This comprehensive EdrawMind Review along with its features, pricing, etc. explains how to use Mind Maps. EdrawMind is one of the best Mind Map software in the industry:
With origins dating way back to the early 1970s, Mind Maps revolutionized how we consumed information, conceived ideas, or conducted studies. Mind Mapping refers to the technique of representing information in a comprehensive, graphical form.
Contrary to traditional notes written in textbooks, Mind Maps entail the capturing of ideas or thoughts in an organized and structured manner. A typical Mind Map diagram will feature the primary idea located at the center of the map with related ideas branching out in all directions.
Mind Mapping has evolved considerably since its inception decades ago to have a broad range of personal and commercial applications. From making simple plans and analyzing complex ideas to acting as a crutch for efficient project, task, and knowledge management, Mind Mapping can reap a wide range of benefits.
Now that the world ventured into a digital age, constructing Mind Maps has never been as simple or quick as it is today. However, finding good Mind Mapping software can be rather challenging. You need software that is user-friendly and capable of visually representing your ideas, words, tasks, etc. in a comprehensive light.
Luckily, we didn’t have to look too hard to find one that fulfills all the qualifying parameters. So without much further ado, let us introduce you to arguably one of the best Mind Map software in the industry today – EdrawMind.
Table of Contents:
Introduction To EdrawMind
EdrawMind is an intuitive tool that allows you to easily create a wide variety of Mind Maps that visually depict your thoughts, ideas, notes, and much more. This is cross-platform software, which means it is compatible with all operating systems. The tool runs smoothly on Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Linux, and Web.
Making the tool even simpler to use and navigate is the heavy influence its design takes from Microsoft Office. It more or less has the same aesthetic feel that MS Office tools possess. You don’t really need to be a technical wizard to operate this tool. The familiar interface also makes it easier for users to create or customize their Mind Maps.
One can easily change the layout of their diagram, add themes, clip arts, switch connection styles, etc. with just a click. There are 12 Mind Map structures to choose from, with the addition of 33 unique themes and over 700 different types of stylish clip-arts, which can breathe life into your Mind Maps.
We also admire EdrawMind’s exporting capabilities. Once finished with your work, you can export your files into a wide range of editable file formats. These files include MS Word, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint, SVG, PDF, etc.
Aside from providing a satisfying templates and symbols library, the tool comes jam-packed with a ton of intuitive features that simplify and streamline the process of presenting a Mind Map. You can preview your diagrams with the help of a Slideshow or Traverse feature.
The tool also facilitates online collaboration with advanced and new features, like the Brainstorming or Outline mode.
Suffice to say, EdrawMind is an easy-to-use, full-featured, collaborative Mind Map software that arms you with all the tools you need to visually represent your ideas. That being said, we’ve barely scratched the surface regarding what this tool can do.
So let’s dive deeper and learn how its UI and many features fare with regards to user-friendliness and functionality.
User Interface
EdrawMind is blessed with a sleek UI, which looks amazing on both mobile and desktop versions. You are greeted by a vast gallery of Mind Map templates to choose from as soon as you launch the software. At the top, you will find a variety of blank templates to help you create different structures.
You can choose between the normal format or opt for other structures. Some prominent Mind Map examples include Org charts, Timeline, and Fishbone diagrams, among many others.
Scrolling below will lead you to an apparently endless list of readymade templates. These templates are easily editable and designed by professionals to serve a broad spectrum of business needs.
To create a Mind Map, you simply have to select any of the listed templates, after which it will redirect you to the main workstation. EdrawMind’s interface is eerily similar to the design harbored by Microsoft Office tools and this works in the software’s favor. The tool is considerably simple to use and navigate because of its familiar aesthetic.
On the main workspace, you will have a canvas with the chosen template at the center. The workspace is further populated with all the tools and advanced features you will need to modify, edit or design the Mind Map. They can be accessed from the top ribbon bar or the right panel.
At the top ribbon bar, under the ‘Home’ tab, you will find the option of switching between the Mind Map template and the Outline mode (more on this later). Here you will also find the option to insert more topics, subtopics, or add multiple topics at once. Alternatively, you can use shortcut keys to get the job done.
For instance, simply pressing Shift+Enter will allow you to insert a topic before a highlighted topic. Pressing TAB will allow you to insert subtopics to your selected topics, whereas pressing Shift+TAB will result in the subtopic of a selected topic being erased. Similarly, double-clicking on the canvas will help you enter a floating topic.
Furthermore, you can select the ‘Relationship’ option to draw connections between various inserted topics and subtopics as well as add boundaries, notes, pictures, and there are much more to customize.
There are advanced features to be found on the top ribbon bar as well, which you can try to further streamline the process of Mind Map creation. We’ll be touching on those features later in the review.
You’ll also find options to change the format, theme, layout, and color of your Mind Map on the right panel of your workspace. Here, you can also access the gallery of ‘Marks’ and ‘Cliparts’, which you can instantly select and insert into your diagram. You’ll also find the option to edit your task information on this panel as well.
Features
#1) Massive Template and Clipart Library
By far, EdrawMind’s most compelling feature is its massive library of Mind Map templates and clip arts. The software allows you to choose from 12 distinct structures, which include the likes of Org Charts, Fishbone, Right Map, TreeMap, Timeline Map, and more.
The platform also allows you to use tons of readily editable templates that are professionally designed and shared by our users in EdrawMind’s colossal ever-expanding community library. These templates can help you present ideas pertaining to work, events, education, and life visually comprehensively.
In the workspace itself, you get 33 themes to choose from to customize alongside a long list of color palettes to give your diagram a distinct visual look. Moreover, the tool harbors over 700 clip-arts to insert anywhere in your diagram.
#2) Presentation and Traverse
Presenting your finished Mind Map on EdrawMind is just as convenient as creating one on the tool. Once you are done designing your diagram, select ‘Slideshow’ from the top ribbon bar of your interface. Here you will have an option to preview your work as a Slideshow. You can select ‘Auto Create’ to present each of your created topics as slides.
From here, you also have the option of adding a new subtopic as an independent slide. Just highlight the topic you would like as an independent slide, go to the menu on the left and click ‘Add Slide’.
To turn your work into a presentation, simply click on the ‘Start Slideshow’ tab at the top. The presentation will begin, automatically switching from one topic to the next.
To give a more dynamic feel to your presentation, you can also opt for the software’s ‘Traverse Topics’ or ‘Traverse Branches’ button. Doing so will result in your presentation traversing from one zoomed-out topic to another as you click until the presentation concludes.
If it satisfied you with your created presentation, you can export it as a PDF or PPT file by clicking any of these options available to you on the same top bar.
#3) Gantt Chart
A Gantt Chart is used to illustrate the schedule or planning of a project. Gantt Charts can help plan and monitor time-sensitive projects, wherein a project manager needs to assess the time, resources, and other crucial aspects needed to execute the task efficiently. With EdrawMind, you can create a Gantt Chart easily from your Mind Maps.
To create a Gantt Chart, go to the ‘Advanced’ section on your interface’s top ribbon bar. Gantt Chart is the first option you’ll find there. Click on it. After doing so, select all topics on your Mind Map and go to the right panel to click on ‘Task Information’.
You will now find all your selected topics highlighted on the Gantt Chart.
You can now edit the duration of topics and subtopics on the opened chart. Changing the duration of a subtopic will automatically result in the duration of the main topic changing as well.
You can make further modifications by clicking on the ‘Gantt Chart’ options to make further edits to the date, chart units, the time frame, or working days displayed on the chart. Once done, you can easily export your Gantt Chart into PDF format.
#4) Brainstorming Mode
The concept of Brainstorming comprises people coming together to conceive ideas that can solve a particular problem. Brainstorming sessions often involve a battle of conflicting ideas that are thrown at the table in a bid to find the perfect solution to a problem.
As such, brainstorming is an integral part of mind-mapping and we are glad EdrawMind has a feature dedicated to simplifying brainstorming.
You can select ‘Brainstorming’ from the ‘Advanced’ section located at the top of your interface. Selecting this mode will open a blank canvas with a left panel, wherein you are required to type in your ideas. You can enter as many ideas as you like and press enter. You can rearrange these ideas as you continue populating your list with new entries.
Finally, you can drag these ideas one-by-one onto the main canvas to construct your Mind Map. Once done, you can switch to the main workspace with your new map of ideas to make further modifications.
#5) The Outline Mode
The new version of EdrawMind comes with a new feature called the ‘Outline Mode’, which allows you to enter, organize or arrange your topics or subtopics in bullet form before creating a Mind Map out of it.
You can add or remove subtopics to your Main Topic by clicking on ‘Increase’ or ‘Decrease Indent’ respectively and can make further modifications to your outline by adding pictures, marks, hyperlinks, notes, or comments to it. You can export your finished Outline in a variety of file formats.
#6) Online Collaboration
Like all great tools, EdrawMind comes with a web-based version of the tool that facilitates online collaboration. On the web-based version, you can select the online ‘Collaboration’ option to set up user permissions, create a link and share it with your team member. Your team can later use this link to log in and access your Mind Map project.
You can work simultaneously on a project with your team member in real-time on a Mind Map. You have the option of adding comments, notes, or receiving feedback from your team member while your project is being executed, thus ensuring everyone agrees.
#7) Support
EdrawMind features a pretty decent customer support system. There are multiple user guides, video tutorials, and FAQs to assist users in operating the tool. A user can also directly contact the support team by raising an online ticket.
We wish there were more options to reach out to customer support. Hopefully, we can expect a better alternative to raising online tickets in the near future to get urgent queries addressed quickly.
Price
EdrawMind’s flexible pricing is another department where it excels. The price starts with a semi-annual plan that costs $39, wherein users are billed every 6 months.
Users can also opt for the annual plan that costs $59/year. Both of these plans offer full access to all of EdrawMind’s platforms alongside 1 GB of cloud storage space.
Finally, there is a lifetime plan, which will cost you $145 in a one-time fee. This plan also offers full access to all platforms. However, you get over 10 GB of cloud storage space and a lifetime of free upgrades and priority support.
There is also a lifetime bundle plan that costs $312 in onetime fee with lifetime access to EdrawMind, EdrawMax, and EdrawInfo.
Aside from the Individual Plan, EdrawMind also offers a separate Team and Business plan with additional features. This plan starts at $79/year for a single user. There is also a lifetime plan here as well, which starts at $129/user for perpetual access.
Pros And Cons
Enlisted below are some pros and cons of EdrawMind:
| Merits | Demerits |
|---|---|
| Sleek, User-Friendly UI | Inadequate customer support |
| 12 Mind Map Structures | |
| 33 Themes and 700+ Clip-Arts to choose from | |
| Massive Community Library of Readymade templates | |
| Brainstorming Mode | |
| Easy Outline Creation | |
| Create Gantt Charts out of Mind Maps | |
| Affordable and Flexible Plan | |
| Export Files in multiple editable file formats |
Conclusion
Mind Maps gives ideas a tangible form with the help of well-structured, graphical diagrams. EdrawMind makes the task of creating such maps considerably easy by offering a ton of advanced features, templates, themes, and visually arresting clip-arts.
You also get access to its ever-expanding template community library to use professionally designed Mind Map structures as a basis for your diagram. With advanced features that include Brainstorming, Outlining, and Gantt Chart creation, the tool helps you in the following ways:
- Efficient Project and Task Management
- Easy Knowledge Management
- Devising plans.
- Present your ideas in a comprehensive, organized manner
- Analyze complex ideas
From education to serving business needs, EdrawMind has a broad range of applications. You will have absolutely no problem running it on your mobile or desktop device, as it is compatible with all operating systems. The Mind Maps you create on the platform can be exported in a wide variety of popular file formats as fully editable documents.
EdrawMind is a cut above the rest when it comes to Mind Map software. It is easy to use, comes jam-packed with features, facilitates online collaborations, and has our stamp of approval.