Capella 7.0.1 Automatic Beautifier - Free one-click diagram auto-layout plugin

juancar95 · 11 March 2026 19:41

Hi everyone,

I built Capella Beautifier.

Some time ago,

discussed how to effectively beautify Capella diagrams automatically. The discussion pointed towards
ELK Layered as the way to go, and projects like

showed it was possible by modifying .odesign files.

I took a different approach and built Capella Beautifier, a completely standalone plugin that does not modify any Capella internal files. No .odesign patching, no JAR replacements, no risk. It injects the
ELK configuration programmatically at runtime.

What it does

Two new buttons appear in your diagram toolbar: Beautify H (horizontal) and Beautify V (vertical).
Click one and your diagram is instantly rearranged with optimized ELK Layered settings, tight spacing, orthogonal routing, hierarchical container layout, and automatic node sizing to fit label text.

Works on every diagram type: SAB, LAB, PAB, SDFB, OAB, and more. Works on existing diagrams you already have and on new ones you create. Full Ctrl+Z support to undo if you prefer the original layout.

Installation takes less than 10 seconds

Download the ZIP from Releases · juancar95/capella-beautifier · GitHub
Drop the JAR into your dropins/ folder
Copy the ELK plugins to your plugins/ folder (included in the package)
Restart Capella → done

No configuration needed. No setup wizards. No dependencies to install manually.

The same JAR works on
macOS, Windows, and Linux.

Results

Hope you can try it and use it in your daily work, and also collaborate in this project with me!

BR,

Juancar.

Christian · 12 March 2026 15:27

Hi,
your beautifier works well, but it seems to modify my ports as well:

BR

Christian

juancar95 · 12 March 2026 15:52

whooops! are you using v1.0.1 ? can you share with me an .aird example to fix that? my email is juancarlopezcalvo@gmail.com

juancar95 · 12 March 2026 15:55

An example .aird file, if you have one, that doesn’t compromise your work (i.e., nothing non-public/confidential) and that you can share with me—thanks!

Mojojojo · 13 March 2026 10:15

Autolayer.aird (103.0 KB)
@juancar95 I got the same issue. Ports are also changing.

Mojojojo · 13 March 2026 10:19

One more thing, the layout is not that effective. Can I change parameters for the layout? Are you using the ELK in background?
This is the diagram from context diagram auto layout which is much cleaner and the second screen shot us from your script.

juancar95 · 13 March 2026 10:51

Hi Mojojojo, thanks for sharing, Its a problem that only happens in windows, not in mac, i am trying to solve it, next release is going to be availbale in a few minutes

mac

windows

Did u install the full-version with the ELK jar right?

(please also feel free to create a branch in repo with any changes you consider needed )

juancar95 · 13 March 2026 11:13

i am also seeing that in mac auto layout works perfectly but not in windows, i am fixing that too

juancar95 · 13 March 2026 12:15

Hi @Mojojojo @Christian bug is already fixed in the latest release, could you try it please?

Physical ports OK
Diagrams layout improvements

(install the different elk .jar in the full zip in case u dont have them or replace again if u want, but only replacing plugin jar should work, BUT i recommend full option)

test in windows:

before

after

BR,
Juancar.

Mojojojo · 13 March 2026 15:19

@juancar95 Thanks for the update. Its working at my end. thank you so much.

juancar95 · 13 March 2026 15:43

@Mojojojo I’m glad to hear that, thank you very much for the feedback.