To do so, click the small downward facing arrow to the bottom-right of the Show section in the View tab. Apart from commonly used visual aids such as the ruler, guides, and grids, Visio also comes with few other visual aids to help you better organize your diagram.
One of the advantages of using SmartShapes is the ability to quickly and easily connect a shape to the top four favorite shapes. AutoConnect helps to quickly select a shape from the top four and instantly establish a connection to the new shape. Sometimes, you might not need this feature. In such cases, you can disable the AutoConnect feature by simply unchecking the AutoConnect checkbox from the Visual Aids section of the View tab.
When the AutoConnect checkbox is unchecked, the SmartShapes and connecting arrows do not appear when a shape is selected. Dynamic grid provides a relative alignment cue when you insert a new shape. When the Dynamic Grid option is turned on, you will see guides and indicators relative to the shape. Dynamic Grid can be used in conjunction with the actual Grid. The actual Grid is more of an absolute measurement and should be considered when precise measurements are of importance in deciding the placement of the shapes.
The Dynamic Grid is more of a relative measurement. In the above example, we see that turning on the Dynamic Grid allows us to see the relative distance of the new shape with respect to pre-existing shapes.
Connection Points help in connecting shapes to specific points along the surface of a shape. For example, a shape can have four Connection Points along its perimeter to which connectors can attach to.
Turning on Connection Points help to connect shapes precisely at defined connection points. Connection Points can be identified by green squares that appear on all sides of the shape. If you want to connect to the shape directly rather than to a connection point on the shape, uncheck the Connection Points checkbox in the View tab of the ribbon.
Task Panes provide additional functionality to the user interface. You can use task panes to customize or add parameters to an object. The Shapes pane which is there by default, is an example of a Task Pane. Task Panes can be floating or docked and can be resized as needed. Apart from the Shapes task pane, there are quite a few other panes, which can be accessed from the Task Panes dropdown menu in the View tab of the Ribbon. The Shape Data pane allows entry of additional shape metadata.
This metadata is contextual and depends on the shape being selected. This is especially useful while working with complex diagrams. This allows to set precise measurements of a shape. You can also change the angle of orientation of the shape and the pin position from which the measurements are to be considered. The Navigation pane is available only in the Office version of Visio.
It basically lists all the elements of the diagram and makes it easy to navigate to each of them. This is especially useful if the diagram has varied shapes and you want to navigate to a specific shape type.
Selecting the name of the shape in the Navigation pane selects it in the canvas. It is easy to work with multiple windows or multiple versions of a document in Visio. You can switch between windows easily or arrange them side by side for a comparative look. The options for window rearrangement can be found in the Window section of the View tab.
New Window basically allows to create a new copy of the existing window. The new copy will not show the stencils directly, however, they can be selected by clicking the More Shapes arrow in the Shapes pane. The new window can be identified by the presence of a number in the title bar of the window. In the following example, the original file name was BlkDiagm.
Using the New Window command creates a new window with BlkDiagm: 2 in the title bar. This function allows you to arrange all windows side by side. This feature is useful for comparing two windows, however, if you have a high-resolution display, you might be able to accommodate more windows beside each other.
The Shapes pane and other panes can be minimized to allow more screen real estate. This function allows cascading of windows to give an overall view of the open windows. The active window is in the foreground, while inactive windows are in the background with title bars visible. Cascade view is useful to know which documents are open at a glance. The right side of the Print menu shows a preview of the output. You can change the orientation of the page, page size, and select only the pages that you need to print.
Depending on your printer, you can also print in color or in greyscale. Remember that printing in black and white might not produce a good output. Visio includes several ways to create a PDF of the drawing, which is extremely useful for sharing with others.
You can save the drawing as a Visio drawing. This opens the Save As dialog box. You might want to use this if you need to have fine grain control over the PDF document such as PDF version or compatibility properties. You can also directly email the diagram to a recipient. This creates a new email in your default email client with the PDF file readily attached.
Just enter the email address of the recipient to send the attachment. Exporting image formats is useful while sharing the drawing easily with others or to put it up on a web page. To export a drawing, go to the File menu, click Save As and in the Save As type field, choose from the list of supported formats.
You can choose from any of the abovementioned graphics formats. Once you choose a graphics format to export to, you will get some options to choose from depending on the capabilities of the graphic format. The options in the Operation and Color format fields are format specific. You can leave them mostly as default. Set the Background color as white if you have a background for the drawing. Set the Quality as needed.
You can also rotate the drawing or flip it horizontally or vertically. The resolution and size of the output diagram can be matched with the screen, printer, or source.
You can also input a custom resolution or size. Click OK. You can also export drawings to web pages which can be hosted on a web site. Visio allows customizing what goes into the web page.
You can select which of the components of the diagram that you want to publish and the number of pages to publish.
You can also provide a page title. The HTML file is created in the chosen location along with a folder containing the supporting files. Both the HTML file and the folder are linked together. Adding SmartShapes automatically creates layers. Layers are basically overlays, which can be individually customized and turned on or off. Each shape and connector in the diagram forms a layer whose properties can be customized. To know the list of layers in the diagram, in the Editing section of the Home tab, click the Layers dropdown menu and click Layer Properties This opens the Layer Properties dialog box, which you can use to customize the different layers in the diagram.
The Layer Properties dialog box lists the different layers in the document and allows changing the individual properties of the layers. Layers are automatically assigned to shapes. However, Visio allows to assign layers to shapes as needed. You can also create your own layers. Let us start by creating a new layer and then assign some shapes to the new layer. Go to the Layer Properties… dialog box in the Layers dropdown menu from the Editing section of the Home tab and click New… Type a name for the new layer.
The new layer will be created in the Layer Properties dialog box and will initially have zero shapes, as they are yet to be assigned.
Shapes can be assigned to any layer. To assign a shape to a layer, click the shape or connector in the diagram and then, click Assign to Layer in the Layers dropdown menu from the Editing section of the Home tab.
It opens the Layer dialog box from which a shape can be assigned to either an existing or a newly created layer. Note that the New Layer that was created earlier is now in the list. A shape can be assigned to more than one layer as well. To assign a shape to all the layers in the document, click All and then click OK. The Layer Properties dialog box allows to change the properties of individual layers. The Name field lists the type of layer, while the field lists the number of shapes in that type.
In the following example, we see that there are nine equipment shapes in this diagram. There is a row of checkboxes for each layer type that can be selected or deselected. Unchecking the Visible checkbox makes the shape invisible in the drawing. If the Print checkbox is checked, the shape will be printed along with the others. Unchecking the Print checkbox will not print the shapes in the layer.
Similarly, layers can be made active or locked. Shapes in an active layer can be manipulated without affecting the other shapes or layers. When you lock a shape, Visio prevents any changes from happening to the shape. You cannot drag the shape or change its contents. Snap and Glue will be checked, if the shapes are allowed to snap to a grid. You can also represent a layer by a color for easy recognition. When you represent a layer by its color, the shapes belonging to that layer will also be colored in the diagram.
This is useful if you want to differentiate a set of shapes from another. Themes and Styles are useful to give the diagram a design makeover and make it stand out. Visio provides a standard set of themes and styles, which are customizable. Themes apply to the entire diagram. Themes comprise of a set of colors and effects that generally blend well with each other.
They are a great way to quickly give the diagram a polished look. Themes also affect other parts of the document such as titles, headings, text, etc. To apply a theme, go to the Design tab and select a theme from the Themes section.
The dropdown arrow provides more choices categorized by theme type. When you click a theme, all the aspects of the diagram and other parts of the document reflect the theme settings. A theme can have many variants, which can be selected from the Variants section of the Design tab. Styles are different from themes such that, they are applicable to a selected shape or a group of shapes. Styles help in customizing the aspects of a particular style. To change a style of a shape, select the shape and from the Home tab, then select a style from the Shape Styles section.
Style can be applied to both shape elements in the diagram as well as to individual text boxes. You can select multiple shapes to apply the style to all of them together. When you change a theme after applying a style to a shape, the shape will take up the characteristics of the theme but will still remain distinct from other shapes. Of course, you can continue to customize the style even after applying a theme. Themes are useful to customize the appearance of the document.
Visio goes a step further and allows to customize the themes themselves. Themes come with variants that can be further customized as needed. Theme variants can be accessed from the Variants section in the Design tab.
You can use the stock variants or click the dropdown menu to customize many other aspects. Sometimes, it becomes necessary to prevent themes from affecting one shape or a group of shapes, especially if they have important information that has to be presented in a particular way. To enable protection for a shape, click a shape or a group of shapes. This opens the Protection dialog box that allows to select which components of the shape to protect from being overridden.
We will focus on protecting the theming of the shape for now. So, select the checkboxes for Text, Format, From theme colors, From theme effects, From theme fonts and finally, From theme index. If you now select any theme from the Design tab, you will notice that the shape that is protected is unaffected by the theme change.
To reverse the changes, simply go to the Protection dialog box again, click None and finally click OK. Visio comes with a good selection of themes and variants to suit almost any need.
However, sometimes you might have the need to create a specific color scheme that reflects your organization. To do this, select a theme from the Design tab and choose a variant from the Variants section that closely matches to what you intend to create. In the New Theme Colors dialog box, give a name for the theme in the Name field. There are 5 accent colors to customize. Depending on the colors that you want to customize, choose a color for each accent. Click Apply to see a preview of the effect.
Once you are satisfied with the color scheme, click OK to save the color scheme. The new color scheme can be found in the Custom section of the Colors menu. You can always edit this color scheme by right-clicking the custom scheme and clicking Edit. Organization charts or org charts are a great way to depict hierarchy in an organization. Visio provides ready-made templates to help you get started in creating org charts. In the following series of chapters, we will learn different aspects of creating and working with org charts.
The easiest way to get started is to use an inbuilt org chart template and build upon it. In Visio , the org chart template can be found by going to the New menu.
Click the Home button, click New and select the Templates tab. In the Templates tab, go to the Business category and click Organization Chart.
It will open a dialog box in which you can choose the chart to be created in either Metric or US units. Select the units you are comfortable with and click Create to load the org chart shapes in a new diagram. Once the chart is created, you will notice that the Ribbon has a new Org Chart tab that lists the shape styles you can use. The Shapes pane has all the shapes necessary to use in a org chart.
The shapes change based on the shape style selected in the Org Chart tab in the Ribbon. In this example, the currently selected shape style is Belt. To insert a top-level shape, drag the Executive Belt shape over to the canvas and align it to the center of the page. Once the top-level executive shape is created, it is easy to create manager sub-shapes. The Executive Belt shape will not offer SmartShapes as this is a hierarchical chart with defined positions.
To insert a manager, simply drag the Manager Belt shape onto the Executive Belt shape. You will notice that Visio automatically connects both the shapes. You can add more Manager Belt shapes onto the Executive Belt shape and Visio will automatically connect, space, and align all the shapes.
You can then enter details into the shapes by zooming in and double-clicking the shape to activate the text box. Unlike the Executive Belt shape, the manager shapes will offer the choice of using SmartShapes. We can continue building on the org chart previously created.
Based on the organizational hierarchy, corresponding shapes can be added to the existing shapes. Visio will then automatically create the connection and align the new shape in the diagram. A position belt is used to indicate a position under an executive. In the following example, several position belts have been added to each of the three manager sub-shapes. To add a position shape, simply drag the Position Belt shape from the Shapes pane over any of the manager sub-shape.
Visio automatically creates the Position Belt shape and connects it to the manager shape above. In an organization, not all positions will be always full. There will be a few vacant positions that need to be filled. You can indicate a vacancy by dragging the Vacancy Belt shape onto any of the managerial shapes.
A vacancy shape is different from the other shapes and can be easily identified. Similarly, you can also add the consultant and assistant shapes to the org chart.
Visio will automatically adjust the spacing and connections between the shapes. It may be necessary to re-order team members in the org chart. Since this is an org chart, there will be an Org Chart tab in the Ribbon. Click the tab and in the Arrange section, click either of the arrows in the Move command. Depending on the position of the shape in the drawing, moving left and right can also mean moving up and down.
When you move a shape, all sub-shapes also move along with it. In the following example, the COO shape was moved to the right and with it, all positions below it also move. A team frame helps to denote members of different teams who work on a common project.
To add a team frame, drag the team frame shape from the Shapes pane onto the teams that you want to include. Note: Haven't installed Visio yet? If you have Visio Plan 2, you can download and install the Visio desktop app. Select the template you want, or select Basic Diagram to start from scratch.
You can also browse for more templates by clicking Categories , and you can enter terms to search for templates. If you're using the desktop link, you may have to specify a specific type of that template and then select Create. To create your diagram, you drag shapes from the stencil in the Shapes window to the canvas and connect them. There are several ways to connect shapes, but the simplest way is with AutoConnect arrows. Note: AutoConnect is available by default when your drawing is based on a template for a type that typically requires connections, like a flowchart.
If do not see the AutoConnect arrows when you hover the mouse pointer over a shape, AutoConnect is not active. Visio shapes are ready-made objects that you drag onto your drawing page — they are the building blocks of your diagram.
When you drag a shape from the Shapes window onto your drawing page, the original shape remains on the stencil. That original is called a master shape. The shape that you put on your drawing is a copy — also called an instance — of that master. You can drag as many instances of the same shape onto your drawing as you want. Instead of static pictures, you can create data-connected Visio diagrams that display data, are easy to refresh, and dramatically increase your productivity.
You can use the wide variety of diagram templates and stencils in Visio to understand, act on, and share information about organizational systems, resources, and processes throughout your enterprise. The round handle located above a selected shape is called a rotation handle. Drag it right or left to rotate the shape. The connection arrows help you easily connect shapes to one another, as you saw in the previous section.
You can use the square selection handles to change the height and width of your shape. Click and drag a selection handle on the corner of a shape to enlarge the shape without changing its proportions, or click and drag a selection handle on the side of a shape to make the shape taller or wider.
You can add data to each shape by typing it in the Shape Data window — on the View tab, in the Show group, click Task Panes , and then click Shape Data.
With Visio Professional Edition, you can also import data from an external data source. Data is not displayed in the drawing by default. If you want to display the data for lots of shapes at once, you can use a feature called data graphics, also on the Data tab.
The following illustration shows the data for two trees at once. Many Visio shapes have special behavior that you can find by stretching, right-clicking, or moving the yellow control handle on the shape. For example, you can stretch a People shape to show more people, or stretch the Growing flower shape to indicate growth.
Tip: A great way to find out what a shape can do is to right-click it to see if there are any special commands on its shortcut menu. The shapes automatically connect to show the hierarchy. Hold your mouse over one of the arrows and a mini toolbar appears with the top four shapes in the Quick Shapes area. Select the shape you want and it'll automatically connect to the arrow you selected.
You can also drag all your shapes onto the canvas. Then hold the mouse over a shape until the arrows appear. Then grab an arrow and drag it to a shape you want to connect to.
If you're using the Visio desktop app, you can also drag a new shape directly from the Shapes window to an existing shape's arrows and connect them automatically. Now it's time to add details to your diagram by adding text. For more details about working with text, see Add, edit, move, or rotate text on shapes and Add text to a page.
Add text to a connector the same way. Click and drag it up, down, or beside the connector. To see other available themes, click More. Your diagram gets a new background, and, a new background page called VBackground This page you can see in the page tabs along the bottom of the canvas.
To edit other text in the border, first select the entire border, and then click the text you want to change and start typing. You may have to click more than once to get the text selected. Click Page-1 in the lower-right corner of the page to return to the drawing.
Open Visio on the web. Note: If you have Visio Plan 2, you can also download and install the Visio desktop app. Select Create under the template you want, or select Create under Basic Diagram to start from scratch. To create your diagram, you drag shapes from the stencil in the Shapes pane to the canvas and connect them.
There are several ways to connect shapes, but the simplest way is by auto-connecting them. Note: See Add and connect shapes in Visio for the web or Change the size, rotation, and order of a shape in Visio for the web to learn more about using shapes.
For more details about working with text, see Add and format text in Visio for the web. Drag a shape from the Shapes window and drop it on the page. Step 1 Gather the suitable detail. Step 2 Determine chart type. Determine which chart type is best suited to illustrates the information you want to convey.
In our case, we will create a login flowchart. Step 3 Open the template. In Visio, select and open the template according to your chart type. Each shape represents different things, which ranges from simple rectangles, squares, ovals, and arrows to hundreds of highly specialized shapes and symbols.
Step 4 Connect shapes. Drag and connect shapes or symbols to illustrate the items and their flow. Step 5 Add a label. Step 6 Review your diagram. Lastly, review your diagram and compare with your rough design. Skip to content. What is Microsoft Visio? Year Milestone Visio originated in as a product of Shareware Corp with version 1. See plans and pricing. Sign in. Transform the way you use and visualize data so you can bring your best ideas to life.
With dozens of ready-to-use templates and thousands of customizable shapes, Visio makes it easy—and fun—to create powerful visuals. The ultimate tool for diagramming Create easy-to-understand visuals with confidence. Show previous slide Show next slide. Org charts Easily craft org charts to visualize team, hierarchy, or reporting structures, and then share them with employees, teams, and stakeholders.
Floor plans Design a social distancing workspace, retail store layout, new home, and more with accurate, scalable templates and tools to help you visualize function, flow, and aesthetic appeal.
Brainstorming Think out loud. Network diagrams Simplify your system design process and illustrate how devices and networks all work together with a variety of network templates, shapes, and connector tools. Slide 1 of 5. Visio and Microsoft Visio is an innovative solution that helps you visualize data-connected business process flows with a host of integrated features that bring the power of Microsoft to Visio.
Create, view, edit, and collaborate on Visio diagrams from inside Microsoft Teams. Export Visio diagrams to Power Automate to automatically execute business workflows. Break down complex diagrams into single parts with PowerPoint slide snippets. Quickly document your Visio process diagrams, including all their metadata, in Word.
Develop accurate network diagrams in Visio for the web with Azure-specific shapes. Learn more. Determine which app best fits your needs Discover the right solution to help you easily create professional diagrams and communicate your ideas visually. Visio for the web is always up to date. Visio desktop app Included with Visio Plan 2. Access additional templates not currently available in Visio for the web.
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