LibreOffice Draw
The drawing and diagram part of LibreOffice. Opens Visio and Publisher files and makes flowcharts and simple layouts.
Our verdict
Draw is the part of LibreOffice most people never open on Windows, and the part that matters most when they switch. It reads Microsoft Visio and Microsoft Publisher files, which is a rescue route for documents that would otherwise be stranded.
Treat it as a reader first and an editor second. A Visio diagram or a Publisher newsletter opens, you can see it, print it and save it as PDF. Complicated ones will have shifted a little, and you cannot save them back into the Microsoft format afterwards.
As a drawing tool in its own right it is capable enough for flowcharts, floor plans and a poster for the noticeboard. It is not where you would build a magazine.
What's good
- Already installed wherever LibreOffice is, which is nearly every beginner system
- Opens Microsoft Visio files, including .vsd and .vsdx, so old diagrams are readable
- Opens Microsoft Publisher .pub files, which almost nothing else on Linux will do
- Fine for flowcharts, org charts, posters and simple one-page layouts
What to know first
- Cannot save back to Visio or Publisher format, only read those files
- Complex Visio diagrams lose some shapes and connector styling when they come across
- Far fewer ready-made shape libraries than Visio ships with
- Not a serious page layout tool, so a printed booklet belongs in Scribus instead
The details
- Cost
- Free
- Open source
- Yes (MPL-2.0)
- How you install it
- App store (Flatpak), .deb installer, .rpm installer, App store (Snap), AppImage download, Built-in app store
Windows apps it can replace
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