Export formats

Each export format of iyedy, the views it takes, what it keeps and what it loses. Three levels of fidelity: Exact (what you see, nothing lost), Editable (shapes, positions and styles for diagrams.net) and Notation (the structure, laid out again by the other tool).

The Made with iyedy mark

On Free, every export carries a Made with iyedy mark at the foot of the sheet, outside the title block. Pro, Pro+, Team and Enterprise exports carry none. See Plan limits.

Layers in an export

Every export draws the view's layers as they are set: see Layers, annotations and grid.

SVG

• Keeps everything visible, to the pixel, and the model, so the file opens again in iyedy as an editable diagram.
• Loses nothing. Review redlines are left out.
• Use it for a document or a wiki page that must stay sharp at any zoom.

PNG

• Keeps everything visible, as a picture; the model is embedded in the file, so it opens again in iyedy.
• Loses vector sharpness beyond the scale it was made at.
• Use it for slides, chat and e-mail. Copy as PNG (Ctrl Shift C) puts it on the clipboard at twice the screen size.

draw.io

• Keeps the positions, zones as containers, the sides where lines attach, labels, styles, glyphs and the C4 data. Cloud logos become draw.io's own AWS, Azure and Kubernetes shapes when the match is certain, embedded images otherwise.
• Loses the links to the model: draw.io sees shapes. The legend becomes fixed shapes.
• Use it to hand a drawing to a team that works in draw.io. Copy as draw.io XML puts it on the clipboard.

Mermaid

• Keeps the structure, zones as subgraphs and families as styles; sequences with their fragments and the step numbers of the drawing.
• Loses the positions (Mermaid lays out the drawing itself), the glyphs, line jumps and the title block, which becomes a comment at the top. A BPMN view loses information.
• Use it in a README or a wiki page that renders Mermaid.

PlantUML

• Keeps sequences in full; Data flow and Integration views as component diagrams; cloud logos on Deployment views as PlantUML standard-library sprites when the match is certain.
• Loses the positions, glyphs, themes and other logos. BPMN is not exported to PlantUML.
• Use it when your documentation is built with PlantUML.

C4-PlantUML

• Keeps context, container, component, dynamic and deployment views through the C4 standard library; families and lifecycle as tags; the legend; cloud logos as standard-library sprites (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, Kubernetes) when the match is certain.
• Loses the positions (only direction hints remain), the glyphs and technology logos. A sprite is the standard library's drawing, not the official artwork.
• Use it for C4 diagrams in a PlantUML tool chain. On a Data flow, Integration or Network view, the row says No C4 form for this view: use PlantUML.

Review pack (PDF)

Several views, one page each, with the review tables (interfaces, quality requirements, decisions, risks, findings, revisions, sign-off) in one PDF. It is called Review dossier in an organisation and Sign-off pack on a personal account. See Create a review pack (PDF).