Category: microsoft Visio

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 ”;

Publishing Organizational Charts ”; Previous Next The completed org chart can be saved as a PDF or any of the image formats by going to the File menu and clicking Save As. Select from any of the file types in the Save As type field. If you save the drawing as a JPG or GIF file, you will get another dialog box, which allows to further specify the output options. Print Page Previous Next Advertisements ”;

Microsoft Visio – Reporting Structure Views ”; Previous Next Individual manager shapes can be collapsed and shown as needed. Collapsing shapes is useful to reduce the clutter in the diagram. To collapse the hierarchy under a shape, right-click a shape, go to the Subordinates menu and click Hide Subordinates. The subordinate shapes then collapse under the manager shape. This is indicated by a tree icon under the manager shape. If the shapes are synchronized, any changes made to them elsewhere will be automatically reflected in the main shape. To reveal the subordinates again, right-click the manager shape, go to the Subordinates menu and click Show Subordinates. Print Page Previous Next Advertisements ”;

Microsoft Visio – Working With Windows ”; Previous Next It is easy to work with multiple windows or multiple versions of a document in Visio. You can switch between windows easily or arrange them side by side for a comparative look. The options for window rearrangement can be found in the Window section of the View tab. New Window New Window basically allows to create a new copy of the existing window. The new copy will not show the stencils directly, however, they can be selected by clicking the More Shapes arrow in the Shapes pane. The new window can be identified by the presence of a number in the title bar of the window. In the following example, the original file name was BlkDiagm.vsd. Using the New Window command creates a new window with BlkDiagm: 2 in the title bar. Arrange All This function allows you to arrange all windows side by side. This feature is useful for comparing two windows, however, if you have a high-resolution display, you might be able to accommodate more windows beside each other. The Shapes pane and other panes can be minimized to allow more screen real estate. Cascade This function allows cascading of windows to give an overall view of the open windows. The active window is in the foreground, while inactive windows are in the background with title bars visible. Cascade view is useful to know which documents are open at a glance. Print Page Previous Next Advertisements ”;

Microsoft Visio – Shape Formatting ”; Previous Next You can also format the shapes to give them a more professional or casual look as desired. To format shapes, select the shape in the diagram and format using the options available in the Shape Styles section. You can select predefined shape styles or you can customize the shape using the Fill dropdown menu. To adjust the color of the shape border, select a color from the Line dropdown menu. The Effects menu allows to add special effects to your shape such as drop shadows or 3D rotations. Print Page Previous Next Advertisements ”;

Microsoft Visio – Layer Settings ”; Previous Next The Layer Properties dialog box allows to change the properties of individual layers. It comprises of several checkboxes such as Name, #, Visible, Print, Active, Lock, Snap, Glue, and Color. The Name field lists the type of layer, while the # field lists the number of shapes in that type. In the following example, we see that there are nine equipment shapes in this diagram. There is a row of checkboxes for each layer type that can be selected or deselected. Unchecking the Visible checkbox makes the shape invisible in the drawing. If the Print checkbox is checked, the shape will be printed along with the others. Unchecking the Print checkbox will not print the shapes in the layer. Similarly, layers can be made active or locked. Shapes in an active layer can be manipulated without affecting the other shapes or layers. When you lock a shape, Visio prevents any changes from happening to the shape. You cannot drag the shape or change its contents. Snap and Glue will be checked, if the shapes are allowed to snap to a grid. You can also represent a layer by a color for easy recognition. When you represent a layer by its color, the shapes belonging to that layer will also be colored in the diagram. This is useful if you want to differentiate a set of shapes from another. Print Page Previous Next Advertisements ”;

Microsoft Visio – Connected Smartshapes ”; Previous Next Newer versions of Visio have built-in intelligence to help you place shapes between other shapes. Visio automatically adds the required spacing and connectors to ensure that the new shape is inserted in the correct position. To insert a shape between two shapes, drag the new shape in between the desired shapes, till you see green squares on the connectors and release the mouse. The new shape will be inserted with equal spacing and appropriate connections. If you delete the inserted shape, the connector extends all the way till the next shape. Print Page Previous Next Advertisements ”;