Users of RFFlow Versions 5.00 through 5.05 can download a free upgrade to RFFlow 5.06.

Users of RFFlow Version 1, 2, 3, or 4 can upgrade to RFFlow 5.06 at low upgrade prices.

If you need to reinstall RFFlow on a new computer and don't have your original CD, e-mail rff@rff.com or go to  register online and request the download instructions.

Military Symbols. RFFlow now has a stencil that includes military shapes. This stencil includes the APP-6A NATO symbols. Additional examples can be found at www.rff.com/military-symbols.php. 


In RFFlow 5.06 we also added additional Piping and Instrumentation shapes. These are in the Industrial Objects folder. Addition samples are located at www.rff.com/process-flow-diagrams.php.

Many new stencils and shapes were added to this upgrade of RFFlow. 

To see the new stencils, run RFFlow and click on the More Shapes button . The Stencils and Shapes dialog box will appear. The stencils are arranged in alphabetical order. Some stencils are grouped in folders so you need to open the folder by clicking the plus sign.

Cause Mapping Stencil. Cause mapping is part of root cause analysis. It is similar to drawing a fishbone diagram, but it reads from left to right. Fishbone diagrams read from right to left. Sample cause maps drawn with RFFlow are located at Root Cause Analysis and Cause Mapping.

The Process Mapping folder contains the new stencils Relationship Maps, Cross-Functional Maps, and Process Flowcharts. Samples of these charts are located at Process Maps and Process Mapping.

A stencil was added to help draw Tournament Charts. See Tournament Charts and Bracket Charts for more samples.

A Traffic Signs stencil was added to the Transportation folder. We also added more vehicles to the Vehicles stencil.

 An Accidents stencil was added to the Criminal Analysis folder.

We add new stencils to the Industrial Objects folder. The new stencils are Function Blocks, General Instrument Symbols, and Piping and Instrumentation. 

We added a large number of Cisco network symbols. These are found in the Computers/Networks folder.

Rectangle and Line Style Timeline

Bar Chart Timeline Style

Criminal Analysis Timeline Style

New Buttons for Auto Charts. On earlier versions of RFFlow, you had to click on Tools, Auto Charts, and Draw Timeline to draw a timeline chart. Now you can simply add the Draw Timeline button to the toolbar. To add a button to a toolbar, click on View, Toolbars. We have added 7 new buttons to RFFlow so all the auto chart generators have their own button.

Fuzzy Shadows. We added gradient shadows to most shapes along with solid shadows.

Group Command. If you select a group of objects and right-click on the selection, you can now click on Group and group these shapes into one shape. This is a permanent grouping and the new shape will move and rotate as one shape. This is helpful when you want to draw your own shapes to use in RFFlow.

Apply Color to a chart. If you want to color a chart that you have already drawn, you can click on Tools, Color, and Apply a Color Scheme. If you only want to add a background color, you can click on Tools, Color, and Apply a Background Color. 

Apply Color to a Stencil. To add color to a stencil, right-click on the name of the stencil on the left side of the RFFlow Window and click Choose a Color Scheme in the drop-down menu.

More Shapes and Stencils. 

We have added a stencil with lines that have the arrow in the middle of the line. Click on the More Shapes button , open the Lines folder, and click Lines with Arrow in the Middle.

We added a stencil containing audio equipment. Click on the More Shapes button , open the Electrical/Electronics folder, and click Audio Equipment.

We added a stencil containing flowcharting shapes that have a dark boundary. Click on the More Shapes button , open the Flowcharting folder, and click Colored Edge Shapes.


We added a stencil containing flowcharting shapes that have a gradient fill color. Click on the More Shapes button , open the Flowcharting folder, and click Colored Gradient Shapes.


We added a stencil containing flowcharting shapes that have rounded corners. Click on the More Shapes button , open the Flowcharting folder, and click Colored, Rounded Shapes.


We added a stencil containing flowcharting shapes that appear to have reflected light at the top. Click on the More Shapes button , open the Flowcharting folder, and click Colored with Reflections.



We added a stencil for Value Stream Mapping. Click on the More Shapes button , scroll to the end and click on Value Stream Mapping.

Numerous Small Changes. 

Click on File, Properties to see information about the currently opened file.
Move a shape forward or back by right-clicking on the shape and selecting Move Back or Move Forward. This changes the shape's stacking order.
Select the color of the lines on the ruler by clicking View, Ruler.
On a telephone chart, you can select to show only a minimum number of calls.
On a Gantt chart, you can specify the end date instead of the duration, skipped days will be grayed on the Gantt chart, and you can input and display time in a 24-hour format.
On a criminal analysis timeline you can now have the events automatically numbered and include source information that you can paste into your word processor.

Save As PNG and TIFF. RFFlow 5.03 now allows you to save your charts as BMP, EMF, GIF, HTML, JPEG, PNG, TIFF, and WMF. PNG is the Portable Network Graphics format and is a good replacement for GIF. It allows for more colors than GIF and it is supported on all browsers. TIFF is the Tag Image File Format. TIFF is useful if your charts are going to be published.

Insert, Picture from File, PNG and TIFF. RFFlow 5.03 allows you to insert pictures of these file formats into your chart: BMP, EMF, GIF, ICON, JPEG, PNG, TIFF, and WMF. These pictures can be sized and rotated in RFFlow.

 Alpha Channel Transparency. RFFlow 5.03 allows you to specify an alpha value for each color. This allows fill colors to be transparent. The range is from 255 which is a solid color to 0 which is completely transparent. In the picture below, the red rectangle has an alpha of 255 and is a solid color. The yellow, green, and purple shapes have alpha values around 150 and allow the background to show through.

Gradient Fills.  RFFlow 5.03 allows you to fill any shape with a either a linear gradient or path gradient. You specify two colors and the fill changes from one color to the other.

More Hatched Patterns.  RFFlow 5.03 has expanded the number of hatch pattern fills from 6 to 53 patterns.

Shadows on all Shapes.  In earlier versions of RFFlow, some shapes had fixed shadows. RFFlow 5.03 allows you to put a shadow on any shape and the size, position, and color of the shadow can be modified. To add a shadow to a shape, right-click the shape, click Properties, Line and Color tab, and click the Add a Shadow button.

Added Multiplier to Dimensions on Lines.  In earlier versions of RFFlow, you could set up the dimensions on lines so that each grid unit is 1 inch, 1 mm, 1 foot, etc. With RFFlow 5.03, you can also specify a multiplier so that each grid unit is .25 inches or 10.7776 inches. To set this up, click on Tools and Dimensions on Lines. To select a line style, click the More Shapes button, Lines folder, and Lines with Dimensions stencil.

New RFFlow In-program Help.  RFFlow 5.03 uses compiled HTML Help instead of the older Windows Help. This allows RFFlow 5.03 Help to be viewed in Windows Vista, 7 and 8. Click on Help in the main menu of RFFlow and RFFlow Help.

New Gradient Flowchart Stencil.  Click on the More Shapes button, Flowcharting folder, Color Schemes folder, and Gradients stencil. You will then be asked to select a color scheme, gradient style, and with or without a shadow. 

Association Matrix.  In RFFlow 5.03 the matrix includes totals at the bottom of the chart and you can view the chart as you are adding data by clicking on View in the main menu of RFMatrix.

Telephone Analysis.  In RFFlow 5.03 you can select the target phone number from either column instead of just the left column as was the case in earlier versions of RFFlow.

Improved Gantt Chart Generator.  Now you can specify the duration of a task in hours, days, weeks, or months and RFFlow will automatically draw the Gantt chart. For hours and days, you can specify how many pages the chart should cover. Color schemes have been added to easily select matching colors for your Gantt chart. For more information, see How to Draw a Gantt Chart.

Color Schemes for Stencils.  With RFFlow 5.02, you can add matching colors to a complete stencil. This should be done before you draw the chart.  Let's assume you have selected the Audit Objects stencil as shown below.



Right-click on the name of the stencil, Audit Objects, and click Choose a Color Scheme. Select one of the color schemes and click OK.



Now matching colors have been applied to the shapes and lines and you can begin drawing your chart.

Current Location and Scroll Position is Saved.  Suppose you are using RFFlow 5.02 and working on a chart. You are zoomed in to 250% and are drawing in the upper right hand corner of your chart. It is the end of the day, so you save and exit RFFlow. The next day you open this same chart and RFFlow 5.02 will automatically zoom and scroll so you are positioned in the same place on the chart.

Association Matrix. If you need to draw link analysis diagrams, RFFlow 5.01 has made it much easier. Click Tools, Auto Charts, and Association Matrix. Add names and businesses and right-click on the intersections to establish the relationship between them. This tool allows you to handle an unlimited number of data points. Once you have entered the data points, save the file. Then click Tools, Auto Charts, and Link Analysis in RFFlow to automatically generate the link analysis chart.

Multibyte Characters. There is a full Japanese version of RFFlow with all the menus and Help files translated into Japanese. For other dual byte languages like Chinese and Korean, the menus and Help files are in English, but RFFlow 5.01 will accept dual byte characters. This is enabled by clicking Tools, Miscellaneous, and Use Multibyte Characters. 

• Gantt Charts 
• Timelines 
• Pert & CPM Charts 
• Work Breakdown Structure Charts (WBS) 
• Mind Maps® Buzan Organisation 
• Block Diagrams & Arrows

To access these, click the green Stencils button. The stencils are arranged alphabetically.

The transistors section has been enlarged to include bipolar transistors drawn without the circle.

The Link Analysis stencil now includes a 105 slot Matrix for drawing large charts.

Some of the stencils now include a sample chart as the first item. This allows you to drag a completed chart into the drawing area and edit it. We will try to add more of these in future releases. 

Lines with Dimensions. These lines automatically display the length of the line and the dimensions change as the line's length is changed. Click the green Stencils button, Lines, and Lines with Dimensions. You can change the units used by clicking Tools, and Dimensions on Lines.

Criminal Analysis. You can now draw a matrix diagram and let RFFlow automatically create the Link Analysis diagram. Start with the Link Analysis stencil in the Criminal Analysis folder. Drag the matrix onto your chart. Fill in the names and relationships. Then save this file and close it. Click Tools, Auto Charts, and Link Analysis. Choose "The input data is inside a matrix saved in an RFFlow file." RFFlow will read the matrix and draw a Link Analysis diagram. You end up with two RFFlow files: the file with the matrix and the file with the Link Analysis diagram. For more information, click Help in the main menu of RFFlow and Help Topics. Scroll to the very end of the list and open Criminal Investigations and Link Analysis.

Criminal Investigations 2. The Criminal Investigations 2 stencil has been permanently added to RFFlow 4.08. Previously, you had to download it from this Web site. Click the green Stencils button, Criminal Analysis, and Criminal Investigations 2.

Home Floor Plans. RFFlow 4.08 has new stencils for drawing home floor plans. Click the green Stencils button, Floor Plans, and Home Layout. The stencils include: Appliances, Cabinets and Counters, Electrical and Lighting, Furniture, Garden Accessories, Plumbing Fixtures, and Walls, Windows, and Floors.

Other stencils added to RFFlow 4.08 are: Closed Circuit TV and Integrated Circuits in the Electrical/Electronics folder. In the Flowcharting folder, stencils for drawing Deployment and Opportunity flowcharts were added.

Globally Change Stacking Order. RFFlow 4.07 allows you to select a group of objects and change the stacking order for the entire group. Click Tools, Global Changes, and Stacking Order, Front/Back. You could also right-click on the selected shapes and choose Stacking Order, Front/Back.

Auto Charts. Law enforcement investigators can now use RFFlow to automatically draw Link Analysis and Telephone Call Charts. The investigator first generates a text file containing the data. The Auto Charts feature is located in the Tools menu of RFFlow. For more information, click Tools, Auto Charts, and Help.

Criminal Analysis Stencils. Several new stencils have been added to aid law enforcement agencies in drawing charts. These stencils group the required shapes and lines in one place making it easier to get started drawing a chart. To see these new stencils, click the green Stencils button in RFFlow and then open the Criminal Analysis folder. The new stencils include: Activity Flowchart, Commodity Flowchart, Event Flow and Timeline, Link Analysis, and Telephone Analysis.

Background Shapes. A new stencil was added called Background Shapes. These are large objects about the size of one page that have been placed in stacking order 8. They will remain in the background as you draw charts on top of them. These background shapes include solid colors, grays, and gradients where the color changes from some color to white. You can size these shapes just like other RFFlow shapes. You can use these shapes to put vertical or horizontal stripes behind your charts. The gradient-filled shapes have also been added to the end of the Organization Chart stencil.

16 Layers. The number of layers has been increased from 8 to 16. Layers are often used in industrial drawings. For example, the electrical system is drawn on one layer and the plumbing on another.

Draw Custom Shapes. RFFlow 4.05 and higher includes a program named RFShape. To run RFShape, click the Start button, Programs, and RFShape. RFShape is used to draw custom shapes for RFFlow. You draw each shape in RFShape, copy it to the clipboard, and paste the shape into your RFFlow chart. You can also add your custom shape to a stencil. For information on how to use RFShape, run RFShape and click Help in the main menu. Then click Help Topics, Contents tab, and Basic Operations.

Users of RFFlow Versions 5.00 through 5.05 can download the free upgrade to RFFlow 5.06.

If you have any questions, call us at 970-663-5767 or send e-mail to help@rff.com