How to change a node's or edge's appearance on one diagram

A node or edge normally looks the way its metamodel type says. You can override that look on a single diagram, for example to highlight a system under review. The override applies to this occurrence on this diagram only. The element itself and its type are unchanged, and the same element on another diagram keeps its usual look.

Open the Appearance section

1. Select a node or an edge on the Canvas. To format several nodes at once, select them all.
2. In the Properties panel, find the Appearance section, marked (this diagram only). It sits below the name and the property values, and for an edge below its Source and Target too.
3. Click the heading to open it. The section starts closed, and its heading shows a count such as ● 2 overridden when this node or edge already has overrides.

You can also right-click a node or an edge and choose Appearance > Edit…. This brings the Properties panel forward, opens the Appearance section and scrolls to it.

The section remembers whether you last opened or closed it. Open it once and it stays open as you click from one node or edge to the next, so you can restyle several in a row; close it and it stays closed. Each session starts with it closed.

Change a node

The Appearance section for a node has these rows:

Row	What it changes
Fill	The fill colour, with a Light and a Dark value
Border	The border colour, with a Light and a Dark value
Text	The text colour, with a Light and a Dark value. It covers the name, stereotype, compartments, icon and an outside label
Border Width	1–4px
Border Style	Solid, Dashed, Dotted or None
Shadow	On or Off
Text H-Align / Text V-Align	Where the name sits inside the node

A package node on a diagram has only Fill, Border and Border Width.

Change an edge

The Appearance section for an edge has these rows:

Row	What it changes
Line	The line colour, with a Light and a Dark value. Filled arrowheads follow it
Label	The colour of every text on the edge (name, role names, multiplicities, property values), with a Light and a Dark value
Line Width	1, 1.5, 2 or 3px
Line Pattern	Solid, Dashed or Dotted

Line Pattern is the dash pattern. It’s separate from an edge’s Line Style, which is its routing; see Route edges.

Set a colour

Each colour row has a Light swatch and a Dark swatch, with = between them when they’re linked.

1. Click a swatch. A popover opens.
2. Pick a colour: a preset, one from This metamodel (colours its types already use), a Recent colour, the colour wheel, or type a hex value such as #B91C1C.
3. While the row is linked (=), the colour applies to both themes. To give dark mode its own colour, click = (it becomes ≠), then set the Dark swatch separately.

A ⚠ next to a swatch means the colour is hard to read in that theme, for example dark text on a dark fill. It’s a warning only; you can still use the colour.

For how colours resolve in each theme, see How colours work in light and dark mode.

Read what’s inherited

Every row starts on Default, meaning it inherits from the metamodel. A Default row shows the value it inherits and where from:

• Default #AFCFD8 · M2: the colour the metamodel type sets.
• Default #3F3F46 · Auto: the theme’s own default, because the type doesn’t set one.

When you override a row, it gets a blue ● marker, and the section header counts the overridden rows (for example, ● 2 overridden). When a node or edge has any override, a small Custom appearance chip appears next to its name at the top of the Properties panel. Click it to open the Appearance section and jump to it.

Change several nodes at once

Select the nodes, then change a row in the Appearance section. The change applies to all of them. A row where the selected nodes differ shows Mixed.

Revert to Default

• One row: click ↺ at the end of the row.
• Everything on the selection: click Revert Appearance to Default at the bottom of the section, or right-click and choose Revert Appearance to Default.

Copy and paste a format

To give other nodes the same look as one you’ve already formatted:

1. Right-click the formatted node and choose Appearance > Copy Appearance (or select it and press Ctrl+Alt+C / Cmd+Option+C).
2. Select the nodes you want to change.
3. Right-click one of them and choose Appearance > Paste Appearance (or press Ctrl+Alt+V / Cmd+Option+V).

Edges work the same way, with the same Appearance submenu: copy from one edge and paste onto another.

• Only the overrides are copied, never the metamodel’s own look. A row that was on Default is pasted as Default, clearing any override there.
• A node’s format pastes onto nodes, and an edge’s format onto edges.
• One paste is one undo step, however many nodes it covers.
• The copied format lasts until you close the app.

Save or undo

Appearance changes are diagram edits. Ctrl+Z / Cmd+Z undoes them and Ctrl+S / Cmd+S saves them with the diagram.

Notes

• Overrides belong to the occurrence on this diagram, not the element. The same element can look different on different diagrams.
• An override that sets only the Light side falls back to the metamodel’s colour in dark mode, and the other way round.
• Elements that break the metamodel’s rules (non-compliant) keep their grey warning look, whatever their overrides.
• Use formatting sparingly for emphasis, such as highlighting systems under review or completed items. Heavy formatting makes diagrams harder to read.
• To change the default look for every instance of a type, edit the type instead; see How to set light and dark colours for a metamodel type.
• For the full list of settings and where each can be set, see Appearance settings.