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Microsoft Visio 2007 Foundation Level

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Visio 2007 Foundation -

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USING MICROSOFT VISIO 2007................................................................................................................... 6

A FIRST LOOK AT VISIO .............................................................................................................................................6 Microsoft Visio 2007 ..........................................................................................................................................6 Getting Started....................................................................................................................................................6 Opening a sample file ........................................................................................................................................7 Zooming...............................................................................................................................................................9 Pan and zoom.....................................................................................................................................................9 Closing a diagram ............................................................................................................................................11 The Shapes Pane ............................................................................................................................................14 The Drawing Page ...........................................................................................................................................16 The Task Pane .................................................................................................................................................16 To switch Task panes......................................................................................................................................17 The Visio toolbars ............................................................................................................................................18 The Standard toolbar .......................................................................................................................................19 The Formatting Toolbar...................................................................................................................................20 Adding or removing Toolbars .........................................................................................................................20

GETTING HELP ........................................................................................................................................................21 Typing a question to ask for help ...................................................................................................................21 Microsoft Office Visio Help..............................................................................................................................22 Help Table of Contents....................................................................................................................................23 Printing Help topics ..........................................................................................................................................26 Help Demos ......................................................................................................................................................26 Using the Microsoft Web Site .........................................................................................................................27

WORKING WITH DRAWINGS ......................................................................................................................28

USING TEMPLATES..................................................................................................................................................28 Types of templates available ..........................................................................................................................28 Creating a new diagram based on a template .............................................................................................32

USING SHAPES........................................................................................................................................................34 About Stencils shapes .....................................................................................................................................34 Adding a shape to the drawing area..............................................................................................................35 Adding more shapes and connecting them to existing shapes .................................................................35 Adding text to the shape .................................................................................................................................38 Manually connecting shapes ..........................................................................................................................39 Adding text to a Connector .............................................................................................................................41 Deleting a Connector .......................................................................................................................................43 Saving your diagram........................................................................................................................................44 Opening a diagram file ....................................................................................................................................45

MANIPULATING SHAPES ..........................................................................................................................................45 Moving shapes..................................................................................................................................................45 Resizing shapes ...............................................................................................................................................46 Deleting shapes................................................................................................................................................46

ADDING BACKGROUNDS, BORDERS AND TITLES....................................................................................................46 Opening the background stencil and assigning a background..................................................................46 Using the Borders and Titles Stencil .............................................................................................................48

MANAGING STENCILS .................................................................................................................................52

Displaying the Stencil Toolbar........................................................................................................................52 Displaying / Hiding the Stencil Shapes Pane...............................................................................................52 Creating a new Stencil ....................................................................................................................................53 Renaming a Stencil..........................................................................................................................................55


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Saving the Stencil ............................................................................................................................................56 Adding Shapes to a Stencil.............................................................................................................................57 Adding Custom Shapes to a Stencil..............................................................................................................58 Closing a Floating Stencil ...............................................................................................................................59 Opening the Stencil..........................................................................................................................................59

FORMATTING TEXT & SHAPES..................................................................................................................62

FORMATTING TEXT..................................................................................................................................................62 Formatting Toolbar...........................................................................................................................................62 Changing the Font Type..................................................................................................................................62 Font Size ...........................................................................................................................................................63 Font Style, Bold, Italic and Underline ............................................................................................................63 Font Color..........................................................................................................................................................63 Font Case ..........................................................................................................................................................64 Horizontally Text Alignment ............................................................................................................................65 Vertical Text Alignment ...................................................................................................................................65 Changing the Line Indent ................................................................................................................................66 Changing the Text Margins.............................................................................................................................66 Text Background Shading...............................................................................................................................67 Bullets ................................................................................................................................................................68

FORMATTING SHAPES .............................................................................................................................................68 Format Shape toolbar......................................................................................................................................68 Shape Fill Color ................................................................................................................................................68 Shape Fill Pattern & Transparency................................................................................................................70 Shape Shadow Effects ....................................................................................................................................71 Shape Line Color..............................................................................................................................................72 Shape Line Weight...........................................................................................................................................73 Shape Line Pattern ..........................................................................................................................................73 Shape Line Ends ..............................................................................................................................................74 Rounding Shape Corners ...............................................................................................................................74 Themes ..............................................................................................................................................................75

MANAGING SHAPES ....................................................................................................................................77

POSITIONING AND ALIGNING SHAPES.....................................................................................................................77 Action Toolbar...................................................................................................................................................77 Grouping shapes ..............................................................................................................................................77 Ungrouping shapes..........................................................................................................................................78 Ordering shapes ...............................................................................................................................................79 Bringing a shape to the front ..........................................................................................................................79 Sending a shape to the back ..........................................................................................................................80 Sending shapes forwards or backwards.......................................................................................................81 Rotating a shape to the right ..........................................................................................................................81 Rotating a shape to the left.............................................................................................................................82 Free rotating a shape ......................................................................................................................................82 Rotating text within a shape ...........................................................................................................................83 Flipping a shape horizontally ..........................................................................................................................83 Flipping a shape vertically...............................................................................................................................84 Aligning shapes ................................................................................................................................................84 Distributing shapes ..........................................................................................................................................87 Adjusting shape layout ....................................................................................................................................89 Centering a drawing.........................................................................................................................................90

FORMATTING CONNECTORS ...................................................................................................................................92 Layout and Routing Toolbar ...........................................................................................................................92


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Connector routing options...............................................................................................................................93 Using curved connectors.................................................................................................................................93 Using straight connectors ...............................................................................................................................94 Setting line jump options .................................................................................................................................95

USING SNAP AND GLUE ..........................................................................................................................................96 Using the Snap and Glue Toolbar .................................................................................................................96 Snapping and gluing ........................................................................................................................................97 Viewing active snap and glue elements........................................................................................................97 Manually connecting shapes using Dynamic Glue......................................................................................98 Manually connecting shapes using Static Glue ...........................................................................................99 Manually connecting a series of shapes.....................................................................................................101

USING LAYERS ......................................................................................................................................................102 Layers ..............................................................................................................................................................102 Assigning a shape to a layer ........................................................................................................................103 Showing and hiding layers ............................................................................................................................106

INSERTING CLIP ART .............................................................................................................................................107 Clip Art .............................................................................................................................................................107

SETTING UP AND EDITING PAGES..........................................................................................................110

MANAGING PAGES .................................................................................................................................................110 Moving between pages .................................................................................................................................110 Inserting a new page .....................................................................................................................................110 Renaming a page ...........................................................................................................................................111 Reordering pages...........................................................................................................................................112 Deleting a page ..............................................................................................................................................113 Creating a background page ........................................................................................................................114 Assigning a background page ......................................................................................................................117

USING PAGE VIEW TOOLS ....................................................................................................................................118 View Toolbar ...................................................................................................................................................119 Showing and hiding the rulers ......................................................................................................................119 Showing and hiding the grid .........................................................................................................................119 Adding Guides ................................................................................................................................................120 Showing and hiding the guides ....................................................................................................................120 Using the Size and Position window ...........................................................................................................121 Using the Drawing Explorer window............................................................................................................122 Setting a drawing scale .................................................................................................................................123

PRINTING AND SHARING DRAWINGS ....................................................................................................126

GETTING READY TO PRINT ...................................................................................................................................126 Spell Check .....................................................................................................................................................126 Paper size and orientation ............................................................................................................................127 Print Preview...................................................................................................................................................128

PRINTING THE DRAWING .......................................................................................................................................129 Selecting a printer ..........................................................................................................................................129 Printer Properties ...........................................................................................................................................130 Print Range .....................................................................................................................................................131 Number of Print Copies .................................................................................................................................132

CUSTOMIZING VISIO 2007.........................................................................................................................133

Options Dialog Box ........................................................................................................................................133


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Using Microsoft Visio 2007

A first look at Visio

Microsoft Visio 2007 Microsoft Visio 2007 is a tool to create a great variety of drawings ranging from

network diagrams to calendars and from office layouts to flowcharts.

Visio 2007 creates professional visual documents to help analyze and communicate, complex information, systems, and processes.

With Visio 2007 you can improve your understanding of systems and processes, gaining insight into complex information.

Getting Started When you open Visio 2007 the first window that is displayed, by default, is the

Getting Started with Microsoft Office Visio window.

The Templates Categories window on the left displays all the template categories. If you click on a template category, then it will display all the templates related to that category in the main window. You can double click on


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a template, in the main window, to open and use that template.

To the right you may see a pane containing details of recently opened files.

Opening a sample file Before we start delving into creating Visio diagrams, we will first look at a few

examples. Click on the Help drop down menu and select the Sample Diagrams command.

Your screen will now look like this.

Click on the Process Improvement diagram, as illustrated below.


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You will notice that to the right of the screen you can select either the US units or Metric. By default it selects the unit option based on your Windows Regional settings.

Select the measurements for your country and click on the Open Diagram button.

You will now see the diagram displayed, as illustrated below.


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Zooming You may find the diagram difficult to read. Click on the Zoom drop down box

on the Standard Toolbar and experiment with selecting a zoom level.

Set the zoom level to Page (as illustrated above), before continuing.

Pan and zoom As well as the zoom control you can also use the Pan & Zoom window, to zoom

any selected area of your Drawing Page. Click on the View drop down menu and select the Pan & Zoom Window

command.

This will display the Pan & Zoom window.

Click and drag the mouse within the Pan & Zoom window to draw the red box, which will be zoomed.


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Your Drawing page will be zoomed to the selected area. Select another area within the Pan & Zoom window, to zoom in to another area

of the diagram. Try selecting all the items within the dialog box, as illustrated below.

To close the Pan & Zoom window, click on the Close button, at the top right of the Pan & Zoom window.


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Closing a diagram Click on the File drop down menu and select the Close command.

This will close your drawing. NOTE: If you see the following message, click on the NO button.

Your screen will now look like this. The Visio program is open, but no diagram is loaded within the program.


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To redisplay the Getting Started screen, click on the File drop down menu and

select the New command. Then select the Getting Started command from the sub-menu.

The Getting Started screen is displayed. If you look in the Template Categories pane, (to the left of your screen), you should see the Samples link listed.


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Click on the Samples link and you will see the sample options displayed again, as illustrated below.

Select a different sample this time, such as Project Management, and open

this diagram.


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Once again, practice zooming the view, so that you can see all the elements of

the diagram.

Close the diagram after you have finished experimenting, and if you have time take a very quick look at the other sample diagrams.

Close the Visio program, without saving any changes you may have made.

The Shapes Pane Restart Visio and open the Process Improvement sample file.

The Shapes Pane includes different shapes and stencils under various tabs.

Soon we shall see how easy it is to select a shape and place it onto an existing diagram or to start a new diagram.


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In the example shown, the Basic Flowchart Shapes are displayed. You can

see a tab called this.

Click on another tab, such as Arrow Shapes and you will see other shapes, as illustrated below.


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Finally, try clicking on the Cross Functional Flowchart Shapes tab and you will see the shapes illustrated below. NOTE: This may be displayed at the bottom of the Shapes pane

Redisplay the Basic Flowchart Shapes before continuing. NOTE: The Shapes window displays tabs and shapes dynamically, based on the template you choose to work with. You would have seen different shapes, if you had selected a different sample file.

The Drawing Page The Drawing page is the main page where you design and create your visual

document. You can drag the shapes and stencils on the main page and develop a visual document or diagram.

The Task Pane The Task Pane window displays commonly used tasks, and is normally

displayed, down the right side of the screen. NOTE: If the Task Pane is not displayed, you can press the Ctrl+F1 key combination to display it. To hide the Task Pane, press the Ctrl+F1 key


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combination again.

The illustration below shows the Task pane displayed down the right side of the screen.

To switch Task panes The Task Pane window, located on the right side, includes many different kinds

of tasks. You can switch between different tasks by clicking on the drop down menu, from the top of the Task Pane window, and then selecting a task.

After clicking on the down arrow, you will see a list of available task panes, as illustrated below.


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Click on the Theme – Effects command and you will see different items displayed in the Task Pane, as illustrated below.

The Visio toolbars The Visio toolbars are displayed at the top of your windows and by default, the

Standard toolbar and Formatting toolbar are displayed.


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The Standard toolbar The Standard toolbar includes the following buttons.

New.

Open.

Save.

Email.

Print.

Preview.

Spelling.

Research.

Cut.

Copy.

Paste.

Delete.

Format Painter.

Undo.

Redo.

Shapes.

Pointer Tool.

Connector Tool.

Text Tool.

Drawing Tool.

Auto Connect.

Zoom.

Help.


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The Formatting Toolbar The Formatting toolbar includes the following buttons.

Font.

Font Size.

Bold, Italic and Underline.

Left, Centre and Right Alignment.

Bullets.

Decrease and Increase Indent.

Text Color.

Line Color.

Fill Color.

Apply a Theme.

Line Weight.

Line Pattern.

Line Ends.

Adding or removing Toolbars You can display other toolbars. To do this right click over a toolbar and select or

de-select from the pop-up menu displayed.


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Getting Help

Typing a question to ask for help Type your text in the Type a question for help box, which is located at the top

right corner. Try typing in What’s New and pressing the Enter key.

The Visio Help dialog box will be displayed.


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Select the top result, i.e. What’s new in Microsoft Office Visio 2007. You will see information displayed relating to the new features within Visio 2007. Scroll down and read through the information, then close the Help dialog box.

Microsoft Office Visio Help To display Microsoft Office Visio Help within Microsoft Visio, press the F1 key.

The Visio Help dialog box will be displayed.


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You can either type a short phrase into the Search box towards the top of the dialog box, or you can click on one of the topics, as shown in the illustration above, such as Using Data. Experiment briefly, and then close the Help dialog box.

Help Table of Contents Press the F1 key to open the Help dialog box. Click on the Show Table of Contents button in the Help toolbar.

You will see the following displayed.


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Click on an item within the Table of Contents, such as Creating Diagrams.

The Help will expand to display more detailed options.


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Click on one of these items, such as Create a basic diagram, for detailed step-by-step instructions.

Get into the habit of using the Help. It is there to help you. If you need to do something within Visio but are not sure how to do it then use the built-in help!


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Printing Help topics You can display help on tasks that you are unsure of, and then print out the

details. To do this, click on the Print button within the Visio Help toolbar. You can collect helpful information and keep it in a folder next to your computer.

Help Demos Microsoft have produced a number of on-screen video tutorials, to help you

understand how to use the Visio program. If you are connected to the Internet, then you can access the demo tutorials, via the Help within Visio.

Click on the Help button in the Visio toolbar.

Search using the word Demos and you will see the following.

Click on one of the available demos such as:


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Demo: Build your Visio flowchart in no time with AutoConnect.

You will see the following.

Click on the Play Demo button and you can watch, and listen to, the video tutorial. NOTE: You can also download these demos.

If you have time, check out a few more of the demos.

Using the Microsoft Web Site The online Microsoft web site provides support, downloads and technical

documents for Visio 2007. The Microsoft web site can be visited at: www.microsoft.com/office/visio If you are connected to the Internet, briefly explore this site for information about Visio.

Close Visio without saving any changes that you may have made.


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Working with Drawings

Using Templates

Types of templates available Start Visio. Within the Template Categories pane you can select a template which can be

used as the basis to create a new diagram

Click on the Business category, and you will see a range of business related templates categories displayed, as illustrated below.


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Click on the Engineering category and you will see engineering related templates displayed, as illustrated below. Do not click on any of the options displayed, just take a look at the sort of templates that are available.

Click on the Flowchart category and you will see flowchart related templates displayed, as illustrated below.

Click on the General category and you will see general templates displayed, as illustrated below.


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Click on the Maps and Floor Plans category and you will see templates related to producing maps and floor plans displayed, as illustrated below.

Click on the Network category and you will see network related templates

displayed, as illustrated below.


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Click on the Schedule category and you will see schedule related templates

displayed, as illustrated below.

Click on the Software and Database category, you will see software and

database related templates displayed, as illustrated below.


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Creating a new diagram based on a template Re-click on the Flowchart option within the Template Categories pane.

Select the Basic Flowchart template from the central pane.


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Select the correct Measurement Units for your country.

Click on the Create button and you will see the following.

Notice that the shapes that are displayed in the left pane, are specifically related to producing a flowchart. This is because we used a flowchart template to produce this diagram.


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Using Shapes

About Stencils shapes Stencils are predefined shapes included in Visio 2007. Visio 2007 has many

different categories and under each category, there are various templates included. For each template there are many stencils included. When you create a drawing based on a template, the related stencils will be available in the Shapes pane.


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Adding a shape to the drawing area To add a shape to the drawing simply click and drag a shape from the shapes

pane to your drawing area. In this case move the mouse pointer over the Process shape in the Shapes pane.

Depress the left mouse button and while keeping it depressed, drag the Process shape into the central pane. Release the mouse button and your screen should now look like this.

Click on an empty area of the centre pane, and your screen will now look like this, i.e. your shape will no longer be selected.

Adding more shapes and connecting them to existing shapes Move the mouse pointer over (but do not click) the shape you have just added.

You should see arrows displayed, as illustrated below.


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Click on the bottom arrow and your screen will look like the illustration below. A second shape has been added and a line has automatically been added, joining the first shape, to the second shape.

Click on the bottom arrow and your screen will look like the illustration below. A third shape has been added, and a line has automatically been added, joining the second shape to the third shape.

So far we have added three copies of the same shape. Click on the Decision shape within the Shapes pane.


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Click on the bottom arrow and your screen will look like the illustration below. A fourth shape has been added and a line has automatically been added, joining the third shape, to the fourth shape.

We shall now insert another Process shape. To do this we first need to click on the Process shape, in the Shape pane, to select it. Then click on the bottom arrow and your screen will look like the illustration below.

Carry on adding shapes until your screen looks like the illustration below. NOTE: The final shape used below is the Terminator shape.

Your screen should now look like this.


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Remember that you can use the Undo icon if you make a mistake such as dragging the wrong shape onto your workspace.

Adding text to the shape So far we have created a very basic flow chart, but without any text within the

shapes, it is meaningless. To add text to the shape, double click on the shape and type your text. In this case, select the top shape, and double click on it. You will notice that the shape is zoomed to make it easier to see.

Type in the text Specify Content, as illustrated below.

Double click on the next shape down and enter the text Draft Copy.


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Carry on adding text so that your page looks like this.

Manually connecting shapes So far we have let Visio automatically connect the shapes that we have added.

Now we will connect some of the shapes manually. Look at the first diamond shape, containing the text Technical Proof OK. If the proofing is OK, then the path can carry on down the page. If the technical proofing finds errors then we need to add a connector so that the flowchart takes us back to the Technical Proof process.


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To add this connector, we need to select the first diamond shape.

Click on the Connector Tool button on the Standard toolbar.

Move the mouse pointer over the first diamond shape. Move the pointer towards the right of the shape and you will see a small red square shape and also a connector symbol, as illustrated below.

Depress the left mouse button and drag the mouse pointer to the centre of the left edge of the shape directly above the first diamond shape.

Release the mouse button and you will a see connector from the diamond shape to the rectangle shape above, as illustrated below.


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Repeat this procedure with the second diamond, your diagram will look like this.

Adding text to a Connector Double click on the connectors, connecting the bottom diamond shape, to the

shape above.


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Type in the word No.

Double click on the connector from the Grammar Check OK box to the Publish the Article shape, and you will again see a text box displayed, into which you can type the word Yes.

The diagram will now look like this.


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Repeat this procedure for the other diamond shape, so that your diagram looks

like this.

Deleting a Connector To delete a connector, first click on the connector to select it and then press the

Del key. Try deleting other connectors within your diagram. Press the Undo button to restore the deleted connectors.


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Saving your diagram Click on the Save icon within the Standard toolbar.

This will display the Save As dialog box.

Double click on the Visio 2007 foundation files folder. Within the File name section of the dialog box, enter the name My First

Diagram.


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Click on the Save button to save the file. Press Alt+F4 to close the Visio program.

Opening a diagram file Open Visio. Click on the Open icon within the Standard toolbar.

This will display the Open dialog box. By default the contents of the My Document folder will be displayed, if you are using Windows XP, or the Documents folder, if you are using Windows Vista.

Double click on the Visio 2007 foundation files folder, to view your sample files.

Open a diagram called Shape manipulation.vsd. Leave this diagram open and continue to the next section.

Manipulating shapes

Moving shapes To move a shape, click on the shape and drag it to where you want it to move.

Experiment with moving some of the shapes.


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Resizing shapes To resize a shape, click on the shape to select it, and then drag the shape from

the corners to resize it.

Deleting shapes To delete a shape, click on the shape to select it and then press the Del key.

Experiment with deleting some of the shapes.

Save your changes and close the diagram file.

Adding Backgrounds, Borders and Titles

Opening the background stencil and assigning a background The Background stencil contains different styles for the drawing page

background.

Re-open the diagram file called My First Diagram.vsd.

If the Background stencil is not open, you can open it by clicking on the File drop down menu, and select the Shapes command.

From the sub-menu displayed click on the Visio Extras command, and from the sub-menu displayed click on the Backgrounds (Metric) command.


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This will open the Background stencil, as illustrated below.


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Click on the Zoom control and select the Page command. This will allow you to see the entire page, and you will more easily see any background that you attach to the diagram.

Drag the Background World option onto your diagram. You should see it as a faint watermark in the background, beneath the diagram. Experiment with dragging some of the other backgrounds to the diagram.

Using the Borders and Titles Stencil The Borders and Titles stencil contains various borders and titles for the

drawing page. The Borders and Titles stencil opens automatically when you create a drawing from a Visio template.

To use the Borders and Titles Stencil, click on the File drop down menu, and select the Shapes command. From the sub-menu displayed click on the Visio Extras command, and from the sub-menu displayed click on the Borders and Titles Stencil (Metric) command. This will open the Borders and Titles Stencil, as illustrated below.


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Click on the Border Elegant option.

Drag this over your diagram and your screen will now look like the illustration below.

Click on the zoom and set the zoom for 150%. Then scroll up so that you can see the Title area.


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Select the word Title and type in the text, My First Diagram.

Scroll down and you will see that page numbering has also been inserted.

Reset the Zoom to Page.

Save your changes and close the Visio program.


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Managing Stencils

Displaying the Stencil Toolbar Open the Visio program and then open a diagram file called Stencils.vsd.

To display the stencil toolbar, right click on any toolbar at the top of your

screen, and from the pop-up menu displayed, make sure that the Stencil option is ticked.

Displaying / Hiding the Stencil Shapes Pane You can toggle the display of the Shapes pane, down the left side of your

screen, by clicking on the View drop down menu and selecting the Shapes Window command.


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Click on this command a few times and you will see the Shapes pane is displayed or not displayed. Before continuing, make sure that the Shapes pane is displayed, as illustrated below.

Creating a new Stencil You can create your own custom stencils. Custom stencils are useful if you

create a stencil based on your own shapes, or create a stencil that contains shapes that you use often.

Click on the File drop down menu and select the Shapes command. From the sub-menu displayed, click on the New Stencil (Metric) command.


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This will create and add a new stencil in the Shapes pane. In the example illustrated below, the new stencil is called Stencil2.


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Renaming a Stencil Right click on the stencil tab that you have just created (i.e. Stencil2) and from

the pop-up menu displayed, click on the Properties command.

This will open the Stencil Properties dialog box. Enter the name for your stencil in the Title box i.e. type My Stencil.


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Click on the OK button. This will change the name of your stencil.

Saving the Stencil Right click on the stencil tab that you have just created, and from the pop-up

menu displayed, click on the Save command.

This will display the Save As dialog box.


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Enter the file name, My First Stencil and then click on the Save button.

Adding Shapes to a Stencil Click on the tab of your newly created stencil, and drag it onto the drawing

page. This will display your newly created stencil, as a floating window on the top of the drawing page.

Now you can drag any shapes from the existing stencils into your My Stencil window. Click on the Basic Flowchart Shapes tab.


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Drag a few of these shapes to your My Stencil window, as illustrated below.

Adding Custom Shapes to a Stencil You can add your own custom shapes or Clip Art items to your stencil.

To try this click on the Insert drop down menu, and select the Picture command. From the sub-menu displayed, click on the Clip Art command.

This will display the available Clip Art in the Clip Art pane to the right. Search for Clip Art relating to People. Click and drag a Clip Art item from the Clip Art window into your My Stencil window. In the example shown below, we dragged a green car into the My Stencil window.


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Closing a Floating Stencil Click on the Close button at the top-right of the My Stencil window.

You will see a dialog box displayed, asking if you want to save the stencil changes.

Click on the Yes button

Opening the Stencil Click on the File drop down menu, and select Shapes command and from the

sub-menu displayed, click on the Open Stencil command.


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This will open the Open Stencil dialog box. Select the new stencil, i.e. My First Stencil, and then click on the Open button.

You will now see your newly created stencil, containing the shapes that you inserted into it.


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Drag the Clip Art shape onto the drawing area, as illustrated below.



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Formatting Text & Shapes

Formatting Text

Formatting Toolbar The Formatting toolbar contains some of the commonly used formatting

commands.

Changing the Font Type Start Visio and open a diagram file called Text formatting.vsd. If necessary change the zoom level, so that you can easily read the text within

the first shape.

Double click over the text within the first shape, so that the text is selected, as illustrated below.

Click on the Font drop down menu and experiment with selecting different font types.

This will change the font of the selected text.


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Font Size Select the text within the first shape. Click on the down arrow next to the Font

Size drop down menu and experiment with applying different font sizes.

Reset the font size to a more useful size before continuing.

Font Style, Bold, Italic and Underline Select the text within the first shape and experiment with clicking on the Bold,

Italic, and Underline buttons.

Font Color Select the text within the first shape. Experiment with applying different font

colors, by clicking on the down arrow next to the Font Color drop down menu, and selecting a color.


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Font Case Select the text within the first shape. Click on the Format drop down menu and

select the Text command. This will open the Text dialog box.

Within the Font tab, under the General section, select the font case, from the Case drop down menu. Click on the OK button.

Experiment with applying some of the other options available via this dialog box. For instance experiment with the Underlining and Transparency options. NOTE: You can apply Superscript or Subscript formatting using the Position options.


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Horizontally Text Alignment Select the text within one of your shapes. Experiment with aligning your text, using the text alignment buttons, in the

toolbar.

NOTE: Click on the Format drop down menu and select the Text command. The Text dialog box is displayed. Click on the Paragraph tab. Click on the down arrow next to the Alignment sections. You will see an extra alignment option called Justified. If you have a large amount of text within a shape, you can use this option to line up the text at both the left and right edges, so that the text looks like the text within newspaper columns, rather than having ‘jagged’ edges.

Vertical Text Alignment Select the text within one of your shapes. Click on the Format drop down menu and select the Text command. This will

open the Text dialog box. Click on the Text Block tab. Click on the down arrow next to the Alignment section and experiment with applying different types of vertical alignment to your shape.


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Changing the Line Indent Select the text within one of your shapes. Experiment with clicking on the Decrease Indent or Increase Indent buttons

in the toolbar.

Changing the Text Margins Select the text within one of your shapes. Click on the Format drop down menu and select the Text command. This will

open the Text dialog box. Within the Text Block tab under the Margins section, you can set the margins,

by clicking on the Up or Down arrows for the Top, Left, Bottom and Right boxes. Experiment with applying different margins settings to a shape.


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Text Background Shading Select the text within one of your shapes. Click on the Format drop down menu and select the Text command. This will

open the Text dialog box. Click on the Text Block tab. Within the Text background section, select the Solid color option. Select a background color from the Solid color drop down list. Set the transparency level by dragging the Transparency slider to a level of

your choice.

Experiment with applying different shading colors and transparency levels. A typical example of the effect is illustrated below.


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Bullets Select the text within one of your shapes. Click on the Bullets button in the toolbar.

Save your changes and close the file.

Formatting Shapes

Format Shape toolbar Start the Visio program and open a diagram file called Shape formatting.vsd.

The Format Shape toolbar contains some of the commonly used shape

formatting commands. To display the Format Shape toolbar, right click over the toolbars at the top of your screen and from the pop-up menu, make sure that the Format Shape command is ticked.

The toolbar looks like this:

Shape Fill Color Select a shape in your diagram, by clicking on the shape.


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Click on the down arrow next to the Fill Pattern button. From the drop down displayed, click on the More Fill Patterns command.

This will open the Fill dialog box.

Select the required color from the Color drop down list in the Fill section. In this case apply a light blue color, as illustrated below.


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Click on the OK button and you will see the effect, as illustrated below.

NOTE: Be careful not to apply a dark background, if you are using black text, as you will not be able to read the text. A solution would be to select the text and format the text to be displayed in white.

Shape Fill Pattern & Transparency Select a shape in your diagram, by clicking on the shape. Click on the down arrow next to the Fill Pattern drop down menu in the

Format Shape Toolbar and from the list, click on the More Fill Patterns command. This will open the Fill dialog box. Select a pattern from the Pattern drop down list in the Fill section.


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Drag the Transparency slider to adjust your desired transparency level, and then click on the OK button.

Experiment with applying different colors, different fills and different levels of transparency to a shape.

Shape Shadow Effects Select a shape in your diagram, by clicking on the shape. Click on the Shadow Color drop down list on the Format Shape toolbar.

Select a shadow style in the upper section and a shadow color from the lower section. Experiment with applying different shadow styles. An example is illustrated below.


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NOTE: You can also select different shadow colors.

Shape Line Color Select a shape in your diagram, by clicking on the shape. Click on the Format drop down menu and select the Line command.

This will open the Line dialog box. Select a color from the Color drop down list in the Line section and click on the OK button. Experiment with applying different line colors.


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Shape Line Weight Select a shape in your diagram, by clicking on the shape. Click on the Format drop down menu and select the Line command. This will

open the Line dialog box. Select a line weight from the Weight drop down box, under the Line section, and click on the OK button.

Experiment with applying different line weights.

Shape Line Pattern Select a shape in your diagram, by clicking on the shape. Click on the Format drop down menu and select the Line command. This will

open the Line dialog box. Select a line pattern from the Pattern drop down box under the Line section, and click on the OK button.


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Experiment with applying different line patterns.

Shape Line Ends Select a shape in your diagram, by clicking on the shape. Click on the Format drop down menu and select the Line command. This will

open the Line dialog box. Select the line ends options from the drop down boxes under the Line ends section, and click on the OK button.

Experiment with applying different line ends.

Rounding Shape Corners Select a shape in your diagram, by clicking on the shape. Click on the Format drop down menu and select the Corner Rounding

command.

This will open the Corner Rounding dialog box.


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Select a corner rounding option by clicking on it, and then clicking on the OK button. Experiment with applying different corner rounding to different shapes. An example is illustrated below.

Themes Instead of filling colors and changing lines colors individually on a drawing page,

you can select a theme from the built-in themes available in the Visio 2007. Once you apply a theme it will change the entire fill in colors, background color and line color etc according to the selected theme.

To apply a theme, click on the Format drop down menu and select the Theme command.

This will display available themes in the Theme-Colors window on the right side.


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Click on a theme to apply this theme to your entire drawing. Experiment with

applying different themes. Try scrolling down and applying the Office Dark theme.



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Managing Shapes

Positioning and Aligning Shapes

Action Toolbar The Action Toolbar contains commonly used commands for managing shapes.

To display the Action Toolbar, right click on one of the toolbars at the top of the screen, and from the pop-up menu displayed, make sure that the Action toolbar command is ticked.

The Action toolbar looks like this.

Grouping shapes Grouping shapes is used to group multiple shapes together, so that these

grouped shapes act as a single object. When two or more shapes are grouped together, making changes to one shape such as resizing or moving etc will also apply the same changes to the other shapes that are grouped together.

Open the Visio program and open a diagram file called Managing shapes.vsd. Page one of this file contains three shapes. Try dragging the top shape to a new location on your work area. You will find that when you do this, just the selected shape moves, as you would expect. Click on the Undo button to reset the position of the shape.

Press and hold the Shift key on your keyboard. Click on each shape. All three shapes will now be selected, as illustrated below. Release the Shift key.


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Click on the Group button within the Action toolbar. This will group all the selected shapes together.

Click on an empty part of the working area, so that the shapes are no longer selected.

Try selecting one of the shapes and you will find that when you drag to a new position, all three shapes act as a single item, and all three are dragged to the new position.

Ungrouping shapes Display page 2, by clicking on the Page-2 tab at the bottom-left of the screen.

This will display a page with three, grouped shapes, on it. Try moving one shape, and because they are grouped, they will all move.

With the grouped shapes selected, click on the Ungroup button on the Action toolbar.


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Click on an empty part of the working area, so that the shapes are no longer selected. Try dragging each of the shapes in turn to a different position on the screen. You should find that all three shapes can now be moved independently.

Ordering shapes Ordering shapes is useful when you have multiple shapes on your drawing page

and you want to bring some shapes to the front, and some to the background.

Bringing a shape to the front Display page 3, by clicking on the Page-3 tab, at the bottom-left of the screen.

This page contains the following layered shapes. The diamond shape is at the

top layer, the rectangle is at the middle layer and the cylinder is at the bottom of the layer stack.


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Click on the cylinder shape to select it, as illustrated.

We want to bring the cylinder shape to the front. To do this click on the Bring to Front button on the Action Toolbar.

Your shapes will now look like this.

Sending a shape to the back Click on the diamond shape, so that it is selected, as illustrated below.

Click on the Send to Back button on the Action Toolbar.


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Your shapes will now look like this. The diamond shape is at the bottom.

Sending shapes forwards or backwards As well as sending a shape to the top or to the bottom of a pile of overlapping

shapes, you can move a middle layered shapes up or down one layer. The easy way to do this is to select a shape and then right click on the selected shape. From the menu displayed, select the Shape command, and from the sub-menu displayed, select either Bring Forward or Send Backward.

Rotating a shape to the right Display page 4, by clicking on the Page-4 tab, at the bottom-left of the screen.


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Select the top shape on the page. Click on the Rotate Right button on the Action Toolbar.

This will rotate the selected shape to the right in the 90-degree angle, as illustrated.

Rotating a shape to the left Select the middle shape on the page. Click on the Rotate Left button, on the Action Toolbar.

This will rotate the selected shape to the left in the 90-degree angle, as illustrated.

Free rotating a shape Click on the Pointer button within the Standard Toolbar. Click and select a shape that you want to rotate. Move your mouse over the point that appears like a small circle. You will notice

that your mouse pointer has changed to a rotating circle.


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Press and hold the left mouse button and move your mouse to the left or to the right. This will rotate the shape. Release the mouse button when your shape is rotated to the desired angle.

Rotating text within a shape Display page 5, by clicking on the Page-5 tab, at the bottom-left of the screen.

Click on the top shape to select it. Click on the Rotate Text button, within the Action Toolbar.

This will rotate the text in the selected shape by 90-degrees.

Experiment with rotating the text in the other two shapes.

Flipping a shape horizontally Display page 6, by clicking on the Page-6 tab, at the bottom-left of the screen. Click and select the top shape and click on the Flip Horizontal button on the

Action toolbar.


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Flipping a shape vertically Click and select the bottom shape and click on the Flip Vertical button on the

Action toolbar.


Aligning shapes Multiple shapes can be aligned, vertically or horizontally.

Display page 7, by clicking on the Page-7 tab, at the bottom-left of the screen.

First we will vertically align the 3 shapes at the top of the page. Click on the

first, top, rectangle shape, and while pressing the Shift key, click on the other two rectangle shapes. The top three shapes will now be selected.

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lick on the Shape drop down menu and select the Align Shapes command. C

his will open the Align Shapes dialog box. T

o vertically align the selected shapes, click on one of the options within the

n. T

Vertical alignment section of the dialog box, and then click on the OK buttoIn the example below, we clicked on the third, vertical alignment option.

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The three shapes are now aligned, as illustrated below.

Now we will horizontally align the three diamond shapes. First select all three diamond shapes. Then click on the Shape drop down menu and select the Align Shapes command. Click on the second Horizontal alignment option, and then click on the OK button.

The diamond shapes will now be aligned, as illustrated below.


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Distributing shapes Three or more shapes can be distributed, so that the interval or space between

them becomes uniform.

Display page 8, by clicking on the Page-8 tab, at the bottom-left of the screen. First we will change the horizontal distribution of the three rectangular shapes.

First select the three rectangular shapes, and then click on the Shape drop down menu and select the Distribute Shapes command.

OR click on the Distribute Shapes button within the Action toolbar.

This will open the Distribute Shapes dialog box.


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In this case, select one of the Horizontal distribution options, and then click on the OK button.

Your selected shapes will now be distributed, as illustrated below.

Experiment with applying other horizontal distribution options.

Next we will change the vertical distribution of the three diamond shapes. First select the three diamond shapes.

Click on the Shape drop down menu and select the Distribute Shapes command. Experiment with applying different Vertical distribution options.

An example is illustrated below.


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Adjusting shape layout Display page 9, by clicking on the Page-9 tab, at the bottom-left of the screen.

If necessary, adjust the zoom level so that you can read the text within the shapes.

Click on the Lay Out Shapes button on the Action toolbar.

This will open the Configure Layout dialog box.

Investigate some of the options available. For example, within the Direction section of the dialog box, select Bottom to Top and look what happens when you apply this option. You should find that the vertical flow of the flowchart is reversed.

Another option you can try is to select Compact Tree within the Alignment section, as illustrated below.


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Your diagram will now look like this.

If you have time look at some of the other options. NOTE: If you are not sure what some of the options do, click on the Help symbol, at the bottom-left of the dialog box. This will display help related to what you are trying to do. Try it, and check out the help available.

Centering a drawing The Centre Drawing option will position your drawing in the centre of the

drawing page.

Display page 10, by clicking on the Page-10 tab, at the bottom-left of the screen. If necessary, adjust the zoom level so that you can read the text within


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the shapes. As you can see, the diagram is displayed at the bottom left corner of your working area.

Click on the Shape drop down menu and select the Center Drawing command.

This will centre your diagram on the drawing page, as illustrated below.

Save your changes and close the diagrams file.


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Formatting Connectors

Layout and Routing Toolbar Start the Visio program and open a file called Formatting connectors.vsd.

This toolbar contains commonly used layout and routing commands. To display

the Layout and Routing toolbar, right click over a toolbar displayed across the top of your page, and within the pop-up list displayed, make sure that the Layout & Routing command is ticked.

The Layout and Routing toolbar looks like this.

Routing Style

Straight Lines

Curved Lines

Reset Connector

Reroute Freely


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Reroute on Crossover

Never Reroute

Page Default

No Lines

Move Other Shapes Away on Drop

Connector routing options Changing the Connector Routing options changes the way connector routes

around the shape. There are many options available. Reroute Connector: - Routes the connector regardless of its previous settings. Rerouting Freely: - Routes a connector whenever needed. Rerouting as needed: - Only reroutes when a connector passes through another shape. Rerouting on Crossover: - Reroutes when it crosses through the shape to which it is connected. Never rerouting: - Never routes the connector.

Using curved connectors Click on a connector between Stage One and Stage Two.


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Click on the Curved Lines button within the Layout and Routing toolbar.

The connector will now look like this.

Using straight connectors Click on a connector between Stage One and Stage Two. Click on the Straight Lines button within the Layout and Routing toolbar.


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The connector will now look like this.

Setting line jump options When two connector lines cross each other, a line jump will appear.

Display page 2, by clicking on the Page-2 tab, at the bottom-left of the screen. Click on a connector line that connects the Technical Proof OK diamond to the

Technical Proof rectangle.

Click on the down arrow next to the Add Line jumps button, within the Layout and Routing toolbar.


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Select an option such as Square. The connectors will now look like this.


Using Snap and Glue

Using the Snap and Glue Toolbar Open the Visio program and open a file called Snap and glue.vsd.

The Snap and Glue toolbar contains commonly used commands for snapping and

gluing. To display the Snap and Glue toolbar, right click over one of the toolbars displayed across the top of your screen and from the pop-up menus displayed, make sure that the Snap & Glue command is ticked.


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The toolbar will look like this:

Snapping and gluing Snapping: The snapping settings determine how shapes are placed on the

Drawing page, in relation to other elements such as Grid, Guides, Rulers etc. Gluing: The gluing settings determine which elements of a shape are used to glue connectors.

Viewing active snap and glue elements Click on the Tools drop down menu and select the Snap & Glue command.


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This will open the Snap & Glue dialog box.

To turn snapping on or off, check or uncheck the Snap check box. NOTE: You could also use the Toggle Snap button within the Snap & Glue toolbar. Also notice the keyboard shortcut displayed.

To turn Gluing on or off, check or uncheck the Glue check box. NOTE: You could also use the Toggle Glue button within the Snap & Glue toolbar. Also notice the keyboard shortcut displayed.

Manually connecting shapes using Dynamic Glue When connected with Dynamic Glue, the connectors adjust automatically when

moving the shapes, and reposition to the closest point between the two shapes.


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To connect the two top shapes with Dynamic Glue, click on the Connector button within the Standard Toolbar.

Move your cursor over the first Shape until you see a red color box appear around the first shape.

Click and press the left mouse button. While keeping the mouse button pressed, move your mouse over the second shape, until you see the red color box appear around the second shape.

Now release the mouse. It will connect the two shapes with Dynamic Glue.

If you move one of the shapes, you will notice that the connector will reposition itself on the shape. NOTE: To drag a shape to a new position, click on the edge of the shape to select it and then, with the mouse key still pressed, drag the shape to a new position on your work area.

Manually connecting shapes using Static Glue Static Glue is also known as Point-to-Point Glue. It connects two shapes to

specific points. When connected with Static Glue, the connectors stay connected


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to the original points when the shapes are moved.

To connect the two bottom shapes with Static Glue, click on the Connector button within the Standard Toolbar.

Move your cursor over a point on the first Shape until you see a red color box

appear around the point.

Click on it and drag it to a specific point on the second shape until you see a red color box appear around the point.

Release the mouse. This will create the connection with Static Glue.

If you move a shape, you will notice that connector is still connected to the specific points. NOTE: To drag a shape to a new position, click on the edge of the shape to select it and then, with the mouse key still pressed, drag the shape to a new position on your work area.


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Manually connecting a series of shapes Open Visio and open the file called Multiple connections.vsd.

You can connect multiple shapes with each other.

Press and hold the Shift key on your keyboard. While keeping the Shift key

pressed, click on each of the shapes in turn. Release the Shift key and your screen will look like this.


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Now click on the Shape drop down menu and select the Connect Shapes command.

This will connect the series of shapes together.


Using Layers

Layers Layers are used to organize related shapes on a Drawing page. As an example

imagine you are creating a plan for a new office.


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You could assign the structural elements, such as walls, doors and windows to one level. The utilities such as electric, water and gas details could be assigned to another layer. Finally the office furniture could be assigned to a third layer. This use of layers allows you to groups related items together and only concentrate on what is of importance to a particular viewer of the information, such as a furniture designer.

Assigning a shape to a layer Start the Visio program and open a file called Layers.vsd.

We are going to add layering to this diagram so that we can choose to view the

diagram, with or without, the diamond shapes.

If necessary adjust the view so that you can view all the shapes within the diagram.

Click on the first diamond shape to select it.

Click on the Format drop down menu and select the Layer command.


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This will open the Layer dialog box.

To create a new layer, that will be used by the diamond shape, click on the New button within the dialog box. This will display the New dialog box. Type in the name Diamond, and click on the OK button.


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The dialog box will now look like this.

Currently the diamond shape is assigned to the Flowchart layer and the Diamond layer. In order to just assign the diamond shape to the Diamond layer, remove the tick next to the Flowchart layer, as illustrated below.

Click on the OK button to close the dialog box. At this point you should not see any change in the way the diagram is displayed.

Repeat the procedure for the second diamond shape, and assign it to the Diamond layer.


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Showing and hiding layers Click on the View drop down menu and select the Layer Properties command.

This will open the Layer Properties dialog box.

Within the Diamond row, remove the tick under the Visible column. Within the Connector row, remove the tick under the Visible column.

Click on the OK button and you will now see your diagram displayed, without the Connector layer, and also without the Diamond layer.


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Inserting Clip Art

Clip Art Open the Visio program and open a file called Pictures.vsd. If necessary adjust the zoom level so that you can see all the shapes. Click on the Insert drop down menu and select the Picture command. From

the sub-menu displayed click on the Clip Art command.


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This will display the Clip Art window to the right of your diagram.

Type the word Book into the Search for box and then click on the Go button. You will see ‘book related’ Clip Art images displayed.


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Double click on an item of Clip Art and it will be inserted into your work area, as illustrated below.

You can use the normal drag and drop techniques to resize and reposition the Clip Art.



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Setting up and Editing Pages

Managing pages

Moving between pages Open the Visio program and open a file called Managing pages.vsd.

If you look at the bottom-left of the diagram you will see the Page tabs,

indicating that this file contains 5 pages.

Click on each of the tabs in turn, to display the page contents. Experiment with clicking on the arrow controls to the left of the page tabs.

Inserting a new page Click on the Page-1 tab. Right click over the Page-1 tab, and from the pop-up menu displayed, select

the Insert Page command.

This will display the Page Setup dialog box, with the Page Properties tab selected.


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Enter a name for the new page, in the name section of the dialog box. Call it My New Page. Click on the OK button. Your screen will now look like the illustration below.

Renaming a page Right click on the page tab of the new page that you have just created. From

the pop-up menu displayed click on the Rename Page command.

The Page tab will be selected as illustrated.


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Type in a new name. In this case type the word Introduction and press Enter.

Reordering pages Right click on the Introduction page tab and from the pop-up menu displayed,

select the Reorder Pages command.

This will display the Reorder Page dialog box, as illustrated below.

Select the Introduction page within the dialog box.


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Click on the Move Up button, until the Introduction page is displayed at the top of the list.

Click on the OK button and you will see your new page displayed, before the other page tabs.

Deleting a page Right click over the Page-6 tab and from the pop-up menu displayed, select the

Delete Page command.



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Creating a background page A background page is similar to a master page. A background page appears in

the background of your Drawing page.

Open the Visio program and open a file called Background.vsd.

If necessary change the zoom level so that you can see all the shapes making up the diagram.

To create a background page, click on the Insert drop down menu and select the New Page command.

This will open the Page Setup dialog box.


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Within the Type section of the dialog box, click on the Background button.

Enter a name for this background page in the Name box. In this case, enter the name My Background and then click on the OK button.


Notice the Page tab, towards the bottom-left of the page. This shows you that you are viewing the second page within the file.

Next we need to place something on the background page. In this case we will simply insert an item of Clip Art. To do this, click on the Insert drop down menu, and select the Picture command. From the sub-menu displayed, select the Clip Art command.


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This will display the Clip Art pane down the right side of the screen. Search for Clip Art relating to people.

Select an item of Clip Art, such as the green car, and click on the item to insert it into the work area, as illustrated below.


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Resize and reposition the Clip Art item, so that it is more visible, as illustrated below.

Now that we have created a background page we need to assign it to other pages

Assigning a background page Click on the Page-1 tab so that the contents of the first page are displayed.

Click on the File drop down menu and select the Page Setup command.


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Click the Page Properties tab. Click on the down arrow within the Background section and select the name

of the background that you want to assign to the selected page. In this case select My Background.

Click on the OK button and the background will be assigned to the page. An example is illustrated below. The background is displayed beneath the diagram.

NOTE: You could use this technique to display text, such as DRAFT, or CONFIDENTIAL, behind diagrams that are still in a draft stage, or that are confidential.


Using Page View Tools


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View Toolbar Open the Visio program and open a file called Viewing.vsd.

The View toolbar provides commonly used viewing commands. To display the

View toolbar, click on the View drop down menu and select the Toolbar command. From the sub-menu displayed select the View command.

Showing and hiding the rulers Click on the Rulers on the View Toolbar to show or hide the Rulers.

The display toggles between the two views, as illustrated below.

Make sure that the rulers are once again displayed, before continuing.

Showing and hiding the grid Click on the Grid on the View Toolbar to show or hide the Grid. The display

toggles between the two views, as illustrated below.

Make sure that the grid is once again displayed, before continuing.


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Adding Guides You can drag the vertical or horizontal ruler onto the working area. Click on the

vertical ruler, as illustrated below. Keep the mouse button pressed.

Drag into the working area and then release the mouse button. You will see the following.

You can also drag the horizontal ruler onto the work area. You can use these lines as guides when placing shapes on the working area.

Showing and hiding the guides Click on the Guides command in the View menu, to show or hide the Guides.


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Using the Size and Position window The Size & Position window is used to set the coordinates, dimensions and

position of the shapes on the Drawing Page.

Click on the Size & Position Window button on the View Toolbar.

This will display the Size & Position window.

Click on a shape to select it. The Size & Position window will display the coordinates, dimensions and position of the selected shape. In the example shown, we clicked on the final shape in the diagram.


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You can click inside any of fields in the Size & Position window and change the attributes.

To stop displaying this window, re-click on the Size & Position Window button on the View toolbar.

Using the Drawing Explorer window The Drawing Explorer window displays all the items in your drawing in a

hierarchal order. To display the Drawing Explorer window, click on the Drawing Explorer Window button on the View toolbar.

This will display the Drawing Explorer window, as illustrated below.

In more complicated diagrams, you can use this window to explore the items that make up a diagram.


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Setting a drawing scale You can set a drawing scale to the measurement of your choice. To set the

drawing scale, click on the File drop down menu and select the Page Setup command.

This will open the Page Setup dialog box.


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Click on the Drawing Scale tab.

Click on the Pre-defined scale option under the Drawing scale section. Make a note of the current pre-defined scale, then select an option from the

Pre-defined scale drop down list.

Click on the OK button to apply the drawing scale.


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Experiment with applying different scales, and then reset the drawing scale back to its original value.

Save any changes you have made and then close the Visio program.


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Printing and Sharing Drawings

Getting Ready to Print

Spell Check Start the Visio program and open the diagram file called Printing.vsd. If you look at page one of the file, there are two shapes each containing spelling

errors. Press the F7 key which will open the Spelling dialog box.

In this case the word ONE is incorrectly spelt, so click on the Change button to accept the correct spelling, as offered by the Visio spell checking program.

Next you will see the following displayed.


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In this case, you need to select the word STAGE from the Suggestions list, and then click on the Change button. You will then see the following. Click on the OK button.

The words are now all spelt correctly.

Paper size and orientation Click on the File drop down menu and select the Page Setup command. Make sure that the Print Setup tab is selected.


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Select a paper size from the Printer paper drop down menu. You will normally select either A4 or Letter size.

To select the orientation, select either the Portrait or Landscape buttons.

Click on the OK button.

Print Preview Before printing a drawing you can preview the drawing to see how it will print.

To do this click on the Print Preview button within the Standard toolbar.

Your screen will look like this.


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Click on the Close button on the Print Preview toolbar.

Printing the Drawing

Selecting a printer Click on the File drop down menu and select the Print command. This will open

the Print dialog box.


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Select a printer from the Name drop down menu. Click on the OK button.

Printer Properties Click on the File drop down menu and select the Print command. This will open

the Print dialog box. Click on the Properties button.

This will display the Properties box for your printer.


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Make your desired changes and click on the OK button and then close the Print dialog box.

Print Range Click on the File drop down menu and select the Print command. This will open

the Print dialog box. Enter your range in the Page range section. In the example shown we have chosen to just print the Current page. This option is useful when you have a multipage document, but only want to print the page you are interested in.


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Number of Print Copies Click on the File drop down menu and select the Print command. This will open

the Print dialog box. Click on the Up or Down arrow control for the Number of copies box in the Copies section.


Save any changes that you may have made and close the Visio program.


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Customizing Visio 2007

Options Dialog Box Start Visio and open a file called Custom options.vsd.

Click on the Tools drop down menu and select the Options command.

This will open the Options dialog box.


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Take a little time to examine some of the options that you can customize within the Visio program. Quickly click on each of the tabs within this dialog box, and view the options available.

Close the Visio program and save any changes that you may have made.

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