About the AuthorBonnie Biafore is an author as well as a project management consultant. As a consultant, she enjoys working with different clients and the diversity of projects sheexperiences, from CAD systems for structural steel fabrication to speech-enabledapplications for telephone service field technicians and systems to manage hydroelectric power. While she’s sometimes tough on her clients, she is a far worsetaskmaster for herself.Bonnie has written several books, including Troubleshooting Microsoft Project 2002(Microsoft Press) and The NAIC Stock Selection Handbook (NAIC). Since August 2000she has been writing for Better Investing magazine a monthly column called WebWatch, which delves into the use of the World Wide Web for investing and how todevelop good investing habits and smart and safe computer practices.She is well known for her clear explanations of technical topics, whether it’s theinscrutable workings of computer software or the enigma of high finance. Sheapplies her education from MIT and Columbia University to digest technical topicsand then puts her organizational skills and humor to work to present material thatengages beginners and experts alike.Her education and work experience make her the ideal author for this Visio book.With a Bachelor of Science in Architecture and a Master of Science in StructuralEngineering, she is well versed in using Visio for architecture and engineering andintegrating it with CAD applications. As a project manager and consultant, she constantly applies Visio to office productivity problems. As a software project managerand application developer, she has also used Visio to document databases, software systems, and networks. As an engineer, she is fascinated with both the simplicity and power of Visio and enjoys experimenting with its customization andautomation features.
CreditsSenior Acquisitions Editor Vice President and PublisherJim Minatel Joseph B. WikertDevelopment Editor Executive Editorial DirectorJames H. Russell Mary BednarekTechnical Editors Project CoordinatorBonnie Watts Erin SmithScott AmblerGraphics and Production SpecialistsProduction Editor Beth BrooksEric Newman Carrie FosterLauren GoddardCopy Editor Heather PopeLuann RouffQuality Control TechnicianEditorial Manager Charles SpencerMary Beth Wakefield Brian H. WallsVice President & Executive Proofreading and IndexingGroup Publisher TECHBOOKS Production ServicesRichard SwadleyVice President andExecutive PublisherBob Ipsen
To my agent, Neil Salkind, who always believes I’m betterthan I am and then helps me prove him right.
PrefaceVisio®2003 Bible is a comprehensive guide to Microsoft’s popular diagramming software. Covering both Visio Standard and Visio Professional, this bookexplains Visio fundamentals as well as advanced techniques applicable to any typeof diagram. It also describes in detail how to use each of the specialized templatesthat Visio Standard and Visio Professional offer.Visio 2003 includes significant changes and enhancements as well as many newfeatures. Many templates and shapes have been improved to look and behave moreconsistently. Visio 2003 offers several new and improved collaboration tools, suchas ink and markup, along with numerous productivity enhancements. However,several features have been discontinued, including the Forms template, the VisioNetwork Equipment Sampler, and a few wizards and tools. Visio 2003 Bible identifiesthese new features, enhancements, and changes and differentiates the capabilitiesavailable in both the Standard and Professional versions versus those availableonly in Visio Professional.Visio 2003 offers a powerful combination of simple concepts and straightforwardtools with far-reaching application. Whether you want to communicate basic business processes or highly specialized technical topics, Visio offers tools to simplifyyour work. This book strives to follow the same model. It explains Visio’s conceptsand basic tools in a way that helps beginners get started and more advanced usersget better. In addition, the book includes dozens of chapters on specialized templates that describe how the template, tools, and shapes support the work requiredand simplify typical tasks.Is This Book for You?Visio 2003 covers a lot of ground, and this book is right there with it. If you useVisio or want to start using it, you can benefit from reading this book. Beginnerscan learn the basic concepts and techniques that are the foundation of Visio’spower in every field and then apply those techniques to create the type of diagramsthey need. Readers with some Visio experience can learn how to increase their productivity, use specialized templates and employ advanced techniques to draw moreeffectively or customize solutions. Advanced users can learn about new features,changes, and how to replace the features that have been discontinued in Visio 2003.
x PrefaceAlthough the book is fast paced, beginners can learn to use Visio, while moreadvanced users can notch up their productivity by following step-by-step instructions and applying tips and techniques. Readers in a hurry will appreciate the topicorganization that makes it easy to find a solution as well as Tips and Cautions thathelp solve problems quickly.Conventions Used in This BookTo help you get the most from the text and keep track of what’s happening, a number of conventions are used throughout the book:✦ When important terms are first introduced, they are highlighted in italic.✦ Characters that need to be typed in are in bold.✦ Keyboard strokes appear as follows: Ctrl+A.✦ URLs, filenames, directory names, and other program elements are contrastedfrom regular text in a monospaced font like this.Icons Used in This BookFollowing is a brief description of the icons used to highlight certain types of material in this book:Tip This icon highlights helpful hints, time-saving techniques, or alternative methodsfor accomplishing tasks.Note This icon identifies additional information about the topic being discussed.NewFeatureCross-ReferenceCaution This icon alerts you to potential problems or methods that can impede your workif not used properly.This icon points you to other chapters or books that contain additional informationabout a topic.This icon emphasizes new or significantly enhanced features in Visio 2003.
Preface xiHow This Book Is OrganizedVisio 2003 Bible contains 41 chapters, divided into seven parts. In addition, thebook is accompanied by a Web site (www.wiley.com/compbooks/biafore) thatprovides links to all the Web sites referenced in the book and a link to downloadable sample Visio files you can use to practice what you’ve learned. The followingsections provide an overview of each part of the book.Part I: Understanding Visio FundamentalsPart I introduces the features that distinguish Visio 2003 from the 2002 version aswell as Visio’s basic concepts and techniques. The first chapter provides an overviewof Visio 2003’s new features and explains concepts such as templates and stencils,drag and drop drawing, and the components of the Visio interface. Chapters 2 and 3explain how to work with Visio files, drawing tools, drawings, and drawing pages.Chapters 4 and 5 show you how to produce diagrams by creating and editing shapesand connectors. Chapters 6 and 7 introduce techniques to improve the appearanceand readability of diagrams using text and formatting.Part II: Integrating Visio DrawingsVisio 2003 includes many new and improved integration features, as explained inthis part. Chapter 8 discusses methods for linking and embedding elements in Visioor linking and embedding Visio objects into other applications. Chapter 9 describesmethods for importing and exporting data to and from Visio, in addition to techniques for publishing Visio diagrams to the Web. Chapter 10 covers techniques andprocedures for linking Visio shapes with data to dynamically update Visio drawingsbased on data stored in other applications.Part III: Using Visio for Office ProductivityPart III is the first of three parts in this book that cover specialized templates. Itbegins with Chapter 11, which describes new and existing tools for collaboratingwith others, a critical element to office productivity. Chapters 12 and 13 cover templates for building block diagrams and charts and graphs. Chapter 14 explains themany productivity tools, shapes, wizards, and data-sharing features for documenting organizations in the Organization Chart template. Chapters 15 and 16 explaintools and techniques for documenting flowcharts and business processes. Chapter17 discusses Visio’s tools for documenting and scheduling projects. Chapter 18describes the Visio Brainstorming template.
xii PrefacePart IV: Using Visio in Information TechnologyPart IV describes the tools, wizards, and shapes that make Visio the most populartool for documenting software systems and networks. Chapter 19 provides detailedinstructions for modeling and documenting databases and database systems usinga variety of notations. Chapter 20 describes how to document software systems withthe Unified Modeling Language using the modeling tools available with the UMLModel template and how to create different types of UML diagrams. Chapter 21 introduces several additional templates for documenting software systems. Chapter 22describes Visio’s template for mapping Web sites. Chapter 23 describes techniquesfor creating effective network diagrams and identifies the network features nolonger available in Visio 2003.Part V: Using Visio for Architecture and EngineeringVisio 2003 works for scaled drawings as well as it does for diagrams. Part Vcovers Visio’s tools for scaled drawings and discusses what Visio can and can’tdo for architectural and engineering drawings. Chapter 24 is an introduction tothe concepts that underlie scaled drawings, such as scale, units, and dimensions.Chapter 25 describes different methods for creating scaled drawings and how touse layers to manage information. Chapter 26 describes procedures for addingbasic plan components, such as walls, windows, doors, and furniture, as well ashow to create other types of architectural and engineering plans. Chapter 27 discusses how to use Visio’s Space Plan template to plan space and manage facilities.Chapter 28 describes Visio’s tools for integrating Visio and CAD drawings, whichare all based on AutoCAD file formats. Chapter 29 covers Visio’s ElectricalEngineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Process Engineering templates.Part VI: Customizing Templates, Stencils, and ShapesPart VI returns to Visio concepts and techniques with a focus on customization.Chapter 30 discusses how to create and customize templates so you can start newdrawings with the settings you want. Chapter 31 describes techniques for creatingand customizing stencils to create custom collections of built-in shapes, shapesyou’ve modified, or custom shapes you’ve developed. Chapter 32 discusses techniques for customizing shapes or creating your own and explains how to use custom properties to store data. Chapter 33 digs deeper into customizing shapes byshowing you how to modify fields in Visio ShapeSheets or write custom formulas tocontrol shape appearance and behavior. Chapter 34 explains the benefits and techniques for formatting with styles and describes how to create custom line patterns,fill patterns, and line ends. Chapter 35 describes techniques for customizing or creating your own toolbars and menus. Chapter 36 introduces the techniques availablefor automating Visio, including macros and writing add-ins.
Preface xiiiPart VII: Quick ReferencePart VII includes helpful information and reference lists. Chapter 37 describes theprocess for installing Visio 2003. Chapter 38 provides different sources of help available for Visio 2003, both within the product and online. Chapter 39 identifies additional sources for customized and specialized templates, stencils, and Visio-basedsolutions. Chapter 40 is a reference to the most helpful keyboard shortcuts. Chapter 41 identifies the templates that Visio Standard and Visio Professional provideand the stencils each one opens.
AcknowledgmentsBooks are a collaboration of people and talents — and the final product is allthe better for it.My thanks go to my editors, Jim Minatel and James Russell, for their confidence andsupport; to my technical editors, Bonnie Watts and Scott Ambler, for making surethat the information in this book is not only accurate but practical; and to my copyeditor, Luann Rouff, for making sure the whole ball of wax is readable. Thanks alsoto Teresa Stover, whose meticulous writing and readable style push me to improve.In addition, my gratitude goes to my husband, Peter Speer, who took care of our lifewhile I wrote this book. Finally, thanks to our dogs, Emma and Shea, who protectedmy feet, if not our computer cables, these many months.
P A R TUnderstanding IIVisio ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦In This PartFundamentals Chapter1Getting Startedwith VisioChapter 2Getting Startedwith DrawingsChapter 3Working withVisio FilesChapter 4Working with ShapesChapter 5Connecting ShapesChapter 6Working with TextChapter 7FormattingVisio Elements✦ ✦ ✦ ✦
C H A P T E RGetting Started 11with Visio ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦Humans are visual creatures, so it isn’t surprising thatwe visualize and communicate our ideas, designs, andfinal products graphically. In the past, high-quality graphicswere the work of professional graphic artists and illustrators,but with Visio 2003, anyone can produce informative andattractive diagrams, drawings, and models. Visio is so straightforward that you can use it to capture the fast-paced output ofbrainstorming sessions or the frequent changes made to initial designs and models. At the same time, Visio is powerfulenough to develop sophisticated models, and precise enoughto document the details of existing systems.Visio 2003 is like a good friend with expertise in dozens offields. It jumpstarts your efforts with solutions designedspecifically to produce different types of drawings. Visio templates set up your work environment with menus of specialized tools, sets of predefined shapes, and drawing settingssuch as page size and orientation typical for the type of drawing you want to create. Visio stencils categorize thousands ofpredefined symbols by industry, drawing type, and application. These Visio SmartShapes have built-in behaviors andproperties to help you quickly assemble drawings and collectinformation.Simplicity and convenience are key to Visio’s power. To construct a drawing, you drag and drop predrawn shapes fromstencils onto drawing pages. Defining relationships betweenshapes is as easy as dropping one shape onto another ordragging and dropping connectors onto shapes. Specializedtools help lay out drawings and perform typical tasks. Thesimplicity of integrating Visio with tools such as MicrosoftOffice, AutoCAD, Adobe Framemaker, and database management systems makes it easy to maintain drawings and documentation of systems.In This ChapterDiscovering featuresnew to Visio 2003Identifying whichversion of Visioyou needLearning the basicconcepts behindVisio’s powerExploring thecomponents ofVisio’s interface✦ ✦ ✦ ✦
4 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio FundamentalsWhat’s New in Visio 2003?Visio 2003 delivers brand-new templates and shapes as well as significant improvements and enhancements to many existing ones. In addition, Visio 2003 includesnew and improved features to boost your productivity and enhance collaborationwith others. You can send Microsoft feedback about the product or rate the usefulness of help topics and templates.FeatureNew Look for the New Feature icon throughout this book to learn more about what’snew and improved.New and Improved Shapes and TemplatesThe Visio team expands the scope of the product with every release. Visio 2003introduces the following new templates and shapes:✦ Business Process templates — New templates for event-driven processchains, fault tree analysis, and work flow, plus a new home for other businessprocess templates✦ Brainstorming — A replacement for the Mind Mapping template✦ Timeline — A new template for documenting project timelines✦ Space Plan Startup Wizard (Visio Professional only) — A new tool for buildingspace plans quickly✦ Detailed Network Diagram (Visio Professional only) — A replacement for theLogical Network Diagram✦ Rack Diagram (Visio Professional only) — A new template for designing equipment placement in racks✦ Windows XP User Interface (Visio Professional only) — A new template fordesigning Windows XP user interfacesYou’ll appreciate the enhancements added to many existing templates and shapes,including the following:✦ Calendar✦ Organization Chart✦ Basic Network Diagram✦ Space Plan Import Data Wizard (Visio Professional only)✦ Web Site Map (Visio Professional only)✦ Electrical Engineering (Visio Professional only)✦ Building Plan (Visio Professional only)
5Chapter 1 ✦ Getting Started with VisioProductivity EnhancementsVisio enhances its reputation for being quick and easy with the following newfeatures:✦ Task panes — You can access many of Visio’s most popular features on tennew task panes, which are docked to the right of the drawing page by default.✦ Shape management — You can find shapes faster with Search for Shapes, animproved replacement for the Find Shape feature. You can organize your frequently used shapes on the Favorites stencil or add them to custom stencils,which you can store in the new My Shapes folder for easy access.✦ Editing tools — Shapes now include rotation handles so you can rotate themwithout switching drawing tools. To select multiple shapes, you can choosefrom the Pointer, Lasso Select, or Multiple Select tools. It’s also easier to coordinate colors if you use templates with built-in color schemes.✦ Getting started — The Diagram Gallery provides an overview of Visio drawingtypes to help you select an appropriate template. Microsoft Office Onlineincludes additional templates and clip art, as well as starter drawings thatalready contain basic content to get you going. For an introduction to Visio’sfeatures, you can use the Getting Started Tutorial on the Visio Help menu.✦ CAD integration — The DWG Converter produces more accurate Visio representations of your original CAD drawings.✦ Help resources — Online help from Microsoft Office Online provides up-to-the-minute help and in-depth articles about Visio and other Office applications.The Help and Template Help task panes provide access to almost all of Visio’shelp resources, with a few more on the Visio Help menu and online. You canpause the pointer over a shape on a stencil to view a description and access aHelp link.✦ Customer feedback — You can help improve future versions of Visio bychoosing to participate in the Customer Experience Improvement Program, inwhich Microsoft collects information about your hardware configuration andhow you use Microsoft Office programs. In addition, you can provide feedbackabout programs, the effectiveness of help topics, templates, and MicrosoftOffice Online content.✦ Features for developers — In addition to a Visio 2003 ActiveX control for incorporating Visio into host applications, developers can increase their productivity with new ShapeSheet functions, keyboard and mouse events, and othertools. New interface elements such as ShapeStudio and the Formula Tracingwindow make it easier to create SmartShapes. (Visio Professional only)Collaboration and SharingCollaboration and the subsequent sharing of documents are key initiatives forMicrosoft today. Visio 2003 includes a number of new features to simplify collaboration with your colleagues:
6 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio Fundamentals✦ Track markup — You can propose changes to drawings and review thechanges proposed by your coworkers. Each person’s changes appear in aunique color on a separate overlay.✦ Ink — You can add hand-drawn shapes or handwritten notes to drawingsusing a tablet PC or any computer with an electronic pen device. You canedit Ink shapes or add them to stencils just like other Visio shapes.✦ Scalable Vector Graphic format — Visio 2003 now supports the ScalableVector Graphics (SVG) format.✦ Microsoft Office Visio Viewer 2003 — People who don’t have Visio can viewand print your Visio drawings after downloading the Visio Viewer from theMicrosoft Download Center.✦ Document Workspaces—People can collaborate on documents stored inDocument Workspaces, which are Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services sites.Contributors can work on the master copy in the Document Workspace or edittheir own copy, which they can synchronize periodically with the master.✦ Language handling — Visio 2003 supports Unicode, End User DefinedCharacter sets, and the new Chinese character-encoding standard, GB18030.In addition, Multilingual User Interface packs simplify Visio deployment inglobal enterprises by displaying text for the user interface, Help, and wizardsin other languages.Features Discontinued in Visio 2003A few templates and tools are no longer available. However, you can searchMicrosoft Office Online or other Web sites for replacements.Cross- To find other sources for Visio shapes and templates, refer to Chapter 39.Reference✦ Data Flow Model Diagram Model Explorer (Visio Professional only) — TheData Flow Model Diagram template no longer contains the Model Explorer.However, the UML template still has its Model Explorer.✦ Directory Services Directory Navigator (Visio Professional only) — TheDirectory Services Diagram template no longer contains the DirectoryNavigator.✦ Forms — The Forms template is no longer available. You can use Microsoft’snew product, Infopath, to build forms and communicate data.✦ Import Flowchart Data Wizard — You must import data into a flowchart in anearlier version of Visio and save the result in that version. You can then openthe file in Visio 2003.✦ Organization Chart Conversion Utility — You must convert an organizationchart in an earlier version of Visio and save the result in that version. You canthen open the organization chart in Visio 2003.
7Chapter 1 ✦ Getting Started with Visio✦ Visio Network Equipment Sampler (Visio Professional only) — Shapes inthe VNE Sampler are no longer available, but many equipment manufacturersprovide shapes for their equipment on their Web sites.Visio has dropped support for the following file formats and their converters:✦ Adobe Illustrator✦ ABC Flow Charter, versions 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0✦ CorelDRAW!, versions 3.0 through 7.0✦ CorelFLOW 2.0✦ Corel Clipart✦ Computer Graphics Metafile✦ Microstation (DGN)✦ MicroGrafx Designer 3.1✦ MicroGrafx Designer 6.0 English✦ Postscript and Encapsulated Postscript✦ Initial Graphics Exchange Specification✦ ZSoft PC Paintbrush (PCX)✦ Mac Clipboard✦ Text Files (TXT) and Comma Separated Values (CSV)What Visio Is and Isn’tVisio can be many things to many people. Applied properly, Visio 2003 can help youproduce simple diagrams or complex models. These far-reaching capabilities canbe confusing if you don’t understand how they differ. Even worse, you can becomequite frustrated if you try to use Visio for tasks for which it wasn’t designed.Many drawings are simple diagrams with some basic connections and little orno associated data. For these drawings, you can simply drag and drop shapes andconnectors in either Visio Standard or Visio Professional. The remaining chaptersin Part I, Understanding Visio Fundamentals, describe the basic tools you need todiagram with Visio.However, Visio Professional can also produce intelligent models and specializeddocumentation for numerous fields, including software engineering, architecture,mechanical and electrical engineering, and business process modeling. Templatesfor these advanced applications contain tools for performing specialized tasks.The shapes contained in the stencils for these templates have smart features —
8 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio Fundamentalsbuilt-in behaviors and attributes that fit the shapes to their role. For instance, intersecting walls in building plans are smart enough to clean up their overlapping lines.Cubicle shapes might contain properties that identify the people occupying theenclosed space for occupancy reports. These features are time-savers when youknow how to use them, but can make Visio seem to have a mind of its own whenyou don’t. Parts III, IV, and V of this book teach you the ins and outs of Visio’s moresophisticated solutions.You can draw precise plans to scale with Visio. Visio Standard supports only basicbuilding plans, whereas Visio Professional supports a variety of architectural andengineering plans. Nonetheless, you’ll probably want the extra power of a CADapplication, such as AutoCAD, to design and document large or complex plans.Even so, Visio can be a helpful companion to your CAD application. You can createshapes faster and more easily in Visio and then import them for use in AutoCAD orother CAD applications. Team members who don’t have access to AutoCAD can create their drawings in Visio using CAD drawings as a backdrop and import their workinto AutoCAD if necessary. Visio also simplifies preparing presentations for largeprojects.Understanding Visio ConceptsVisio enhances your drawing and modeling productivity because so many of its elements include features that incorporate industry expertise. Most of the time, youdon’t even think about how much Visio does for you because the templates, stencils, and shapes do just what you would expect. However, some of Visio’s specialized capabilities might surprise or even confuse you at first. By understanding theconcepts that make Visio so powerful, you can prevent problems and maintain yourproductivity.Using Templates and StencilsIn the real world, templates are patterns you use to build something. For example,you could use a standard design for a log house to simplify the construction of yourhome. In Visio, templates are solutions that facilitate the construction of a specifictype of drawing. Each template comprises settings, stencils, styles, and specialcommands to make your work on a drawing as easy as possible.Visio stencils are categorized collections of shapes. To continue the house analogy,a Visio stencil is like a catalog of cedar logs and connecting brackets that are available from your local building supply store. To build your home, you order the components you need from the store and assemble them according to your house design.In Visio, you assemble your drawings by dragging and dropping shapes from stencilsonto your drawing page.
9Chapter 1 ✦ Getting Started with VisioWhen you create a drawing based on a template, Visio does the following things:✦ Opens stencils with shapes — Visio opens stencils that contain the shapesyou need for the type of drawing you are creating.✦ Includes styles — Visio provides special formatting styles typical for thecurrent drawing type. For example, a construction project created from afloor plan template includes line styles typically used to dimension architectural plans.✦ Automatically displays menus and toolbars — If the template contains a special menu, Visio adds an entry for the menu to the menu bar. If the templatecontains a special toolbar, Visio floats the toolbar in the drawing area.✦ Specifies settings — Visio specifies settings typical for the type of drawing.For basic block diagrams, Visio uses letter-size paper, portrait orientation,one-to-one scale, and inches for measurement units. For site plans, it specifiesa 36" × 42" architectural drawing size in landscape orientation, a scale of 1inch to 10 feet, and measurement units of feet and inches.✦ Displays rulers and grid — To make positioning shapes easy, the rulers andgrid take into account the scale and units for the drawing. For example, ablock diagram shows inches on the rulers with each grid cell equal to one-quarter inch. Conversely, rulers for a site plan display feet in the rulers witheach grid cell equal to ten feet.Dragging and Dropping Shapes to Create DrawingsVisio’s philosophy is elegantly simple — you construct drawings by dragging anddropping predefined shapes onto drawing pages. Although working with Visio canseem like copying clip art into a document, Visio shapes are much more powerful,quickly transforming a blank page into a professional document with a few applications of drag and drop.What Makes Shapes SmartVisio shapes can represent many things: ideas, processes, components of a model,and real-world objects such as people, places, and things. Visio calls themSmartShapes because they have built-in properties and behaviors that give themintelligence. As you work on a drawing, shape behaviors help you position theshapes and connect them appropriately to other shapes. For example, when youplace a door shape in a wall, the door lines up with the wall and creates an openinginto a room, as shown in Figure 1-1. That same door might contain properties tomodify the shape or identify it, also shown in Figure 1-1. For example, one doorproperty specifies whether the door is centered in the wall. Other door propertiescan define a door’s dimensions, its catalog number, or its associated room number,so you can produce a schedule of the doors you need and where they belong inyour building.
10 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio FundamentalsDoor shapes can create openings in wallsFigure 1-1: Shapes include behaviors and properties that give them intelligence.Cross-ReferenceTo learn about how to define properties and behaviors for shapes, see Chapter 32.In Visio, predrawn shapes are called masters, which are stored and categorized instencils. When you drag and drop a master from a stencil onto your drawing page,you create a copy, which is called an instance of that master. Each instance inheritsits master’s behaviors, so it knows how to act when you add it to your drawing. Italso inherits its master’s properties, so you can assign unique values to an instance.Using Handles to Manipulate ShapesShapes have other features to help you position, resize, and connect them to oneanother. When you select a shape, Visio marks these features with colored graphics,as illustrated in Figure 1-2. Shapes include the following types of handles:✦ Selection handles — Red or green boxes appear when you select a shape.You can drag these selection handles to resize a shape or attach connectorsto them.✦ Connection points — Blue Xs mark locations where you can glue connectorsor lines.
Chapter 1 ✦ Getting Started with Visio 11✦ Rotation handle — This is a red circle that you can drag to rotate a shape.✦ Control handles — Yellow diamonds that appear on some shapes. You candrag control handles to modify a shape’s appearance — for instance, tochange the swing on a door.✦ Eccentricity handles — Green circles that you can drag to change the shapeof an arc.Shapes can be one-dimensional or two-dimensional. Two-dimensional shapes, such asrectangles and office tables, have selection handles at each corner and the midpointsof each side, which you can drag to modify a shape’s height and width. 1D shapes,such as connectors, lines, and arrows, have end points that you can drag to changethe length of the shape. You can change the length of 1D shapes as well as the widthof some 1D shapes, such as the 1D single arrow. However, you can’t change lengthand width at the same time because a 1D shape doesn’t have selection handles at itscorners.Rotation handleControl handleConnection pointSelection handleFigure 1-2: Visio uses colored marks to identify handles you can use to modify shapes.
12 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio FundamentalsConnecting ShapesRelationships can convey as much information as the elements they connect.Whether you are showing who reports to a manager in an organization or definingthe relationship between two database tables, connections between Visio shapesare important. In Visio, connections not only provide information about a relationship, they also help you lay out and rearrange the shapes on your drawing.Cross- To learn more about connecting shapes, see Chapter 5.ReferenceWhat Connectors DoConnectors are Visio shapes that define the relationships between other shapes.In essence, connectors are lines with shapes attached to each end. When you movetwo connected shapes, the connector between them adjusts to maintain that connection. Likewise, connectors maintain shape connectivity when you use Visio’sautomatic layout tools. For example, you can change the layout of an organizationchart from horizontal to vertical and the connectors alter their paths as theemployee shapes take up their new locations.Connectors have start and end points that define direction for a connection betweenshapes. Which end you connect to a shape can make a big difference in behavior. Forexample, in a database model, the table shape at the start of a connector is the parent, whereas the table at the end of a connector is the child. When you define a one-to-many relationship between those connected tables, the one is associated with thetable at the connector’s start point, and the many belongs to the table at the connec-tor’s end point.Tip When you want to differentiate the predecessor and successor for two connectedshapes, such as in a data flow diagram or project schedule, make sure you gluethe start point of the connector to the shape you are connecting from and the endpoint to the shape you are connecting to.Straight Versus Dynamic ConnectorsStraight connectors are straight lines that connect shapes. They lengthen, shorten,and change their angle to maintain shape connectivity, but they draw straight overshapes that are in their path, as shown in Figure 1-3.Dynamic connectors are smarter. They automatically bend, stretch, and detouraround shapes instead of overlapping them. They can also jump over other connectors to make connections easier to follow on a drawing. By default, dynamic connectors use right angles to bend around shapes. You can change the path of aright-angled connector by moving any of its vertices. You can also add or move
Chapter 1 ✦ Getting Started with Visio 13segments of a right-angled connector by dragging a midpoint of a segment. Curvedconnectors are dynamic as well. You can drag their control points and eccentricityhandles, to modify the shape of the curve.Figure 1-3: You can connect shapes withstraight or dynamic connectors.Using GlueJust as in real life, Visio needs glue to make things stick together. Visio “glue” comesin two varieties: shape-to-shape and point-to-point. Shape-to-shape glue, also knownas dynamic glue, builds dynamic connections between shapes. When you repositionshapes connected with shape-to-shape glue, the end points of the connector moveto the closest available connection points, as shown in Figure 1-4. Point-to-point glue,also known as static glue, keeps the connector end points glued to the specificpoints you selected on the shapes, also illustrated in Figure 1-4. In addition, you cancombine dynamic and static glue, gluing a connector to a shape at one end and aspecific point at the other.By default, you can glue to entire shapes, connection points, or guides. You canchange glue settings to also glue to shape handles, shape vertices, or any point ona shape’s geometry. As you draw a connector, a red box appears around a shapewhen you are connecting to that shape. If you are connecting to a point, the connection point turns red.
14 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio FundamentalsDynamic glue draws shortest connection.Static glue maintains the points you select.Figure 1-4: Dynamic glue draws the shortest connectors between two shapes.Exploring the Visio 2003 InterfaceWhen you begin a drawing session, Visio 2003 conveniently populates the Visiodesktop with features to help you work. By default, the Visio environment positionsmenus and toolbars across the top, the Shapes window with stencils and shapes tothe left, the task pane to the right, a status bar along the bottom, and the drawingwindow in the center, as shown in Figure 1-5.Menus and ToolbarsYou can find most features on one of Visio’s menus or toolbars. However, the fastestroute to many tasks is right-clicking a shape or interface element to access a shortcut menu.The Visio menu bar contains menus familiar to Microsoft Office users. In addition,when you work with some of the specialized templates, the Visio menu bar containsan additional entry for a specialized menu, such as Plan shown in Figure 1-5.
Chapter 1 ✦ Getting Started with Visio 15Menu BarShapes Window Drawing WindowToolbars Task PaneStatus BarFigure 1-5: The Visio environment provides convenient access to tools.Shortcuts for many tools are available on the Standard or Formatting toolbars,which appear by default. Some templates include specialized toolbars, which floatin the drawing window by default. You can easily show or hide a toolbar:✦ To display a toolbar, choose View ➪ Toolbars and choose the toolbar youwant to use. A check mark appears when the toolbar is displayed. A specialized toolbar appears in the toolbar list when a drawing of its type is active.✦ To hide a toolbar, choose View ➪ Toolbars and uncheck the checked toolbarthat you want to hide.You can dock a toolbar along the top, bottom, or sides of the Visio window. Whenyou dock a toolbar to the left or right, the toolbar hangs vertically along the side.Toolbars are easily manipulated:
16 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio Fundamentals✦ To reposition a docked toolbar, drag its move handle to a new location. Themove handle is a series of dots to the left of a horizontal docked toolbar andalong the top of a vertical docked toolbar.✦ To float a toolbar in the middle of the window, drag its move handle to a newposition.✦ To reposition a floating toolbar, drag its title bar to a new location.Task PanesTask panes provide easy access to common tasks such as creating new drawings,obtaining help, and collaborating with others. Task panes dock on the right side ofthe screen by default. To show or hide a task pane, choose View ➪ Task Pane. Youcan also display the task pane by pressing Ctrl+F1.Cross- For more information about task panes and Visio help resources, see Chapter 38.ReferenceThe Visio 2003 Drawing AreaThe drawing window, which contains your active drawing, takes center stage inthe Visio drawing area. The drawing window is visible whenever you work on adrawing. However, you can display several other windows to facilitate your work.To display one of these other windows, choose View and then the window name.The Drawing WindowDrawing pages appear in the drawing window, where you can add shapes or modifyand format the contents of your drawing. You can view different areas of a pageusing the horizontal and vertical scrollbars. To view another page, select the tabfor that page below the drawing window.A drawing grid and rulers make it easy to position and align shapes on a page. Todisplay a grid in the drawing window, choose View ➪ Grid. To display rulers, chooseView ➪ Rulers. The units that rulers display vary depending on the type of drawingand scale you are using. For example, the rulers for a block diagram use inches,whereas rulers for a site plan use feet.To change the ruler units, choose Tools ➪ Options and select the Units tab. Clickthe Change button and choose the units you want from the Measurement Unitsdrop-down list.
Chapter 1 ✦ Getting Started with Visio 17The Shapes WindowYou drag and drop shapes from the Shapes window onto a drawing page. The Shapeswindow contains active stencils and their shapes, docked by default on the left, asshown in Figure 1-5. However, you can reposition the Shapes window or individualstencils to suit your needs. For instance, you can dock the Shapes window at the topor the bottom of the drawing area to provide more room for pages set to landscapeorientation.✦ To add another stencil to the Shapes window, choose File ➪ Shapes, and navigate to the stencil you want.FeatureNew Instead of choosing File ➪ Stencils as in Visio 2002, you open stencils in Visio 2003by choosing File ➪ Shapes.✦ To display the shapes for an open stencil in the Shapes window, click the sten-cil’s title bar.✦ To resize the Shapes window, drag the vertical divider between the Shapeswindow and the drawing window to the left or right.✦ To change the information displayed in the Shapes window, right-click theShapes window title bar and choose one of the options, such as Icons Only,from the shortcut menu.Note To change the information in the Shapes window, you can also right-click a stenciltitle bar, choose View, and then choose the type of information you want to see.By default, in the Shapes window you see the title bars for all open stencils, butonly the shapes for the active stencil. To view multiple stencils at the same time,you can✦ Drag a stencil out of the Shapes window and float it on the screen, as shown inFigure 1-6.✦ Drag a stencil to the top or bottom of the Shapes window to create a secondstencil pane.
18 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio FundamentalsMultiple stencil panes in the Shapes window A docked stencilFigure 1-6: You can dock stencils in the Shapes window or float them on thescreen.The Drawing ExplorerThe Drawing Explorer, shown in Figure 1-7, offers a hierarchical view of your drawing. You can use the Drawing Explorer to find, add, delete, or edit the componentsof your drawing, including pages, layers, shapes, masters, styles, and patterns. Forexample, you can select and highlight a shape on a drawing by double-clicking itsname in the Drawing Explorer. To display the Drawing Explorer, choose View ➪Drawing Explorer Window.Figure 1-7: You can exploit thehierarchy of drawing componentsin the Drawing Explorer window.
Chapter 1 ✦ Getting Started with Visio 19Tip You can conserve screen real estate by docking and merging view windows. Youcan dock other view windows within the Shapes window or you can merge several windows into one. To dock a view window, such as Pan & Zoom, drag it intothe Shapes window. To merge view windows, drag one window by its title bar intothe center of another window. To switch between merged windows, select the tabfor the view you want.The Size & Position WindowThe Size & Position window is particularly useful when you work on scaled drawings such as building plans, where precise measurements are important. You canuse the Size & Position window to view and edit a shape’s dimensions, position,or rotation.Cross- To learn more about how to use the Size & Position window, see Chapter 4.ReferenceThe Custom Properties WindowThe Custom Properties window is the best place to modify the custom propertiesfor a number of shapes. The window remains open until you close it and displaysthe values for a shape when you select that shape. To edit a property in the CustomProperties window, click the property box and enter or edit a value.The ShapeSheet WindowYou can modify any aspect of a shape in its ShapeSheet. You can display theShapeSheet by choosing Window ➪ Show ShapeSheet.Cross- To learn more about ShapeSheets, see Chapter 33.ReferenceViewing DrawingsExamining your work is essential when you draw. As you progress from a blankpage to a completed drawing, you want to view your drawing in different ways,and Visio 2003 provides the tools to do this.Cross- People who don’t have Visio installed on their computers can still view Visio draw-Referenceings. To learn about using the Microsoft Visio Viewer or viewing Visio drawings onWeb pages, see Chapter 11.Panning and ZoomingSometimes you want to see the big picture, and at other times you want detail.In Visio, you can pan and zoom in several ways to see the area and detail thatyou want.
20 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio FundamentalsUsing Pan and Zoom ShortcutsTwo keyboard shortcuts provide the fastest way to zoom in and out:✦ To zoom in, use Ctrl+Shift+left-click.✦ To zoom out, use Ctrl+Shift+right-click.You can change the center of the zoom area by repositioning the magnifying glassthat appears when you press Ctrl+Shift.Tip If you want Visio to center the zoom area on the selected shape when you zoomin or out, choose Tools ➪ Options. Select the General tab and put a check in theCenter Selection on Zoom check box.Using the Pan & Zoom WindowThe Pan & Zoom window shows the entire drawing page, with the zoom area outlined in red. Visio docks the Pan & Zoom window within the drawing window, butyou can dock it within the Shapes window if space is at a premium. Use one of thefollowing methods to specify the area you want to see:✦ On the right side of the Pan & Zoom window, drag the zoom scrollbar up ordown to zoom in or out, respectively.✦ Drag a side or corner of the red outline to resize it, thereby changing the partof the drawing visible in the drawing window.✦ Click and drag to define a new zoom area box in the Pan & Zoom window.✦ Click a point in the Pan & Zoom window to relocate the center of the zoomarea box.Panning and Zooming from Menus and ToolbarsThe View menu and the Standard toolbar both contain zoom options, but the zoomlist on the Standard toolbar is faster. You can choose from several predefined zoompercentages as well as the entire page, the entire width of the page, and the lastzoom used.Tip If you use a mouse with a scroll wheel, you can use the mouse wheel to pan andzoom. To pan up or down, roll the mouse wheel. Press the Shift key while rollingthe wheel to pan from side to side. You can zoom in and out by pressing theControl key while rolling the mouse.Working with Drawing WindowsSometimes one window for your drawing isn’t enough — for instance, when youwant to copy shapes from one drawing to another or view details in two widely
Chapter 1 ✦ Getting Started with Visio 21separated areas of the same drawing. You can create additional windows for yourdrawings and arrange them in several ways.Creating New WindowsWhen you create a new window, Visio displays the same drawing contained in theprevious window. The new window, identified by the “:2” that follows the filenamein the Visio title bar, fills the drawing window.When you create a new window, the Shapes window doesn’t contain any openstencils. However, windows docked in the Shapes window are docked in the newShapes window as well.✦ ➪NoteTo create a new window, choose Window New Window.✦ To bring another window to the front, choose Window and then the name ofthe window you want to see.Viewing Multiple WindowsYou can view several drawing windows at the same time. Tiling and cascading bothcreate panes for each open window. Tiling is helpful for viewing several areas ofdetail at the same time as it arranges the panes side by side in the drawing area.You can view all the windows at the same time, but each pane takes up a smallerarea of the screen.Cascading is better when you want larger panes for each window but want toswitch between them quickly. Cascaded windows overlap, with each windowslightly lower and to the right of the previous one. When you cascade windows,the current window appears in front.✦ To tile the windows in the drawing area, choose Window ➪ Tile.✦ To cascade windows, choose Window ➪ Cascade.✦ To bring a hidden window to the forefront, click any visible part of thatwindow.✦ To fill the drawing area with one of the tiled or cascaded windows, click thewindow’s Maximize button.SummaryVisio is an essential tool for effectively communicating ideas and documenting business results. Using drag and drop drawing techniques, anyone can produce great-looking diagrams, drawings, and models. This chapter introduced you to Visio 2003.
22 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio FundamentalsSpecifically, in this chapter you learned about the following:✦ New and updated features in Visio 2003✦ Features discontinued in Visio 2003✦ The concepts that make Visio so powerful✦ The components of Visio’s interface✦ How to view your Visio drawings✦ ✦ ✦
Getting Startedwith DrawingsThere’s no reason to begin with a blank slate in Visio; newdrawings can originate from a variety of sources, including existing Visio drawings, Visio templates on your computer,and online. Visio provides several convenient methods forcreating drawings, none of which require more than a fewclicks of a mouse.After creating a drawing, you can add content quickly by dragging and dropping shapes from stencils or by using Visio’sdrawing tools to create your own geometry. The tools to produce lines, curves, rectangles, and ellipses are simple to use,but also pack a lot of power when you utilize all their features.As your drawings grow in size and complexity, you can addpages to hold more content. Background pages work likewatermarks, displaying company logos or repetitive background graphics for each page of your drawing. With the PageSettings menu option, you can further fine-tune how yourdrawings look and behave. You can create drawings of different sizes and scales, whether you want a two-inch thumbnailwith shapes at their actual size or a 22-inch by 34-inch architectural plan with shapes scaled to one quarter inch equal toone foot. Layout and Routing settings influence the appearance of connections and the readability of your drawings,whereas Shadow settings add visual impact.It’s easy to work with multiple drawing pages. You can add,delete, rename, and reorder pages from a shortcut menu. Inaddition, you can rotate pages temporarily to easily addobjects at an angle — for instance, to draw offices in a floorplan positioned at different angles.C H A P T E R22✦ ✦ ✦ ✦In This ChapterCreating drawingsfrom templates orexisting drawingsDrawing productivitytoolsUsing Visio drawingtoolsCreating and settingup pages in adrawingWorking withdrawing pagesEasy ways to addrotated shapes to adrawing✦ ✦ ✦ ✦
24 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio FundamentalsCreating DrawingsVisio provides three places to access the features for creating drawings:✦ File ➪ New — This is the quickest way to display the Choose Drawing Typepane or create a new drawing of the same type as the current one, particularlywhen the task pane is hidden. Choose File ➪ New ➪ Choose Drawing Type topreview and choose the available templates.✦ Choose Drawing Type pane — By default, the Choose Drawing Type paneappears when you start Visio. This pane enables you to preview and chooseone of Visio’s templates.Tip If you work on existing drawings more often than you create new ones, you canturn this feature off. To do this, click Tools ➪ Options. Select the View tab anduncheck the Choose Drawing Type Pane check box.✦ New Drawing pane — This pane contains links to every method for creatinga new drawing. If the task pane is not visible, choose View ➪ Task Pane.Click New Drawing in the task pane drop-down list.Creating Drawings Using TemplatesTemplates are incredibly convenient because they set up your drawing environment for you. Visio comes with dozens of templates, but you can also find templates on the Web or use custom templates you’ve built yourself or obtained fromsomeone else.To create a drawing from a template, follow these steps:1. Display the Choose Drawing Type pane by choosing File ➪ Choose DrawingType. You can also click Choose Drawing Type in the New Drawing task pane.2. Click the category for the type of drawing you want to create. Visio displaysthumbnails of each type of drawing in that category, as shown in Figure 2-1.3. Click the picture representing the type of drawing you want.Tip If you’re not sure that a drawing type is what you want, position the pointer over adrawing type picture to display a description of possible applications for that type.Conversely, when you know exactly which drawing type you want, it’s quicker tochoose File ➪ New, navigate to the category you want, and click the name of thedrawing type on the submenu.
Chapter 2 ✦ Getting Started with Drawings 25Template tipFigure 2-1: The Choose Drawing Type pane and New Drawing task pane provideevery option for creating new drawings.The New Drawing pane offers several other options for finding templates to use fornew drawings. Other links in the New Drawing pane include the following:✦ Search Online for — Type keywords into this box to identify the type of template you want and click Go to search online.✦ Templates on Office Online — Click this link to view templates available onthe Microsoft Office Online Web site.✦ On My Computer — Click this link to open the Browse Templates dialog box.Navigate to a folder on your computer, click the template you want to use, andclick Open.✦ On My Web Sites — Click this link to browse Web sites accessible from yourMy Network Places folder.✦ Recently Used Templates — Click one of the templates in this section to create a new drawing based on that template.
26 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio FundamentalsNote When you install Visio, you can choose to install US (Microsoft’s abbreviation forUnited States), metric, or both versions of templates. If you install both, you will seetwo copies of each template. US Units templates use standard U.S. page sizes andU.S. units, such as feet or inches. Metric templates use metric units and page sizes.Creating Drawings from Existing DrawingsSometimes, an existing Visio drawing possesses exactly the settings you want for anew drawing. It might even have some shapes you want already in place, such asyour favorite title block. Although you can open an existing drawing in Visio anduse the Save As command to create a new drawing, it’s easier to click From ExistingDrawing in the New Drawing task pane, which opens a copy of the existing file witha default name, such as Drawing1. To save the new drawing, click File ➪ Save, specify a folder and filename, and click Save.NoteCross-ReferenceIf an existing drawing contains settings and content you use frequently, you cancreate a template of that drawing. To learn how to do this, see Chapter 30.If you want to create a blank drawing, perhaps to use Visio drawing tools to markup an image, you can create a drawing without any stencils or special settingsassigned. To do this, make sure the task pane is open by choosing View ➪ TaskPane and then display the New Drawing task pane by choosing New Drawing inthe task pane drop-down list. In the New Drawing task pane, click Blank Drawing.To open stencils, choose File ➪ Shapes, navigate to the category of shapes youwant, and then choose a stencil.Using the Fundamental Drawing ToolsYou can produce most drawing content by dragging and dropping shapes and connectors. However, you can also create your own geometry to build new shapes orto annotate and mark up your drawings. Visio provides a powerful set of drawingtools. Combining these tools with drawing aids and snapping and gluing techniques, you can quickly add lines, curves, and closed shapes to any drawing.To access the Visio drawing tools, display the Drawing toolbar by choosing View ➪The Drawing Tools icon appears to the left of the zoom box on the Standard toolbar. You can click this icon to show and hide the Drawing toolbar.➪ Drawing.NoteToolbarsSpeeding Up Drawing with Snap To ToolsSnapping helps you position lines and shapes exactly where you want by attractinga point to another shape, a ruler subdivision, a drawing guide, the drawing grid, orother elements on your drawing. You can specify which elements Visio snaps to as
Chapter 2 ✦ Getting Started with Drawings 27well as the strength of attraction for a snap. As the attraction strength increases,the pointer snaps to those elements from further away.To select snap elements, choose Tools ➪ Snap & Glue and select the Visio components you want to snap to in the Snap To column. To specify the strength of attrac-Although snapping is usually helpful, it can sometimes be a hindrance. Whenyou’re trying to draw freeform curves, snapping can pull the pointer to positionsyou don’t want. To draw smoother freeform curves, choose Tools ➪ Snap & Glueand then uncheck the Snap check box in the Currently Active column. When youare finished, check the Snap check box to restore snapping.Notetion, click the Advanced tab and drag the Snap Strength scrollbars to the left orright to decrease or increase the snap strength.Cross-ReferenceTo learn more about settings for snapping, see Chapter 4.Drawing aids are dotted lines that indicate where to click to draw a circle, square,or a line at a particular angle. You can use them to simplify creating lines andclosed shapes. When you use the Ellipse and Rectangle tools, a dotted line showsyou where to click to create a circle or square, as demonstrated in Figure 2-2. Whenyou use the Line tool, guides appear when you approach an increment of 45degrees. When you edit a line segment, drawing aids extend at 45-degree increments as well as the line’s original angle. To display drawing aids, choose Tools ➪Snap & Glue and check the Drawing Aids check box in the Currently Active column.Drawing aidPreview of final shapeFigure 2-2: You can use drawing aids tocreate circles, squares, and angled lines.
28 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio FundamentalsDrawing LinesDepending on how you click and drag, you can use the Line tool to create individualline segments, a series of connected line segments, or closed shapes. When the Linetool is active, the pointer changes to cross hairs with a short angled line to its right.To draw lines, follow these steps:1. To begin a line, click the Line tool in the Drawing Tools toolbar, click the mousebutton at the starting point of the line, drag to the end point of the line, andrelease the mouse button. Visio displays the new line segment and selects it.CautionTip To draw only orthogonal lines, hold the Shift key as you drag a line.2.To connect another line segment to the one you just drew, click without moving the pointer from the end of the last segment, drag to the next end point,and release the mouse button.If you click more than once before drawing a new line segment, Visio deselects theprevious segment and the new line segment won’t be connected to the previousone. To prevent this problem, make sure the previous segment is selected beforeyou add the next one. To join separate line segments, Shift+click each segmentand then choose Shape ➪ Operations ➪ Join.3. To add another line segment, repeat step 2.4. If you want to close the shape by adding another line, click and drag to thestarting point of the first line segment and release the mouse button.NoteNote When you create a line segment with the Line tool, Visio shows the start and endpoints with green squares. However, when you create a series of connected lines,Visio indicates the vertices at the ends of each line segment with green diamonds.Visio applies a solid white fill to the shape when it closes, hiding the drawing gridbehind the enclosed area.Drawing Arcs and CurvesThe Arc tool draws one arc at a time, and each arc represents no more than one-fourth of an ellipse or a circle. The curve of the arc depends on the angle betweenthe start and end points you choose and can vary between a straight line and a circular curve. Visio arcs have vertices at each end and at their midpoints and alsocontain control points that you can use to change their shape, as shown in Figure2-3. To draw an arc with a deeper curve, create an arc and then change its curve bydragging its vertices or control point.
Chapter 2 ✦ Getting Started with Drawings 29Eccentricity point changes the lean of the curveMidpoint changes the depth of the arcEccentricity point changes the curvatureVertex changes endpointsFigure 2-3: You can drag vertices and control points to modify an arc.Note You can’t create a complete circle or ellipse with the Arc tool. You must use theEllipse tool to draw a closed ellipse.You can draw and modify arcs in the following ways:✦ To draw a clockwise arc, click one point and then sweep the pointer clockwiseto the next point.✦ To draw a counterclockwise arc, click one point and then sweep the pointercounterclockwise to the next point.Tip The direction of the arc remains fixed after the initial sweep. After the direction isset, you can drag the pointer to define the arc’s curve and orientation.✦ To move an arc, select the Pointer tool, and click the arc away from any vertices or control points. When the pointer changes to a four-headed arrow,drag the arc to a new location.✦ To extend the arc’s length, drag an end point to a new location.
30 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio FundamentalsNote Depending on where you drag the end point of an arc, you can also change theshape of the arc in addition to changing its length.✦ To change the shape of an arc, drag the control point to a new location.✦ To modify direction or rotation, right-click an arc, click Shape on the shortcutmenu, and click one of the Rotate or Flip commands.To draw multiple arcs and splines — for instance, to mimic handwriting — you useVisio’s Freeform tool. This tool senses changes in the direction of the pointer andadds vertices and control points as you draw. The result is a series of curves thatyou can modify section by section. To draw a freeform curve, click the Freeformtool in the Drawing toolbar and then drag the pointer slowly on the drawing page.Several factors contribute to the success of your curve drawing efforts. To improveyour result, you can do the following:✦ Take your time as you draw a freeform line. Drawing more slowly providesgreater control over the curves you create, as Visio better recognizes yourdirection changes.✦ Modify the freeform precision option. Precision controls how Visio switchesbetween drawing straight lines and curved splines. To set precision, clickTools ➪ Options, click the Advanced tab, and drag the precision scrollbars tothe left or right. Dragging to the left tightens the tolerance so that Visioswitches to drawing splines unless you move the mouse in a very straightline. Dragging to the right loosens the tolerance, so Visio draws straight linesuntil you move the mouse in an obvious curve.✦ Modify the freeform smoothness option. Smoothing controls how much Visiosmoothes out your curves — in effect, how sensitive Visio is to changes indirection. Tighter settings add more control points, as shown in Figure 2-4,whereas looser settings add fewer. More control points provide greater control over the angles of arcs in a freeform curve.✦ Disable snapping if your freeform lines are erratic. To do this, choose Tool ➪Snap & Glue and uncheck the Snap check box in the Currently Active column.Tip If you change your Snap & Glue settings frequently, you can display the Snap &Glue toolbar to keep Snap & Glue commands handy. Simply choose View ➪Toolbars ➪ Snap & Glue.
Chapter 2 ✦ Getting Started with Drawings 31Figure 2-4: The Smoothing setting influences thenumber of control points added to a curve.Drawing Closed ShapesAlthough you can use the Line tool to draw closed linear shapes, ellipses and rectangles have their own Visio drawing tools. With the Ellipse and Rectangle tools, youcan draw ellipses, circles, rectangles, and squares by clicking two points.You can draw quadrilateral shapes (shapes with four sides) using the followingmethods:✦ To draw a rectangle, click and drag the pointer from one position on the drawing page to another to define opposite corners of the rectangle.✦ To draw a square, hold the Shift key while dragging from one corner to theopposite corner.✦ To use drawing aids to draw a square, click the first corner, drag the pointerclose to a 45-degree angle, and click on the drawing aid that appears to selectthe opposite corner.
32 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio FundamentalsMany diagrams use rectangles with rounded corners. To round the corners of rectangular shapes, choose one of the following methods:✦ Right-click a shape and choose Format ➪ Line on the shortcut menu. Selectthe rounding you want and click OK.Tip You can also specify the rounding by typing a value for the radius of the corner inthe Rounding box of the Format Line dialog box.✦ Choose Format ➪ Corner Rounding. Select the rounding you want and click OK.✦ Choose View ➪ Toolbars ➪ Format Shape. Click the Corner Rounding buttonon the Format Shape toolbar.✦ To define a style with rounded corners, choose Format ➪ Define Styles andclick the Line button. Select the rounding you want and then click OK.Cross- To learn more about defining styles, see Chapter 34.ReferenceYou can draw ellipses and circles using the following methods:✦ To draw an ellipse, click and drag the pointer from one corner to the oppositecorner. The ellipse is circumscribed by the rectangle you defined with yourtwo points.✦ To draw a circle, hold the Shift key while dragging from one corner to theopposite corner.✦ To draw a circle, click the first corner, drag close to a 45-degree angle, andclick on the drawing aid that appears to select the opposite corner.Using the Pencil ToolThe Pencil tool is quite versatile. It works as well for drawing new lines and arcs as itdoes for reshaping existing ones. In addition, you can use the Pencil tool to constructa polyline made up of a combination of straight lines and arcs, as demonstrated inFigure 2-5. The Pencil tool interprets your pointer movements to determine whetheryou want to draw a line or arc, and switches to either Line mode or Arc mode, respectively. In addition, the Pencil tool, unlike the Arc tool, can draw arcs that are almostcomplete circles.To use the Pencil tool’s features, use one of the following methods:✦ To draw a straight line, drag the pointer straight in any direction. Visio indicates that it is in Line mode by changing the pointer to cross hairs with anangled line below and to the right.✦ To draw an arc, sweep the pointer in a curve. Visio indicates that it is in Arcmode by changing the pointer to cross hairs with an arc below and to the
Chapter 2 ✦ Getting Started with Drawings 33right. You can move the pointer to define the radius of the arc, the angle thatthe arc circumscribes, as well as the position of the arc on the drawing page.✦ To switch to Line mode while you are in Arc mode, move the pointer back tothe starting point. When the Arc next to the cross hairs disappears, drag thepointer straight to switch to Line mode.✦ To switch to Arc mode while you are in Line mode, move the pointer back tothe starting point. When the angled line next to the cross hairs disappears,sweep the pointer to switch to Arc mode.Figure 2-5: You can draw straight lines and arcs with the Pencil tool.Working with PagesYou might add multiple pages to a drawing for several reasons. For example, thedatabase model for an airline reservation system could require hundreds of pagesto show every table. A construction project could show the entire building on onedrawing page, with elevations and construction details on others. Backgroundpages act like watermarks — for instance, displaying a company logo and standardtitle block for every foreground drawing. Every page you add can have its own settings for drawing size, orientation, margins, units and scale for architectural andengineering drawings, and more.Note The settings you specify in Page Setup can differ from page to page, but the settings you specify in Print Setup affect all pages in a drawing.
34 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio FundamentalsThe quickest way to access page commands is by right-clicking a page tab in thedrawing window. From this shortcut menu, you can do all of the following:✦ Insert new pages✦ Delete the selected page✦ Rename the selected page✦ Modify the order of the pagesCreating Pages in a DrawingA Visio drawing file contains one page by default, but you can create as many pagesas you want. When you create a new page, it inherits the page settings of the activepage in the drawing window. However, Visio also displays the Page Setup dialog boxas part of the page creation process, so you can specify page settings at the time ofcreation. You can create foreground or background pages using any of the followingmethods:✦ Right-click any page tab and choose Insert Page on the shortcut menu.✦ Choose Insert ➪ New Page.✦ In the Drawing Explorer window, right-click the Foreground or Backgroundfolder and then click Insert Page.You can create a background page that displays the same set of shapes, such as alogo, title block, or revision block, for multiple foreground pages. To do this, youmust create a background page and assign it to each foreground page. To set up abackground page, follow these steps:1. Choose Insert ➪ New Page.2. Click the Background option and type a name for the new background page inthe Name box.3. Make any other page setting changes you want and click OK.4. Add the shapes and text that you want on the new background page.5. To assign the background page to a foreground page, click the page tab for theforeground page and choose File ➪ Page Setup.6. Select the Page Properties tab, select the background page name in theBackground drop-down list, and click OK.Note You can’t delete a background page as long as at least one foreground page usesit. To remove a background page assignment, select the foreground page to whichit is assigned, open the Page Setup dialog box, click None in the Background drop-down list, and then click OK. After you have removed all the background pageassignments, you can delete the background page.
Chapter 2 ✦ Getting Started with Drawings 35Setting Up PagesEach page in a drawing can have its own unique settings. For example, a floor planpage might use a D-size sheet of paper with landscape orientation and an architectural scale. The door and window schedule for the floor plan might apply a standard letter-size sheet of paper with portrait orientation and no scale. To specify thesettings for a page, click a page tab and then choose File ➪ Page Setup to open thePage Setup dialog box.Defining Print SettingsTo specify the settings for the printer paper, select the Print Setup tab in the PageSetup dialog box. To prevent incompatibilities between drawing pages and printerpaper, Visio displays a preview window that shows the current settings for both, asshown in Figure 2-6. You can resolve discrepancies by modifying settings on eitherof the Print Setup or Page Size tabs.Discrepancies between Print Setup and Page Size settingsFigure 2-6: The Print Setup and Page Size tabs previewyour print settings to highlight incompatibilities.On the Print Setup tab, you can specify the following:✦ Printer Page Size — Choose a standard paper size from the drop-down list.✦ Printer Page Orientation — Choose the Portrait or Landscape option.✦ Page Margins — Click the Setup button to set page margins.✦ Small Drawing Centering — Click the Setup button and check the CenterHorizontally and Center Vertically check boxes.
36 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio Fundamentals✦ Print Zoom — Specify a percentage for the print zoom or how many sheetsacross and down. Print Zoom enlarges or shrinks a drawing only for printing.For example, you can use Print Zoom to print a larger drawing on a letter-sizesheet.✦ Printed Gridlines — Check the Gridlines check box to print the drawing gridalong with the contents of your drawing.Caution The Print Setup tab in the Page Setup dialog box controls page size and orientation for a page. Clicking the Properties button in the Print dialog box accessespage size and orientation settings for a printer. If you choose different settings inthese two locations, Visio will display a warning before printing, indicating thatdrawing pages will print across multiple pages because they are oriented differently than the printed page. To prevent this behavior, make sure that your drawingpage dimensions are compatible with printer page size and orientation.Specifying Page SizeBy default, Visio sets the drawing page size to the printer paper size. To specify apage size that is different from that of the printer paper, select the Page Size tab inthe Page Setup dialog box. This tab also displays a preview window that shows thecurrent settings for both Print Setup and Page Size. On the Page Size tab, you canspecify the following:✦ Page Size Same As Printer Paper Size — Visio selects this option by default.✦ Pre-defined Size — Select a category of sizes, such as Standard or ANSIArchitectural, and then select one of the standard sizes for that category.✦ Custom Page Size — Specify the dimensions for the height and width of thecustom page.✦ Page Size Fits Drawing Contents — Select Size to Fit Drawing Contents todefine a page size just large enough to hold the contents of the current page.✦ Page Orientation — Choose Portrait or Landscape for the page. Make surethat the page orientation and printer paper orientation match.Tip You can also change the size of a page without opening the Page setup dialog box.To do this, click the Pointer tool, position the pointer along the edge of the page,and press and hold the Ctrl key. After the pointer changes to a double-headedarrow, drag the edge to change the dimension of the page. As you drag, the current dimension for the page appears in the status bar.Defining Drawing ScaleWhen you work on scaled drawings such as construction plans, the drawing scaleenables you to fit real-world objects onto sheets of paper. You can specify a drawingscale in Visio to represent real-world measurements on a drawing page. In Visio, the
Chapter 2 ✦ Getting Started with Drawings 37No Scale option shows objects at their actual size — a one-to-one scale. On theDrawing Scale tab, you can specify the following options:✦ No Scale — Objects appear at their actual size.✦NotePre-defined Scale — Select a category of scales, such as Architectural orMetric, and then select one of the standard scales for that category.The page size at the bottom of the Drawing Scale screen indicates the real-worldsize of your drawing page. You can modify these values to change the size of thepage. If you do this, the preview window will show the relationship between yourpage and the printer paper.✦ Custom Scale — Specify the measurement unit and the associated size in thereal world to define a custom scale.Cross-ReferenceTo learn more about using drawing scales, see Chapter 24.Tip The Title Blocks stencil includes masters that display the current drawing scale.These shapes reference a page field, so the scale in the title block updates automatically if you modify the scale for the drawing page.Specifying Measurement UnitsOn the Page Properties tab, you can specify the units used for measuring objects ona page by choosing the units you want with the Measurement Units drop-down list.The Measurement Units list includes many familiar units of distance, units of time,and a few options that you might not know. When you work on drawings that dealwith time, such as graphs showing actions over time, you can specify the time unitsthat appear on the drawing rulers. The remaining units in the list are typesettingmeasurements; didots and ciceros represent metric measures, and points and picasrepresent U.S. measures.Setting Up Layout and RoutingThe Layout and Routing tab provides options for specifying how shapes and connectors interact on a page. You can specify where connectors attach to shapes,whether connectors that share a shape overlap or not, and whether connectors usestraight or curved lines. The Layout and Routing tab displays a preview of the settings you choose, so you can decide whether to apply them. On the Layout andRouting tab, you can specify the following options:✦ Style — This setting specifies the appearance of connectors between shapes.For example, you can choose connectors with right angles or straight lines, oryou can specify the way that Visio lays out connected shapes, such as Tree orOrganization Chart.
38 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio Fundamentals✦ Direction — Only applicable to some styles, such as Tree and OrganizationChart, the direction specifies the shape’s layout: from top to bottom, bottomto top, left to right, or right to left.✦ Separate — This specifies whether connectors that are overlapped should beseparated. For example, when you choose Unrelated Lines, connectors fromthe same manager to multiple subordinates are related, so overlapping pathsare acceptable. This setting does not affect connectors that are already separated.✦ Overlap — This setting specifies whether connectors that are separatedshould be overlapped.Caution If you choose to overlap all lines, your drawing will be less cluttered, but it will bemore difficult to identify relationships between shapes.✦ Appearance — This specifies whether the connectors are straight or curved.In the Page Setup menu, you can also configure the appearance of line jumps, whichvisually indicate that lines do not connect:✦ Lines That Use Line Jumps — Choose which connectors use line jumps in theAdd Line Jumps To drop-down list. For example, you can display line jumps inhorizontal or vertical lines, with the first or last line displayed.✦ Line Jump Style — This setting specifies the appearance of line jumps, suchas arcs or gaps.✦ Line Jump Size — Set the Horizontal Size to specify the width of line jumps onhorizontal lines. Set the Vertical Size to specify the height of line jumps on vertical lines.The Layout and Routing tab includes a few other settings. From here, you can alsospecify the following:✦ Move Other Shapes Away on Drop — When this check box is checked, shapesautomatically move on a page to make room for a shape that is dragged,moved, or resized on a page.✦ Enable Connector Splitting — When this check box is checked, a shapedropped onto a connector splits the connector in two. The new shape automatically has connections to the two shapes that were previously connected.✦ Spacing — Click this button to open the Layout and Routing Spacing dialogbox. You can specify spacing between shapes, spacing between connectors,spacing between connectors and shapes, and the average shape size.
Chapter 2 ✦ Getting Started with Drawings 39Setting Up ShadowsThe Shadows tab controls the appearance of shadows associated with shapes on apage. On the Shadows tab, you can specify the following options:✦ Shadow Style — This determines the angle and connection between theshadow and the shape, much like the position of a light source determines theshape of a shadow.Note If you choose an oblique style, in which the shadow is oriented at an angle to theshape, you can specify the angle of rotation for the shadow.✦ Offset From Shape — This setting specifies the distance between the shapesand the shadow. You can specify distances for horizontal and vertical offset oruse the direction buttons.✦ Magnification — Use this to specify the size of the shadow relative to the original shape.Editing PagesWhen a drawing contains several pages, it’s easy to edit pages and move betweenthem. The quickest way to navigate to a page is by clicking its page tab. If you can’tsee all the page tabs, you can choose Edit ➪ Go To and then click the name of thepage you want to see.Renaming PagesWhen you create pages and don’t name them, Visio assigns default names, such asDrawing1. If you work with multiple pages, you should assign a meaningful name toeach page when you create it. This enables you to easily identify a page by the label onthe page tab. Afterwards, you can rename a page with one of the following methods:✦ Double-click a page tab and type the page’s new name.✦ Right-click a page tab, click Rename Page, and type the page’s new name.Tip If the Page Setup dialog box is open, you can rename the current page by clickingthe Page Properties tab and typing a new name in the Name box.Deleting PagesYou can delete the current page or delete several pages at one time. To delete onepage, right-click its page tab and click Delete Page. To delete several pages at once,follow these steps:1. Choose Edit ➪ Delete Pages.2. Ctrl+click each page you want to delete in the Delete Pages dialog box. If youare using default names and want Visio to renumber the page names, selectthe Update Names box. Click OK.
40 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio FundamentalsReordering PagesAs you insert and delete pages, the remaining pages might need to be reordered. Ifyou can see most of the page tabs, you can drag and drop pages into position. Todo this, select the tab of the page you want to move and drag and drop the tab intoa new position.When your drawing contains many pages, it’s easier to reorder them in the DrawingExplorer window. To do this, follow these steps:1. Choose View ➪ Drawing Explorer Window.2. Right-click either the Foreground folder or the Background folder and clickReorder Pages on the shortcut menu.3. In the Reorder Pages dialog box, click the name of a page that you want tomove and use the Move Up or Move Down buttons to move the page to itsnew position in the order. If you are using default names and want Visio torenumber the page names, select the Update Names box. Click OK when youhave finished reordering all the pages.Rotating PagesYou can create drawings in which different areas are at different angles withoutrotating each shape into position. By rotating the drawing page, you can constructeach section orthogonally — that is, placing each shape at right angles to the drawing grid. Although existing shapes and guides rotate when you rotate a page, therulers and drawing grid remain fixed. While the page is rotated, you add newshapes at right angles to the rulers and grid. When you rotate the page back to itsRotating pages does not affect print and page orientation settings. A rotated pageprints as if it were not rotated.Noteoriginal orientation, the shapes you added rotate with it, as illustrated in Figure 2-7.To rotate a page, follow these steps:1. Display the page you want to rotate in the drawing window.2. Press Ctrl and position the pointer over a corner of the page. The pointerchanges to a rotation pointer.3. Drag the corner to the angle you want. If you want to rotate to a specific angle,release the mouse button when the rotation angle value in the status barequals the angle you want.
Chapter 2 ✦ Getting Started with Drawings 41Add a shape while the page is rotated. Shape rotates with page.Figure 2-7: You can add a large number of shapes at an angle by rotating the page.SummaryVisio provides a number of methods for creating drawings. By creating drawingsusing templates, you can get to work without worrying about settings such as pagesize or scale. You can also use existing drawings as a foundation for new drawingsand even create your own templates if you use the same drawings repeatedly.Although Visio provides thousands of predrawn shapes, you can add your ownlines and closed shapes with Visio’s drawing tools. Visio provides a number of features, such as snapping and drawing aids, that help you draw lines, arcs, and closedshapes precisely where you want.You can add pages to a drawing to keep related information in one file or to showthe detail of a large and complex model. By default, a new page inherits the settingsfor the previous page. However, each page in a drawing has its own unique settings,so you can modify page settings to support different types of information on eachpage. As you modify your drawing, you can navigate between pages — renaming,deleting, and reordering them as needed. In addition, you can easily draw shapes atdifferent angles on a page by rotating the page and then adding shapes using theorthogonal grid.✦ ✦ ✦
C H A P T E R33Working withVisio Files ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦In Visio 2003, you can open, save, and print different Visiodrawing files such as drawings, stencils, and templates,and you can store these Visio file types in either binary orXML file formats. You can also work with other file formatssuch as AutoCAD, Scalable Vector Graphics, and GraphicsInterchange Format (.gif). For many of these formats, you canopen and save file formats simply by selecting the format inthe File As Type list in the Open or Save As dialog boxes.Visio provides several features that make it easy to find thefiles you want. Task panes include links to recently used filesand templates. You can also use basic or advanced searchesto locate files matching your search criteria. You can searchfor files in folders on your computer, your network locations,or the Internet. When you’re ready to print the results of yourefforts, Visio provides features for specifying which parts ofyour drawing to print and how to print them.Opening DrawingsVisio 2003 uses the same Open dialog box as other MicrosoftOffice applications, so you can use familiar shortcuts and features to locate and open your Visio files. In addition to theOpen dialog box, Visio 2003 provides several convenient methods for opening the files you want to work on. For example,several new task panes contain links to Visio files, stencils,and templates.FeatureNew Visio 2003 can open drawings created in earlier versions ofVisio. However, Visio 2002 can’t open Visio 2003 filesbecause of changes to XML and binary file formats. You cansave Visio 2003 files as Visio 2002 drawings, stencils, ortemplates, so you can open them in Visio 2002. In This ChapterOpening Visiodrawings and othertypes of files in VisioOpening recentlyused files quicklyUsing file propertiesto find filesUsing basic andadvanced searchesSpecifying saveoptionsSaving different typesof filesProtecting files frominadvertent changesPreviewing drawingsbefore printingPrinting drawings✦ ✦ ✦ ✦
44 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio FundamentalsWhen you open a Visio file, Visio opens several elements in addition to the drawingpage and stencils that you can see:✦ The workspace list saves the files, windows, and window positions from thelast work session so that Visio can reset your work environment.✦ Visio includes styles and color palettes associated with the drawing.✦ Visio opens a VBA project, which initially contains an empty class module:ThisDocument.✦ Visio opens a ShapeSheet for the file, which you can use to store informationabout the file and the shapes within it.Caution If you are concerned about macros jeopardizing your computer security, you canspecify security options to limit macro features. To do so, choose Tools ➪ Optionsand select the Security tab. To disable Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) features,clear the check boxes that relate to VBA. You can also disable Com Add-Ins andAutomation Events, although this might reduce the functionality available in somedrawing types. Click the Macro Security button to specify the level of macro security and macro sources you trust.Opening Visio DrawingsThe Open dialog box provides several helpful tools when you want to open a file inVisio. From this dialog box you can browse, search, access recently opened files,and open the file or files you want. To open an existing file, follow these steps:1. Click the Open button on the Standard toolbar. Alternatively, you can chooseFile ➪ Open or press Ctrl+O.2. In the Look In list, browse to the folder that contains the file you want toopen. The contents of the folder appear in the dialog box.3. Double-click a file to open it.Tip To select more than one file, press Ctrl and click the files you want to select. Thenclick Open to open all the selected files.By default, a Visio drawing uses the units defined in the template you used to createthe drawing. However, you can change the units for a drawing or specify the defaultunits for new, blank drawings and stencils. To specify the default units for text,angles, and duration, choose Tools ➪ Options, select the Units tab, and choose theunits you want. You can also specify whether Visio should offer both metric andU.S. units when you create new, blank drawings and stencils.
Chapter 3 ✦ Working with Visio Files 45➪Open and File ➪ Save.Working with Document Management SystemsYou can open and save Visio files with a document management system (DMS) if it supports the Open Document Management Architecture (ODMA) 1.5 standard. When Visiodetects an ODMA 1.5–compliant management system on your computer, it opens the DMSOpen dialog box instead of Visio’s Open dialog box. Likewise, when you save a file in Visio,the DMS Save dialog box appears so that you can save and store your Visio drawing withinthe DMS. If the DMS dialog boxes don’t appear, you might need to register Visio with yourDMS application. Refer to your DMS documentation for instructions.You can’t use a keyboard shortcut or a link on the File menu or Task Pane to access the DMSdialog boxes to open or save files. To open or save files with a DMS, you must choose FileTip You can change the measurement units for the current drawing on the PageProperties tab in the Page Setup dialog box or by clicking the Change button onthe Units tab in the Options dialog box.Accessing Recently Used FilesAlthough Visio is extremely easy to use, you often need more than one work session to complete a drawing. You can quickly locate and open files you worked onrecently with one of the following shortcuts:✦ Getting Started Task Pane — Click a link in the Open section to open a Visiofile you worked on recently.✦ New Drawing Task Pane — Click a link in the Recently Used Templates sectionto create a new drawing based on a template you used recently.✦ My Recent Documents folder — When you use the Open dialog box, click theMy Recent Documents link in the Places bar to view Visio files you accessedrecently. To open a file, select the file in the file list and click Open.✦ File menu — Depending on the options you have chosen, a number of yourrecently used files appear at the bottom of the File menu. Click a file name toopen that file.Tip You can modify the number of recently used files that appear on the File menuand in the Getting Started Task Pane. To do this, choose Tools ➪ Options, choosethe General tab, and use the Recently Used File List arrows to specify the numberof entries you want to appear. By default, Visio lists four documents; but you canhave it list as many as nine.
46 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio FundamentalsOpening Other Types of Files in VisioIn Visio 2003, you can open stencils, templates, and workspaces, as well as filesin other formats. Opening a workspace opens all the files and windows for thatworkspace, and positions the windows as they were when the workspace wassaved. You can also open stencils and templates to customize them. When youopen files saved in other graphic formats, Visio opens a Visio drawing that treatsthe graphic file as a single shape that you can move, resize, and rotate.To open other types of files, choose File ➪ Open to access the Open dialog box.Choose the type of file you want to open in the Files of Type drop-down list. As younavigate to the folder that contains the file you want to open. Visio displays onlyfiles of the type you specified in the file list. Select the file you want and click Open.Cross-ReferenceTip If you want to insert content from a type of file that Visio doesn’t support, open thefile using another drawing application, cut or copy a section of the image, andthen paste it into a Visio drawing.To learn more about working with other types of files, refer to Chapters 8, 9, and 28.Finding FilesWhether you want to find a Visio drawing with a shape you customized, or locate atemplate for your next diagramming project, you can search for Visio files, stencils,and templates on your computer, on your network, in Microsoft Outlook, or online.Like other Microsoft Office applications, Visio 2003 provides several convenientmethods for finding the files you want.Using File Properties to Find FilesYou can differentiate files by the values in their File properties, whether you usesearch methods or inspect the properties in the Properties dialog box. Visio automatically populates some of the file properties. Some of these are read-only, butmany others are editable. In addition, you can populate other properties, such asCategory or Keywords, to simplify locating the files you want in the future. Whenyou select a file in the Open dialog box, you can click Tools ➪ Properties to viewits properties before opening the file.Visio automatically populates the properties on the General tab. These propertiesare read-only and provide basic identification of a file, including the type of Visiofile, the folder location where the file is stored, the file size, and the template onwhich it is based.Although Visio populates some of the fields on the Summary tab automatically, youcan use these properties to describe and categorize your drawings and then search
Chapter 3 ✦ Working with Visio Files 47these fields to locate the files you want. Add or edit text in any or all of the following fields:✦ Title — A descriptive title for the file.✦ Subject — A description of the drawing contents.✦ Author — Visio populates this field with the name of the person who createdor last updated the file. You can enter another name.✦ Manager — The name of the person in charge of the project or the departmentfor which the drawing was created.✦ Company — This can represent either the company responsible for creatingthe drawing or the client for which the drawing was produced.✦ Language — Visio populates this field with the default language, but you canchange the language in this field. Visio uses the language specified in this fieldwhen it checks spelling.✦ Category — This describes the drawing type, such as a database model, blockdiagram, or Gantt chart.✦ Keywords — These are words that identify the file, client, project, or otheraspects of the drawing contents.✦ Description — This option provides additional information about the file, suchas purpose or revisions made.✦ Hyperlink Base — This specifies the path used as an origin for hyperlinks forwhich the path is not fully defined. By default, Visio uses a path relative to thecurrent file.✦ Save Preview Picture — Select this check box to save a preview picture of thefirst page of the drawing and display the preview when you click Preview inthe Views menu in the Open dialog box.The Contents tab lists each page in the drawing and the master shapes included onthem. You can use this tab to identify the names of the masters used in a drawing.Searching for Drawing FilesYou can search for files no matter which method you use for opening files. Visioprovides both basic and advanced search features to help you find the file youwant. To search for a file, choose one of the following methods:✦ Choose File ➪ File Search to open the Basic File Search task pane.✦ Choose File ➪ Open. Choose Tools ➪ Search in the action bar to open theMicrosoft Office Search dialog box, which includes the same features asthe Basic File Search and Advanced File Search task panes, displayed usinga different format.
48 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio FundamentalsUsing Basic Search OptionsWith basic search options, you can look for files that contain one or more words inthe body of the drawing, in keywords, or in other file properties. You can also specify where to look and the type of file you want.Tip If your computer is configured to work with other languages and you are searchingin English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch, Italian, or Swedish, you can enter oneform of a word in the Search Text box and Visio will search for other forms as well.For example, you can search for “connect” and Visio will also search for “connecting” and “connected.”The basic search options include the following:✦ Search for text — Type one or more words in the Search Text box that youwant to find in file properties. You can use a question mark (?) as a wildcardfor one character and an asterisk (*) as a wildcard for several characters.✦ Search in — Click the Search In arrow and choose the locations you want tosearch. You can select folders and hard disks on your computer, in your network places, and in Microsoft Outlook. To browse locations, click a plus signto expand the list. To choose a folder, select the check box next to the folder.Note When you search your Microsoft Outlook mailbox in English, you can use naturallanguage in your search text. For example, you can type a phrase such as “Find allthe messages from engineering sent last week.”✦ Results Should Be — Click the Results Should Be arrow and choose the typesof files you want to find. You can select Visio files, document imaging files, andWeb pages.After you have specified your search criteria, click Go to search for files. If youdon’t see the file you want in the Search Results task pane, click the Modify buttonto return to the Basic File Search task pane.Tip To find files more quickly or to search for text in shapes and custom properties ina Visio drawing, enable fast searching on your computer. To do this, click theSearch Options link in the Basic File Search task pane and select the option toenable the Indexing service. Your computer scans your files while it is idle andbuilds an index of file properties and contents. If the Indexing service is disabled,enabling it turns the Indexing services back on and sets its Startup Type toAutomatic.Constructing an Advanced SearchYou can use the advanced search options to restrict the number of results Visioretrieves. To open the Advanced File Search task pane, shown in Figure 3-1, click
Chapter 3 ✦ Working with Visio Files 49the Advanced File Search link in the Basic File Search task pane or select theAdvanced tab in the File Search dialog box. With advanced search options, you cando the following:✦ Choose the text or property to search, such as Creation Date.✦ Choose a condition that the text or property should match, such as On OrBefore, for a date.✦ Specify the value for the search criteria, such as August 27, 2003.✦ Define several search criteria, combining them with logical Ands and Ors.Figure 3-1: You can restrict search results with criteria defined in the Advanced File Search Task Pane.Finding Templates and Sample DrawingsVisio provides numerous templates and sample drawings to help you get started.The Diagram Gallery introduces the different types of drawings you can create withVisio. You can also download sample drawings prepopulated with typical drawing
50 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio Fundamentalscontent from Microsoft Office Online. The New Drawing Task Pane includes links tosearch for templates on your computer, in your network places, on Web sites, andat Microsoft Office Online. You can use the following tools to find templates andsample drawings:✦ Diagram Gallery — Choose Help ➪ Diagram Gallery to identify the type ofdrawing you want. Click a category and a drawing type to see a descriptionand examples of its applications. Click Next and Back to browse drawings insequence.✦ New Drawing Task Pane — To search for templates and sample files, chooseView ➪ Task Pane to open the Task Pane and then choose New Drawing in theTask Pane drop-down list. Choose one of the following methods to find a template or sample drawing:• Search Online For — Type words in the Open the New Drawing TaskPane and click Go. To find drawings with predrawn content, type SampleDrawings in the Search Online For box.FeatureNew Sample drawings are now available at Microsoft Office Online instead of installedon your computer with Visio. • Templates on Office Online — Search Microsoft Office Online for additional Visio templates.• On My Computer—Browse folders on your computer for Visio templates.• On My Web Sites — Browse the location in your network places.Saving FilesSaving your work can be one of the best productivity tools there is, because nothingreduces productivity like recreating work that was lost. The only hard part aboutsaving files in Visio is developing the habit of doing so. To save a file, choose one ofthe following methods:✦ Press Ctrl+S.✦ Click Save on the Standard toolbar.✦ Choose File ➪ Save.Visio includes several options to configure how and where Visio saves files. Tospecify save options, choose Tools ➪ Options to open the Options dialog box andthen choose one or more of the following options:✦ User Information — Select the General tab to specify the user name and initialsyou want Visio to use as the author of drawings.
Chapter 3 ✦ Working with Visio Files 51✦ Prompt for Document Properties on First Save — Select the Save tab toselect the option that prompts for document properties the first time yousave a file.✦ Save AutoRecover Info — Select the Save tab to specify whether Visio savesyour file automatically and, if so, how many minutes elapse between automatic file saves.✦ Default File Type — Select the Save tab to choose the file format to whichVisio saves by default. The options are to save files as Visio 2003 drawings,Visio XML documents, or Visio 2002 drawings.✦ Default File Locations — If you organize your files in specific folders, selectthe Advanced tab and click the File Paths button to specify the location fordrawings, templates, stencils, help files, add-ons, and startup paths.Tip You can share drawings with others by saving them to network locations, Webfolders, or shared workspaces created through Windows SharePoint Services. Youcan access network locations and Web folders in the Places bar of the Save As dialog box. To learn more about shared workspaces, see Chapter 11.✦ Remove Personal Information from File Properties on Save — Select theSecurity tab to remove the author name, manager name, and company namefrom file properties when you save a file.When you save a drawing for the first time, Visio opens the Save As dialog box automatically. You specify a filename and location for the drawing and click Save to storethe file. After the file is saved, it’s quickest to press Ctrl+S to save the changes youmade to your drawing.Note When you save a file, Visio not only saves any changes you’ve made to pages,shapes, and properties; it also saves the position of all open windows to the drawing workspace so that your Visio environment will look the same the next time youopen the file.Saving Visio FilesYou can use your drawings for different purposes by saving them as different typesof Visio files. The following list identifies the types of Visio files you can save andwhat they represent:✦ Drawing — A file that contains pages of shapes and text you use to conveyinformation.✦ Stencil — A file that contains master shapes you drag onto drawings.✦ Template — A file that Visio copies to create a new drawing. Visio copies intothe new drawing any settings, stencils, windows, styles, macros, and otherelements you define in the template.
52 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio Fundamentals✦ XML Files — This identifies XML versions of drawings, stencils, and templates.You can work with these files as you would regular Visio files, but you can alsoopen them in a text or XML editor and access your Visio data via XML tools.Caution Visio 2003 can open Visio 2002 XML files, but you can’t save Visio 2003 files toVisio 2002 XML format. To do that, you must save the file as a Visio 2002 drawingand then convert it to XML in Visio 2002.✦ Visio 2002 Files — You can share drawings with people who use Visio 2002 bysaving a Visio 2003 file to Visio 2002 format. However, you will lose any information or formatting specific to Visio 2003.To save a drawing as another type of Visio file, choose File ➪ Save As. Choose thetype of file you want to use in the Save As Type drop-down list. Specify the file nameand location and then click Save. You can also use File ➪ Save As to save Visio drawings in many other formats. These formats include the following:✦ AutoCAD formats (.dwg, .dxf)Cross-ReferenceTo learn about working with AutoCAD formats, see Chapter 28.✦ Metafiles (.emz, .emf, .wmf)✦ Graphics formats (.gif, .jpeg, .png, .tif, .bmp, .dib)✦ Scalable Vector Graphics Drawing (.svg, .svgz)Cross-ReferenceFeatureNew Support for Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) format is new in Visio 2003.✦ Web Pages (.htm, .html)To learn more about publishing Visio drawings to the Web, see Chapter 9.Tip You can save a Visio drawing as a print file, which you can then print from any computer connected to the type of printer specified for the drawing, even if Visio is notinstalled on that computer. To do this, choose File ➪ Print and select the Print to Filecheck box. Click OK and specify the name of the print file and where you want tosave it. Then, you can use the Windows lpr command in the Command Promptwindow to redirect the print file to the printer you want to use. In addition,although Visio has removed support for PostScript formats, you can save Visio to aPostScript file by choosing a PostScript printer in the Print dialog box.
Chapter 3 ✦ Working with Visio Files 53Protecting FilesYou can protect your files from inadvertent changes in several ways. If you save a fileas a read-only version, other users can only view the drawing. If you use the ProtectDocument feature, you can specify which items you want to protect. If you use layerson your drawing, you can lock a layer against changes.Cross- To learn how to lock a layer, see Chapter 25.ReferenceSaving a Read-Only CopySaving a read-only copy is not a surefire way to protect the contents of a drawing.When you open a read-only drawing, you can modify its contents all you want, butyou must save the modified file with a different name. In addition, you can alsoremove the read-only protection in Windows Explorer. However, the warning message that appears when you try to save a read-only file is often enough to preventsomeone from inadvertently changing the contents of a drawing.To save a read-only copy of a file, choose File ➪ Save As. After specifying a file nameand location for the file, click the Save drop-down arrow to display Save options.Select Read Only and then click the Save button.Protecting DrawingsTo protect specific items on a drawing, follow these steps:1. Choose View ➪ Drawing Explorer Window.2. Right-click the name of the drawing you want to protect and click ProtectDocument on the shortcut menu.Note If Protect Document doesn’t appear on the shortcut menu, you can add the command to a Visio menu or toolbar. To do this, click the Toolbar Options arrow at theend of a toolbar, and choose Add or Remove Buttons➪Customize. In the Customizedialog box, select the Commands tab, select Tools in the Category list, and then dragProtect Document to a position on the toolbar.3. Check the items you want to protect from unauthorized changes and click OK.You can protect the following elements of a Visio drawing:• Styles — Although you can still apply styles when this check box ischecked, you can’t create new styles or edit existing ones.• Shapes — This setting combined with the From Selection setting in theProtection dialog box prevents you from selecting shapes.
54 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio Fundamentals• Preview — This option prevents changes to a Visio file’s preview imagewhen you change the contents of a drawing page.• Backgrounds — Use this to prevent the deletion or editing of backgroundpages.• Master shapes — This setting prevents the creation, editing, or deletionof masters. However, you can still create instances of masters on drawing pages.To remove protection from a drawing, uncheck the check boxes in the ProtectDocument dialog box and click OK.Previewing and Printing DrawingsVisio works hard to ensure that your drawings print as you would expect. In mosttemplates, the drawing page and printed page settings are the same, so you don’thave to adjust page settings. Visio also adjusts colors in your drawing to yourprinter’s resources. For example, if you don’t have a color printer, then colorsappear in shades of gray. To get the best results the first time, it’s a good ideato preview your drawing before you print. You can make sure that you set pageproperties such as page size and orientation properly, and define the headersShapes that lie outside of the drawing page do not print. To include these shapeswhen you print your drawing, move them onto the drawing page.Noteand footers you want to see.Previewing DrawingsIf you want to make sure that your drawing prints the way you want, you can preview your drawing before you print. Print Preview features in Visio are similar tothose in other Microsoft Windows applications. To preview a drawing, chooseFile ➪ Print Preview or click Print Preview on the Standard toolbar. Visio shades themargins for the printer paper, so you can see how your drawing fits on it. If yourdrawing is larger than the paper, Visio displays shading where page breaks arelocated.You can also preview the fit between your drawing page and printer paper in thePage Setup dialog box. Choose File ➪ Page Setup and select one of the Print Setup,Page Size, or Drawing Scale tabs. If the preview indicates a discrepancy, you canmodify settings on these tabs to correct the problem.Tip The easiest way to ensure that the drawing and printer paper match is to use theSame As Printer Paper Size option. Choose File ➪ Page Setup, select the Page Sizetab, and select the Same As Printer Paper Size option.
Chapter 3 ✦ Working with Visio Files 55Printing DrawingsYou can print entire drawings, specific elements on drawings, or specific areas ofdrawings. After you have previewed your drawing to confirm that it will print theway you want, it’s easy to print using one of the following methods:✦ Press Ctrl+P.✦ Click Print on the Standard toolbar.✦ Choose File ➪ Print.If shapes are missing on the printed drawing, the shape might be configured as anonprinting shape, or the layer to which it is assigned might be set not to print. Toreset a nonprinting shape, follow these steps:1. Right-click the shape and choose Format ➪ Behavior.2. Uncheck the Non-Printing Shape check box and click OK.To check the shape layer, follow these steps:1. Right-click the shape and choose Format ➪ Layer.2. Choose View ➪ Layer Properties and make sure the Print column for the layeris selected.Note If the shape still doesn’t appear, the printer driver might have misinterpreted theshape’s colors. To verify the presence of shapes, choose File ➪ Print and thenselect the Color As Black check box to print all lines and fills with black.Printing Selected Parts of a DrawingThe Print dialog box contains options for specifying pages or portions of yourdrawing that you want to print. In addition, you can use other Visio features, suchas layers and markup, to control what you print. To print selected part of a drawing, choose one of the following methods:✦ Selected Pages — To specify the pages you want to print, choose File ➪ Printand choose one of the following two options:• Current Page — Click this option to print the active page.• Pages From and To — Type the number of the first and last page youwant to print.✦ Printing a Portion of a Drawing — To specify an area of the drawing you wantto print, choose File ➪ Print and choose one of the following two options:• Selection — If you have selected shapes on your drawing, click thisoption to print only the selected shapes.• Current View — Click this option to print the portion of the drawing thatappears in the Visio drawing window.
56 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio FundamentalsTip If you assign shapes to layers, you can control whether layers print. You can set upnonprinting layers for shapes you use as reference points, guides, or feedback. Toprevent a layer from printing, choose View ➪ Layer Properties and clear the checkmark in the Print column for the layer.✦ Printing a Background Page — Display the background page you want toprint and then choose File ➪ Print. Select the Current Page option and clickOK to print the background page.✦ Printing Only a Foreground Page — You must remove the background pageassociated with a foreground page if you want to print only the foregroundpage. To do this, display the foreground page and choose File ➪ Page Setup.Select the Page Properties tab, click None in the Background box, and clickOK. Use the Current Page option in the Print dialog box to print the page.✦ Printing Drawing Markup — Display the drawing markup and then print thedrawing.Tip By default, guides are nonprintable objects, but you can print a guide by modifyingthe guide’s ShapeSheet. To do this, select the guide you want to print and chooseWindow ➪ Show ShapeSheet. Scroll to the Miscellaneous section and type False inthe NonPrinting cell.✦ Printing ShapeSheets — To print a ShapeSheet, you must download the PrintShapeSheet file from the MSDN Web site (http://msdn.microsoft.com/visio) and install it. You can print the ShapeSheet data to a printer, copy it tothe Clipboard, or save it to a text file. Currently, the MSDN Web site does nothave the Print ShapeSheet tool for Visio 2003. However, Microsoft expects tohave updated information by March 2004.Cross-ReferenceFor more information about ShapeSheets, see Chapter 33.Correcting Orientation Mismatchesuses one set of printer settings, which can lead to page and paper discrepancies when youprint an entire file. If you assign different sizes and orientations to each page, print eachdrawing page separately and reset the Print Setup options before you print each page.and then reset either the drawing page or printer paper orientation so they match.Although you can specify a different size and orientation for each page in a drawing, VisioIf you try to print a Visio drawing page that uses an orientation different from the printerpage, Visio displays an error message. When you click OK in response to this error, Visioprints the drawing on multiple pages. To correct the problem before printing, click Cancel
Chapter 3 ✦ Working with Visio Files 57If your drawing contains shapes that you want to see only while you are working onthe drawing, you can specify shape options to prevent them from printing. To dothis, select the shape or shapes and choose Format ➪ Behavior. Select the Non-Printing Shape check box and click OK.Printing Large DrawingsWhen your drawing is larger than the largest paper size that your printer canaccommodate, you can choose from several solutions, depending on your needs.If you’re fortunate enough to have a larger format printer available, you can addaccess to that printer to your computer and then print to a larger sheet of paper.If your drawing almost fits on one sheet of paper, the easiest solution is to shrinkthe drawing to fit on one sheet. To do this, choose File ➪ Page Setup and select thePrint Setup tab. In the Print Zoom area, click the Fit To option and type 1 in boththe Across and Down boxes.Note You can use the Fit To option anytime you want to print a drawing to a specificnumber of pages. Type the number of pages you want in the horizontal directionin the Across box, and then do the same for the number of pages wanted vertically, in the Down box.Print Zoom won’t help if your drawing is much larger than your printer paper, orwhen you want to print your drawing to scale. You can view the relationshipbetween your drawing size and printer paper in the Page Setup dialog box, asdemonstrated in Figure 3-2. For these situations, you can tile your drawing acrossseveral sheets of paper.Page break indicatorsFigure 3-2: The Page Setup preview shows pagebreaks for tiled drawings.
58 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio FundamentalsWhen you tile a drawing, shapes that overlap the page breaks might print twice —once on each page on either side of the page break. To prevent this duplication ofshapes, you can view the page breaks on your drawing and relocate any shapesthat overlap them. After the overlaps are eliminated, you can print the drawing tomultiple sheets. To eliminate shapes overlapping page breaks, follow these steps:1. To view the page breaks on your drawing, choose View ➪ Page Breaks. Visioindicates page breaks with gray shading. The thickness of the shaded linesrepresents the margins set for the printed page.2. To reduce the thickness of the page breaks, choose File ➪ Page Setup andselect the Print Setup tab. Click the Setup button and specify narrower margins. Click OK in the Print Setup dialog box and then click OK in the PageSetup dialog box.Note Printers have minimum margins that you can’t reduce. If you specify marginssmaller than the minimum for the current printer, Visio sets the margins to thesmallest margin that the printer can handle.3. On the drawing page, drag any shapes that overlap the page break to one sideor the other.Printing Drawings in the Center of the PaperVisio offers several methods for centering drawings on the printed paper. You canmove the contents of a drawing to the center of the page or change the resize property of the drawing to match the size of the contents. If your drawing page andprinter paper are the same size, you can center your drawing by pressing Ctrl+Ato select the contents of the page and then choosing Shape ➪ Center Drawing.To center the contents of your drawing on a page, follow these steps:1. Choose File ➪ Page Setup and select the Page Size tab.2. Click the Size to Fit Drawing Contents option. The new drawing size appearsin the preview area.3. Select the Print Setup tab and click the Setup button.4. Select the Center Horizontally and Center Vertically check boxes to centerthe drawing on the printer paper and click OK. Click OK in the Page Setupdialog box.
Chapter 3 ✦ Working with Visio Files 59SummaryYou can work on any kind of Visio file as well as files in a number of different formats in Visio 2003, although several formats are no longer supported. Visioincludes a number of shortcuts for finding and opening the files you want, includinglinks on task panes and searching text and properties in files. When you’re ready toprint, you can specify how you want the drawing to print on the page as well aswhich portions of the drawing you want to see.✦ ✦ ✦
C H A P T E R44Working withShapes ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦Shapes are the foundation of every drawing you producein Visio. No matter what type of diagram you want todevelop, you create content for drawings by dragging anddropping shapes onto drawing pages. Known as SmartShapes,these predefined shapes have built-in properties and behaviors that simplify your work.As you work, you can select the shapes you want to work onin several ways. With a combination of Visio tools and shapehandles and behaviors, you can position shapes easily and asprecisely as you want. After adding shapes to a drawing page,you can use several Visio tools and add-ons to move, align,and duplicate those shapes. By dragging shape handles, youcan change the size and outline of shapes. To simplify workon related shapes, you can create groups of shapes that actas one.Because many drawings convey information through text anddata, Visio also provides features for annotation and data storage. Visio shapes can contain custom properties for storingdata about the shapes. You can add annotation with text orproperty values directly to Visio shapes. You can also use Visioadd-ons to label and number the shapes on your drawings.Visio provides hundreds of built-in shapes for dozens of different types of drawings. With so many shapes to choose from,you might wonder how you would ever find the shapes youwant. In addition to categorizing shapes by placing them onstencils, Visio’s Search for Shapes tool helps you find shapeson your computer or the Web.In This ChapterFinding shapes to useSelecting shapes andgroupsUsing rulers, grids,and guidesMoving and rotatingshapesSnapping shapes intopositionPositioning shapeswith coordinatesAligning anddistributing shapesUndoing actions anddeleting shapesDuplicating shapesResizing andreshaping shapesModifying thestacking orderStoring data in shapesGrouping andnumbering shapes✦ ✦ ✦ ✦
62 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio FundamentalsShapes 101If you’re anxious to get started, here’s what you need to know to start working withshapes. When you’re ready for more detail, continue reading the remainder of thischapter.Shape Masters and InstancesYou can quickly create drawings by dragging and dropping masters from stencilsonto a drawing page. Predrawn shapes, called masters, are stored and categorizedin stencils. A master can be as simple as a single line or quite complex, with numerous graphic and text elements, custom properties, and specialized behaviors. Whenyou drag a master from a stencil onto the drawing page, the copy or instance inherits its master’s components, properties, and behaviors.Although shape instances are linked to masters, you can still modify instances ondrawing pages. Visio creates a special stencil that contains a copy of each masteryou use in a document. In fact, this document stencil is an easy way to create stencils of customized shapes by editing the instances in your document and then saving the document stencil.Positioning ShapesAlthough masters on stencils simplify your work, assembling your drawings involvesmore than dragging and dropping. Whether you’re drawing a scaled plan in whichdimensional accuracy is critical or aligning shapes to neaten the appearance of abusiness diagram, you can use Visio tools to snap shapes into position (a processcalled snapping to). Rulers, grids, and guides act as reference points for alignmentand accurate placement. However, you can snap to many other elements in Visio,including different parts of the shapes themselves. When precision is important, youcan also position shapes by specifying x and y coordinates in the Size & Positionwindow.In addition to the initial placement of shapes, you can choose from several methodswhen you want to reposition the shapes on your drawings. Visio shapes includetools and techniques for moving and flipping shapes. You can also rotate shapes bydragging their rotation handles or specifying an angle in the Size & Position window.Modifying ShapesVisio includes several methods for modifying and duplicating shapes. You can changeshapes to suit your needs and then quickly construct your drawing by repeating
Chapter 4 ✦ Working with Shapes 63existing shapes. The shapes you add to a drawing aren’t always exactly what youwant. After you add shapes, you can also control them in the following ways:✦ Reposition or manipulate them✦ Drag them to another position or use coordinates to place them precisely✦ Rotate or mirror them to the orientation you want✦ Change their size and even modify their shapes✦ Change their position in the stacking orderTo repeat the shapes on a page, you can stamp multiple copies of a master or copyand paste one or more shapes. For shapes positioned at regular intervals, you cancreate an array of shapes.Groups of ShapesGroups of shapes further enhance your drawing productivity. In addition to movingseveral shapes as one, groups can include their own behaviors and features tospeed up the creation of specialized graphics, such as a bar graph or title block.Depending on a group’s properties, you can work with the group as a whole or withthe individual shapes within the group. For example, when you add a title block toa drawing page, you can move the group into position, but you can also add text tothe individual cells to annotate the drawing.Finding ShapesWhen you start a drawing from a template, Visio opens stencils with shapes typicalfor that type of drawing. However, you can add shapes already on your currentdrawing, from another drawing, in a stencil that isn’t open, or stored somewhereon the Web. Visio 2003 includes dozens of built-in stencils with thousands of specialized shapes. However, you can also find shapes on the Web, at Microsoft OfficeOnline, and at many vendor Web sites.Cross- For more information about shapes on the Web, including URLs for online sources,Referencesee Chapter 39.You can search for shapes in several ways, including the Search for Shapes feature,which is a powerful tool for finding the shapes you want. If you intend to use theshapes you find frequently, you can save your search results to a custom stencilso the shapes are easy to access the next time you need them. To access Searchfor Shapes, open a new or existing drawing and, if the Shapes window is not open,choose View ➪ Shapes Window.
64 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio FundamentalsFeatureNew The Search for Shapes feature is similar to the Find Shapes command available inVisio 2002, but now you can enter search criteria and search directly from theShapes window. Instead of specifying search options in a special dialog box, youcan set the Shape Search options by choosing Tools ➪ Options and selecting theShape Search tab.Opening StencilsIt’s easy to drag shapes onto a drawing when the stencils containing the shapes youwant are open. If you are working on a drawing you created without a template orthe open stencils don’t contain the shapes you want, you can open and close stencils to access other shapes. For example, you can open the Charting Shapes stencilto add a table of information to an organization chart.First, open the drawing you want to work on or create a new one. Then, to open astencil, choose File ➪ Shapes and then use one of the following methods:✦ Open a built-in stencil — Point to a category and choose a stencil.✦ Open a custom stencil — Point to My Shapes and choose a stencil.✦ Create a blank stencil — Choose New Stencil to add shapes to create yourown stencil.✦ Display the document stencil — To display a stencil that contains all theshapes on the current drawing, choose Open Document Stencil.Note If no drawing is open in Visio and you choose File ➪ Shapes and choose a stencilto open, Visio displays stencil-related toolbars and opens the stencil in a windowwith very limited functionality. For example, when you right-click a master in thestencil window, you can only copy the master or add it to one of your custom stencils. To access all the stencil features, open a Visio drawing and then choose File ➪Shapes to open a stencil in the Shapes window.Finding Shapes on DrawingsThe Search for Shapes feature doesn’t help find shapes on your current drawingbecause it searches for keywords associated with shapes in stencils. For example,when a new manager assumes responsibility for a department, you might want tolocate the shape for that position on a large organization chart by searching for theprevious manager’s name. Using the Find command, you can look for shapes inyour current drawing by searching for text in shape text blocks, shape names, custom property values, and user-defined cell values in ShapeSheets. To find a shapeon your drawing, follow these steps:1. Choose Edit ➪ Find.
Chapter 4 ✦ Working with Shapes 652. Type the words or phrase associated with the shape you are looking for. Toinclude special characters in the search text, click Special and then choosethe special character you want to include.Cross- To learn more about searching for text, see Chapter 6.Reference3. In the Search In section, select an option to specify which pages or sections ofyour drawing to search.4. To specify the shape components that you want to search, check one or moreof the check boxes in the Search In section. You can search shape text, custom properties, shape names, and user-defined cells in the ShapeSheet.5. In the Options section, check one or more of the check boxes to specify thecriteria for matching text.6. Click Find Next to begin the search. Visio highlights the first shape it findscontaining the search text. If the text is not visible in the drawing, Visio displays the location of the text in the Found In text box in the Find dialog box.Searching for ShapesThe Search for Shapes feature scans for text matching your criteria in the keywordsassociated with shapes. Depending on the options you choose, Visio will searchbuilt-in and custom stencils on your computer as well as stencils it finds on the Web.When you search for shapes, Visio creates a search results stencil that contains theshapes it finds. You can drag a shape from the search results stencil onto your drawing or save a shape to another stencil so it is easier to locate in the future.Cross- To search for shapes that you’ve created, you must add search keywords to theReferencemaster on the custom stencil. To learn how to do this, see Chapter 32.For the best results using Search for Shapes, specify descriptive words for yoursearch text, such as “table” and “furniture,” rather than specific shape names. Youcan type words as singular or plural; Visio searches for both forms. For example,typing “buttons” returns shapes with either “button” or “buttons” as a keyword.Unfortunately, you can’t use wildcards in your search text. To improve your success, try the following techniques:✦ When Visio doesn’t find any matching shapes or the results aren’t what youexpect, try other words in your search criteria. For example, instead of “file,”try “cabinet.”✦ When too many results are returned, add words or phrases to further screenthe results. For example, using “table” returns a variety of database shapes inaddition to furniture. Use “conference table” to locate shapes for large officetables.
66 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio FundamentalsUsing the Search for Shapes FeatureYou can search for shapes by typing keywords describing the shapes you want intothe Search for Shapes box in the Shapes window and clicking the green arrow. Youcan enter one or more words, separating them with spaces, commas, or semicolons.Visio keeps track of the keywords you used recently so you can repeat a search byclicking the Search for Shapes down arrow, choosing the keyword entry you want toreuse, and clicking the green arrow.Note If the Shapes window isn’t visible, choose View ➪ Shapes Window to display it.When you execute a search, Visio uses the current Shape Search options to determine where and how to search for shapes. If the search results don’t contain theshapes you want, you can modify the Shape Search options by following thesesteps:1. Right-click the Shapes window title bar or the Search for Shapes area in theShapes window and choose Search Options on the shortcut menu.Note You can also access Shape Search options by choosing Tools ➪ Options and thenselecting the Shape Search tab.2. To specify where Visio should search for stencils, check the My Computercheck box in the Search Locations list to search folders on your computer.Check the Internet check box to search the Web.Note When you search the Web for shapes, Visio retrieves only the shapes associated withyour Visio product. For example, you won’t see shapes from Visio Professional if youuse Visio Standard. However, Visio Professional includes all the shapes available inVisio Standard and many more.3. To specify which keywords a shape must possess, choose the All of the Wordsor Any of the Words option.4. To view the shapes found grouped by the stencil to which they belong, selectthe By Group option in the Results section. If you want to view the results in anew window, check the Open Results in New Window check box.5. To prevent Visio from retrieving an overwhelming number of results, checkthe Warn When Results Are Greater Than check box and type a cutoff numberin the box.6. Click OK when you are finished specifying Shape Search options and click thegreen arrow to execute the search.7. To specify whether Visio displays Icons, Names, or Details in the searchresults stencil, right-click the Shapes Window title bar and choose one of thefollowing options:
Chapter 4 ✦ Working with Shapes 67• Icons and Names — Displays icons and shape names just as other stencils appear by default• Icons Only — Displays only icons• Names Only — Displays only names, which uses less space in the windowbut requires more familiarity with the shapes• Icons and Details — Displays icons, names, and a brief description of theshapeTip If you want to find more shapes similar to one that Visio retrieved, drag the shapeto your drawing, right-click it, choose Shapes ➪ Find Similar Shapes. Visio uses thekeywords associated with the selected shape to search for other shapes, and addsthem to a search results stencil.Speeding Up Shape Searches with the Indexing ServiceIf you search for shapes frequently, you can reduce search time by enabling theIndexing Service on your computer. In effect, the Indexing Service maintains anindex of words associated with your shapes so that it can search a database insteadof shapes or drawings.Tip If you don’t want shapes from the Web, searches are quicker if you uncheck theInternet check box on the Shape Search tab of the Options dialog box.To enable indexing on your computer, make sure you have administrator privilegeson your computer and then follow these steps:1. Choose Tools ➪ Options and select the Shape Search tab.2. Select Visio Local Shapes in the Search Locations list and click Properties.3. Choose Yes, Enable Indexing Service and then click OK. Indexing might take afew minutes; the Shape Search Local Shape Properties dialog box closes whenVisio finishes indexing your shapes.Troubleshooting Shape SearchesIf Visio doesn’t find shapes you want and you know they exist, check for the following problems:✦ No Keywords Associated with Shape — Open the custom stencil for editingand add keywords to the master.✦ Stencil Keywords Don’t Match — If you add keywords to a master shape andthe Indexing Service is not enabled, the custom stencil in which the master islocated might not have the same keywords as the master. Open the customstencil for editing and check the keywords for the shape you created by right-clicking the master and choosing Edit Master ➪ Master Properties on theshortcut menu.
68 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio Fundamentals✦ Index Being Updated — If shapes contain keywords and the Indexing Serviceis enabled, Visio might be trying to search while the index is being updated.Try the search again after a minute has passed.✦ Custom Stencil Open for Edit — Visio can’t search stencils when they areopen for editing. If the stencil icon in the stencil title bar includes a red asterisk, the stencil is open for editing. To save it so it can be searched, right-clickthe stencil title bar and then click Edit Stencil. When the red asterisk in thestencil title bar disappears, you can search the stencil.✦ Stencil Path Is Incomplete — In addition to searching the folders that containVisio’s built-in stencils, the Search for Shapes feature searches for stencils inyour stencil path. If you store stencils in several locations, make sure thatyour stencil path includes those locations. To modify the stencil path, chooseTools ➪ Options, select the Advanced tab, and then click File Paths. To browsefolders, click the Ellipsis button to the right of the Stencils box and navigate tothe folder you want. To specify more than one stencil path, type a semicolonbetween each path.Saving Shape Search Results to a StencilVisio displays the shapes it finds in a search results stencil. To access these shapesquickly in the future, you can save individual shapes or the entire search resultsstencil to a custom stencil. Saving shapes to stencils on your hard drive is especially helpful when you find shapes on the Web and don’t want to get online toaccess those shapes in the future.NewFeatureVisio 2003 automatically creates a My Shapes folder in your My Documents folder,and creates a Favorites stencil in your My Shapes folder so that you can easilyaccess the shapes you use most frequently.To save the search results stencil as a custom stencil, follow these steps:1. Right-click the search results stencil title bar and choose Save As on theshortcut menu.2. In the File Namebox, type a name for the custom stencil and then click Save.By default, Visio saves stencils in your My Shapes folder.To save a shape in the search results stencil to a custom stencil, right-click theshape and choose Add to My Shapes ➪ Add to Existing Stencil. You can choosethe Favorites stencil, other custom stencils, or click Add to New Stencil to createa new custom stencil for the shape.Note To access custom stencils in your My Shapes folder, choose File ➪ Shapes ➪ MyShapes and then click the stencil you want to open.
Chapter 4 ✦ Working with Shapes 69Selecting ShapesYou have to select shapes before you can edit, position, or manipulate them. Visioprovides several selection methods to select individual shapes, multiple shapes,and groups.FeatureNew With any drawing tool active, you can click on a line or closed shape to select thatshape. If you pause the pointer, the selection handles appear, followed by controlhandles at line midpoints, and finally corner control handles.Selecting Individual ShapesYou can select individual shapes whether they stand on their own or belong to agroup. To select one shape, use one of the following methods:✦ One Shape — Click a shape to select it and display its selection handles.✦ One Shape in a Group — To subselect a shape in a group, click the shapeonce to select the group and then click a second time to select the shape anddisplay its selection handles, as shown in Figure 4-1. You can also select ashape within a group by double-clicking it.Group selected Shape selectedFigure 4-1: Click once to select a group and a second time to select a shape in thegroup.Note If clicking a shape doesn’t select it, the shape might be protected against selection,or it could belong to a group. To determine whether a shape belongs to a group,click the shape and choose Format ➪ Special on the shortcut menu. If the Typefield value is Group, the shape belongs to a group, and you can double-click theshape to select it. If the shape doesn’t belong to a group, check for protection byclicking the shape, choosing Format ➪ Protection, and seeing whether the FromSelection check box is checked. If it is, you can uncheck the box and click OK toremove this protection.
70 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio FundamentalsSelecting Multiple ShapesVisio offers several ways to select multiple shapes, whether they are side by side orspread across your drawing. When you select multiple shapes, Visio highlights eachselected shape with a magenta box and adds handles for the collection of selectedshapes so that you can rotate and resize them all. When you want to work on several shapes at once, select them using one of the following methods:✦ Select Box — To select the shapes within an area, click the Pointer tool on theStandard toolbar and drag a rectangle that completely encloses the shapesyou want to select.Tip By default, Visio doesn’t select a shape if a portion lies outside the selection rectangle. To include shapes only partially contained within the selection rectangle,choose Tools ➪ Options and select the General tab. Check the Select ShapesPartially within the Area check box and click OK.✦ Shift+click — To select shapes that are scattered across your drawing, holdthe Shift key and click each shape you want to select.Tip You can select one or more groups using the same methods you use to selectshapes. To select groups, make sure you click within the group only once.✦ Select Tool — Click the Pointer tool arrow on the Standard toolbar to accessother multiple selection tools:• Area — Select this tool and drag a rectangle to select the shapes withinan area. If you drag another rectangle while shapes are selected, theArea tool adds shapes within the new rectangle to the selections.• Lasso — Select this tool and drag the pointer around an irregular path toenclose the shapes you want to select, as illustrated in Figure 4-2.• Multiple — Select this tool and click shapes to add them to the selection.Click a selected shape to remove it from the selection.FeatureNew You can draw an irregular boundary around the shapes you want to select with theLasso tool.✦ Select All — Press Ctrl+A to select all shapes on the drawing page.✦ Select By Type — Choose Edit ➪ Select By Type and then select the ShapeType or Layer option. If you select by shape type, check the check boxesfor each type of shape you want to select. To select layers, check the layercheck boxes.
Chapter 4 ✦ Working with Shapes 71Figure 4-2: You can create an irregular selectionboundary with the Lasso tool.Positioning ShapesWith most business diagrams, you want shapes to line up so the drawing looksorganized and neat, but you don’t care about the exact position of the shapes.When you create scaled drawings, such as building plans, precise positions arevery important. For example, a few inches in the wrong direction could place adoor in the middle of a structural column. In Visio, you can align shapes or placethem precisely depending on the requirements of your drawing project.Working with Rulers, Grids, and GuidesRulers, grids, and guides help you position shapes, whether you want them merelyaligned or placed in a precise location. You can use any or all of these tools to position your shapes, as demonstrated in Figure 4-3. If you don’t use these features, youcan hide them from view so they don’t distract you. (I tell you how in the followingsections.)
72 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio FundamentalsFigure 4-3: Use rulers, grids, and guides to help position shapes.About Rulers, Grids, and GuidesVisio rulers, grids, and guides are similar to real-world tools used by drafters andgraphic artists. In Visio, vertical and horizontal rulers appear along the side of thedrawing window and show measurements based on the drawing scale, just like anengineering scale ruler would when you place it on a paper drawing. The Visio gridis like drawing on a sheet of grid paper. Visio drawing guides are like the light pencillines you might sketch on a sheet of paper before you begin inking a drawing. Morepowerful than their real-world counterparts, rulers, grids, and guides can act asmagnets, so you can quickly snap shapes into place.Working with RulersVisio rulers show intervals corresponding to the measurement unit you specify onthe Page Properties tab in the Page Setup dialog box. As you move the pointer on adrawing page, dotted lines on the rulers indicate the current pointer position. Youcan use these indicators for any editing task, including creating shapes with drawing tools, moving existing shapes, or specifying tabs in a text block. For example,you can add a wall 40 feet from the building shell by snapping to the appropriateThe ruler subdivisions also determine the distance an object moves when younudge a shape into position. When you press an arrow key with a shape selected,Visio moves the shape by one tick mark on the ruler.➪Notemarker on the ruler. Choose View Ruler to toggle the ruler’s visibility on and off.You can adjust the coarseness of the ruler subdivisions and the position of the rulerorigin to facilitate drawing. For example, you can reposition the ruler origin to acorner of a shape so you can easily draw other components relative to that shape.
Chapter 4 ✦ Working with Shapes 73To specify the subdivisions that appear on the rulers, use one or both of the following methods:✦ Set Measurement Units — To change the units that appear on the rulers,choose File ➪ Page Setup and select the Page Properties tab. Select the unitsyou want in the Measurement Units drop-down list.Note When you choose units such as Inches, or Feet and Inches, Visio sets the unitsbased on eighths of an inch. If you choose Inches (decimal), Visio divides an inchinto tenths.✦ Set Ruler Subdivisions — To change how many subdivisions Visio displays,choose Tools ➪ Ruler & Grid. Select Fine, Normal, or Coarse in the Horizontaland Vertical Subdivisions boxes.You can reposition the origin for the rulers, known as the zero point, to align withan element on your drawing. Visio also uses the zero point as the center of rotationwhen you rotate the drawing page. The zero point is usually located at the lower-left corner of the page. To move the zero point for the rulers, use one of the following methods:✦ Change the zero point on both rulers — Hold the Ctrl key and drag from theblue cross at the intersection of the two rulers to a position on the drawingpage. As you drag, Visio displays blue, dotted lines that represent the x and yaxes. When you release the mouse button, Visio moves the zero point to thatlocation.Note Be sure to press the Ctrl key before you click the blue cross at the ruler intersection. If you press the mouse button before you press the Ctrl key, Visio drags aguide point onto the drawing page.✦ Change the zero point on one ruler — Hold the Ctrl key and drag from theruler.✦ Reset the zero point to the lower-left corner — Double-click the intersectionof the two rulers.Working with a GridWhen you display the Visio grid, horizontal and vertical lines crisscross the page tohelp you position shapes. Depending on the settings you choose, you can use thegrid as a visual reference or you can snap shapes to the grid intersections. Forexample, you can quickly position structural columns every 20 feet by defining a20 foot grid for the drawing and dropping column shapes onto grid intersections.Choose View ➪ Grid to toggle the grid on and off.Tip By default, the drawing grid doesn’t print, but you can print it with the drawingpage by choosing File ➪ Page Setup, selecting the Print Setup tab, and checkingthe Gridlines check box.
74 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio FundamentalsMost Visio drawing types use a variable grid, which means that Visio determinesthe best grid spacing based on how far you are zoomed in or out. When you zoomin, the grid intervals represent smaller distances, and switch to larger distances asyou zoom out. You can also specify a fixed grid, in which the grid lines remain thesame distance apart no matter how you zoom. A fixed grid is helpful when you areworking with specific distances, such as drawing a ceiling grid. You can set the gridspacing to the size of the ceiling tiles so that it’s easy to snap tiles into place orposition HVAC components in the ceiling.You can adjust the coarseness and origin of the grid to facilitate drawing. For example, you can reposition the grid origin to a corner of a shape so you can easily drawother components relative to that shape. To reposition the grid origin, chooseTools ➪ Ruler & Grid, type the x and y coordinates for the new grid origin, andclick OK.Note By default, the grid originates at the ruler zero point and moves when you movethe ruler origin. However, when you specify the grid origin, it remains at that location even when you change the ruler zero point.To specify the grid intervals, use one or both of the following methods:✦ Set Variable Grid Spacing — To vary the grid spacing based on your zoomlevel, choose Tools ➪ Ruler & Grid. Select Fine, Normal, or Coarse in the GridSpacing Horizontal and Vertical lists.✦ Set Fixed Grid Spacing — To specify an interval for the grid spacing, chooseTools ➪ Ruler & Grid and select Fixed in the Grid Spacing Horizontal andVertical lists. Type the distance for the grid interval in the Minimum Spacingboxes and click OK.Working with GuidesGuides are like reference points or guidelines you can place to help you position oralign shapes. For example, if a building has walls at different angles, you can addguides at those angles to help align furniture with the walls. In addition to snappingto guides, you can glue shapes to them so that you can move shapes by movingtheir associated guide. Choose View ➪ Guides to toggle guide visibility on and off.Tip By default, guides are nonprintable objects, but you can print a guide by modifyingthe guide’s ShapeSheet. To do this, select the guide you want to print and chooseWindow ➪ Show ShapeSheet. Scroll to the Miscellaneous section and type False inthe NonPrinting cell.To create or modify guides, use one of the following methods:✦ Create a guide — Drag a guide from the horizontal or vertical ruler onto thedrawing page. Visio displays a blue dotted line for the guide.✦ Create a guide point — Drag the intersection of the rulers onto the drawingpage. Visio displays a blue circle with crosshairs to indicate a guide point.
Chapter 4 ✦ Working with Shapes 75✦ Use a shape as a guide — Any Visio shape can act as a guide, including arcsand splines. To create a guide from a shape, right-click the shape, chooseFormat ➪ Style on the shortcut menu, and then select Guide in the Line Stylebox. The shape looks and acts like a guide, but still has selection handles youcan use to modify it. However, guides created in this way remain visible whenyou hide guides and guide points.✦ Delete a guide or guide point — Select the guide or guide point and pressDelete.Note After defining guides for your drawing, you might want to turn off the grid so itdoesn’t interfere with snapping to your guides and guide points. To turn off thegrid, choose View ➪ Grid.✦ Move a guide — Drag a guide to a new position. You can also select a guideand type an x or y value in the Size & Position window.✦ Rotate a guide — Choose View ➪ Size & Position, select the guide you want torotate, and type an angle in the Angle box in the Size & Position window.Moving, Rotating, and Flipping ShapesWhen precision is not important, you can use shortcut commands or dragging toposition and rotate shapes.FeatureNew In Visio 2003, shapes include rotation handles similar to those found in otherOffice products. You can drag a rotation handle to rotate a shape.To move or rotate shapes without precision, use one of the following methods:✦ Move by Dragging — Position the pointer over a shape. When the pointerchanges to a four-headed arrow, drag the shape to a new location.Caution If you try to move a shape while it is selected, you might end up resizing it instead.Before moving a shape, make sure it is not selected by clicking the page background or pressing the escape (Esc) key.✦ Nudging a Shape — Select a shape and then press one of the arrow keys tonudge the shape one interval on the ruler.✦ Rotate by Dragging — Select a shape and drag its rotation handle until theshape is rotated to the angle you want.Note As you drag the rotation handle, you can see the rotation angle in the status bar.✦ Shape Menu Rotation — Right-click a shape and choose Shape on the shortcut menu. Choose Rotate Left or Rotate Right to rotate a shape by 90 degrees.Rotate Left and Rotate Right are also available on the Action toolbar.
76 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio FundamentalsSometimes you want the mirror image of an existing shape. For example, you mighthave an office set up for a right-handed person and want to flip the layout so thedesk return is on the left instead of the right. In Visio, you can flip shapes andgroups horizontally or vertically. Select the shape or group you want to flip anduse one of the following methods:✦ To mirror a shape about the vertical axis, choose Shape ➪ Rotate or Flip ➪ FlipHorizontal.✦ To mirror a shape about the horizontal axis, choose Shape ➪ Rotate or Flip ➪Flip Vertical.✦ Click Flip Horizontal or Flip Vertical on the Action toolbar.✦ Right-click the shape and choose Shape ➪ Flip Horizontal or Shape ➪ FlipVertical from the shortcut menu.✦ Press Ctrl+H to flip horizontally or Ctrl+J to flip vertically.Placing Shapes with PrecisionYou can use several Visio tools to position shapes precisely. Snapping helps youposition and align shapes by pulling shapes to elements on your drawing. For example, you can snap a desk to the walls of an office cubicle. However, you can alsospecify exact coordinates and angles when you know exactly where somethingbelongs. In addition, Visio includes additional tools for specialized placement andalignment, such as distributing several shapes equidistantly.Snapping Shapes into PositionWhen snapping is activated, Visio pulls the pointer to possible placement positionson the drawing page. You can easily snap one shape to another or snap a shape vertex to a position on the drawing ruler. You can specify which elements Visio snapsto as well as control the strength of attraction exerted by those elements. To activate snapping, choose Tools ➪ Snap & Glue and check the Snap check box.Whether you are dragging an entire shape, a selection handle, a rotation handle, avertex, or another Visio element, Visio uses the closest snap point for your editingaction. As you move the pointer, Visio indicates the current pointer location withcross hairs. When the pointer nears a snap point, Visio also displays blue crosshairs at the snap point. When the pointer snaps to a connection point, Visio highlights the connection point with a red square, indicating that you can glue to thatpoint.You can snap to the following elements:✦ Ruler subdivisions — Intervals on the horizontal and vertical rulers✦ Grid — The intersections of lines on the drawing grid✦ Alignment box — The dotted, green box that appears around a selected shapeor group
Chapter 4 ✦ Working with Shapes 77✦ Shape extensions — Dotted lines or points that show how to draw a line inrelation to a geometric point, such as the tangent to an arc or the midpointof a line. You can specify which extensions Visio displays by selecting theAdvanced tab and selecting the extensions you want.✦ Shape geometry — The edges of a shape✦ Guides — Guides and guide points you create, as described in the “Workingwith Guides” section earlier in this chapter✦ Shape intersections — Points where two shapes intersect, shape extensionsand shapes intersect, or shape edges and the grid are perpendicular✦ Shape handles — Green selection handles that appear when you select a shape✦ Shape vertices — Green diamonds that indicate the start and end points ofline segments✦ Connection points—Blue Xs that indicate points to which you can glue a shapeCross- To see examples of shape handles, vertices, and connection points, refer toReferenceChapter 1.To specify the elements Visio uses for snapping and how strongly those elementsattract the pointer, follow these steps:1. Choose Tools ➪ Snap & Glue and check the Snap check box to enable snapping.2. Check the check boxes under Snap to, to specify which elements Visio snaps to.3. To specify the snap strength, select the Advanced tab and drag the sliders tothe left or right to weaken or strengthen the attraction of an element, respectively. As you drag the slider, the number of pixels required to attract thepointer appears in the Pixels box for that element. For example, if you use onepixel for snap strength, an element doesn’t attract the pointer until it is lessthan one-eighth of an inch away. If the snap strength is set to 40 pixels, thepointer snaps when it is about half an inch away.Tip Depending on what you are trying to do, snapping can become a hindranceinstead of a help. For example, when you are drawing freeform curves, snappingcan make curves choppy. If snapping is causing trouble, uncheck one or morecheck boxes in the Snap & Glue dialog box. You can also change Snap & Glue settings quickly by clicking commands on the Snap & Glue toolbar. To display thistoolbar, choose View ➪ Toolbars ➪ Snap & Glue.Using the Dynamic Grid and Drawing AidsYou can also enable the dynamic grid and drawing aids to facilitate the positioningof shapes. The dynamic grid displays horizontal or vertical, dotted lines wheneveryou drag the pointer to advantageous positions for shapes based on the location ofother shapes on the drawing. For example, you can use the dynamic grid to drop ashape so it aligns with the top, bottom, left, right, or center of another shape on thedrawing. To enable the dynamic grid, choose Tools ➪ Snap & Glue, and check theDynamic grid check box.
78 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio FundamentalsDrawing aids are dotted lines that show the correct position for drawing a circle,square, or line at a specific angle. When you use the Line tool, you can snap tothese aids to draw lines at a specific angle, such as 45 degrees. You can snap todrawing aids when you use the Rectangle or Ellipse tools to draw a square or circle.To enable drawing aids, choose Tools ➪ Snap & Glue and check the Drawing aidscheck box. Check the Shape extensions check box in the Snap To column.Positioning Shapes by Specifying CoordinatesWhen you know exactly where a shape must be placed, it’s often easier to type thecoordinates. The Size & Position window displays fields for specifying position andsize, depending on the type of shape you select. For example, Visio draws 1D shapesbased on the start point, end point, and an angle. 2D shapes include width, height,angle of rotation, and the position of the shape’s pin, which is the shape’s center ofrotation.The x and y coordinates that you see in the Size & Position window represent thepage coordinates for the selected shape. Visio expresses page coordinates relativeto the origin of the rulers and based on the drawing scale for the page. For 2Dshapes, the position coordinates represent the position of the shape’s pin: a greencircle with cross hairs that appears when you pause the pointer over the rotationAlthough the pin is set to the center of a shape by default, you can move the pinwherever you want by dragging it to a new position. When you rotate the shape, itwill rotate around the new pin location.handle of a shape.NoteOpen the Size & Position window by choosing View➪Size & Position window andselect a shape to view its coordinates. To modify the position of a 2D shape, as shownin Figure 4-4, type values in any of the following boxes:✦ X — Change the horizontal position of the shape’s pin.Tip You can simplify specifying coordinates in the Size & Position window by movingthe ruler zero point to a convenient position on the page. For example, if you wantto move a shape four feet away from a wall, you can set the ruler zero point onthe wall.✦ Y — Change the vertical position of the shape’s pin.✦ Width — Although this option doesn’t move the shape, it is a convenient wayto specify a precise shape width.✦ Height — Although this option doesn’t move the shape, it is a convenient wayto specify a precise shape height.✦ Angle — To rotate the shape, type an angle in the Angle box. Angles start with0 degrees pointing to the right, and increase as you move counterclockwiserelative to the shape’s alignment box.
Chapter 4 ✦ Working with Shapes 79✦ Pin Pos — To align the pin with one of the shape selection handles, selectan alignment in the Pin Pos list. When you change the alignment of the pinposition, Visio moves the shape so the pin is located at the existing x and ycoordinates.Shape pin positionShape dimensionsFigure 4-4: You can move or resize shapesusing the Size & Position window.Tip The Size & Position window locks to the bottom-left corner of the drawing windowby default. You can drag and dock it at the bottom of the Shapes window to keepthe entire drawing area visible.Using the Move Shapes Add-OnVisio provides another tool for moving and copying shapes. Available only in VisioProfessional, the Move Shapes Add-On has several advantages over the Size & Positionwindow. You can perform the following actions with the Move Shapes Add-On:✦ Specify relative distances — Move a shape relative to its current positioninstead of calculating the page coordinates for the new position.✦ Specify polar coordinates — Move a shape a specified distance in the direction specified by an angle. For example, you can move a shape six inches at a45-degree angle.✦ Move or copy shapes — Copy the selected shapes or move them.
80 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio FundamentalsTo move or copy shapes with the Move Shapes Add-On, follow these steps:1. Select the shape or shapes that you want to move or copy and then chooseTools ➪ Add-Ons ➪ Visio Extras ➪ Move Shapes.2. Select either Horizontal/Vertical or Distance/Angle. Specify the new positionusing one of the following sets of information:• Horizontal/Vertical — Enter the distances you want the shape to movehorizontally and vertically in the Horizontal and Vertical boxes. To movea shape down or to the left, use negative numbers.• Distance/Angle — Type the radial distance (vector length) you want theshape to move into the Distance box. Type an angle to specify the direction you want to move the shape on the page, as shown in Figure 4-5.Angles start with 0 degrees pointing to the right, and increase as youmove counterclockwise relative to the shape’s alignment box. 90 degreespoints up; 180 degrees points to the left; and 270 degrees points down.TipCopy positioned 2 inches away at 45 degreesFigure 4-5: With the Move Shapes Add-On, you can specify a radial distance and angle.3. To copy the selected shapes instead of moving them, check the Duplicatecheck box.4. To preview the move or copy action, click Apply. If the results are correct,click OK. Otherwise, click Cancel.If you click OK without previewing the results, you can press Ctrl+Z to undo themove or copy.
Chapter 4 ✦ Working with Shapes 81Aligning and Distributing ShapesVisio provides several tools to help you arrange shapes neatly on a drawing.Although you can align shapes by snapping them into position, you can also linethem up horizontally, vertically, or in both directions by using the Align Shapescommand. In addition, you can distribute three or more shapes evenly using theDistribute Shapes command.To align a shape to a guide or guide point, create the guide, as described in the“Working with Guides” section earlier in this chapter, and then drag a selection handle or end point to the guide. To facilitate the alignment of shapes with other shapes,choose Tools➪Snap & Glue, check the Shape Geometry, Shape Handles, or ShapeVertices check boxes, and click OK.To use the Align Shapes command to align several shapes at once, follow these steps:1. Select the shape to which you want to align other shapes, press Shift, andthen click each shape you want to align to it. Visio outlines the primary shapewith a thick magenta line.2. Choose Shape ➪ Align Shapes and select the alignment options you want. Tocancel an alignment, click the X. You can align shapes vertically to the top,center, or bottom of the primary shape. Horizontally, you can align shapes tothe left, center, or right of the primary shape. Click OK to align the shapes.To distribute shapes equally, follow these steps:1. Select three or more shapes and then choose Shape ➪ Distribute Shapes. Youcan select the shapes in any order.2. Click a distribution option. The top and bottom shapes in the selection definethe distances for vertical distribution. For horizontal distribution, the shapesto the left and right define the distances. Click OK.Caution Distribute Shapes measures the distance between the outermost shapes and thenpositions the other shapes equidistantly in that space. If you want to distributeshapes at precise intervals, you can use the Offset command to create lines offsetfrom a shape at a specific distance. You can then snap shapes to these lines. Tocreate offset lines, select a line or curve and choose Shape ➪ Operations ➪ Offset.Type a value for the offset and click OK. Visio creates matching lines offset oneither side of the original.Moving Shapes with GuidesYou can use guides to move several shapes without disrupting the arrangement ofthose shapes. To accomplish this, you glue the shapes to a guide and then movethe guide, which drags the glued shapes along with it. For example, you can createa guide through the center of a row of equipment. By gluing the equipment shapesto the guide, you can reposition the equipment on the plant floor by moving the
82 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio FundamentalsYou can also move several shapes at once by grouping them. When you groupshapes, you can define separate settings and behaviors for the group in additionto the member shapes.print your drawing unless you modify the NonPrinting cell in their ShapeSheets.Noteguide. Because the guides are nonprinting objects, they won’t appear when youTo glue shapes to a guide, follow these steps:1. Choose Tools ➪ Snap & Glue and make sure that both the Snap and Glue checkboxes are checked.2. Check the Guides check box in the Snap To and Glue To columns and thenclick OK.3. To create a guide, drag from a ruler onto the drawing page.4. Drag a shape to the guide and drop it when Visio highlights the connectionpoint you want with a red box.You can also glue shapes to guides while aligning or distributing them by followingthese steps:1. Select the shapes you want to glue to a guide and choose either Shape ➪ AlignShapes or Shape ➪ Distribute Shapes.2. Select the alignment or distribution options you want, check the Create Guideand Glue Shapes To It check box (or Create Guides and Glue Shape To Them ifyou are distributing shapes), and click OK. Visio creates a guide or guides andglues shapes as follows:• Distribute Shapes — Visio distributes the shapes using the option youchose and creates a guide for each selected shape. You can redistributethe shapes by dragging one of the outermost guides. You can’t drag aninterior guide.• Align Shapes — Visio aligns the shapes using the alignment options youchose, creates one guide, and glues the shapes to it. You can move theshapes by dragging the guide to another location.Manipulating ShapesIn addition to positioning tools, Visio provides numerous features for reproducing,resizing, and otherwise manipulating shapes on your drawings. You can copyshapes one by one or several at once. You can resize and scale shapes, group themso you can work with them as one entity, or change the order in which they appearwhen you stack them on top of each other. You can also add information to the custom properties for your shapes.
Chapter 4 ✦ Working with Shapes 83Cross- Visio 2003 introduces ink shapes that enable you to insert hand-drawn shapesReferenceinto your drawings. To learn about Ink features, see Chapter 11.When you’re manipulating shapes, you can also modify Visio’s display optionsdepending on whether you want faster display or higher quality. To control howVisio displays shapes, choose Tools ➪ Options and then specify the followingoptions:✦ Smooth Drawing — Select the View tab and check this check box so yourdrawing doesn’t flicker as you stretch a bitmap or other non-Visio object.✦ Higher Quality Shape Display — Select the View tab and check this check boxto draw shapes with anti-aliased lines. Anti-aliased drawing displays smoothlines even at angles but is slower than aliased drawing.✦ Enable Live Dynamics — Select the General tab and check this check box toview shapes instead of only the alignment box as you transform shapes.Cross- If you select a shape and see padlocks where you would normally see selectionReference handles, the shape is locked to prevent you from manipulating it. To learn how tolock or unlock shapes to protect them from repositioning, resizing, formatting,deletion, and other types of editing, see Chapter 7.Undoing Actions and Deleting ShapesWhen the editing you perform makes changes you don’t expect, you can delete orundo your actions using one of the following methods:✦ Undo one action — If you want to undo only your last action, the quickest wayis to press Ctrl+Z.✦ Undo recent actions — To undo several of your most recent actions, click thearrow to the right of the Undo button on the Standard toolbar. Drag thepointer to select the actions you want to undo and release the mouse button.If you want to undo the last several actions, press Ctrl+Z multiple times.✦ Redo one action — To redo one action that you undid, press Ctrl+Y.✦ Redo several actions — To redo several actions, click the arrow to the right ofthe Redo button on the Standard toolbar. Drag the pointer to select theactions you want to redo and release the mouse button. If you want to redothe last several actions, press Ctrl+Y multiple times.✦ Delete shapes and other objects — Select the shapes you want to delete andpress Delete.✦ Cut shapes to the Clipboard — To remove shapes from the drawing page andplace them on the Clipboard, select the shapes and press Ctrl+X. To paste cutshapes, press Ctrl+V.
84 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio FundamentalsNote You can also delete shapes by clicking Delete on the Standard toolbar. You can cutshapes by choosing Edit ➪ Cut or clicking Cut on the Standard toolbar.Duplicating ShapesWhen you manipulate a shape into exactly what you want, you can avoid tediousrepetition by duplicating that shape to reuse your modifications. However, if youuse a shape frequently, it’s easier to save the modified shape to your Favorites stencil or another custom stencil so that you can drag it onto any drawing.Copying ShapesIn Visio, you can copy one shape or many, and you can copy the selected shapesonce or multiple times. You can copy shapes in the following ways:✦ Copy one or more shapes on a drawing — Select the shapes that you want tocopy and press Ctrl+C to copy them to the Clipboard. Press Ctrl+V to pastethem onto the drawing. You can press F4 or Ctrl+V to repeat pasting theselected shapes.✦ Copy shapes on a layer — To copy shapes on one or more layers, chooseEdit ➪ Select By Type and select the Layer option. Check the check box foreach layer you want to copy and click OK. Use Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V to copy andpaste the selected shapes, respectively.✦ Copy a master — To copy a master several times, select the Stamp tool on theStandard toolbar and follow these steps:Note If the Stamp tool doesn’t appear on the Standard toolbar, click Toolbar Options onthe Standard toolbar and choose Add or Remove Buttons ➪ Standard ➪ Stamp Tool.1. On a stencil, click the master you want to duplicate.2. Click the drawing page to add an instance of the master to the drawing.You can continue clicking to place additional instances until you selecta different tool.3. To specify the size of the shape, click and drag on the drawing pagewhile the Stamp tool is active.Note The Stamp tool doesn’t work with shapes on a drawing page. You must click amaster in a stencil to use the Stamp tool.Creating an Array of ShapesThe Array Shapes command duplicates a shape or shapes across a number of rowsand columns, separated by the distances you specify, as illustrated in Figure 4-6.
Chapter 4 ✦ Working with Shapes 85Original shapeFigure 4-6: Array Shapes creates rows and columns of copies.FeatureNew Array Shapes used to appear on the Tools menu. It is now available as a VisioExtras Add-On.To array a shape or shapes, follow these steps:1. Position an instance of the shape that you want to array at the bottom left ofthe array and choose Tools ➪ Add-Ons ➪ Visio Extras ➪ Array Shapes.2. To specify the distance between copies in the rows and columns of the array,type the separation you want into the Rows and Column Spacing boxes.3. To specify the number of rows and columns, type numbers in the Numbersboxes for the total number of rows and columns.4. To specify how Visio spaces the shapes, choose a spacing option:• Between Shape Centers — Separates the centers of the shapes by thespacing distance• Between Shape Edges—Separates the edges of the shapes by the spacingdistance5. To rotate the copied shapes to match the primary shape, check the MatchPrimary Shape’s Rotation check box.6. Click Apply to preview the results. If they are correct, click OK. Otherwise,click Cancel.
86 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio FundamentalsResizing and Reshaping ShapesThe shapes you drag from a stencil onto your drawing aren’t always the right sizefor your purposes. Sometimes you want to enlarge a shape to emphasize it or to fitits text within the shape’s boundaries. At other times, you might reduce the dimensions of a shape so you can fit more on a page. Visio provides several methods forresizing shape dimensions. You can also drag vertices and eccentricity handles tochange the shape of a shape.Cross- You can merge and decompose shapes in various ways to create more complexReferenceshapes. To learn about these capabilities, see Chapter 32.To resize a shape, select the shape and then use one of the following methods:✦ Resize 1-D shapes — Drag the selection handles at the end points to lengthenor shorten the shape. For 1D shapes with thickness, such as a 1D SingleArrow, you can also drag the selection handles at the midpoints to modifythe thickness.✦ Resize 2-D shapes — You can resize 2D shapes horizontally, vertically, or inboth directions at once:• Resize Horizontally — Drag the selection handle at the midpoint of theleft or right of the shape alignment box.• Resize Vertically — Drag the selection handle at the midpoint of the topor bottom of the shape alignment box.• Resize Proportionally — Drag a corner selection handle to change thehorizontal and vertical dimensions in proportion to each other.Note When a shape belongs to a group, you can specify how a shape resizes when youresize the group. A shape can resize along with the group or remain the same sizebut reposition itself relative to the new group boundaries.✦ Specify Shape Dimensions — You can use the Size & Position window toresize shapes. Refer to the “Positioning Shapes by Specifying Coordinates”section earlier in this chapter for more information.Note When you work on a scaled drawing, you can change the dimensions of a shape asyou would on any other drawing. However, if you want shapes to appear smalleron the drawing page without changing their real-world measurements, you alterthe scale of the drawing. To set the scale for a drawing page, choose File ➪ PageSetup and select the Drawing Scale tab. Specify the scale you want and click OK.✦ Reshape a shape — Pause the pointer over a shape to display its vertices andeccentricity handles. You can change the form of a shape by dragging a vertexto a new position. For example, you can stretch a corner of a rectangle. Tobend the side of a shape, drag the eccentricity handle on that side.
Chapter 4 ✦ Working with Shapes 87Cross- You can also change the dimensions of a shape in the ShapeSheet. To learn moreReferenceabout using ShapeSheets, see Chapter 33.Reordering Overlapping ShapesAs you add or move shapes, one shape might hide a shape that you want to see. Forexample, if you add a 3D bar graph to a drawing and then drag the 3D axis onto thepage, the axis shape hides the bar graph completely. To correct this, you can rearrange the order in which Visio overlaps shapes. Visio provides four options forreordering shapes. Bring to Front and Send to Back appear on the Action toolbaras well as in the Shape submenu on a shape’s shortcut menu. To access all fourreordering commands, choose Shape ➪ Order and then choose one of the followingcommands:✦ Bring to Front — Places the selected shape in front of all other shapes✦ Bring Forward — Brings the selected shape forward one layer in the stackingorder✦ Send to Back — Places the selected shape underneath all other shapes✦ Send Backward — Sends the selected shape back one layer in the stackingorderTip By clicking several times where a shape is located, you can cycle through selectingthe shapes stacked on top of each other even when you can’t see the shapes.Storing Data in ShapesShapes can contain more than the lines and text that you see on the drawing page.Custom properties associated with shapes store data similar to the way in whichfields store data in a database record. You view and edit these fields in the CustomProperties dialog box. You can use them to produce reports, such as a door or window schedule for a floor plan, or display them in shape text blocks, as organizationchart drawings do by showing the employee name, title, and telephone number ineach organization chart shape.Cross- To learn how to create custom properties and associate them with shapes, seeReferenceChapter 32.To view and store data in shapes with custom properties, follow these steps:1. To open the Custom Properties window, choose View ➪ Custom PropertiesWindow.Tip Drag the Custom Properties window into the Shapes window to dock it so thatyou can see shape properties and your drawing at the same time.
88 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio Fundamentals2. Select a shape to display its properties in the Custom Properties window. Ifthe shape doesn’t contain any custom properties, the window displays thetext No Custom Properties.3. To enter a property value, click the property you want to edit and type thevalue in the box. If the property includes a drop-down list, you can click avalue in the list.4. To view a prompt for a property, pause the pointer over the property label inthe left-hand column of the Custom Properties window. If the property has aprompt, it will appear next to the label.Note You can also access a shape’s custom properties in its Custom Properties dialogbox. To open this dialog box, right-click the shape and choose Properties from theshortcut menu.Grouping ShapesQuite often, you would like several shapes to work together as if they were oneshape, but you also want them to retain their individuality. For example, a table ofdata in Visio includes many individual boxes and text blocks. You want the table tomove as a single unit, but you also want to format and resize individual table cells.The easiest way to obtain this behavior is to group shapes. Many masters in Visiostencils are actually groups, such as title blocks. You can create your own groups,ungroup and modify built-in groups, and even nest groups within other groups.When an element on your drawing doesn’t behave as you would expect, it couldbe a different type of object than you think it is. Groups behave differently thanshapes. Merged shapes can be quite elaborate, but they are still shapes. To determine whether an element is a shape or group, select it and then choose Format ➪Special. The Type field displays Shape or Group.Groups are separate objects in Visio, so each group has its own text block andShapeSheet separate from the text blocks and ShapeSheets for each shape in thegroup. You can add text to the group text block, configure the group’s options andbehaviors, and define formulas for the group. For example, you can specify how agroup resizes or create a formula that adds shapes to a group based on the valueof a custom property.Caution Think twice before ungrouping shapes; doing so eliminates the group ShapeSheet,with its associated data and formulas.Creating and Breaking Up GroupsYou can create a group out of several shapes or divide a group into its componentshapes. Visio includes commands to add or remove shapes from an existing group,
Chapter 4 ✦ Working with Shapes 89so you don’t have to eliminate a group to add or remove shapes. Use the followingmethods to create, modify, or eliminate a group of shapes:✦ Create a group — Select the shapes you want to group and then chooseShape ➪ Grouping ➪ Group.✦ Break up a group — Select the group and then choose Shape ➪ Grouping ➪Ungroup.✦NoteAdd a shape to a group — Select the group and the shape you want to addand then choose Shape ➪ Grouping ➪ Add to Group.Sometimes the group’s alignment box doesn’t reflect the changes you’ve made, particularly when you resize the shapes in a group. When the alignment box doesn’tmatch the shape boundaries, snapping to the group might position shapes inunexpected places. To reset the alignment box, select the group and then chooseShape ➪ Operations ➪ Update Alignment Box.✦ Remove a shape from a group — Select the shape within the group and thenchoose Shape ➪ Grouping ➪ Remove From Group.Tip You can select a shape within a group by double-clicking it.You can specify the behavior of groups and some of the behaviors of the shapesthat belong to them. For example, you can control how shapes within a group resizewhen you resize the group, the order in which you can select groups and shapes,and whether you can add shapes to groups by dropping them onto the group. Tospecify group behaviors, select the group and choose Format ➪ Behavior.Cross-ReferenceTo learn more about the options for controlling group and shape behaviors, seeChapter 32.Working with Locked GroupsWhen you try to edit some groups, Visio warns you that shape protection preventsexecution of the command. This occurs when a group is locked to prevent you fromungrouping it. Many groups in built-in stencils are locked so that you can’t inadvertently reset built-in behaviors or formulas. For example, the 3-D Bar Graph on theCharting Shapes stencil is a group of bar shapes. The group has control handlesso you can adjust the height of the tallest bar and the width of all the bars. If youexperiment with the 3-D Bar Graph, you’ll find that you can’t reposition, resize, oredit the shapes in the group. You can only change them by dragging the group’scontrol handles or by changing values in the group’s custom properties.The group is locked so you can’t ungroup it and eliminate the features provided byits control handles and ShapeSheet formulas. In addition, the group is configured sothat you can’t reposition shapes in the group. Because the power of many grouped
90 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio Fundamentalsshapes depends on their group features, you should think twice before removinglocks and other protection settings. Visio makes these settings a bit harder tochange by placing them on the group ShapeSheet.Tip If you choose to unlock a group, consider making a copy of the group before youunlock or break it up.To reset group protections, select the group and then choose Window ➪ ShowShapeSheet. Use one of the following options:✦ Unlock a group—Scroll down until you see the LockGroup cell in the Protectionsection of the ShapeSheet. Click the LockGroup cell (which contains the number1), type 0, and then press Enter.Note You can add or remove protections in the Protection section of the ShapeSheet bytyping 1, which represents True or On, or 0, which represents False or Off, in protection cells. The Protection section of a group ShapeSheet includes special groupprotection settings as well as the settings available in the Protection dialog boxthat appears when you choose Format ➪ Protection.✦ Configure a group so you can reposition its shapes—Scroll down until you seethe Don’tMoveChildren cell in the Group Properties section of the ShapeSheet.Type False in this cell to enable repositioning of the shapes in the group.Cross-ReferenceTo learn more about working with ShapeSheets, see Chapter 33.Labeling and Numbering ShapesDrawing annotation helps your audience interpret your drawings, whether you usetext shapes and callouts to display notes; label shapes with data associated withshapes; or number drawing elements for identification.Cross-ReferenceTo learn how to annotate shapes with callouts and custom property values, seeChapter 6.Many types of drawings number or label their elements for identification. For example, blueprints number the columns on a structural plan so the construction crewknows how to assemble the steel. You can use the Number Shapes Add-On to number shapes as you add them to your drawing or after all the shapes are in place.By default, Visio increments numbers moving from left to right and from top tobottom on the drawing. However, you can choose the order you want, as shown inFigure 4-7, or number shapes manually.
Chapter 4 ✦ Working with Shapes 91Shape numberingFigure 4-7: You can identify shapes on a drawing with the Number Shapes Add-On.To number shapes on a drawing, follow these steps:1. If you want to number specific shapes on the drawing, select them in theorder you want them to be numbered.2. Choose Tools ➪ Add-Ons ➪ Visio Extras ➪ Number Shapes.3. Choose an Operation option to specify how you want to number the shapes:• Manually By Clicking — Adds the next number in a sequence to a shapewhen you click it• Auto Number — Numbers shapes based on the order you specify on theAdvanced tabNote You can also renumber shapes by choosing Renumber Maintaining Sequenceon the General tab. When you choose this option, select the Advanced tab andspecify whether you want to renumber shapes with unique numbers or allowduplicates in the sequence.
92 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio Fundamentals4. Specify the sequence you want. The Preview field in the Number Shapes dialog box shows an example of the sequence you have specified.• Start With — The first number in the sequence• Interval — The gap between each number in the sequence. For example,an interval of 3 would create a sequence that begins 1, 4, 7.• Preceding Text — Text that precedes the number. For example, for stepsin a process, you can choose Step in the list. For columns on a floor plan,you might choose A. or a.Tip Sometimes you might want two numbering sequences, such as numbers for thecolumns and different letters to identify each row. To apply two-part numberingschemes, select each row, specify the letter for that row in the Preceding Text box,and number the shapes. Repeat this process after selecting the shapes in the nextrow on the page.5. To number shapes that you add later, check the Continue Numbering ShapesAs Dropped On Page check box.6. Select the Advanced tab to specify other numbering options.7. Select an option to specify where the number appears relative to the shape text.8. If you are using the Auto Number option, specify the order you want. You cannumber from left to right and then top to bottom, top to bottom and then leftto right, from back to front, or in the order that you selected the shapes.Note To hide the shape numbers, check the Hide Shape Numbers check box on theAdvanced tab.SummaryDrawings are made up almost entirely of shapes, so Visio provides plenty of toolsfor finding, adding, and manipulating the shapes on your drawings. In this chapter,you learned how to work with existing shapes in numerous ways, including thefollowing:✦ Finding shapes on drawings✦ Searching for shapes in stencils✦ Selecting the shapes you want to work with on a drawing✦ Snapping shapes into position as well as positioning shapes precisely✦ Aligning shapes✦ Duplicating shapes
Chapter 4 ✦ Working with Shapes 93✦ Resizing shapes✦ Reordering shapes when they overlap✦ Storing data in custom properties✦ Grouping shapes✦ Adding numbered labels to shapesIn addition to the features you can use on existing shapes, Visio provides even moretools to help you customize and create your own shapes. See Chapters 32 and 33 tolearn more about these customization tools.✦ ✦ ✦
C H A P T E RConnecting 55Shapes ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦Some shapes stand on their own, such as title blocks orlegends, but in most diagrams the relationship betweenshapes constitutes a great deal of the information you’re tryingto convey. For example, imagine an organization chart withoutreporting relationships between managers and employees, or adata flow diagram without flows between processes.In Visio, you can show the relationships between shapes withconnectors. In this chapter, you’ll learn how to define relationships by gluing shapes together with connectors. You canattach connectors to specific points on shapes or let Visiochoose the best spot for the connection.In fact, you can let Visio take complete control of the layoutand arrangement of the shapes on your drawings. You canspecify settings for the spacing between shapes, the type ofshape arrangement you want, and the method for showingconnectors that cross on a page. As you add or move shapes,Visio uses those settings to lay out your drawing.Using ConnectorsIn Visio, you show relationships by using 1D shapes called connectors to join the 2D shapes on your drawings. Connectorscome in all shapes and sizes, from unadorned lines to 1Dshapes specialized to suit the different drawing types thatVisio supports, as illustrated in Figure 5-1. No matter howfancy the formatting, connectors all boil down to lines thatattach to shapes at each end.In This ChapterUsing connectors tolink shapesGluing shapesSpecifying points touse for glueWorking withconnection pointsAutomatically layingout shapesSpecifying layout androuting spacingSpecifying line jumpson connectors✦ ✦ ✦ ✦
96 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio FundamentalsBeginning endpointEnding endpointControl pointFigure 5-1: Visio includes all kinds of connectors.The stencils associated with each drawing type usually include connectors suitablefor your drawing. In addition, the Connectors stencil contains many of the mostpopular connectors for all drawing types.Connectors have starting and ending points that you can use to define the predecessor and successor for two connected shapes. All connectors store direction information, whether they include visual cues, such as arrowheads, or not. For example, inan organization chart, the direction of a connector differentiates the manager andthe employee. When sequence is important, you must connect the correct end of theconnector to the predecessor and successor shapes. For situations in which orderdoesn’t matter, you can connect whichever end of the connector you want.Cross-ReferenceFor an overview of connection concepts, see Chapter 1.Visio provides visual cues to show you where you can connect shapes and connectors. 2D shapes often include connection points, which are locations you’re likely touse on those shapes. Visio indicates a connection point on a shape with a blue x.
Chapter 5 ✦ Connecting Shapes 97Each end point on a connector looks a little different. The starting point for the connector is a green square with an x inside the square. The end point is a green squarewith a + inside the square, as shown (without the color, of course) in Figure 5-1.You can also use other types of points to make connections between shapes andconnectors. To learn more about specifying glue points, see the “Specifying Pointsfor Glue” section later in this chapter.Depending on the template you use and the shapes you want to connect, you canchoose from a variety of methods for connecting shapes. With some templates,such as the Organization Chart, you can simply drop a shape onto another shapeto connect them. You can also drag connectors from stencils or use the Connectortool to create connectors by dragging from shape to shape or even to create asequence of connected shapes.Using Stencil ConnectorsDragging connectors from stencils is probably the most popular method for connecting shapes because Visio automatically opens stencils with suitable connectorswhen you use templates to create drawings. It’s easy to drag the connector youwant onto a page and attach it to the shapes you want to connect.Visio makes it easy to access basic connectors, such as the Dynamic connector andthe Line-curve connector, by including them on many stencils. For a wide selectionof connectors appropriate for numerous types of drawings, open the Connectorsstencil by choosing File ➪ Shapes ➪ Visio Extras ➪ Connectors.To connect shapes using a connector from a stencil, follow these steps:1. Drag the connector you want from a stencil onto the page.2. Drag one end point of the connector to a connection point on a shape.Tip You can create a dynamic or static connection, depending on the point you selecton a shape. When you drag an end point into a shape, Visio highlights the entireshape with a red box, indicating that you’re creating a dynamic, or shape-to-shape,connection. To create a static, or point-to-point, connection, drag an end point to aconnection point. Visio highlights the connection point with a red box.3. Drag the other end of the connector to a connection point on another shape.Note If the direction of the connection is important, drag the beginning end point of theconnector to a connection point on the predecessor or superior shape. Drag theend of the connector to a connection point on the successor or subordinate shape.
98 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio FundamentalsUsing the Connector ToolYou can also create connectors as if you were drawing lines, by dragging thepointer from the first shape to the second. It’s easier to create connectors with aspecific direction with this method because you naturally draw from the predecessor shape to its successor. To draw connectors with the Connector tool, activatethe tool by clicking the Connector tool on the Standard toolbar and then use one ofthe following methods:✦ Static (Point to Point) — Position the pointer over a connection point on thefirst shape. When Visio highlights the connection point with a red box, drag toa connection point on the second shape.✦ Dynamic (Shape to Shape) — Position the pointer inside the first shape. WhenVisio highlights the shape with a red box, drag to a position inside the secondshape.✦ Static-Dynamic — Position the pointer over a connection point on the firstshape. When Visio highlights the connection point with a red box, drag to aposition inside the second shape.✦ Dynamic-Static — Position the pointer inside the first shape. When Visio highlights the shape with a red box, drag to a connection point on the secondshape.You can also connect shapes automatically as you drop them onto a drawing page.When the Connector tool is active, Visio automatically connects each new shapeyou add to the previous shape with a dynamic connection.Tip When shapes are small or contain connection points in inconvenient locations,you can have trouble creating dynamic connections. To create a dynamic connection no matter where you position the pointer on a shape, hold the Ctrl key as youdrag the end point or Connector tool over the shape.When you use the Connector tool to draw connectors, Visio creates Dynamic connectors by default. However, you can use the Connector tool to create any kind ofconnector. To create another type of connector with the Connector tool, followthese steps:1. Click the Connector tool on the Standard toolbar.2. Click a connector master in a stencil in the Shapes window.3. Draw a connector from the first shape to the second. Visio creates the type ofconnector you selected in the stencil.
Chapter 5 ✦ Connecting Shapes 99Dragging Points to Connect ShapesSpecialized connectors simplify your work with behaviors and features tailored toa specific type of drawing. These connectors are actually shapes with connectorsbuilt in. You can drag control points on these shapes to attach connectors to othershapes. For example, by dragging the control point on the trunk of the Multi-TreeSloped shape on the Blocks stencil, you can connect branches on the tree to several shapes, as shown in Figure 5-2.Indication for point-to-point connectionDrag to create new branchDrag to connect branch to shapeFigure 5-2: Drag control points on connector shapes to create connections.Tip To find out what a control point can do, position the pointer over the control point.Visio displays a tip on the screen, as demonstrated in Figure 5-2.Connecting a Sequence of ShapesWhen you’re creating a drawing with a sequence of shapes, such as the steps in aprocedure, you can add the shapes to your drawing, and instruct Visio to create thedynamic connections. To connect a sequence of shapes, select the shapes in theorder you want them to appear in the sequence and then choose Shape ➪ ConnectShapes.
100 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio FundamentalsOrganizing Connections with GlueThe paths that your connectors take depend on how you glue the connectors toshapes. Visio glue comes in two types: static and dynamic. Static glue (also calledpoint-to-point glue) connects specific points on two connected shapes. As you movethose shapes around, the connector remains attached to the points you glued, nomatter how convoluted the connector path becomes. Static glue is best used whenthe connection point is important. For example, in a flowchart, you don’t want Visioto reattach a process to a different decision when you move the process on thepage. With dynamic glue (also called shape-to-shape glue), Visio changes the connection points it uses as you move shapes around, connecting the two shapes by theshortest route. Dynamic glue is helpful when you construct diagrams such as blockdiagrams, where the specific connection point doesn’t matter.Gluing ShapesYou can use any combination of glues when you connect two shapes. When youwant to use the automatic layout tools, you must connect shapes using shape-to-shape, or dynamic, glue at both ends of the connector. However, you can also connect two shapes with one end of the connector glued with static glue and the otherusing dynamic glue. In this situation, the connection point that is glued dynamicallycan change as you move the shapes. The end point that is glued statically remainsglued to the same point no matter where you position the shapes. You can also usestatic glue at both ends.Tip Use dynamic glue while you develop a diagram, so Visio automatically adjustsconnections as you move shapes around. When you finalize the layout, you canchange the connections between shapes to static glue to fix the connection pointsthat Visio uses.In some situations, glue gets in the way. For example, when you’re dragging connectors onto a crowded page, it’s difficult to drop a connector onto the page without gluing it to a shape. To prevent Visio from gluing connectors to shapes, choose Tools➪Snap & Glue, uncheck the Glue check box under Currently Active, and click OK.Tip The Snap & Glue toolbar includes buttons to specify which points Visio uses forsnapping or gluing. If you want to switch the options for snap or glue frequently,choose View ➪ Toolbars and then choose Snap & Glue. Click one of the buttons totoggle a snap or glue option on or off.Specifying Points for GlueAlthough connection points are natural choices for gluing connectors to shapes,you can glue to other points on shapes. To specify the points that Visio uses forglue, follow these steps:
Chapter 5 ✦ Connecting Shapes 1011. Choose Tools ➪ Snap & Glue.2. Under Glue To, select one or more of the following options:• Shape Geometry — Glues connectors anywhere on the visible edge of ashape• Guides — Glues connectors or shapes to guides• Shape Handles — Glues connectors to shape selection handles• Shape Vertices — Glues connectors to shape vertices• Connection Points — Glues connectors to shape connection pointsAdding, Moving, and Deleting Connection PointsVisio adds connection points to the selected shape. Connection points don’t haveto reside on or within the shape to which they belong. You can position a connection point anywhere on the drawing page, although connection points too farremoved from their parent shapes can lead to confusion.You can add, move, or delete connection points only while the Connection Pointtool is active. To activate the Connection Point tool, click the arrow to the right ofthe Connector tool button on the Standard toolbar and choose Connection PointTool on the menu. Visio displays a green, dotted line around the selected shape. Torevert to the Connector tool, click the arrow to the right of the Connection Pointtool and choose Connector Tool on the menu.Cross- Visio provides three types of connection points: Inward, Outward, and Inward &Reference Outward. Most built-in masters already contain connection points. To learn how tospecify connection point types when you create your own customized shapes, seeChapter 32.To work with connection points, activate the Connection Point tool, select a shape,and then use one of the following options:✦ Add a connection point — Hold the Ctrl key and click the position where youwant to add the connection point. Visio displays the new connection point asa small purple x, which changes to blue when you execute the next action.Tip It’s easier to add connection points when Snap & Glue is activated. To activateSnap & Glue, choose Tools ➪ Snap & Glue, check the Snap and Glue check boxes,and click OK.
102 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio Fundamentals✦ Move an existing connection point — Drag the connection point to a newlocation.✦ Delete a connection point — Select the connection point you want to deleteand press the Delete key.FeatureNew In Visio 2002, you had to select the shape before activating the Connection Pointtool because there was no way to change the selected shape while the ConnectionPoint tool was active. In Visio 2003, you can click a shape to select it while theConnection Point tool is active.Automatically Laying Out ShapesWhen you use dynamic connectors to create shape-to-shape connections, you cantake advantage of Visio’s automatic layout and routing tools to arrange the shapeson your drawings. Dynamic, or shape-to-shape, connections know how to navigatearound other shapes, jump over other connectors, and choose the connectionpoints that create the best route between the connected shapes. You can harnessthis power and specify how you want shapes to lay out, and connectors to routeand jump, by using the Layout Shapes command. Under most circumstances, automatic layout and routing perform as you would expect. By understanding how layout and routing work, you can specify options to achieve the results you want.Caution For automatic layout and routing to work properly, shapes must be connectedwith shape-to-shape connections. If connectors don’t stay attached to shapes ortheir end points are green, they aren’t glued properly. To glue connectors toshapes, drag the end point until Visio highlights the shape with a red box. An endpoint changes to a solid red square if it uses a shape-to-shape connection. Theend point is a smaller red square with an x if it uses a point-to-point connection.If the connections are correct, but automatic layout still doesn’t work properly, verify that the connector is drawn in the right direction. To do this, make sure the connector is not selected and then drag the connector away from its shapes. Thestarting point for the connector is a green square with an x in it. The end point is agreen square with a +. Reattach the connector end points in the correct direction.Configuring Placement BehaviorThe behaviors associated with shapes affect how those shapes react when you usethe layout and routing tools. Stencil shapes for drawings that depend on connections, such as network diagrams or organization charts, are already configured towork with layout and routing. However, you can modify shape behaviors or addbehaviors to shapes. For example, you can specify whether Visio lays out androutes around a shape, and, if it does, whether the shape moves during placementand how the shape interacts with other shapes and connectors.
Chapter 5 ✦ Connecting Shapes 103To configure the placement behaviors for a shape, follow these steps:1. Right-click a shape and choose Format ➪ Behavior from the shortcut menu.2. Select the Placement tab.3. Specify the placement behaviors you want for the shape. You can choose thefollowing options:• Placement Behavior — Choose Lay Out and Route Around from thedrop-down list to enable the shape for automatic layout and to enableother placement options. If you choose Do Not Lay Out and RouteAround, Visio won’t process the shape during layout.• Do Not Move During Placement — Check this check box to prevent Visiofrom relocating this shape when it lays out the drawing.• Allow Other Shapes to Be Placed on Top — Check this check box toallow Visio to place other shapes on top of the shape during automaticlayout. If you want every shape to be completely visible, leave this checkbox unchecked.• Move Shapes on Drop — Use these options to specify what shapes dowhen other shapes are nearby. The Move Other Shapes Away on Dropoption specifies the plow behavior of the shape, which controls whethera shape plows other shapes out of the way when you drop it near othershapes. The Do Not Allow Other Shape to Move This Shape Away onDrop specifies whether other shapes can plow the selected shape out ofthe way. Check this check box, if you want a shape to remain where it iswhen you drop another shape near it.• Interaction with Connectors — Use these options to specify whetherconnectors can route through the shape horizontally or vertically. Leavethese check boxes unchecked if you want Visio to route around theshape.Tip You can specify options on the Placement tab only for 2D shapes. If you select a 1Dshape and then choose Format ➪ Behavior, the Placement options are disabled.Specifying Layout OptionsThe Lay Out Shapes command includes options you can use to control the arrangement of shapes on your drawing, as shown in Figure 5-3. For example, you can organize a work flow diagram horizontally or vertically. You can also specify the style,direction, and appearance of the connectors on your drawing. As you choose placement options in the Layout Shapes dialog box, Visio changes the connector optionsto corresponding settings. For example, when you choose a Circular layout style,Visio changes the connector style to Center To Center. Although you can choosedifferent options for connectors, your drawings will look cleaner if you keep theplacement and connector options coordinated.
104 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio FundamentalsFigure 5-3: You can specify how Visio lays outand connects shapes on a drawing.The Lay Out Shapes dialog box contains a preview window that displays a sampleof the results of your chosen settings. To specify the layout and routing for a drawing, follow these steps:1. Choose Shape ➪ Lay Out Shapes.2. To specify the arrangement of shapes, choose settings for the followingoptions under the Placement heading:• Style — Select an arrangement style, such as Radial, Circular, Flowchart/Tree, or Compact Tree. Visio changes the connector options to matchthe placement style you select.• Direction — Select the direction you want the shapes to flow on yourdrawing. You can choose from Top to Bottom, Bottom to Top, Left toRight, and Right to Left.• Depth — Select a depth to specify how much space Visio places betweenshapes. Choosing Shallow organizes shapes well but uses more space.Choosing Deep uses less space but doesn’t arrange the shapes as well.You can compromise between the two by using Medium.3. To specify options for how connectors route in a layout, choose settingsunder the Connectors heading:• Style — Select a routing style, such as Right Angle, Straight, or Flowchart.• Direction — Select a direction to specify where connectors attach toshapes. For the best results, choose the same direction that you chosein Placement options.• Appearance — Select Straight or Curved connectors.
Chapter 5 ✦ Connecting Shapes 105• Apply Routing Style to Connectors — Uncheck this check box if youwant to lay out the shapes without changing the connectors.• Align Shapes to Grid When Possible — Check this check box to lay outand route your drawing based on the spacing settings you specify in theLayout and Routing Spacing dialog box. (To learn how to specify thespacing for layout and routing, see the “Specifying Layout SpacingOptions” section later in this chapter.)• Enlarge Page to Fit Drawing — Check this check box to increase thedrawing size if the optimal layout requires more room than the currentdrawing size provides.4. To specify which shapes Visio lays out, choose the Selection option to lay outonly the selected shapes, or the Current Page option to lay out the entire page.5. To lay out the drawing, click Apply. If you don’t like the results, go back tostep 2. Otherwise, click OK.Note To remove the new layout, press Ctrl+Z.Tip If Visio creates an overly complicated route for a connector, you can modify itspath manually by dragging the connector’s green vertices to new positions.However, if you use Lay Out Shapes again, Visio overwrites your changes when itapplies its layout rules.Specifying Layout and Routing SpacingYou can adjust the spacing that Visio uses to fit more shapes on a page or to createmore space around the shapes you have. To specify spacing options for a page,click the Spacing button in the Lay Out Shapes dialog box and then specify sizes forthe following spaces on your drawing:✦ Space Between Shapes — Specifies the horizontal and vertical space thatVisio adds between shapes that it lays out✦ Average Shape Size — Specifies the average size of the shapes in your drawing and sets the average shape size used by the dynamic gridTip If the sizes of your shapes vary significantly, try using a smaller average shape size.✦ Connector to Connector — Specifies the minimum spacing between parallelconnectors. For example, a horizontal spacing of one inch lays out shapes sothat horizontal segments of connectors are no closer than one inch apart.
106 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio Fundamentals✦ Connector to Shape — Specifies the minimum spacing between connectorsand shapes. A horizontal spacing of one inch lays out shapes so that a shapeand a vertical segment of a connector are no closer than one inch apart.Note You can also specify spacing by choosing File ➪ Page Setup, selecting the Layoutand Routing tab, and clicking the Spacing button.Specifying Line Jump OptionsWhen connectors frequently cross over each other, it can be difficult to follow therelationships on a drawing. You can specify the line jumps that Visio uses to clarifythe paths that connectors use. You can specify line jumps for an entire drawingpage or for specific connectors. To specify line jumps for a page, choose File ➪ PageSetup and then select the Layout and Routing tab. Use the following options tospecify how Visio applies line jumps on the page:✦ Add Line Jumps To — Choose the lines to which you want to add line jumps.For example, you can specify Horizontal or Vertical. Last Displayed Line addsline jumps to the line at the top of the stacking order.✦ Line Jump Style — Choose a style for the line jump, such as Arc and Gap. Youcan also choose from a number of multifaceted jumps.✦ Horizontal Size — Specify the size for line jumps added to horizontal lines.✦ Vertical Size — Specify the size for line jumps added to vertical lines.To specify line jumps for a connector, right-click it and choose Format ➪ Behaviorfrom the shortcut menu and then select the Connector tab. Under Line Jumps,choose an option in the Add list to specify whether the connector conforms to theline jump options for the page or uses different options. Choose a line jump style tospecify a style other than the page default.SummaryConnections between shapes convey a great deal of information on drawings. Visioprovides several methods for adding connectors to shapes, as well as dozens of different types of connectors. Some shapes, such as trees, have connectors built in.You can glue connectors to shapes using dynamic or static glue. When you usestatic glue, Visio keeps connectors glued to the points you selected. However, youmust use dynamic glue if you want to automatically lay out and route your diagram,or you want Visio to create optimal routes between shapes.✦ ✦ ✦
C H A P T E R66Working withText ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦If you’re like most people, you probably devote a significantamount of time working with text, because your drawingsoften contain as much text as they do graphics. Visio makes iteasy to add, edit, and format text and annotations. In Visio,you can add text in a variety of ways and places. You can addtext to shapes and groups or add text blocks that stand ontheir own.In Visio as in other Microsoft Office applications, you cansearch and replace text as well as check spelling. However, inVisio you can also select and modify text and text blocks asyou can other Visio shapes. For example, you can easily moveand rotate text and text blocks.In addition, Visio provides built-in shapes useful for annotating your drawings. You can add a title block shape to a drawing to identify it. You can connect callouts to shapes toinclude notes or comments. You can also configure text intotabular form using a built-in Table shape or by formatting thetext in a text block.Text and VisioEvery Visio shape, including connectors, has an associatedtext block in which you can type text to annotate your drawings. Although these text blocks belong to their parentshapes, you can relocate, rotate, and format them independently to improve the readability of your drawings. Visio alsooffers special shapes, such as callouts and balloons, that arededicated to the annotation of drawings. If these shapes aren’tenough, you can use the Text tool to add text-only shapes toyour drawings.In This ChapterAdding text to shapesand groupsAdding text-onlyshapesSelecting textFinding andreplacing textChecking spellingMoving and rotatingtext shapes and textblocksCreating tablesAdding calloutsUsing title blocks✦ ✦ ✦ ✦
108 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio FundamentalsIn addition to the text that makes up drawing content, you often want to communicate questions and remarks to your colleagues about drawing content and changes.You can insert comments to communicate this type of information and removethem when the drawing is complete.No matter which type of text medium you use, Visio makes it simple to add text toyour drawings. In most cases, all you have to do is click a shape or text block, starttyping, and press Esc when you’re done. You can type without worrying aboutwhether your text will fit. After your words are in place, you can use a variety oftools to edit or format them.Adding Text to DrawingsText is a major component of most drawings. Whether you’re labeling a shape, tabulating details, identifying a drawing with a header or footer, or using comments tocommunicate with your colleagues, Visio provides simple tools and techniques toget the job done.If you’re used to working with CAD programs, Visio’s text behaves differently, but issimpler to use. Text appears larger or smaller as you zoom in and out, but the Visiodrawing scale has no effect on the appearance of text. Visio always displays text atits actual size relative to the printed page.Tip You can specify options to display aliased or antialiased text, depending onwhether you prefer faster display or higher quality. To do this, choose Tools ➪Options and select the View tab. Select the Text Quality option you want. You canalso display a wavy line in place of text when the text is smaller than a specifiedpoint size on the screen, which is known as greeking. If a drawing includes a lot oftext, you can use this feature to improve performance while you arrange drawingcomponents. Then, when the drawing is finished, you can display all text. Specifythe point size you want in the Greek Text Under box.Adding Text to Visio ShapesYou can add text to most shapes, including connectors, by selecting a shape andtyping the text you want. By default, Visio zooms in to 100 percent so it’s easier tosee the text you’re entering. As you type, Visio underlines spelling errors with a red,wavy line. However, the misspelling indicator disappears when the shape or textblock isn’t selected.Tip To disable automatic zooming when you edit text, choose Tools ➪ Options ➪General. In the Automatically Zoom Text When Editing Under drop-down list,choose 0 for the point size. Because text point size must be greater than zero, thischoice ensures that Visio never zooms text based on its point size.
Chapter 6 ✦ Working with Text 109Each shape includes a text block. When you select a shape with a tool other thanthe Text tool and begin typing, Visio replaces the text in the shape’s text block withIf you activate the Text tool and drag to define a text block, Visio creates a separatetext block shape and selects it so that you can begin typing text.Notethe text that you type. If you select a shape with the Text tool, Visio positions aninsertion point where you click in the shape text block.To add text directly to a shape or connector, follow these steps:1. Select a tool other than the Text tool and click a shape or connector.2. Begin typing.3. To complete your text entry, press Esc or click outside the text block.Pressing Enter inside the text block inserts a carriage return and moves theinsertion point to the next line in the text box.Tip When you add more text than a shape can hold, Visio simply displays the textoverflowing the shape’s boundaries. You can resize the shape to hold the text byselecting the shape and dragging its selection handles. If you don’t want to resizethe shape, you can shorten the text or apply a smaller font.Adding Text to Groups of ShapesSome shapes appear to include more than one text block. For example, the X-Y Axisshape on the Charting Shapes stencil includes a text block to label each of the axes.The X-Y Axis shape is actually a group of shapes. Accessing text in grouped shapesworks similarly to accessing shape text, but sometimes requires a few additionalclicks.To add text to a shape in a group, click the shape you want to work with once toselect the group to which it belongs and then click the shape a second time toselect the shape. If you select the shape with the Text tool, Visio positions an insertion point in the text block of the shape. If you select the shape with any other tool,Visio selects the shape text block and replaces its contents when you begin typing.Adding Text-Only ShapesYou can also add text that isn’t a part of any shape on a drawing. When you use theText tool to add text to a drawing, you create a shape that contains only text.However, you can edit and format the text in these blocks as you would any othertext. To add a text-only shape to a drawing, follow these steps:1. Click the Text tool on the Standard toolbar.2. Drag from one point on the drawing to another to create a rectangular textblock with those dimensions.
110 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio FundamentalsTip You can also add text by selecting the Text tool and clicking a point in the drawing,which creates a text block at the point you clicked using default dimensions.3. Type the text you want in the text block.4. To complete your text entry, press Esc or click outside the text block. Bydefault, Visio creates a text-only shape with 8-point Arial text centered in theblock.FeatureNew In previous versions of Visio, you had to copy special characters from the CharacterMap or use special key sequences to enter their Unicode numbers. In Visio 2003,you can insert special characters into text by choosing Insert ➪ Symbol to open theSymbol dialog box. For the most common special characters, select the SpecialCharacters tab, select the symbol you want, and click Insert. For other special characters, select the Symbols tab, select the symbol you want, and click Insert. If youdon’t see the symbol you want, choose another font from the drop-down list.Displaying Field Information in TextVisio stores information about shapes and documents in fields. For example, Visiofields track who created a document, the name of a page, the angle of a shape, andthe values of a shape’s custom properties. In addition, fields can display the resultsof a formula you create that uses the values from other fields. You can display thisinformation on a drawing by inserting fields into text. For example, a Visio titleblock shape, shown in Figure 6-1, uses fields to automatically display informationabout the drawing in which it is located.Fields that automatically display propertiesFields that automatically display propertiesFigure 6-1: You can use fields to display drawing, page, shape, orcustom property information in drawing text.
Chapter 6 ✦ Working with Text 111Visio includes several categories of fields and numerous fields within each category. You can use any of the following field types to display information in text on adrawing:✦ Custom Formula — Results of a ShapeSheet formula you define in the CustomFormula boxCross- For an introduction to ShapeSheet formulas, see Chapter 33.Reference✦ Date/Time — Current date and time or the date and time that a file was created, printed, or updated✦ Document Info — Information from a file’s Properties box, such as creator orkeywords✦ Geometry — Shape width, height, or angle of rotation✦ Object Info — Information from a shape’s Special dialog box, such as theshape’s internal ID or the master used to create it. To view these fields, right-click a shape and choose Format ➪ Special from the shortcut menu.✦ Page Info — Page settings such as the page number or number of pages in adrawing✦ Custom Properties — Information from a shape’s custom property fields.Custom properties vary from shape to shape.Cross- To learn more about fields and custom properties, see Chapter 32.Reference✦ User-Defined Cells — Formulas entered in the User-Defined Cells section ofthe ShapeSheetYou can insert a field in a text block or at a specific position in a text block. If youwant to insert the field as the only text, select the shape. To insert the field withinexisting text, double-click the shape to open its text block and then click in the textto position the insertion point where you want to insert a field.To insert fields in a shape text block, follow these steps:1. With the shape selected or the insertion point in position, choose Insert ➪Field.2. In the Field dialog box, select the field category you want, such as CustomProperties.3. Select the field you want, such as Width.4. To apply a specific format, select the format you want, and then click OK.Note You can insert more than one field in a text block, inserting them on separate linesor within lines of text.
112 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio FundamentalsYou can edit fields in text blocks either to change the field that is used or to modifyhow its value is formatted. For example, you can change the date format so that thedate fits in a smaller area. To edit a field in a text block, follow these steps:1. Select the Text tool, select a shape, and then click the field you want to modifywithin the text block to select it.Note If the text block contains only a field, clicking it selects the entire field. You can’tposition an insertion point within a field.2. Choose Insert ➪ Field. The Field dialog box appears and shows the currentsettings for the selected field.3. To modify the formatting for the field, select the format you want in theFormat list and click OK.4. If you want to replace the field that is used, select the category you want,select the new field, select a format, and then click OK.Displaying Information in Headers and FootersHeaders and footers appear only when you print your drawings, so they are usefulfor displaying information that isn’t needed while you are working, such as the dateand time that the drawing was printed. You can display this information by addingtext and fields to drawing headers and footers. For example, you can automaticallynumber the pages in your drawing by inserting the Page Number field into thedrawing footer.Tip Although they don’t appear when you view a drawing, you can see the drawingheader and footer by choosing File ➪ Print Preview.To include text and fields in the header or footer of a drawing, follow these steps:1. Choose View ➪ Header and Footer.2. To add text to a header or footer, type the text you want in the Left, Center, orRight box in the Header or Footer column.3. To insert a field, click the list arrow to the right of one of the header or footerboxes, select the field you want to insert, and then click OK. Visio inserts acode in the box that Visio translates when you print the drawing.4. To format the header and footer, click Choose Font, select a font, a style, asize, a color, and effects, and then click OK.5. Click OK in the Header and Footer dialog box.
Chapter 6 ✦ Working with Text 113Adding Comments to DrawingsWhen you review a drawing, whether your own or someone else’s, you can addcomments about the contents of the drawing or needed changes. In many organizations, reviewers provide feedback about a drawing with redlining — adding text to aseparate layer reserved for comments, and more often than not using the color red.Visio provides several methods for adding feedback to a drawing. Visio 2003includes markup features so each collaborator can add comments and drawingmodifications to a separate markup layer. You can also modernize the redlining process by creating a layer to hold reviewer comments. In addition, you can insertcomments directly on a page.Cross- To learn more about Visio’s new markup features, see Chapter 11. To use a layerReferencefor redlining, see Chapter 25.To add a comment to a page of a drawing, follow these steps:1. To add a comment to the current page, choose Insert ➪ Comment.2. Type your comment and press Esc or click anywhere in the drawing. A comment icon appears approximately in the center of the visible drawing area.You can view, edit, or delete comments on a page. To associate comments with anarea of a page, you can move comments to other locations on the drawing page.✦ To move a comment, drag the comment tag to another position on the page.✦ To view the comment, click the comment tag.✦ To edit or delete a comment, right-click the comment tag and choose EditComment or Delete Comment from the shortcut menu. You can also click thecomment and press the Delete key.Cross- To learn about other ways to communicate with your collaborators, see Chapter 11.ReferenceSelecting and Editing TextYou can reposition, format, and edit the contents of text blocks. You can even usethe cut, copy, and paste shortcuts to process text as you do in other MicrosoftOffice applications. However, before you can do any of these things, you have toknow how to select the text you want to work with.
114 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio FundamentalsSelecting TextTo replace or format the entire text block for a shape, you can select the shape andmake the change you want. For example, to change the font size, you can right-click ashape, choose Format➪Text, select the text format options you want, and click OK.You can also select text and position the insertion point where you want in a textblock to edit or format a portion of it. The techniques you use to do this and theresults you obtain vary depending on whether you use the Pointer tool, Text tool,or Text Block tool. Choose one of the following methods to select text or positionthe insertion point:✦ Select a text block — You can click a shape to select a text block no matterwhether the Pointer, Text, Text Block or a drawing tool is active.• Replace the existing text — Although there is no visual indication, typing after selecting a text block replaces the existing text.• Reposition, resize, or rotate a text block — If you want to move a textblock in some way, use the Text Block tool to select the text block. Thetext block selection handles appear.✦ Select the text in a text block — You can use the following methods to selectall the text in a text block. After selecting the text, you can cut, copy, andpaste the text, type to replace it, or format it.• Shortcut key — Click a shape to select it and press F2 to open the textblock and select all the text.• Text tool — Click a shape and then drag to select all the text.✦ Position the insertion point — You can use the following methods to positionthe insertion point in a text block.• Text tool — Click a shape or text block where you want to position theinsertion point.• All other tools — Double-click a shape to select its text. Click in theselected text to position the insertion point.✦ Select a portion of a text block — You can select a word, paragraph, or anyother portion of a text block. To do this, activate the Text tool or the TextBlock tool and select a shape.• Select text — Drag to select the text you want.• Select a word — Double-click the word you want.• Select a paragraph — Triple-click the paragraph you want.Selecting Text in GroupsSometimes, shapes and text blocks are consolidated into groups to make them easier to work with. In addition to the text blocks for each shape in a group, the group
Chapter 6 ✦ Working with Text 115itself has a text block. You can add, edit, or format text in each shape as well as forthe group as a whole. The main difference when working with text in groupedshapes is that it sometimes takes a few more clicks to select the text you want.✦ To add text to a group, click the group to select it and begin typing.If the Text tool is active when you click a group, Visio opens the group text blockand positions the insertion point in the text block.✦NoteTo view the text block for a group, select the group and press F2.✦ To work with text in one of the group’s shapes, select the shape and then typeto replace the text.Note You can select the text in a shape within a group using the selection techniquesdescribed in the previous section. However, selecting a shape in a group with thePointer tool could require more than one click. For example, if a shape belongs toa group that in turn belongs to a larger group, the first click selects the largestgroup. Clicking a second time in the same place selects the subordinate group.Clicking a third time in the same place selects the shape.Editing TextYou can edit text in Visio using techniques similar to those used in other MicrosoftOffice applications. For example, you can use the Cut, Copy, and Paste commandsto modify or duplicate Visio text. As with other applications, text that you cut orcopy moves temporarily to the Windows Clipboard so you can paste it severaltimes. Unlike other Microsoft Office applications, Visio zooms in to 100 percentautomatically when you edit text to make the text easier to see.Deleting TextYou can delete text in a Visio shape or a text-only shape, although deletion worksdifferently in these two types of shapes. When you delete the text in a Visio shape,you only delete the text, not the shape’s text block. You can always select the shapeand type text to insert new text into the shape’s text block. However, deleting allthe text in a text-only shape deletes the text-only shape as well. To delete text, useone of the following methods:✦ To delete text in a shape, select the Text tool and then click the shape toselect it. Select the text you want to delete and press Delete. Press Esc toclose the text block.✦ To delete a text-only shape, select the Pointer tool, click the text block, andpress Delete.✦ To delete some of the text in a text-only shape, select the Text tool and clickthe text-only shape. Drag to select the text you want to delete and pressDelete. Press Esc to close the text block.
116 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio Fundamentalsblock in your drawing. Press Ctrl+V to paste the text into the text block.Copying Text from Other ApplicationsIf you want to copy text into Visio from another application, first create a text-only shape inyour drawing and then paste the text from the other application into the text-only shape. Todo this, select the text you want in an application such as Microsoft Word, and press Ctrl+Cto copy it to the Windows Clipboard. In Visio, activate the Text tool and drag to create a textYou can also embed text from another application. To do this, copy the text from the otherapplication and paste it directly onto the drawing page without creating a text block. Whenyou double-click this text, Visio opens the application in which you created the text originally.Finding, Replacing, and Correcting TextVisio includes commands to find, replace, and check the spelling of words in drawings. These features work similarly to those in other Microsoft Office applications,although Visio offers more options for specifying the scope of its searches, asshown in Figure 6-2. When you search for text, Visio can search stencils, shapes,text-only text blocks, custom properties, and drawing properties.Figure 6-2: You have numerous optionsin Visio for specifying the scope of atext search.
Chapter 6 ✦ Working with Text 117Finding and Replacing TextWhen you are searching for text, you can search the current selection, the currentpage or all pages in a drawing. In addition to specifying the pages to search, youcan specify which components to search:✦ Shape Text — Searches for text in shape text blocks and text-only text blocks✦ Custom Property — Searches for text in custom property fields✦ Shape Name — Searches for text in the Name field of shapes or masters. Youcan use this option to locate instances of a master in a drawing or to find amaster in a stencil you are editing.✦ User-Defined Cell — Searches the Value and Prompt cells in the User-DefinedCells section of ShapeSheets for all shapes in a drawing.To find text on a drawing, follow these steps:1. Choose Edit ➪ Find or press Ctrl+F to open the Find dialog box.2. Type the text you want to find in the Find What box. To specify a special character, click the Special button and choose the special character.3. Select one of the options (Selection, Current page, All pages) to specify howmuch of the drawing to search.4. Check the check boxes for each of the components you want Visio to search.5. If you want Visio to match results in a specific way, check the check boxes inthe Options section.Note You can instruct Visio to return results that match the case entered in the FindWhat box or to return only results that match whole words, not a portion of aword. In addition, the Match Character Width check box limits the results to characters of the same width, such as searching for only wide or narrow characters inthe Katakana alphabet.6. Click Find Next to find the next occurrence of the text. Visio highlights matching text in the drawing.7. To edit the text, close the Find dialog box and edit the text.Note If Visio finds the text in a shape name or user-defined cell, it highlights the shapeon the drawing and displays the name in the Found In section of the Find dialogbox, as illustrated in Figure 6-2. If you want to edit the text in a shape name, closethe Find dialog box, right-click the highlighted shape, and choose Format ➪ Specialto access the shape’s name. To edit text in a user-defined cell, open theShapeSheet for the highlighted shape and edit the text in the appropriate cell.
118 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio FundamentalsTo replace text on a drawing, follow these steps:1. Choose Edit ➪ Replace.2. Type the text you want to find in the Find What box. To specify a special character, click the Special button and choose the special character.3. Type the new text in the Replace With box. To specify a special character,click the Special button and choose the special character.4. Select one of the options (Selection, Current page, All pages) to specify howmuch of the drawing to search.5. If you want Visio to match results in a specific way, select the check boxes inthe Options section.6. Click Find Next to find the next occurrence.7. Click Replace to replace the current occurrence or Replace All to replace alloccurrences.Checking SpellingVisio can check spelling like its Office counterparts. You can perform all of the following tasks with Visio:✦ Check spelling with the built-in dictionary.✦ Create your own dictionary of words.✦ Instruct Visio to correct entries automatically as you type.✦ Add your own AutoCorrect entries.Cross-ReferenceTo learn how to create your own dictionary and AutoCorrect entries, refer to theCheck and Correct Spelling topic in Visio Help.To check spelling, follow these steps:1. Choose Tools ➪ Spelling or press F7. Visio opens the Spelling dialog box foreach word not found in the dictionary.2. Click Ignore or Ignore All if the word is spelled correctly. Click Add if you wantto add the unrecognized word to the spelling dictionary.3. If the word in the Change To box is spelled correctly, click Change to replacethe misspelled word with the Change To text. If it is not spelled correctly, editthe contents of the Change To box and then click Change or Change All.Note If you want to turn off the spell checker, choose Tools ➪ Options and select theSpelling tab. Uncheck the Check Spelling As You Type check box and click OK. Youcan turn spell checking back on by pressing F7.
Chapter 6 ✦ Working with Text 119Positioning TextYou can position text-only shapes, callouts, and other annotation shapes whereveryou want on a drawing. However, in addition to moving text shapes around, you canalso reposition the text within a shape. By default, a shape’s text block is the samesize as the shape itself and centered within it, but you can relocate or rotate ashape’s text block to remove overlapping text or make your drawing more readable.For example, you can move the built-in axis label for a graph to make room fornumeric labels along the axis.Repositioning Text in a ShapeThe text block in a shape is a part of the shape but doesn’t have to reside in thesame location on the drawing. You can move, resize, or rotate a shape’s text block.To reposition text in a shape, follow these steps:1. Click the Text Block tool on the Standard toolbar. If the Text Block tool isn’tvisible, click the arrow next to the Text tool and choose the Text Block toolfrom the menu.2. Click a shape to select its text block and display the text block selection handles, as shown in Figure 6-3.Text Block tool displays text block handlesFigure 6-3: Use the Text Block tool to selecta text block and display its selection handles.
120 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio Fundamentals3. To move the text block to another location, position the pointer within thetext block and drag to the new location.4. To rotate the text block, drag the rotation handle until the text is rotated tothe angle you want.TipTip You can also rotate only a shape’s text block by clicking the Rotate Text 90 Degreestool on the Action toolbar.5. To resize the text block, drag a selection handle.You can view or modify the properties of a shape text block in the Text Transformsection of a ShapeSheet. Although it’s easy to modify a text block’s contents andposition on a drawing, you must use the ShapeSheet to perform some functions,such as preventing text from rotating.Moving Text ShapesTo move a text-only shape or a callout shape, select the shape as you would anyother and drag it to a new location on your drawing. You can also use the Size &Position window to move text to a precise position. To do this, follow these steps:1. To open the Size & Position window, choose View ➪ Size & Position Window.2. Select the text shape you want to move.3. Modify the values in the length, angle, or X and Y boxes to modify the width,rotation, and position of the shape on the drawing.Editing Locked ShapesSome Visio shapes and connectors are locked so that text remains right side upwhen you move a shape or line. When you select a locked shape with the TextBlock tool, Visio indicates the protection by changing the handles to gray. Tounlock a shape to modify its text block position, follow these steps:1. Right-click the shape and choose Format ➪ Protection from the shortcutmenu.2. To unlock the shape rotation, uncheck the Rotation check box.3. To unlock a shape so you can resize it, uncheck the Width and Height checkboxes.4. To unlock a shape so you can move the text block, uncheck the X Position andY Position check boxes.5. Click OK when you are done. Select the Text Block tool, click the shape, anddrag the text block handles.
Chapter 6 ✦ Working with Text 121Creating Special AnnotationsVisio comes with predrawn shapes for displaying and emphasizing information inyour drawings. Callout shapes can call attention to important information on drawings. You can use built-in title blocks to identify the drawing file and its contents orcreate your own custom title block to show the information you want.Cross- By applying formatting, you can produce bulleted and numbered lists. To learnReferencehow to do this, see Chapter 7.Creating TablesThe Charting Shapes stencil contains several built-in shapes for presenting tabularinformation. You can drag these shapes onto a drawing, select cells within the tabular shape, and type the text you want. However, if you want to show information intabular form within one shape’s text block, you must use tabs to present the text incolumns.Using Built-in Table ShapesThe tabular shapes on the Charting Shapes stencil provide several advantages overusing tabs to create columns in text. These tables are groups of shapes, so you canwork with each cell individually or modify the entire table. To resize the cells in atable shape, select the group and drag a selection handle. In addition, these shapesautomatically assume the color scheme you apply to a drawing.You can use the following shapes to create tables:✦ Grid — Specify the number of rows and columns you want in the table.✦ Row Header and Column Header — Drag these shapes and snap them intoplace next to a row or column in the Grid shape to label rows and columns.✦ Deployment Chart — These shapes include labels for departments andphases, but you can modify the labels to represent anything you want.✦ Feature Comparison Chart — This shape includes labels for products and features but you can modify the labels to represent anything you want.To use the Grid shape to create a table, follow these steps:1. To open the Charting Shapes stencil, choose File ➪ Shapes ➪ Charts andGraphs ➪ Charting Shapes.2. Drag the Grid shape onto your drawing. The Custom Properties dialog boxopens.3. Select the number of rows and columns you want in the drop-down lists andclick OK.
122 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio FundamentalsTip You can change the number of rows and columns later by right-clicking the Gridshape and choosing Set Grid from the shortcut menu.4. To label a row, drag the Row Header shape and snap it to the leftmost cell in arow. With the Row Header selected, type the label text.5. To label a column, drag the Column Header shape and snap it to the topmostcell in a column. With the Column Header selected, type the label text.6. To add text in the table, click a table cell and type the text.FeatureNew In Visio 2003, the Grid shape replaces the Table shape. Unfortunately, the Gridshape doesn’t come with the Table shape’s features for inserting, deleting, or resizing columns and rows. However, you can use Ctrl+click to select several cellswithin a grid and rotate or resize them.Formatting Shape Text into ColumnsYou can format text into columns by applying tab stops to one or more paragraphsin a text block. You can align tabs to the left, center, or right, or use a decimal tab toalign columns of numbers by their decimal points.Caution If you resize a shape after applying tab stops, the shape margins can impinge onthe text block and affect the alignment of your tabs.The tab stop positions you specify are relative to the left edge of the text block.Because of this, it’s easiest to begin your formatting by adjusting the origin of yourruler. To add tab stops to a shape, follow these steps:1. To relocate the origin of the horizontal ruler, press the Ctrl key and drag thevertical ruler to the left edge of the shape.2. Select the text you want to format in the text block.3. Choose Format ➪ Text and select the Paragraph tab.4. To set the text block alignment, select Left in the Horizontal Alignment drop-down list, and set the values in the Left, Right, and First Indentation boxes tozero.5. To add a tab stop, select the Tabs tab. Type the distance from zero for the tabstop in the Tab Stop Position box. Select the alignment you want and click Add.Note You specify tab stop indentations in unscaled units even if you’re working on ascaled drawing.6. Repeat step 5 for each tab stop you want to add and click OK when you arefinished.7. To add text in columns, type a value in the text block and then press Tab tomove to the next column.
Chapter 6 ✦ Working with Text 123Using Callouts to Highlight InformationVisio provides a variety of built-in callout shapes you can use to call attention toinformation on your drawings. You can drag these shapes onto a drawing, add yourannotation, and point the callout line or arrow to the area you want to highlight. Ifyou want a callout to move with the shape to which it points, you can glue the call-out to a shape, as shown in Figure 6-4.The default text includes instructions.Figure 6-4: Callout shapes often includeinstructions as default text.You can use callouts from any stencil regardless of which type of drawing you use.Simply open the stencil with the callout you want and drag the shape onto thedrawing. Some stencils include one or two callout shapes, but you can find thewidest variety of callouts on the following stencils:✦ Callouts — Contains callouts, balloons, tags, notes, and other shapes foradding text to drawings. To open this stencil, choose File ➪ Shapes ➪ VisioExtras ➪ Callouts.✦ Charting Shapes — Contains callouts, balloons, and the annotation shape. Toopen this stencil, choose File ➪ Shapes ➪ Charts and Graphs ➪ ChartingShapes.✦ Annotations — Contains callouts in addition to other reference shapes, suchas north arrows. To open this stencil, choose File ➪ Shapes ➪ Visio Extras ➪Annotations.
124 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio FundamentalsAdding Callouts to a DrawingEach callout has its own special attributes, but they all function similarly. Calloutsoften include instructions in the text block, as illustrated in Figure 6-4. To add a call-out to a drawing, follow these steps:1. Drag the callout from the stencil and drop it near the shape you want toannotate.2. Click the callout shape to select it and type the annotation text.3. To point the callout at a shape, drag the selection handle at the end of thecallout line or arrow.4. To glue the callout to a shape, drag the selection handle at the end of the call-out line or arrow to a connection point on the shape. A red box highlights theconnection point when the callout and shape are connected.Displaying Properties in CalloutsYou can annotate shapes with the information stored in their custom properties,such as the person who occupies an office, their department, and their phone number. Visio provides several Custom Callout shapes in which you can specify the custom properties you want to display and how to display them.To display custom properties in a custom callout shape, follow these steps:1. Open the Callouts stencil.2. Drag a Custom Callout shape onto the drawing.3. Drag the yellow control handle on the Custom Callout to the shape with custom properties that you want to annotate. The Configure Callout dialog boxappears, listing every custom property for the shape in the Shape CustomProperties box.4. Check the check box for each property you want to display in the callout. Ifyou select more than one property in the list, choose an option in theSeparator drop-down list to indicate how you want the properties separatedin the callout.Note To reorder the custom properties in the callout, select a custom property in the listand then click the Move Up or Move Down button.5. To show only the custom property value and not the property name, uncheckthe Show Property Name check box.6. To move the callout when you move the shape, make sure the Move Calloutwith Shape check box is checked.
Chapter 6 ✦ Working with Text 125Using Title BlocksTitle blocks are commonly used with architectural and engineering drawings toidentify and track their contents and revision history. Visio automatically opens theBorders and Titles stencil with many of the built-in templates, but you can open anystencil with title blocks and add the one you want to any type of drawing. In addition, you can create your own title block with exactly the information you want. Youcan open either of the following stencils to access title block shapes:✦ Borders and Titles — Contains dozens of title block shapes, some of whichuse fields to automatically display information such as the date, scale, andpage number. To open this stencil, choose File ➪ Shapes ➪ Visio Extras ➪Borders and Titles.✦ Title Blocks — Available only in Visio Professional, this stencil contains several title block and revision block shapes, along with shapes that displayfields automatically. To open this stencil, choose File ➪ Shapes ➪ VisioExtras ➪ Title Blocks.When none of the built-in title blocks suit your needs, you can use shapes on theTitle Blocks stencil to create your own title block. The Title Blocks stencil containsshapes that display fields such as the current date, author of the drawing, filename,page number, and scale. You can use the Frame shape as the title block border andadd these other shapes to design your custom title block. To create your own titleblock, follow these steps:1. Drag the Frame shape onto your drawing and then drag other title blockshapes to build the title block.2. To group the shapes so you can move them as one, select the title blockshapes and choose Shape ➪ Grouping ➪ Group.3. To add the new title block to a stencil, open an existing stencil or create anew one.Cross- To learn how to create custom stencils and new masters, see Chapters 31 and 32.Reference4. Drag the title block from the drawing into the stencil window. If Visio askswhether you want to edit the stencil to complete the operation, click Yes.5. Right-click the new master and choose Edit Master ➪ Master Properties fromthe shortcut menu.6. Enter a name and any other options and then click OK.
126 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio Fundamentalsapplied, you can resize, delete, format, and annotate the shapes that make up the titleblock.If protections on a shape prevent you from modifying the title block, you can unlock the➪ Protection. Uncheck the check boxes for the type of change you wantlems, delete the title block from your drawing and drag a fresh one from the stencil.Formatting Title BlocksThe title blocks built into Visio are often groups of shapes, combined so that you can addthe title block to your drawing in one step. In addition, some of these groups are locked toprevent you from inadvertently changing part of the group. Depending on the protectionTo format a shape within a group, you must select the shape. To do this, activate the Pointertool, click the shape once to select the group, and then click the shape a second time toselect the shape. You can then use format commands to modify the shape’s appearance.shape and then make the change you want. To do this, select the shape within the groupand choose Formatto make and click OK. You can also ungroup the shapes and then rearrange them into theconfiguration you want. Although Visio warns you that ungrouping the title block will breakthe link to its master, click OK to ungroup the shapes. If the changes you make cause probSummaryYou annotate drawings in a variety of ways. Every shape on a drawing has its owntext block that you can use to add information. In addition, you can add text-onlyshapes or built-in tabular shapes to your drawings to present large amounts of textual data. Callout shapes can include notes to highlight information on a drawing orto display the values of custom properties. You can add text to title blocks or insertfields that automatically display the values of file or page properties.✦ ✦ ✦
C H A P T E RFormatting Visio 77Elements ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦Formatting can make the difference between dreary drawings that go unread and attractive documents that makeeveryone take notice. You can achieve the best formattingresults in the shortest amount of time with a two-step process.First, you can quickly obtain professional-looking results byusing predefined formatting tools. These tools ensure consistency throughout each drawing and reduce the amount oftime you spend choosing individual formatting options. Forexample, you can drag backgrounds and borders onto yourdrawing page to frame its contents. You can apply colorschemes so that shape fills and shadows use consistent andharmonious colors. You can also use predefined styles, similarto the ones you’ve probably used in Microsoft Word, to applysets of formatting options for lines, text, and fill. When youuse these features, you might discover that no additional formatting is required.However, if you do find a few shapes that need tweaking, suchas those with large amounts of text or shapes that you want toemphasize, you can take a second step to apply specific formatting options to shapes, lines, or text blocks.Applying FormatsIt’s much easier to apply styles than to specify several formats, but the reality is that from time to time you will end upapplying specific formatting options to shapes, connectors,and text. Visio provides several methods for applying formatting to your drawing elements so that you can format just oneitem or several shapes at once. Whether you decide to usestyles or apply formatting options individually, the optionsyou use most frequently are available on the Formatting,Format Text, and Format Shape toolbars, shown in Figure 7-1.In This ChapterFormatting linesHighlighting drawingelementsFormatting textFormatting text blocksand paragraphsCreating bulleted andnumbered listsApplying fill toshapesFormatting shapesAdding shadows toshapesProtecting shapesUsing styles to applyformattingApplying colorformattingUsing color palettesand color schemesColor-coding shapesbased on customproperty values✦ ✦ ✦ ✦
128 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio FundamentalsFormatting toolbarFormat Text toolbarFormat Shape toolbarFigure 7-1: The Formatting, Format Text, and Format Shape toolbars include common formatting options.Note Most templates include the Backgrounds and Borders and Titles stencils, so youcan easily add backgrounds and borders to your drawing. If you start a drawingfrom scratch, you can open these stencils by choosing File ➪ Shapes ➪ Visio Extrasand then clicking the stencil name that you want. When you drag a backgroundshape onto your foreground page, Visio automatically creates a background pagefor you and assigns the background page to the current foreground page.Applying Formats to LinesYou can alter the weight, pattern, color, and end options for lines. The Formattingtoolbar includes buttons to change weight, pattern, color, and ends. To select aweight, pattern, color, or end, click the option arrow and choose the format youwant. If you don’t see a suitable format, you can choose the More command at thebottom of any formatting list to open the associated format dialog box, such as theLine dialog box, which contains all the line formatting options. To learn how to usestyles to specify formatting, see the “Formatting with Styles” section later in thischapter.To format lines, choose one or more of the following format options:✦ Line Weight — The thickness of the line, no matter what pattern you use✦ Pattern — Patterns of dotted or otherwise broken lines. Visio includes 23 patterns in addition to a solid line, but you can also define your own.Cross-ReferenceTo learn how to define your own patterns, see Chapter 34.Tip When you produce drawings for a wide audience, use patterns instead of linecolor so that your drawings convey all the information, even when printed ongrayscale printers.
Chapter 7 ✦ Formatting Visio Elements 129Highlighting Elementsemphasize a shape on your drawing, you can change the fill color to one brighter than theones used in the color scheme.— for instance, to show the redundant paths in➪be able to remove these highlight lines easily at a later time, you can add them to a sepaVisio doesn’t provide a highlighting feature like the one in Microsoft Word, but you can useformatting to highlight different elements of your drawings. For example, if you want toYou can also highlight lines and connectorsa high-availability network. To do this, click the Line tool on the Drawing toolbar. ChooseFormat Line, select a wide line weight and a bright color, and click OK. Draw lines usingthe same vertices as the paths you want to highlight. If you can’t see the connectors, right-click the lines you added and choose Send to Back from the shortcut menu. If you want torate layer and delete the entire layer to remove them. To learn more about layers, seeChapter 25.✦ Line Ends — Symbols such as arrowheads that you can place at the endpoints of lines. The Formatting toolbar includes separate options for symbolsat each end and both ends of a line. In the Line dialog box, you can specify thesymbol and symbol size for each end of the line.Tip If an arrow points the wrong way, you can correct this problem by switching theline end to the other end of the line or by reversing the line. To reverse a line,select the line and then choose Shape ➪ Operations ➪ Reverse Ends.✦ Color — The color of the line✦ Cap — Only available in the Line dialog box. This option specifies whether theends of very thick lines are squared or rounded.Applying Formats to TextAlthough Visio provides options for formatting every aspect of text on your drawings, the options you use most often are conveniently located on the Formattingand Format Text toolbars, shown in Figure 7-1. The Formatting toolbar includesfamiliar options for specifying font, font size, font style, horizontal alignment, andtext color. The Format Text toolbar includes options to specify a text style, fontsize, formatting such as strikethrough and subscript, vertical alignment, indents,paragraph spacing, and bulleted lists. Visio displays the Formatting toolbar bydefault when you create a drawing. To display the Format Text toolbar, chooseView ➪ Toolbars ➪ Format Text.
130 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio FundamentalsThe Text dialog box is the comprehensive source for text formatting options. Inaddition to the text formatting options available on the toolbars, you can specifyoptions for the language used for checking spelling, transparency of text, characterspacing, paragraph spacing, indents, margins around text blocks, tabs, bullet styles,and bullet characters. You might prefer to use this dialog box for other reasonsbesides the abundance of formatting options. All text formatting options are available within this one dialog box. In addition, the text formatting features are groupedon tabs and, in some cases, include visual clues about the results you obtain byYou can use the Text Ruler to set, modify, or remove tab stops and indents. To display the Text Ruler, double-click a shape, right-click the text, and choose Text Rulerfrom the shortcut menu. To create a tab stop, select the text you want to formatand then click the position on the ruler where you want to place the tab. To inserta different type of tab stop, click the Tab icon until the tab stop you want appears.You can also drag tab stops to other positions or remove them by dragging themoff the ruler. To adjust indents, drag the top or bottom of the hourglass on the TextRuler to another position.➪Notechoosing an option. To open the Text dialog box, choose Format Text.You can format different portions of text based on how you select it:✦ Select a shape — Apply text formatting to all of a shape’s text by selecting ashape and then choosing text formatting options.✦ Select text with the Text tool — Apply text formatting to selected text by activating the Text tool, selecting the text you want to format, and choosing textformatting options.Tip You can also copy text formatting by using the Format Painter. Select the shapewith the text formatting you want to copy with the Text tool. Select the FormatPainter on the Standard toolbar and then click the shape whose text you want toformat. Visio copies only the text formatting to the second shape.Formatting Text Blocks and ParagraphsThe text blocks in many shapes contain no more than one paragraph, so it’s easy toassume that formatting text blocks and paragraphs means the same thing. In reality,you can specify one set of options that apply to the text block itself and otheroptions for each paragraph within the text block. The formatting options themselves are familiar, such as indentations, margins, and alignment.For a text block, you can specify the vertical alignment of the text within the textblock, the margins between the text and the text block boundaries, and color andtransparency of the background in the text block, as illustrated in Figure 7-2. Toapply text block formatting, select the shape and then choose the text block formats you want.
Chapter 7 ✦ Formatting Visio Elements 131Text block boundaryText block margins Paragraph formattingFigure 7-2: Formatting options for text blocks and paragraphs are different. Note Most Visio shapes use a transparent background color so you can see what liesbehind the text. If other elements behind your text make it unreadable, you canmake the text background color opaque so that other shape components don’tshow through. To do this, select the shape, choose Format ➪ Text, and select theText Block tab. Type 0% in the Transparency field. The opaque background onlyblocks out components when the shape contains text because the backgroundcolor only fills the area around text.For each paragraph within a text block, you can specify the horizontal alignment ofthe paragraph, the indentation for the first line of the paragraph, the indentation oneach side of the paragraph, the spacing before and after the paragraph, and thespacing between the lines in the paragraph, also shown in Figure 7-2. To format aparagraph, activate the Text tool, select the paragraph you want to format, andapply the paragraph formatting you want.Creating Bulleted and Numbered ListsYou can create bulleted lists easily by selecting a shape and then clicking Bullets onthe Format Text toolbar. This applies default formatting that adds a bullet beforeeach line that ends with a soft or hard return in the shape text block. If you want tocreate bullets with only some of the text in the shape, use the Text tool to select thetext you want to format before you click the Bullets button.
132 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio FundamentalsNote You can change the font for a bulleted list without affecting the appearance of thebullet when you use Visio’s built-in bullets. However, when you change font size,bullet size adjusts to match.If you want to create a bulleted list using formatting other than the default settings,follow these steps:1. Select the text block or the portion of the text block that you want to formatas a bulleted list.Tip If you want to build a bulleted list as you enter text, select the shape, click Bulletson the Format Text toolbar, and then type text into the shape text block.2. Choose Format ➪ Text and select the Bullets tab.3. To choose a different bullet symbol, click a bullet option or type the characterthat you want to use as a bullet in the Custom box.4. To adjust the font size and list spacing at the same time, increase or decreasethe value in the Font Size list.5. To change the hanging indent between the bullet and the list text, type thedistance you want in the Text position box.6. To preview the formatting you have chosen, click Apply. If the list is formattedthe way you want, click OK.You build numbered lists differently in Visio than you would in other applications,such as Word. In Visio, you have to add numbers, tabs, and indentation manually. Ifyou plan to include a long numbered list in a Visio diagram, it might be easier to useWord to automatically create the numbered list and then create a link from yourVisio drawing to the list in the Word document.Cross- To learn how to create a link to a Word document, see Chapter 8.ReferenceTo create a numbered list in Visio, follow these steps:1. Make sure that text justification is left-justified by clicking Align Left on theFormatting toolbar.2. Double-click the shape in which you want to create the numbered list.3. Type the number 1, press Tab, and then type the text for the first entry.4. Repeat step 3 for each entry in the numbered list (change the number accordingly).5. To modify the alignment of the numbered list, select all the entries and clickone of the alignment options on the Formatting toolbar.6. To align the numbers and text, first display the Text Ruler. To do this, selectthe text, right-click the text, and choose Text Ruler from the shortcut menu.
Chapter 7 ✦ Formatting Visio Elements 133Tip To display the Text Ruler when text is not selected, double-click the shape, right-click the selected text, and choose Text Ruler from the shortcut menu.7. Drag the bottom of the hourglass in the Text Ruler to the position to whichyou want the text to align.8. Drag the top of the hourglass in the Text Ruler to the position to which youwant the numbers to align.9. Press Esc or click outside the shape to close the text block.Applying Fill FormatsWhen a shape is closed, you can specify its fill formatting, which is the color andpattern applied to the interior of the shape. You can choose fill colors by clicking theFill Color button on the Standard toolbar. However, if you want to specify patterns,transparencies, or shadow formatting, select the shape you want to format and thenchoose Format ➪ Fill. You can specify the following options for fill formatting:Caution✦ Color — The color for the interior of the closed shapeColors preceded by a number in the color list are index colors and refer to the colors defined in the current color palette. If you choose an index color, your fill mightchange to another index color when you modify the color palette.✦ Pattern — Visio provides 40 patterns, including cross-hatching, stippling, andgradients. You can also define your own custom patterns.✦ Pattern Color — The second color used if you select a pattern other thanNone or Solid. This color is used for cross-hatching lines and patterns.✦ Transparency — By default, fill is opaque (0%). Drag the transparency sliderto the right to increase the transparency of the fill color.Note You can also specify fill in a shape’s ShapeSheet. To do this, select the shape andthen choose Window ➪ Show ShapeSheet. Scroll to the Fill Format section andtype the values for the fill you want. For more information on specifying color values in a ShapeSheet, see Chapter 33.Formatting ShapesYou can apply different formatting options to shapes depending on what they comprise. For example, you can apply line formats to any shape containing lineswhether they are open or closed shapes. When you format closed shapes, such asrectangles and circles, you can also specify the fill formatting for those shapes. Ifyou format text-only shapes created with the Text tool or other shapes containingtext, you can format the text in those shapes.
134 Part I ✦ Understanding Visio FundamentalsApplying Formatting to ShapesIf you want to modify the formatting on only one shape, it’s easy enough to selectthat shape and then apply the formatting options you want from those listed inTable 7-1. However, you can easily format several shapes or groups of shapes, andyou can copy formatting from one shape to another. You can remove a shape’s border, but you don’t use a formatting tool to accomplish this. To hide a shape’s border, select the shape, click the Line Formatting arrow on the Formatting toolbar,and select No Line in the Line Style list.Tip If you can’t apply formatting options to a shape, the shape could be protectedagainst formatting or it could belong to a group. See the “Protecting Shapes” section later in this chapter to learn more about shape protection. To format a shapein a group, subselect the shape (click the shape within the group until Visio displays the shape’s alignment box) and then apply the formatting you want.Table 7-1Applying Formatting to ShapesFormatting Task How to Accomplish ItFormat a shape Select a shape and then choose the formattingoptions you want.Format several shapes at once Select all the shapes and then choose theformatting options you want.Format a group of shapes Select the group and then choose the formattingoptions you want.Copy formatting from one shapeto anotherSelect a formatted shape, click the Format Painterbutton on the Standard toolbar, and click theshape to which you want to copy the formatting.Copy formatting from one shape toseveral otherseach shape to which you want to copy theSelect a formatted shape, double-click the FormatPainter button on the Standard toolbar, and clickformatting. To stop copying formatting, click theFormat Painter button or press Esc.For instructions on formatting only the text in shapes, refer to the “ApplyingFormats to Text” section earlier in this chapter.Applying Shadows to ShapesYou can add punch to your presentations by applying shadows to your shapes. Youcan use Visio 3-D shapes to add shapes that already have shadows set up. Shadowsare not separate shapes; they are formatting that you can apply to add shadows toany shape you want.
Chapter 7 ✦ Formatting Visio Elements 135Note You can define a default shadow for a drawing page. To do this, display the page,choose File ➪ Page Setup, and select the Shadows tab. Specify the shadow style,offset dimensions, magnification, and direction for the shadow, and then click OK.To format and apply shadows, follow these steps:1. Right-click a shape and choose Format ➪ Fill from the shortcut menu or selectseveral shapes and then choose Format ➪ Fill.2. Choose the shadow style you want in the Style list. Each shadow styleincludes offset dimensions, magnification, and direction for the shadow.Tip To use the default shadow specified in Page Setup, choose Page Default in theStyle list.3. To change the shadow color from the one assigned by the current colorscheme, choose a color in the Color list.4. To change the shadow pattern, choose the pattern you want in the Patternlist. If you choose a pattern other than None or Solid, choose a color in thePattern Color list.5. To specify the transparency of the shadow, drag the Transparency slider tothe right. By default, the shadow is opaque.Protecting ShapesYou can protect shapes from inadvertent changes. The Formatting menu is anunlikely place for this tool, but you can use it to protect shapes against resizing,moving, rotation, text editing, and formatting. You can also prevent someone fromselecting or deleting shapes. To protect shapes, select the shapes you want to protect and choose Format ➪ Protection. The Protection dialog box enables you toprotect a shape in the following ways:✦ Resizing — Check the Width, Height, or Aspect Ratio check boxes to preventusers from changing the width or height of shapes or from modifying the proportions of a shape.✦ Moving — Check the X Position and Y position check boxes to prevent usersfrom moving a