# Editors

Six surfaces, each suited to different work. This section covers driving each one; the choice between them is in Diagram types.

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## The surfaces

![The Excalidraw editor inside the diagram macro showing a wireframe made of header, image, title, text and footer blocks, a style panel on the left and a library panel of shapes on the right.](https://help.gocapable.com/images/2ea75c0f-a9bd-4e24-88fc-708f8830a542.webp)

Excalidraw is the sketching surface, with its own styling controls on the left and a shape library docked on the right.

| **Editor**                | **Suited to**                                                |
| ------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **draw.io**               | Precise drawing: architecture, network maps, floor plans.    |
| **Excalidraw**            | Rough sketching where a provisional look is the point.       |
| **Text editor**           | Mermaid, PlantUML, Graphviz and the rest, written as source. |
| **Mermaid visual editor** | Mermaid, edited by clicking rather than typing.              |
| **BPMN**                  | Business processes, validated against the standard.          |
| **DMN**                   | Decision tables and rules.                                   |

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## Everything in this section

[Choose an editorA decision tree for picking the right editing surface, and what each one costs you.](https://help.gocapable.com/diagrams/choose-an-editor.html)[How diagrams are savedWhat a save actually writes, why there are two records, and what that means when things go wrong.](https://help.gocapable.com/diagrams/how-diagrams-are-saved.html)[draw.io editorThe full drawing surface: shape libraries, connectors that stay attached, layers and precise placement.](https://help.gocapable.com/diagrams/draw-io-editor.html)[Excalidraw editorFast, deliberately rough sketching for workshops, RFCs and anything still up for debate.](https://help.gocapable.com/diagrams/excalidraw-editor.html)[BPMN editorModel business processes in proper BPMN 2.0, validated against the standard rather than drawn to look like it.](https://help.gocapable.com/diagrams/bpmn-editor.html)[DMN editorDecision tables and rules in DMN, so business logic stays checkable instead of turning into prose.](https://help.gocapable.com/diagrams/dmn-editor.html)[Text editorWrite diagrams as source in Mermaid, PlantUML, Graphviz and the rest, with live preview.](https://help.gocapable.com/diagrams/text-editor.html)[Mermaid visual editorBuild Mermaid diagrams by clicking rather than typing, with real Mermaid source underneath.](https://help.gocapable.com/diagrams/mermaid-visual-editor.html)

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## Related

[Choose an editorA decision table if you are unsure.](https://help.gocapable.com/diagrams/guides.html)

[Diagram typesWhich notation for which job.](https://help.gocapable.com/diagrams/diagram-types.html)

[ExamplesWorking diagrams per editor.](https://help.gocapable.com/diagrams/examples.html)

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_Six surfaces, one place they all live._