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Microsoft VisioAbout the TutorialMicrosoft Visio is a diagramming tool that allows you to create diagrams (ranging fromsimple to complex), which aid in data visualization and process modelling. Visio also helpsto create detailed org charts, floor plans, pivot diagrams, etc.This tutorial will help you understand the basics of the program and how you can use it tocreate informative diagrams for home or enterprise use.AudienceMicrosoft Visio is an enterprise class software that is used by professionals to creatediagrams of varying complexities – from networking diagrams to floor plans, and even orgcharts and timelines. However, Visio is also gaining traction among home users forplanning their home layouts or simple layout plans.This tutorial caters to both enterprise and home users with varying levels of experience,who plan to integrate Visio into their workflow.PrerequisitesYou should be comfortable navigating your way around the Windows OS (Windows 7 orlater). Visio is not available for the Mac. Visio Pro can be included as part of the Office 365suite or purchased standalone in Standard and Professional versions.A Microsoft account is required to utilize some of the online features of Visio. Enterprisesubscribers to Office 365 can also use Visio Online, which is an online viewer for Visio filesstored in OneDrive for Business or SharePoint Online. Visio Online allows you to view,share, and collaborate with Visio diagrams created in Visio 2013 or 2016.Copyright & Disclaimer Copyright 2017 by Tutorials Point (I) Pvt. Ltd.All the content and graphics published in this e-book are the property of Tutorials Point (I)Pvt. Ltd. The user of this e-book is prohibited to reuse, retain, copy, distribute or republishany contents or a part of contents of this e-book in any manner without written consentof the publisher.We strive to update the contents of our website and tutorials as timely and as precisely aspossible, however, the contents may contain inaccuracies or errors. Tutorials Point (I) Pvt.Ltd. provides no guarantee regarding the accuracy, timeliness or completeness of ourwebsite or its contents including this tutorial. If you discover any errors on our website orin this tutorial, please notify us at contact@tutorialspoint.comi

Microsoft VisioTable of ContentsAbout the Tutorial . iAudience . iPrerequisites . iCopyright & Disclaimer . iTable of Contents . ii1.VISIO OVERVIEW. 1Popular Diagramming Software . 1Introduction to Microsoft Visio . 4MS Visio - New Features. 52.VISIO USER INTERFACE . 6Start Screen . 6Document Interface . 63.VISIO OPENING FILES . 94.VISIO CUSTOMIZING THE UI . 11The Quick Access Toolbar . 11The Ribbon . 125.VISIO CHANGING VIEW MODES . 136.VISIO CREATING & ARRANGING SMARTSHAPES . 157.VISIO CONNECTING SMARTSHAPES . 188.VISIO CONNECTED SMARTSHAPES. 199.VISIO ALIGNING SMARTSHAPES . 20ii

Microsoft Visio10. VISIO RE-LAYOUT PAGE . 2111. VISIO INSERTING TEXT . 2312. VISIO INSERTING BACKGROUNDS . 2413. VISIO INSERTING GRAPHICS . 2514. VISIO INSERTING CONTAINERS & CALLOUTS. 2615. VISIO INSERTING HYPERLINKS . 2916. VISIO THEMES. 3217. VISIO TEXT FORMATTING. 3518. VISIO SHAPE FORMATTING . 3619. VISIO FORMATTING SHAPE LINES . 3720. VISIO RULERS, GRIDS & GUIDES . 3921. VISIO USING VISUAL AIDS . 4222. VISIO TASK PANES. 4423. VISIO WORKING WITH WINDOWS . 4724. VISIO PRINTING DIAGRAMS . 4925. VISIO PUBLISHING TO PDF . 5026. VISIO EXPORT DIAGRAMS TO JPG OR GIF . 5327. VISIO EXPORTING TO WEB PAGES USING HTML . 5428. VISIO CREATING LAYERS WITH SMARTSHAPES . 55iii

Microsoft Visio29. VISIO WORKING WITH LAYERS . 5630. VISIO LAYER SETTINGS . 5831. VISIO THEMES & STYLES . 5932. VISIO APPLYING THEME COLORS & EFFECTS. 6133. VISIO BLOCKING THEMES FROM AFFECTING SHAPES . 6334. VISIO CUSTOM COLOR SCHEME FOR THEMES . 6435. VISIO WORKING WITH ORG CHARTS . 6536. VISIO INSERTING MANAGER SUB-SHAPES. 6837. VISIO SUBORDINATE LAYOUTS. 6938. VISIO TEAM MEMBER RE-ORDERING . 7239. VISIO ADDING TEAM FRAMES TO A DIAGRAM. 7340. VISIO CREATING REPORT INDICATORS . 7441. VISIO CREATING THREE- & MULTIPLE-POSITION SMARTSHAPES . 7542. VISIO ADDING EXECUTIVE PICTURES. 7743. VISIO BREAKING DOWN STRUCTURES USING SYNC COPIES . 7844. VISIO REPORTING STRUCTURE VIEWS. 7945. VISIO USING THE ORG CHART WIZARD . 8146. VISIO PUBLISHING ORGANIZATIONAL CHARTS. 8847. VISIO STRUCTURE OF BRAINSTORMING DIAGRAMS . 90iv

Microsoft Visio48. VISIO ADDING, EDITING & PLACING SUBTOPICS . 9249. VISIO EDITING TOPICS IN THE OUTLINE WINDOW . 9450. VISIO CUSTOMIZING TOPIC SHAPE, STYLE & LAYOUT . 9551. VISIO SENDING DATA TO WORD & EXCEL . 9752. VISIO CREATING & CONFIGURING TIMELINES. 9853. VISIO ADDING MILESTONES . 10054. VISIO DEALING WITH COLLISIONS . 10155. VISIO ADDING INTERVALS TO A TIMELINE . 10256. VISIO ADDING MARKERS & INDICATORS TO A TIMELINE . 10357. VISIO EXPANDED TIMELINES . 10458. VISIO FORMATTING TIMELINES . 10559. VISIO SHARING TIMELINES. 10660. VISIO CREATING CALENDARS . 10761. VISIO ADDING APPOINTMENTS TO A CALENDAR . 10862. VISIO CUSTOMIZING THE CALENDAR . 10963. VISIO ADDING ADDITIONAL MONTHS . 11064. VISIO IMPORTING CALENDARS FROM OUTLOOK . 11265. VISIO CREATING A FLOOR PLAN . 11366. VISIO - SCALING & ADDING STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS TO A FLOOR PLAN . 114v

Microsoft Visio67. VISIO ADDING DIMENSIONS TO A FLOOR PLAN . 11668. VISIO ADDING FURNITURE TO A FLOOR PLAN . 11869. VISIO ADDING TITLES & OTHER INFORMATION . 12070. VISIO PROTOTYPING SOFTWARE USING WIREFRAMES . 12271. VISIO ADDING ELEMENTS & CONTROLS TO WIREFRAMES . 12472. VISIO LISTING SHAPES USED IN DIAGRAMS. 126vi

1. Visio OverviewMicrosoft VisioComputer diagramming is the process of creating scalable diagrams on a PC that canbe used in various applications such as layout design, organization charts, timelines, floorplans and even prototype software user interfaces. Diagrams are made of shapes, objectsand stencils, which when combined together correctly, can help project a lot of usefulinformation.Modern computer diagramming relies on using vector-based shapes instead of rastershapes. Raster shapes or bitmaps do not scale well, and their resolution and qualitydeteriorates with every edit. However, vector shapes are mathematical representations ofa shape and hence scale well. Vector shapes are not affected by edits and are the mostappropriate to use when precise measurements are required.Computer diagramming can be shape-based artwork or more complex drafting often seenin CAD (Computer Aided Design) programs. CAD contains a lot more information such asthe materials, processes, and specific conventions of the diagram. Shape-based artworkis more commonly used to depict lesser technical information.Popular Diagramming SoftwareMicrosoft Visio is the most popular diagramming software, however, there are alternativesthat are often as good and in some cases, free. For simple diagramming requirements, thefollowing tools should work just fine.GliffyGliffy is a popular online diagramming tool. Gliffy supports floor plans, venn diagrams,flow charts, network diagrams, etc. and is compatible with most modern web browsers.Gliffy can import Microsoft Visio documents and integrate with Google Drive to enablesaving documents in the cloud and easy collaboration.1

Microsoft VisioThere are many themes and templates to choose from, making Gliffy a solid onlinealternative to Visio. Gliffy can be used freely for up to 5 diagrams or 2 MB file size. Thereare monthly plans that can be purchased depending on the number of diagrams needed.yEdyEd is an open-source free diagramming tool that runs on virtually any Java enabledplatform. It can import Visio documents and work with very complex diagrams such asbiological pathways.yEd has automatic layouts and support for most graphical standards making it a viablealternative to Visio for anyone looking to create diagrams for free. There is also an onlineversion called yEd Live that works in any modern HTML5 compatible web browser.CADECADE works great for networking diagrams and as a 2D vector graphics editor forWindows. CADE is free to download and supports most of Visio’s basic functionalities. It isoptimized for large CAD drawings and allows easy collaboration and sharing. CADE can beexported to popular formats such as EMF, JPG, PDF and XAML. There are many samplediagrams and templates to help you get started as well.2

Microsoft VisioOmniGraffleVisio is not available for Mac OS leaving OmniGraffle as the only premium alternative forMac users. OmniGraffle is a comprehensive diagramming software that can create visuallyappealing designs at a significantly cheaper price than Visio. It supports importing Visiodocuments and exporting to a ton of popular formats including SVG. There are extensiveoptions for stencils, canvases, templates, and objects allowing to easily create wireframediagrams, trees, floor plans, and a whole lot more.3

Microsoft VisioThe latest version supports scripting in AppleScript or JavaScript to automate almost everyaspect of the software. It also supports Touch Bar on the latest MacBooks. The Standardversion of OmniGraffle retails for 99.99, while the Pro version retails for 199.99.Introduction to Microsoft VisioMicrosoft Visio is one of the most popular diagramming software that empowersdiagramming, data visualization, and process modelling in a familiar interface. Visio comeswith an array of templates and built-in shapes that allow creating virtually any diagram ofany complexity. Visio also allows users to define their own shapes and import them intothe drawing.Visio has been more of an enterprise-class software as home users rarely would need touse the advanced diagramming functions in Visio. However, many home users arepurchasing the Standard edition of Visio to better visualize simple diagrams such as familytrees or floor layout plans.Visio owes its success in the enterprise due to its tight integration with other MicrosoftOffice products such as Word, Excel, and Access. Data can be directly imported from thesesoftwares and converted into meaningful diagrams, which change in real-time inaccordance with the data. For example, an Excel spreadsheet might have informationabout current flows through an electrical line. Visio can be used to diagrammaticallyrepresent this and whenever the Excel data gets updated, the same will be reflected in theVisio diagram as well.Newer versions of Visio from Visio 2013 onwards support .vsdx format that allowsenhanced compression and many other features compared to the older .vsd formatsupported by Visio 2010 and earlier versions. Visio can be purchased standalone in twoversions — a Standard version, which retails for 299, and a Professional version, whichretails for 589.99. The latest version of Visio can also be purchased as part of the Office365 subscription with access to the online Visio viewer as well. Getting Visio as part ofOffice 365 is the best choice in order to keep up-to-date with the latest features andenhancements.4