Are you looking for a program specially designed to make all kinds of designs and drawings from diagrams? You have to know that although there are professional paid services, there are other free ones whose results have little to envy them, and Dia is one of those that you should well take into account. We are talking about one of the best in its field, so let's analyze it.

Dia is a platform for you to carry out all your projects based on diagrams, whether a specific design or a series of drawings, since you will find all the necessary tools for developing these graphics. This program, developed under the GNU license, is free, so you will not have to worry about time limitations or its functions.

Operation

As for the contents you can generate thanks to Dia, we have to mention some, such as UML diagrams, which have become so common these days, network and electrical circuits, maps, various chronograms, etc. This application's versatility is undoubtedly one of its most vital points, so even if we have not mentioned the content you want to create, rest assured that it can handle it.

By default, all the files you have produced from Dia are saved in XML format, considering that this format is compatible with much other software we could use. If you want to export your creations in other formats, you don't have to worry since you can select variants such as PNG, CGM, SVG, EPS, and many others. Dia even has its file format, which we recommend for when you want to save projects that you will follow later.

In the same way, with Dia, we can import all kinds of drawings made in some of the most popular formats within this category, so you can continue working with some previous developments. Once you have placed them on their grid space, you can organize your layers and diagrams as you prefer, editing each of their properties.

Another of Dia's functions that we liked is the one that allows you to anchor different elements, since thanks to it, we can move specific objects without modifying the surrounding ones, avoiding that for a small correction, the whole diagram has to be retouched again. And as for manual drawing options, you can always add your own in rectangle, ellipse, polygon, or arrow format.

Dia's user interface cannot be rated as the best in its segment or the worst we have encountered. It has many points in common with an average program intended for Windows, as it has menus and functions on both the screen's top and left sides. Generally speaking, it is more intuitive than pretty.

Please note

For Dia to work properly, you must have previously installed GTK+ Runtime Environment. If you do not have this item on your PC, you must download and run it before installing the diagram application. Otherwise, you will notice that it has important errors, so you better avoid it from the first moment. Downloading GTK+ Runtime Environment, on the other hand, does not take more than a few seconds.

The best

Dia has some positive features, starting without a doubt, because it is a free program that offers results at the height of many professional cuts. To that, we have to add that it allows the use of layers for an exact modification of the contents. Finally, it is compatible with many formats when importing and exporting content.

The worst

Although we have not found many aspects of Dia that have not convinced us, if we had to mention something that we believe its developers could improve, we would stay with its interface. We already said it, and it's not that it's ugly or even less functional, but being a diagramming program, we have no doubt that the design plays an important role and could be improved.

Rating

Are you looking for a free program that allows you to work with diagrams and you're not too demanding in terms of its visual aspect? Then you can be sure that Dia is one of the best alternatives you can evaluate. We are talking about a service with every feature you would expect, plus a few touches that put it above most of its competitors, at least the open-source ones.