Microsoft® Office

Visio® 2007 Training

Let’s talk about text

[Your company name] presents:

Let’s talk about text

Course contents

• Overview: Shapes alone don’t make a diagram

• Lesson: Add and edit text

The lesson includes a list of suggested tasks and a set of

test questions.

Let’s talk about text

Overview: Shapes alone don’t make a diagram

Shapes, the components that make up

any Visio diagram, are highly effective

in communicating information, ideas,

processes, and so on.

But shapes alone don’t make a

diagram. Text—long or short,

descriptive or instructional—is also

essential.

This course will talk about text: how to

add it to shapes and how to add it on

its own. You’ll also learn how to edit

text and avoid common pitfalls.

Let’s talk about text

Course goals

• Add text to a shape.

• Add freestanding text—text that is not associated with a

shape—to the page.

• Avoid common pitfalls associated with text in Visio, like

how to get out of text mode when you don’t need to be in it.

Lesson

Add and edit text

Let’s talk about text

Add and edit text

There are lots of

places for text in a

Visio diagram, as the

picture shows.

You use text to label your shapes so that they mean

something to people. You can also label the

connectors, or the lines between the shapes.

But text is also important for titling the diagram at the

top of the page. And sometimes you need text that just

sits there, independent of a shape.

Let’s talk about text

Click to add text

Most shapes just need

a quick text label.

There are several

ways to add simple

text to shapes.

1

2

Click the shape.

Start typing. Visio will zoom in on the shape.

But the one shown in the picture is sure-fire:

Let’s talk about text

Click to add text

Most shapes just need

a quick text label.

There are several

ways to add simple

text to shapes.

3 When you’re done, click an empty part of the drawing

page to return to the zoom level you were at before.

But the one shown in the picture is sure-fire:

4 The text appears on the shape.

Let’s talk about text

Click to add text

Why all this zooming

around?

There are occasions where it won’t zoom, though. For

example, if you’re zoomed in close enough, or if the font

size is big enough to read.

So that you can see

what you are typing.

Let’s talk about text

Double-click to edit

What if you need to

edit text that’s already

on the shape?

1

2

Double-click the shape.

Visio will zoom in on the shape text. Change the text as

you see fit.

You do things a little differently:

Let’s talk about text

Double-click to edit

What if you need to

edit text that’s already

on the shape?

3 When you’re done, click an empty part of the drawing

page to return to the zoom level you were at before.

You do things a little differently:

4 The new text appears on the shape.

Let’s talk about text

A tool for grouped shapes

So, a quick review:

You click and type to

add text, and you

double-click a shape

to edit text.

That’s pretty

straightforward.

But what if you need to edit text for a shape that’s in a

group?

You could try to use the same methods, although it

might not work all the time because of the way some

groups are configured.

Let’s talk about text

A tool for grouped shapes

Here’s a good method

for adding and editing

text for grouped

shapes.

1

2

Click the group of shapes with the Pointer Tool .

Click again to select one of the shapes in the group.

Let’s talk about text

A tool for grouped shapes

Here’s a good method

for adding and editing

text for grouped

shapes.

Click the Text Tool button .

4

3

Visio will zoom in on the shape text. Add or change the

text as you see fit.

Let’s talk about text

Create a text-only shape

Here’s another use for

the Text Tool.

When you need

freestanding text in a

diagram, you can

create what’s called a

text-only shape.

Animation: Right-click, and click Play.

Notice the following in this animated example:

• To define the area for the text, you first use the Text

Tool to click and drag a bounding box.

• Visio will zoom in so that you can see what you are

typing.

Let’s talk about text

Create a text-only shape

Here’s another use for

the Text Tool.

When you need

freestanding text in a

diagram, you can

create what’s called a

text-only shape.

• To define the area for the text, you first use the Text

Tool to click and drag a bounding box.

This illustration shows the process for creating a text-

only shape:

• Visio will zoom in so that you can see what you are

typing.

Let’s talk about text

Don’t forget

Make sure you don’t

forget this: After you

are done with the Text

Tool , put it away.

Why go back to the Pointer Tool? Although you may not

have noticed this, you use the Pointer Tool about 90%

of the time in Visio. It lets you do one very vital task:

Select.

But if you keep the Text Tool active, you can’t select

anything. The only thing you can do is type text.

The way you do that is

to click the Pointer

Tool when you’re

done.

Let’s talk about text

Special text

The text we’ve been

showing you is text

you type yourself.

It’s the most common

text you’ll use, and

that’s what this course

focuses on.

What this course won’t dwell on is another kind of text

that Visio “types” for you, called a field.

A field is a special text area that instructs Visio to

automatically display information. Fields can be

especially handy when you use data in tandem with the

diagram.

Let’s talk about text

Suggestions for practice

1. Examine the text components of a diagram.

2. Add text to two shapes.

3. Change the zoom option.

4. Add an annotation shape to the page.

5. Make a text-only shape and change its alignment.

6. Edit shape text.

7. Examine and edit the text for a group.

Online practice (requires Visio 2007)

Let’s talk about text

Test question 1

Most of the time, Visio zooms in when you start typing. When

would it not zoom in when you start typing? (Pick one

answer.)

1. When you’re typing text for a text-only shape.

2. When you’re typing text for a really big shape.

3. When the text for the shape is big enough to read already.

4. When you’re typing text for a very skinny line.

Let’s talk about text

Test question 1: Answer

When the text for the shape is big enough to read already.

Visio won’t zoom in if the text is big enough to read or if you’re already

zoomed in enough to read the text.

Let’s talk about text

Test question 2

When you’re done typing, what should you do if you want to

return to the zoom level you were at before? (Pick one

answer.)

1. Click an empty part of the drawing page.

2. Stop typing.

3. Press ALT+F6.

4. Press RETURN.

Let’s talk about text

Test question 2: Answer

Click an empty part of the drawing page.

You can also press ESC.

Let’s talk about text

Test question 3

When you’re done typing and you want to select a shape and

move it, you should always click the Text Tool again to turn

it off. (Pick one answer.)

1. True.

2. False.

Let’s talk about text

Test question 3: Answer

False.

To turn off the Text Tool, you have to click the Pointer Tool.

Let’s talk about text

Quick Reference Card

For a summary of the tasks covered in this course, view the

Quick Reference Card.