight to the start of your flowchart. If your shapes are linked via connectors, it centers on the root shape — the one that is a source but has no incoming connection. If nothing is linked yet, it centers on the first shape you placed.

Click Locate Last Location to jump to the most recently placed shape on the canvas — handy on large diagrams when you want to return to where you were last working.

Use the search box in the right panel to find text across shapes, connectors, and edge labels. Press Enter or Shift + Enter to jump to the next or previous match. The canvas pans to each result.

When a match is found, the located shape or connector is briefly highlighted with a pulsing amber ring so you can spot it instantly. The highlight is temporary — it moves to the next result as you navigate, and it disappears entirely when you clear or reset the search field. It never changes the actual color or styling of your shapes or connectors.

Toggle View all shapes in the right panel to auto-fit and center your entire workflow on screen. This locks canvas interaction so you can review the full picture without accidentally moving anything. Toggle it off to resume editing exactly where you left off.

Switch between dark and light canvas backgrounds from the toggle in the right panel — useful for matching presentation contexts or improving contrast for certain color choices.

Mesh Rhino ships with 10 ready-made templates to give you a head start: New Employee Onboarding, Sales Pipeline, Customer Onboarding, Purchase Order Approval, Customer Support Escalation, Bug Fix, Change Request, Incident Response, Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC), and Project Planning. Open the Templates menu in the header and pick one.

If you already have shapes on the canvas, a replacement warning appears before the template loads, because applying a template replaces your current work. You get three choices:

• Download JSON & Load — saves your current flowchart as a JSON file first, then loads the template. Use this to keep a backup.
• Replace — discards your current work and loads the template.
• Cancel — closes the dialog and leaves your canvas untouched.

Once a template is loaded, every shape and connector is fully editable — recolor, relabel, move, or delete anything just like a flowchart you built from scratch.

Click the Export button in the toolbar to open a dropdown with three format options:

• JSON — preserves full editability so you can re-import and continue editing later.
• SVG — a scalable vector file, ideal for presentations and crisp printing.
• PNG — a flat image ready to share or embed anywhere.

Click Import in the header and choose a previously exported JSON file to load it back onto the canvas, fully editable. Importing replaces whatever is currently on the canvas, so export your current work first if you want to keep it.

You can build flowcharts without signing in. As a guest, your work is automatically kept in your browser's temporary session storage as you edit, so it survives a page reload in the same browser. Guest work is not tied to an account and is not shared across devices — it lives in that one browser only.

Click Sign In in the header to create an account or log in. Once signed in, the Save button becomes available — click it to permanently save your flowchart to your account so you can open it from any device. Signed-in users also get continuous autosave: your work is pushed to your account automatically as you edit, and a final save is flushed when you sign out or close the tab.

Signing in never overwrites unsaved work already on your canvas — your in-progress flowchart stays put until you choose to save it.

Use the collapse arrows on the side panels to reclaim canvas space when you need more room to work.

Hover over anchor ports on shapes to see them brighten — this helps you find the exact spot to lock connectors.

The right panel shows live counts of shapes and connectors in your diagram, updating as you add or remove elements.

To change a connector without redrawing it, select it and use the Update/Change CONNECTOR section in the right panel.