Category: microsoft Visio

Adding Team Frames to a Diagram ”; Previous Next A team frame helps to denote members of different teams who work on a common project. To add a team frame, drag the team frame shape from the Shapes pane onto the teams that you want to include. The team frame can be adjusted along its handles to accommodate as many members as needed. The team frame border line and the label can be formatted as needed. To format the team frame border, click the team frame and go to the Home tab and in the Shape Styles section, select the shape formatting needed. Print Page Previous Next Advertisements ”;

Exporting to Web Pages Using HTML ”; Previous Next You can also export drawings to web pages which can be hosted on a web site. Visio allows customizing what goes into the web page. Go to the Save As dialog box from the File menu and select Web Page in the Save As type field. Then, in the same dialog box, click Publish… to open the HTML publishing options. You can select which of the components of the diagram that you want to publish and the number of pages to publish. You can also provide a page title. The HTML file is created in the chosen location along with a folder containing the supporting files. Both the HTML file and the folder are linked together. Print Page Previous Next Advertisements ”;

Microsoft Visio – Subordinate Layouts ”; Previous Next We can continue building on the org chart previously created. Based on the organizational hierarchy, corresponding shapes can be added to the existing shapes. Visio will then automatically create the connection and align the new shape in the diagram. Adding a Position Belt A position belt is used to indicate a position under an executive. In the following example, several position belts have been added to each of the three manager sub-shapes. To add a position shape, simply drag the Position Belt shape from the Shapes pane over any of the manager sub-shape. Visio automatically creates the Position Belt shape and connects it to the manager shape above. Adding a Vacancy Belt In an organization, not all positions will be always full. There will be a few vacant positions that need to be filled. You can indicate a vacancy by dragging the Vacancy Belt shape onto any of the managerial shapes. A vacancy shape is different from the other shapes and can be easily identified. Adding Consultant and Secretary Shapes Similarly, you can also add the consultant and assistant shapes to the org chart. In the following example, a consultant has been added to the CTO and an assistant to the CEO. Drag the Consultant Shape on top of the CTO shape and the Assistant shape on top of the CEO. Visio will automatically adjust the spacing and connections between the shapes. Print Page Previous Next Advertisements ”;

Applying Theme Colors and Effects ”; Previous Next Themes are useful to customize the appearance of the document. Visio goes a step further and allows to customize the themes themselves. Themes come with variants that can be further customized as needed. Theme variants can be accessed from the Variants section in the Design tab. You can use the stock variants or click the dropdown menu to customize many other aspects. In the Colors menu, you will find that there many color combinations to choose from. The Effects menu shows some of the effects that can be applied onto the selected shape. You can also choose from a range of connectors. Print Page Previous Next Advertisements ”;

Blocking Themes from Affecting Shapes ”; Previous Next Sometimes, it becomes necessary to prevent themes from affecting one shape or a group of shapes, especially if they have important information that has to be presented in a particular way. Visio allows to protect a shape, thereby preventing any theme changes from affecting the shape’s intended design. To enable protection for a shape, click a shape or a group of shapes. Go to the Developer tab in the Ribbon, click Protection in the Shape Design section. (Note − You may need to first enable the Developer tab by customizing the Ribbon). This opens the Protection dialog box that allows to select which components of the shape to protect from being overridden. We will focus on protecting the theming of the shape for now. So, select the checkboxes for Text, Format, From theme colors, From theme effects, From theme fonts and finally, From theme index. Click OK. If you now select any theme from the Design tab, you will notice that the shape that is protected is unaffected by the theme change. To reverse the changes, simply go to the Protection dialog box again, click None and finally click OK. Print Page Previous Next Advertisements ”;

Microsoft Visio – Themes and Styles ”; Previous Next Themes and Styles are useful to give the diagram a design makeover and make it stand out. Visio provides a standard set of themes and styles, which are customizable. Themes Themes apply to the entire diagram. Themes comprise of a set of colors and effects that generally blend well with each other. They are a great way to quickly give the diagram a polished look. Themes also affect other parts of the document such as titles, headings, text, etc. To apply a theme, go to the Design tab and select a theme from the Themes section. The dropdown arrow provides more choices categorized by theme type. When you click a theme, all the aspects of the diagram and other parts of the document reflect the theme settings. A theme can have many variants, which can be selected from the Variants section of the Design tab. Styles Styles are different from themes such that, they are applicable to a selected shape or a group of shapes. Styles help in customizing the aspects of a particular style. To change a style of a shape, select the shape and from the Home tab, then select a style from the Shape Styles section. Style can be applied to both shape elements in the diagram as well as to individual text boxes. You can select multiple shapes to apply the style to all of them together. . When you change a theme after applying a style to a shape, the shape will take up the characteristics of the theme but will still remain distinct from other shapes. Of course, you can continue to customize the style even after applying a theme. Print Page Previous Next Advertisements ”;

Microsoft Visio – Expanded Timelines ”; Previous Next Expanded timelines are useful to get a zoomed in view of the finer aspects of a time period. For example, the expanded timeline can show many details of events in a particular period, which might not be visible on the main timeline. To create an expanded timeline, drag the Expanded timeline shape onto the main timeline. This opens the familiar Configure timeline dialog box in which you can specify the start and finish dates. Since this is an expanded timeline, you can choose a lower scale such as weeks instead of months if you have a packed agenda for the week. The expanded timeline is connected to the main timeline by means of two dotted connectors with yellow ends. The yellow ends can be used to move or change the orientation of the expanded timeline. You can also add milestone events to the expanded timeline. However, any event or interval added to the expanded timeline will not show up in the main timeline. More expanded timelines can also be added on top of the existing expanded timelines. Print Page Previous Next Advertisements ”;

Adding Intervals to a Timeline ”; Previous Next An interval denotes a block of time over the course of which an event occurs or is scheduled. To add an interval, drag the Block interval shape onto a location on the timeline. It opens the Configure Interval dialog box. In the Configure Interval dialog box, you can select the duration of the interval, the date format and add a description. Click OK to add the interval to the timeline. Intervals can overlap milestones or other events. By formatting the interval shape to make it transparent, any other shape behind it can be made visible. Print Page Previous Next Advertisements ”;

Microsoft Visio – Team Member Re-ordering ”; Previous Next It may be necessary to re-order team members in the org chart. Shapes can be moved to the left and right or to the top and bottom, depending on how you’d like them to be ordered. Since this is an org chart, there will be an Org Chart tab in the Ribbon. Click the tab and in the Arrange section, click either of the arrows in the Move command. Depending on the position of the shape in the drawing, moving left and right can also mean moving up and down. When you move a shape, all sub-shapes also move along with it. In the following example, the COO shape was moved to the right and with it, all positions below it also move. Print Page Previous Next Advertisements ”;

Microsoft Visio – Publishing to PDF ”; Previous Next Visio includes several ways to create a PDF of the drawing, which is extremely useful for sharing with others. You can directly save the document as a PDF, print to PDF, or email the drawing directly as a PDF. Save as PDF You can save the drawing as a Visio drawing (.vsd or .vsdx) by default or save it as a PDF, which can then be opened by any freely available PDF reader such as Adobe Reader. To save as PDF, go to the File menu, click Save As and then click Browse. This opens the Save As dialog box. Select PDF in the Save As type field to save the document as a PDF. Print to PDF You can also directly print to PDF if you have a compatible software printer such as Adobe PDF or Microsoft Print to PDF installed. You might want to use this if you need to have fine grain control over the PDF document such as PDF version or compatibility properties. Email PDF You can also directly email the diagram to a recipient. To do this, go to the File menu, click Share and then click Send as PDF. This creates a new email in your default email client with the PDF file readily attached. Just enter the email address of the recipient to send the attachment. Print Page Previous Next Advertisements ”;