How do I change the default topic or connector shape to use in all my maps?
BigPicture topics and connectors default to a certain shape. (In this discussion, "shape" refers to the shape, border and background colors, style, font, and placement of text.) In any map, you can change the shape of any topics or connectors by selecting them and using BigPicture and/or Excel tools. However, you can also change the BigPicture defaults from the Application Settings dialog box. Then all map topics or connectors will have this new shape.
View default shape
Here are the default shapes for topics and connectors. Again, they include not only the shape and colors, but the font and label placement in the topics. Any of these defaults can be changed.
Open the Application Settings dialog box
1) Select Application Settings from BigPicture's Utilities drop-down list to open this dialog box.
2) The Topics and Connectors sections determine the default shapes.
Note that if a map already exists, changes to these application settings won't affect existing topics or connectors, but they will apply to new topics and connectors in the current map and in future maps.
Change the default topic shape
Create a desired topic shape
Starting from any shape (which could be an Excel shape or a BigPicture topic), modify it as you like.
Open the Application Settings
Click <select shape> to the right of the Default Shape (See #1) option and then click the ellipsis button (See #2).
Select the desired shape
From the resulting dialog box, select the desired shape. Its name appears in the box. Then click OK.
Accept the change
When you click OK in the Application Settings dialog box, you are asked if you really want to make this change. If you do, click OK.
Create a new topic
Add a new topic to an existing map, or add a topic to start a new map. In either case, the new topic will have the new shape.
Change other default topic properties
Again using the Application Settings dialog box, you can change two other default topic properties.
Show label only
This setting can be toggled to Yes or No, with the following effect.
Picture position
If you right-click a topic and select the option Add Picture, this application setting determines whether the picture is in the left part or the right part of the topic. Here is an example where the position has been changed to "right."
Change the default connector shape
Create a desired connector shape
Starting from any connector (which could be an Excel shape or a BigPicture connector), modify it as you like.
Open the Application Settings Dialog
Click <select connector> (See #1) and then the ellipsis button (See #2)
Select the desired connector
From the resulting dialog box, select the desired connector. Its name appears in the box. Then click OK.
Accept the change
When you click OK in the Application Settings dialog box, you are asked if you really want to make this change. If you do, click OK.
Create a new connector
Add a new connector to an existing map or a new map. In either case, the new connector will have the new shape.
Change other default connector properties
From Application Settings, you can also change several other default connector properties in the obvious way. Remember that a connector label is a text box with text or a symbol that is placed on a connector. Unless you change the Always Label Connectors property, connector labels are optional.
Click Reset to return to original settings
You can always click the Reset button at the bottom of the Application Settings dialog box to return to the original default settings.
