A custom image in the background wouldn’t work with the way Scapple draws, as any item not set to have a background colour would still have one. We’ll be including an option to have a background texture, but no a full image.
Glad you like it other than that!
All the best,
Keith
It is worth noting that this might be easier to do with Scapple’s own tools, rather than a static bitmap that forces you to work within a certain amount of space. A hint for drawing lines on the background is to make two empty notes (just tap the spacebar to keep Scapple from automatically removing it), and connect them together. So for single-space notes arranged in a Cartesian fashion like this would make your graph, which you could then label with small notes in the corners. If you need more space overall, you can just increase the size of the graph. The following is 100% created in Scapple:
If you use this sort of thing a lot, you can save the empty graph, then select the Scapple document in finder and press Cmd-I to “Get Info”. In the “General” section, set it to be a “Stationary pad”. Now whenever you load this file, it will automatically spawn a new copy, rather than opening the original, making it act as a template.
Or, if you using one of Apple’s newer operating systems, you’ll find they have broken this particular feature of the operating system. You’ll need to resort to remembering to use the “Duplicate” or “Save As” menu command after it has opened. 
Thanks for your post, AmberV. Great idea to use space to build a line!
MnWolf 
Sorry to take so long to respond. Actually, to me, OG is like Scrivener … hugely complex and powerful if you need it, but can also be used simply and basically if you don’t need the power.
And of course, just like Scapple, it was designed originally to replace the paper napkin as an environment for working out ideas. But yes, it is expensive, especially the Pro version — I’ve been using it so long it has paid for itself, I’m sure. On the other hand, it does do everything that you are asking, and yes, so much more.
By the way, I’m not related to the OmniGroup in any way, just been a very happy user of OmniGraffle, OmniOutliner … and OmniWeb is still my browser of choice, even though it’s had no development over the last three or four years …
Mark
Thanks for your reply. I am actually looking forward to use Scapple for mind mapping. I would use it prior to writing longish texts in Scrivener.
I am attaching an actual Scapple file, not a screenshot. Although it is short and simple, I have had no success when automatically aligning/distributing/autofitting in order to make visual sense of its info.
I will be grateful if somebody can make something out of it and let me know the steps it takes. Thanks.
alignment_test.scap.zip (2.76 KB)
Aligning and distributing are quite flexible and powerful but not automatic.
1 Select the anchor note, the one to which others selected will be aligned.
2 CMD-Click to select the notes to be aligned to your anchor.
3 Right-Click to select the type of alignment - by border or by mid-point.
4 Distribution, same principles.
Hope this helps
alignment_test.pdf (55.8 KB)
In fact, automatic layout is precisely what Scapple was designed to avoid.
Would you be so kind as to specify which specific choices I have to make so that notes don’t come one on top of another? I am quite certain I am missing something here. Thanks.
The Distribute function takes the note with the greatest X or Y value (depending upon the direction you choose) and the note with the lowest respective X or Y value, and then counts the number of notes in the selection, and does the math so that n notes are spaced in an equidistant fashion between X1 and X2. Hence, if you pack 800 pixels of cumulative note width into a 600 pixel wide area, you will get overlap. I can’t really see a way around that without modifying the value of X2 or X1, and then it is no longer “distribute” but “line these notes up…”.
I finally get it, thanks. I was not using Scapple for headings but for full quotations. I was hoping to use Scapple’s nice capability to split imported text into multiple notes as a simple and polished alternative to docear.org, the academic literature suite. But I understand now that this is not the case.
Thanks for your support.
jmm, you may be overlooking Stack, which lines up notes vertically. It’s really another form of distribute.
-Bob
Thanks for your help, Bob. I’ve checked it but it seems of no use to me either because it places all notes in line, one below another, without attention to their hierarchical connections. If it can be combined with other distribution/alignment commands to achieve something different, I don’t know how to do it.
Hi, JMM.
Sorry for not being more clear. Let me start by saying that for me, Align and Distribute are essentially cosmetic functions to make the final product look pretty. Intended, I assume, for neat freaks like me.
In my first few tries with Scapple, I aligned and distributed as I went and wasted a huge amount of time. Now I just brain dump like mad, and try really hard not to worry about appearances until later.
Step 1 - Brain Dump (or, if you prefer something less crude, Brainstorm)
Step 2 - Move stuff around, make connections, add new ideas triggered by the connections, move the dross aside (but don’t delete) et cetera.
Steps 3 to ??? repeat step 2.
Step omega minus one - pretty it up with align / distribute.
Step omega - finish the project.
Let me go through your example.
It sounds like you might be selecting all notes at the same time. If so, this will not work. You need to maintain control and deal with smaller groups and arrange them the way you want them to look.
As above, the high level view of my process is:
Rough rearrangement - Please see rough_fix.pdf
From this point we can tidy up different groups of notes, one at a time.
VERTICAL ALIGNMENT
Remaining notes are similarly rearranged in horizontal and vertical alignments. For vertical alignments of boxes with connections I align on Horizontal Centre (keeps the lines straight) and for unconnected boxes I use Left side. For horizontal connections of connected boxes I use Vertical centre and for unconnected boxes Bottom side. But I’m a neat freak.
Please refer to final.pdf
DISTRIBUTION just ensures equal horizontal or vertical spacing among selected boxes.
Again, I hope this helps.
Ama
Final.pdf (56 KB)
rough_fix.pdf (56.5 KB)
Thanks so much for your exhaustive support -
I’ve been using Scrapple for the past few days, and it’s an ideal, simple but flexible tool for my purposes, flushing out ideas of things that I want to cover in a complicated data analysis project.
I’m on a mac. Just want to comment that in the quick guide description in the manual the description of the roles under bullet 6 are reversed in practice.
It would be nice to add to the contextual menu the “Add Link” feature.
The QuickStart guide is being completely revised, don’t worry - it’s out of date at the moment. I’ve just written a PDF QuickStart guide which will feature in the Help menu of the final version.
Thanks and all the best,
Keith
In Scapple, how do I change the color of the background canvas? In other words, how do you change the color of the canvas from beige to another color?
Under the “Document” pane of the inspector.
It seems that you can’t expand the canvas neither to the left nor in upwards direction…
If you drag notes there, it expands as necessary, but no, you can’t expand it arbitrarily; this works as intended, though.