Appearance and Views: Themes, Layouts, Rainbow Edges, Outline, Zen, and Read-only
The Project panel on the left gathers the map's appearance: theme, layout, density, rainbow edges, and background. Map / Split / Outline at the top switch views, and the bottom toolbar handles zen and read-only. This page flips each of those switches once.
Key takeaways
- Every official theme ships with light and dark variants and follows the system setting.
- In split view you can drag nodes between the canvas and the outline to restructure.
- Zen and read-only modes start from the bottom toolbar and exit from the top-right capsule.
Switch theme with light/dark adaptation
Open Project on the left and pick a theme card (Rainbow Breeze in the clip); the whole map changes at once.
The second half of the clip switches the system to dark: the same theme swaps to its dark variant with no extra setting.
Switch to a fishbone layout
In the Project panel's layout section choose "Right fishbone" and the tree rearranges into a fishbone.
Logic, mind map, timeline, and fishbone layouts all live in the same list and can be switched back any time.
Rainbow edges
Scroll the Project panel down to "Rainbow edges" and turn it on: each top-level branch and its subtree takes a different colour.
The colours come from the current theme's palette and change with the theme.
Outline view and split view
"Split" at the top opens the outline panel on the right, showing the same content as the canvas.
"Outline" switches the whole screen to the outline — the quickest way to tidy text from the keyboard.
Drag between canvas and outline in split view
In split view, drag a canvas node under a row in the outline and it becomes that row's child; grab the handle on the left of an outline row and drop it on a canvas node to do the reverse.
Both directions update the other side immediately.
Enter and exit zen mode
Click the zen button in the bottom toolbar: the top bar, left rail, and bottom toolbar all fade out, leaving only the canvas.
A small capsule appears top-right; expand it and click "Exit zen mode" to restore everything.
- Shortcut: ⌘ ⌥ Z toggles zen mode
Enter and exit read-only mode
Click the lock in the bottom toolbar for read-only mode: double-clicking no longer edits, and dragging and shortcuts are disabled — ideal for presenting or preventing accidental edits.
Exit the same way, from the top-right capsule.
- Shortcut: ⌘ ⌥ R toggles read-only mode
Related resources
Design and usage of outline mode.
Ways to express relationships between nodes.
FAQ
Do I need to set up dark mode separately?
No. KMind Zen follows the system colour scheme, and every official theme has light and dark variants.
Is read-only mode saved with the map?
Yes. Zen and read-only are remembered per map, so the map opens in the same state next time.