Opening older diagrams¶

Your version 3 and 4 diagrams still open. Version 5 is a complete rewrite, so the conversion isn't always perfect — but the important promise holds:

How to do it¶

File ▸ Open… (Cmd+O) and pick the .sdxml, or just double-click it in the Finder.

The status bar will read Imported — save to convert. Save it (Cmd+S) and you get a modern .simplediagram document. Until you do, it's a scratch copy.

What the app tells you¶

After importing, a summary appears:

The original .sdxml file was left untouched. N elements were converted; N use native approximations; N remain visible placeholders. Backgrounds converted: N. Backgrounds not restored: N.

Worth reading. It tells you exactly how much attention the diagram needs.

Converted — came across properly.

Native approximations — a symbol the app couldn't match exactly, replaced with a rectangle, ellipse or note of the right size and position. Your layout is intact; the artwork isn't the original.

Visible placeholders — something that couldn't be converted at all. It's marked so you can see it and replace it, rather than silently vanishing.

What converts cleanly¶

• Lines and polyshapes
• Pencil and marker drawings
• Text areas
• Symbols from the six standard libraries
• Groups and locks
• Image backgrounds, including fill mode and tint

Symbols are matched by their library ID, so shapes from the standard libraries come across as the real thing.

What needs attention¶

Shapes from custom or third-party libraries. If version 5 doesn't have the library installed, those become approximations. Fix it by importing the old .sdlp library first (see Using libraries), then re-importing the diagram — the shapes will then match.

Anything built on version 4 features that no longer exist. Linked templates, multi-part symbols and online library shapes have no version 5 equivalent.

Replacing a placeholder¶

Select it and choose Edit ▸ Inspect Selected Artwork…. The dialog explains what the original was and offers Replace Artwork…, which takes an SVG, PNG, JPEG or native vector.

The original is kept inside¶

When you save the converted document, the original .sdxml archive is preserved inside the new .simplediagram package. So even the converted copy carries its own history.

Version 4 things that aren't in version 5¶

Worth knowing before you go looking:

And a few things version 4 never had, which 5 does: real guides you can drag out of the rulers, Quick Styles saved in the document, per-page output sizes, SVG import with a choice of how to handle it, and connection-point editing in your own libraries.

See What's new in 5.0.

Upgrading your licence¶

A version 4 licence doesn't unlock version 5 — it's a separate product, not an update. The purchase window has an Upgrading from an earlier version? section, and you can always get in touch.