Visio alternative?

[TechnoLawyer]

I was going to make the switch from PC to Mac, but now I see that Microsoft, in their infinite wisdom, never ported Visio to MacoS. Well, that's rather disappointing.

Can anyone recommend a good alternative? My three main uses of Visio are circuit schematics, circuit block diagrams, and flowcharts -- what I'm actually doing is drafting the drawings for patent applications (I am a patent attorney). I'm not a big fan of Visio, but have been using it for years at this point because it is pretty standard.

Prior to Visio, I used Libre Office Draw (which actually worked pretty well, and hey, you cannot beat the price), and prior to that Corel Draw (which is overly complex for my purposes).

I also see that OneDrive is an issue on MacOS now. Ugh.

 

[Rookwood]

Take a look at OmniGraffle. I've been using it for years. Love it. It also has Visio file format compatibility features, though I've never needed that --- because at companies where I've worked and needed to use Windows were also too cheap to buy Visio.

 

[MikeDr206]

I’ll second OmniGraffle. I’m a patent attorney and it’s what we use for patent drawings. The Visio compatibility leaves a lot to be desired tho… imports never seem to occur quite right.

 

[TechnoLawyer]

I’ll second OmniGraffle. I’m a patent attorney and it’s what we use for patent drawings. The Visio compatibility leaves a lot to be desired tho… imports never seem to occur quite right.

Look out for that 103, bro...

Thanks for the recommendation. Any other suggestions on Mac programs you find useful for your practice? The only real things I'm married to are Office 365 and OneDrive.

I can use a virtual machine to access Visio to edit an existing file if I get a drawing objection or something, but good god is that VM setup slow.

 

[MikeDr206]

We use a custom database in Filemaker Pro for docketing. I use Things as an additional reminder program as well. And Path Finder from Cocoatech as a sort of document management program for PDFs of PTO correspondence and filings, although Finder could just as easily be used. Finally, like you, Office 365. Oh, and Adobe Acrobat. Last big one is Resilio, which syncs work files between my Mac and my paralegal’s (who is in a different state) in real-time.

FMP is really the glue, though. I have custom scripts set up that do things like automatically generate PDF forms and Word templates, and also send out emails through the Mail app, as well as generate LEDES invoice files. It took a while to “roll my own,” in this respect, but it has worked out well ultimately.

One online service I use is PatentBots.com, which checks for antecedent basis in claims as well as word support and reference number consistency in applications (both spec and drawings).

 

[All.in.4.Apple]

Check out MyDraw if you want desktop software. They support Visio VSD, VSDX and stencils too.

You can get a trial and see if it meets your needs.

MyDraw - Advanced Diagram and Flowchart Software

MyDraw is an advanced diagramming software for drawing flowcharts, org charts, mind maps, network diagrams, floor plans, and business diagrams.

www.mydraw.com

 

[TechnoLawyer]

We use a custom database in Filemaker Pro for docketing. I use Things as an additional reminder program as well. And Path Finder from Cocoatech as a sort of document management program for PDFs of PTO correspondence and filings, although Finder could just as easily be used. Finally, like you, Office 365. Oh, and Adobe Acrobat. Last big one is Resilio, which syncs work files between my Mac and my paralegal’s (who is in a different state) in real-time.

FMP is really the glue, though. I have custom scripts set up that do things like automatically generate PDF forms and Word templates, and also send out emails through the Mail app, as well as generate LEDES invoice files. It took a while to “roll my own,” in this respect, but it has worked out well ultimately.

One online service I use is PatentBots.com, which checks for antecedent basis in claims as well as word support and reference number consistency in applications (both spec and drawings).

Thank you for the recommendations. I'll definitely look into some of that (particularly FMP; I've been meaning to automate those tasks for, uh, at least a decade).

How do you like patentbots? I have historically used ClaimsMasterPro, but it has become a buggy, inaccurate piece of garbage with the latest release and I did not renew. I've been looking for a replacement.

Check out MyDraw if you want desktop software. They support Visio VSD, VSDX and stencils too.

You can get a trial and see if it meets your needs.

MyDraw - Advanced Diagram and Flowchart Software

MyDraw is an advanced diagramming software for drawing flowcharts, org charts, mind maps, network diagrams, floor plans, and business diagrams.

www.mydraw.com

Thanks for this recommendation. Will definitely check this out as well.

 

[webbga]

I’ll second OmniGraffle. I’m a patent attorney and it’s what we use for patent drawings. The Visio compatibility leaves a lot to be desired tho… imports never seem to occur quite right.

OmniGrafle is a great program! Highly recommend it!

 

[MikeDr206]

How do you like patentbots? I have historically used ClaimsMasterPro, but it has become a buggy, inaccurate piece of garbage with the latest release and I did not renew. I've been looking for a replacement.

It‘s pretty good. Definitely will capture reference number issues. For antecedent basis in claims, it’s not perfect, but does a pretty good job. I think the cost is way too much for what you get -- I think $200/year would be better — but such is life.

 

[johnpieterswart]

Hi TechnoLawyer,

I'm also a patent attorney and I had been trying to solve the same issue. I did try OmniGraffle and was impressed, but since I need to work with others who are tied to Visio, I couldn't really adopt it.

The solution I found was to use Parallels to emulate Windows on my MacBook. I run Visio natively in Parallels - Parallels also has this great feature called "coherence" where it just looks and feels like you're running another Mac app. It even shows up in your dock with the Visio Icon and the red parallels logo (see photo). You can drag files back and forth and it pretty much does what you'd expect if it was running on Mac. I found this to be the best solution for patent drawings on Mac by far.

I'd also second the recommendation for PatentBots. It's saved me a ton of time and they're always updating with new tools and features.

John

 

[MikeDr206]

It’s amazing the number of patent attorneys who use Macs and are on this forum! And judging by @johnpieterswart’s screenshot, a long while ago I worked at the firm where he works now… say hi to Steve Lundberg for me. ?

 

[MikeDr206]

Also, my concern with relying on Parallels is that it’s basically limited to Intel Macs.

 

[johnpieterswart]

Also, my concern with relying on Parallels is that it’s basically limited to Intel Macs.

Right on, Mike! I'll say hey to Steve.

I've actually been running this on a new M1 MacBook Pro with no issues - WindowsArm is getting good!

 

[MikeDr206]

Right on, Mike! I'll say hey to Steve.

I've actually been running this on a new M1 MacBook Pro with no issues - WindowsArm is getting good!

That is good to know! Are you running Win10 or 11? My main machine is a Mac Mini 2018, so not an issue right now for me, but am thinking about upgrading soon.

 

[johnpieterswart]

That is good to know! Are you running Win10 or 11? My main machine is a Mac Mini 2018, so not an issue right now for me, but am thinking about upgrading soon.

Running Win11 with ease! And I've gotta say again that Coherence mode is really cool. Really feels like you're just running programs rather than a sort of VM environment.

 

[TechnoLawyer]

It‘s pretty good. Definitely will capture reference number issues. For antecedent basis in claims, it’s not perfect, but does a pretty good job. I think the cost is way too much for what you get -- I think $200/year would be better — but such is life.

Will definitely check it out. I use the antecedent basis checker functionality a lot in ClaimMaster. One of the types of cases I get in regularly are cases originally drafted and filed abroad, then translated into English and sent to me for filing under Paris convention. As you might imagine, those claims require very close checking.

My issue with ClaimMaster is that lately, it thinks that many things with proper antecedent basis do not have it.

Here's an example where I can understand it telling me to double check:

A device comprising:
a first widget...
a second widget...
wherein the first and second widgets are configured to...

I get that "wherein the first and second" might confused it. Not an issue.

But it will often complain about things like:

A device comprising:
a first widget, wherein the first widget...
a second widget;
wherein the first widget...

Specifically, it will complain that there's no antecedent basis for "the first widget". Come on now.

 

[MikeDr206]

Will definitely check it out. I use the antecedent basis checker functionality a lot in ClaimMaster. One of the types of cases I get in regularly are cases originally drafted and filed abroad, then translated into English and sent to me for filing under Paris convention. As you might imagine, those claims require very close checking.

My issue with ClaimMaster is that lately, it thinks that many things with proper antecedent basis do not have it.

Here's an example where I can understand it telling me to double check:

A device comprising:
a first widget...
a second widget...
wherein the first and second widgets are configured to...

I get that "wherein the first and second" might confused it. Not an issue.

But it will often complain about things like:

A device comprising:
a first widget, wherein the first widget...
a second widget;
wherein the first widget...

Specifically, it will complain that there's no antecedent basis for "the first widget". Come on now.

Patent Bots should be ok with that. I also do a fair amount of prosecution for first-filed cases abroad. Patent Bots isn’t perfect for really hairy cases (tells me there are no problems when there are, antecedent basis-wise), but in general it’s a good “second set of eyes.”

 

[TechnoLawyer]

It’s amazing the number of patent attorneys who use Macs and are on this forum!

I'm laughing that this thread has brought out three of us so far.

In 2020, I joked that I was sitting there responding to Office Actions during the zombie apocalypse. 2022, I get to joke that I'm sitting here responding to Office Actions during the start of WW3. Sigh.

 

[TechnoLawyer]

The mouse wheel zooming on Omnigrafle is terrible. It zooms in and out of the center of the screen, not where the mouse pointer is. It's a shame because it looks fairly nice otherwise.

Currently playing around with Vectornator. Sort of reminds me of old school Corel Draw. This may be the one I go with, and hey, can't beat the price.

 

[CopyCatz]

draw.io. Can be used online and offline, I use it a lot for work.

 

[TechnoLawyer]

draw.io. Can be used online and offline, I use it a lot for work.

I just tried it out. Absolutely, 100% what I've been looking for, and cannot beat the price of free.

Thanks!

 

[MacGizmo]

draw.io. Can be used online and offline, I use it a lot for work.

Nice resource, thanks for sharing it!

 

[Cayenne1]

I use Parallels to support Visio, Access and Photoshop CS6 on WinXP VM. Do not use Bootcamp. I have an Intel Mac and Apple Silicon Macs may be the cat's meow, but I'll keep mine until MS ports their suite. That will most likely be never

I tried draw.io on some of my engineering visio's and it did not handle dimensions correctly. File 1 is a PDF direct from a Visio file. File 2 is a PDF of the same Visio file opened in on-line draw.io. The dimensions have shifted.