There are a variety of purely graphical elements that can be used in gschem. For example, these are useful for drawing symbol graphics, marginal notes or diagrams in schematics, or for highlighting particular functional sections within a larger design. They are ignored by gnetlist.

When selected, a graphical element displays one or more control point handles. These can be used to edit the element by clicking on them with the left mouse button and dragging them to a new position.

If you use the keybinding for creating a graphical element, the first control point to place is determined by the current position of the mouse pointer.

Basic straight lines can be added to a page using Add→Line.

A rectangular box can be added to a page using Add→Box. A box is created by choosing two points at opposite corners.

Circular arcs can be added using Add→Arc. Left-click to select a midpoint for the circular arc; this will cause the “Arc Params” window to appear. You can then specify the radius, start angle and sweep angle for the new arc. Click OK to create the arc.

Arcs have three control points for editing. To alter the radius of the arc, use the central control handle, and use the outer two handles to adjust the start and sweep angles of the arc. You can also display the “Arc Params” window again by selecting an arc and using Edit→Edit.

Circles can be added to a page with Add→Circle. Left-click once to select the location to centre the circle, and again to set the radius. A circle has only one control point, which controls its radius.

Text can be added to a page using Add→Text. This displays the “Text Entry…” dialog box, where you can enter multiline text. Click Apply to begin placing the text, and left-click on the schematic view area to add it to the page.

You can add an overbar to text by using the control sequence ”\_”, which will not appear on the page. For example, the “B” in ”CS/\_B\_” will be displayed with an overbar. If a text object is in the form ”<name>=<value>”, then it is an attribute.

To edit text, select it and use Edit→Edit Text… to display the Edit Text Properties window. You can use this to edit the text itself, and also the color index, font size and alignment of the text.

The alignment setting affects the location of the text object's anchor point relative to the text itself. To see where the anchor point of a text object is, select it and zoom in. You will then be able to see a small “X” which shows the anchor point.

Pictures display an external image on a schematic or symbol page. To add a picture, use Add→Picture. This will display a file selection window, where you can select an image file to insert. If gschem cannot load the chosen file, an error message will be displayed.

When you have chosen an image file, left click to start placing the image, and again to choose what size to draw it.

To resize an image, select it and drag its control handles. It will automatically be kept at the correct aspect ratio. You can change the image to be displayed using Edit→Edit, which will display a file selection window to select a replacement image file.

Like components, a picture can either link to the image file it displays, or the image file can be copied (“embedded”) into the schematic or symbol file. By default, a picture links to an image file. You can embed an image using Edit→Embed Component/Picture, and reverse the process with Edit→Unembed Component/Picture.