What is Visio? The Initial Screen

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1 1 of 8 What is Visio? Microsoft Visio allows you to create flowcharts and diagrams. With Visio you are able to join aspects together to show relationships and thought processes. For example you can use Visio to create and layout the thought process or design process of creating a car. Visio is ideal for planning. The Initial Screen This area shows the different templates contained in the category that you clicked on. When you find the template you like, click on it to be brought to a final screen before you begin creating your Visio file. 1. From the File menu, although most of the options are greyed out, you are able to create a new Visio file (either from a template or a new file altogether) and you are also able to open a recent Visio document. 2. This area allows you to choose between two different options to get you started: blank templates (getting started) or already created Visio files (samples) that you can then change the content of. 3. The third area of the start up screen categorizes the different templates you can start off with. Click on one of the folders to view the different templates in each category. 4. If you want to open a recent Visio document you go here. The recent Visio files will be listed or if no files are there you can click on the More button to browse your computer to find one.

2 2 of 8 This new area will appear after you have selected a template. Choose the type of units Visio uses then click the Create button. You are now ready to begin designing your Visio file. The Difference Between a Sample and Template There might be some confusion about a sample and template. Samples are already created Visio files that you can go in and change the content. They already have all the shapes and relationships designed. They are useful if you are very unfamiliar with Visio and want a way to try and get familiar with what Visio is. Templates however, give you a blank document but provide the template related shapes. This means you are required to add in the template shapes and create the relationships yourself. This help document will cover the basics of working from a template or blank Visio file. The Visio Canvas The Vision canvas is the main area you work on. It does not allow you to click on the canvas and directly and write on it like a Word document. Instead everything must be dragged onto it or placed in a frame. For example, when you want to write on the canvas you need to draw a text box first before you can do any writing. Setting a Canvas Theme Just like in Word you are able to apply styles to the shapes and text that appear on the canvas. The background however is not changed and is added in a different way (see related section).

3 3 of 8 To apply a canvas theme you need to click on the Theme button in the Formatting toolbar (the one where you choose a font type, bold, italic, etc.). A new window will appear on the right side of the Visio window allowing you to set two different types of options. The first option allows you to choose the different colours that you want for the shapes and text in your Visio file. To apply a colour theme click on the image thumbnail to apply it. The other option that you can choose is the effects applied to the shapes and text. This means that you can choose how the shapes look (whether they have a shadow, the writing inside of them is bolded, etc.). To remove any of the themes simply click on the Theme button again and click on the first image in both areas called None to remove the theme(s) attached to your Visio file. This method also works if you want to change the colour or effect themes. Instead of clicking None you chose a different theme. By default no colour or effect themes have been applied to your Visio document, you must choose them. Rulers, Guides and the Grid Rulers and guides are a really useful way to line everything up and make sure that shapes are the right size. Showing/Hiding Rulers always show the unit type (US units or metric) that you chose when you first created your document at the start. If however, they are not showing you can make them visible by clicking on Rulers from the View menu. A checkmark will appear indicating that the rulers are showing. To hide rulers repeat the same process, no checkmark will appear beside the Rulers option indicating they are not showing. Changing Ruler Units To change a ruler s measurement units (e.g. changing the ruler s measurement units from millimetres to centimetres) you need to first start out by going to the File menu. From this menu click on the option called Page Setup. This will bring up a new window and from this window click on the Page Properties tab. In this area will find the drop-down menu called Measurement Units. You will now be able to choose from a wide variety of units to change the ruler units to. After you choose the unit type you want, click OK. The ruler will update reflecting the new units you chose. Adding a Guide Ruler guides can be quite useful if you want to line up objects to a specific point. You can add a horizontal ruler, vertical ruler and a ruler that combines both a horizontal and vertical ruler together. To add a guide click on the ruler. Your mouse will turn into a double headed arrow indicating that you can drag out a guide. Drag the guide to

4 4 of 8 where you want it to go and then release the mouse button. Your guide will now have been added to the page. To add both a horizontal and vertical guide at once click in the corner of where the rulers join and then repeat the same process. To delete a guide simply click on it to make it active and then click Delete on the keyboard. Viewing Guides Sometimes guides will not be set to shown when you open Visio. To hide or view guides you need to first be in the View tab. From the View tab click on the Guides option. If you are trying to show guides a checkmark will appear beside the option indicating guides are showing and if you are trying to hide guides no checkmark will appear indicating no guides are showing. The Grid The grid is what makes the canvas look like graph paper when you first open a new Visio file. Many times this is useful to have as it makes lining up objects even easier. However, sometimes the type of Visio file you are creating doesn t need a grid showing and you want to hide it. To hide the grid you first need to be in the View tab. From there find the Grid option and click it. If a checkmark now appears beside the option it indicates that the grid is showing. If there is no checkmark it means that the grid has been hidden. Visio Pages Many times one Visio canvas will not be enough to work on and you will need to add another one. You can add and delete pages in two different ways: through the menus or by right-clicking on the page tabs. Inserting a Page To insert a page first navigate to the Insert menu. From the menu find the New Page option and click it. A new window will appear. Or right-click on a tab and from the options presented click Insert Page. The new window that appears will present you with a few options to fill out before adding the new page (this menu appears regardless of the method you choose). 1. Choose the type of page you are creating. A foreground page is a separate page from everything else, it is unique. A background appears behind the other pages and appears on the other pages. 2. Click in the text area to add a unique name to your pages. 3. If you have already created a background you can use the dropdown menu to choose it. 4. This menu allows you to choose the unit of measurement used for the page. After you are done choosing the various settings don t forget to click OK. Deleting a Page To delete a page either right-click on the page tab and from the options presented click Delete Page or from the Edit menu, find the Delete Pages option. A new window will appear asking you to select the page you want to delete. Select the desired page and then click OK.

5 5 of 8 Renaming a Page To rename a page first make the page you want to rename active by clicking on it. Right-click on the tab to bring up a few options and from the menu click the Rename Page option. The name of the page will be highlighted in grey and a blinking cursor will appear inside it. Type in the name you want and then click away from the tab for the new name to take effect. Moving between Different Pages and Reordering Them To move between the different pages simply click on the page tab that you want to go to. To reorder the pages so they are in a different order first start by making the page you want to move active by clicking on it. Now click and drag the page tab to a new location. A black arrow will appear showing you where the page will be placed. Simply let go when you move the page to the spot you want. The Shapes s The shape tools are found in the Standard toolbar and are used when you are trying to add shapes (remember text is considered a shape) of your own or simply selecting or modifying shapes Function Pointer (1) This tool is used for selecting shapes. From the drop-down menu you have a few varieties of selection techniques you can choose from. Connector (2) This tool is used to draw connections between the different shapes. It also has another tool that you can select that removes connections between the shapes. Text (3) The text tool is used to draw text boxes on the canvas as well as in shapes. The other tool available to use allows you to modify the shape and rotation of the text box. Drawing s (4) The drawing tool allows you to draw your own custom shapes and brings up a special toolbar when selected (see the custom shapes section below). The Two Different Shape Types Shapes comprise mostly all the content in a Visio document. Shapes are either dragged onto the canvas or drawn using the shape tools. You are able to create your own custom shapes using the shapes tool or add one of the many provided shapes by Visio. Most likely you will use the provided shapes. Visio Shapes Adding Visio shapes is done through the Shapes area on the left of the Visio window. The Shapes area is divided into different categories so it is easier to find the type of shape you want. Depending on the template you chose to work from the start, different categories will

6 6 of 8 be shown while others must be added to the area if you want to have access to the shapes. To add a shape from the Shapes area, simply click on the shape and drag it onto your diagram. To add a Shapes category click on the Shapes symbol found in the Standard toolbar. A drop-down menu will appear with all the different template categories. Each contains specific shape categories that you can add to the Shapes area. To add one of the categories click on the category you want and it will be added to the Shapes area. You now have access to the different shapes in that category and can add them to the Visio canvas. Custom Shapes Chances are you will find the shape you are looking for in the thousands of Visio shapes offered. But if you don t or just want to design your own shape the Drawing s button located on the Standard toolbar is the place to go. A new toolbar will appear and you are able to click one of the options in it to draw a shape. When you click on one of the options your cursor will change to a plus and you can then draw your shape onto the Visio canvas. Rectangle Ellipse Freeform Modifying Shapes Line Arc To move a shape, click and drag the shape to its new position. To move multiple shapes select them all (Crtl + click) and drag them to their new position. For precisise movements you can nudge the shape by selecting it and using the arrow keys. To size or stretch a shape, select it and drag one of its edges or corners. To rotate a shape, use the green dot that appears above the shape. Pencil To add text to a shape, double click the shape. To modify the text, double click the shape again. If you want to change the text box size click the Text Block found in the Text Box drop-down menu from the Standard toolbar and click on one of the text box corners. You are given the same options of resizing and rotating the text box as you would with any shape. To group a number of shapes together, select all the shapes (hold Crtl while clicking) you want to group. Then select Shape > Grouping > Group from the menu. To ungroup shapes, select the group and select Shape > Grouping > Ungroup group the menu.

7 7 of 8 Static Connectors A connector is used to create relationships between two or more shapes by connecting them with a line. A static connector will stay attached to the same spot on a shape no matter where you move the shape. A dynamic connector will shift its connection point around the shape depending on where you move the shape. Inserting a Connector To insert a connector, select the Connector from the Shape s area in the Standard toolbar. Click and drag from one shape to connect the two. The shape that you first drag from will determine the connector s path. A red box should appear at the connection point of the second shape. Where on the two shapes you click and release your mouse determines the type of connection. If you select the blue X s on the edge of the shape then the connection is static. If you select the centre of the shape, then the connection is dynamic. Either ends of a connector can be static or dynamic. Imported pictures by default only have dynamic connections. Dynamic Modifying the Connection To move a connection, first select the line. Red squares should appear at the ends of the connector to show that it is attached. Click and drag on one of the green points that appear on the line. To disconnect a connector click and drag on the line where there is no green point. The ends will change from red to green to show that it is disconnected. To connect multiple shapes together, select all of the shapes in the order you want them connected by holding the Crtl key. Then select Shape > Connect Shapes from the menu. These connections will all be dynamic. Adding a Background Backgrounds are used if you want to repeat an element more than once on the page or just don t want to have a plain looking background. There are two ways to add a background. The first is by using preset backgrounds Visio provides you and the other way is adding a custom background page. Preset Backgrounds When you add a preset background Visio takes care of the additional steps you need to go through if you want to create a custom background. To create a preset background you first need to add the Background category to the Shapes area at the left of the Visio window. To do this you need click on the Shapes icon found in the Standard toolbar (the toolbar with the save button, paste, copy, etc.)

8 8 of 8 A drop-down menu will appear with many different shape categories Find the Visio Extras option and from that drop-down menu click on Backgrounds (depending on the units you chose either choose metric or US units) The Backgrounds category will now have been added to your Shapes area From the Shapes area find the Backgrounds category and click and drag the background that you want to the Visio canvas (remember everything must be dragged onto the canvas). A background will now appear on the canvas. A new page tab will also be added called background and will apply to all the pages you create. To remove a background simply drag the Background none option onto the canvas to remove the background. Custom Backgrounds Creating a custom background is a more complicated process but allows you to add your own unique graphics and text. A custom background has to be applied to the various pages individually. You can have multiple background pages and different backgrounds for each different foreground page (regular page). Adding a Background Adding a background page requires you repeat a very similar process as when you wanted to create a regular page. Go to Insert menu > New Page. Instead of leaving the Page Type option defaulted at Foreground select the Background option instead. A new page will appear called Background in the page tabs area. You are now able to add things to the background. You can either add the backgrounds provided to the new page or simply add graphics and text to create a unique background. Applying the Background to Pages As mentioned above the background will not appear on any of the pages until you apply them to the pages. This means that the pages that have not had the background applied will not reflect the background. To add the background you first need to make the page you want the background to appear on active and then navigate to the File menu. From this menu find the Page Setup area and click on the Page Properties tab. In this area find the drop-down menu called Background and from it select the background you want to be appearing on the page. For each page you have to repeat this process.