Archify Visual Presets: The Complete Guide to Diagram Styling Options

Archify supports four visual presets—classic, signal-flow, blueprint, and editorial—that control the look and feel of generated diagrams without altering the underlying architecture.

The visual preset system in Archify determines how your infrastructure and dataflow diagrams render visually. Each preset is defined in the shared schema at archify/schemas/common.schema.json and selected via the meta.visual_preset field in your diagram definition JSON.

The Four Visual Presets for Archify Diagrams

All four presets are mutually exclusive—a diagram uses exactly one at a time. They modify visual attributes like edge styling, node shading, and typography while preserving component IDs, connections, and logical topology.

Classic Preset

The classic preset provides the original, clean-line style that emphasizes component boxes and orthogonal edges. This is the default aesthetic for technical documentation where clarity and precision matter.

{
  "schema_version": 1,
  "diagram_type": "architecture",
  "meta": {
    "title": "My Diagram – Classic",
    "visual_preset": "classic",
    "animation": "none",
    "quality_profile": "standard"
  },
  "components": [],
  "connections": []
}

This preset appears in benchmarks/ordinary-model-floor/results/2026-07-26-pi-three-models.json at line 135.

Signal-Flow Preset

The signal-flow preset uses thicker, colored edges to highlight data-movement paths. Choose this for dataflow diagrams where tracing information movement is critical.

{
  "schema_version": 1,
  "diagram_type": "architecture",
  "meta": {
    "title": "My Diagram – Signal Flow",
    "visual_preset": "signal-flow",
    "animation": "trace",
    "quality_profile": "showcase"
  },
  "components": [],
  "connections": []
}

See this preset in action in archify/examples/event-stream.dataflow.json at line 9.

Blueprint Preset

The blueprint preset renders diagrams with an architectural blueprint aesthetic—region-level boundaries and schematic styling that evokes technical drawings.

{
  "schema_version": 1,
  "diagram_type": "architecture",
  "meta": {
    "title": "My Diagram – Blueprint",
    "visual_preset": "blueprint",
    "animation": "trace",
    "quality_profile": "showcase"
  },
  "components": [],
  "connections": []
}

Example usage appears in archify/examples/production-deployment.architecture.json at line 7.

Editorial Preset

The editorial preset produces presentation-ready output with larger fonts, highlighted labels, and polished aesthetics suited for slides or executive documentation.

{
  "schema_version": 1,
  "diagram_type": "architecture",
  "meta": {
    "title": "My Diagram – Editorial",
    "visual_preset": "editorial",
    "animation": "none",
    "quality_profile": "showcase"
  },
  "components": [],
  "connections": []
}

This preset is demonstrated in benchmarks/ordinary-model-floor/results/2026-07-26-pi-three-models.json at line 5118.

Where Visual Presets Are Defined

The authoritative source for valid preset values is archify/schemas/common.schema.json. This shared schema defines the visualPreset enum that all diagram types reference.

The architecture diagram schema at archify/schemas/architecture.schema.json pulls in these definitions, ensuring consistent validation across diagram formats.

Key Implementation Files

File	Purpose
archify/schemas/common.schema.json	Central schema defining the visualPreset enum
archify/examples/production-deployment.architecture.json	Blueprint preset example
archify/examples/event-stream.dataflow.json	Signal-flow preset example
benchmarks/ordinary-model-floor/results/2026-07-26-pi-three-models.json	Classic and editorial preset examples

Summary

• Four visual presets are available: classic, signal-flow, blueprint, and editorial
• Presets are set in meta.visual_preset within your diagram JSON
• All presets are defined in common.schema.json and validated at parse time
• Presets affect only visual rendering, not logical topology or component identity
• The signal-flow and blueprint presets pair well with "animation": "trace"
• The editorial preset requires "quality_profile": "showcase" for optimal output

Frequently Asked Questions

What happens if I specify an invalid visual preset?

Archify validates your diagram against common.schema.json at load time. An undefined preset value triggers a schema validation error with the specific enum values that are permitted.

Can I combine multiple visual presets in one diagram?

No. The visual_preset field accepts exactly one string value. Presets are mutually exclusive by design—each represents a complete, cohesive rendering theme. To create hybrid styles, you would need to fork the rendering pipeline or post-process the output.

Do visual presets affect diagram export formats?

Presets influence the visual appearance across all export targets (SVG, PNG, PDF). However, the degree of styling fidelity varies by format—vector exports preserve edge styling most accurately, while raster exports may have subtle anti-aliasing differences between presets.

Which preset should I use for automated documentation pipelines?

The classic preset is recommended for CI/CD documentation generation. It renders reliably at small sizes and maintains legibility when compressed or converted to monochrome. Use editorial only for human-facing presentations where file size and render time are less critical.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "instagit": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "instagit@latest"]
    }
  }
}