The automatic formatting for objects on the map is determined by the map's style. Its a good idea to decide on an overall look for your map before formatting topics individually. You can apply a suitable style template or modify the current style to suit your needs.
After setting a style you can apply formatting. The formatting you choose is applied to the currently selected topics or objects.
To see the formatting options for any map object, double-click the object or press ALT+ENTER. To see the formatting options for the background, right-click and select Background, then click Background Properties.
You can change the:
Topic shape and color including outline and line color, fill color and transparency and the option to use a standard or custom shape.
Alignment for topic text and images (horizontal and vertical)
Size and margins lets you control the preferred topic width, topic margins and image padding
Subtopics layout sets the growth direction type (map, tree, or org-chart topics), connecting line style, anchor point and spacing
General layout (available only when the central topic is selected) such as an organic line appearance and a shadow for connecting lines and topic shapes. For main topics you can control the connecting line thickness and the minimum topic height (the distance between main topics).
Topic font including the font selection and capitalization settings for topics.
Topic sorting, numbering, and alignment
The boundary and relationship formatting.
The map background formatting.
To format your map quickly, you can select multiple topics when you apply formatting. The Format Painter lets you to transfer formatting between topics, boundaries or relationships. If you find yourself using a particular set of formatting attributes frequently, you can create a topic style with these attributes for easy re-use on other topics.
Some formatting options (font color, fill color) can be used as map markers to classify topics on your map (for example a topic in green text means "Michael's task") , but you can also use these attributes casually to add visual interest and clarity to your map. See Code topics with markers for more information on using these attributes as markers.
What do you want to do?
Set the Topic alignment and margins
Format a Boundary or Relationship