Every so often I get requests about copying from PowerPoint to Visio and confusion about why it is not easy. The problem is that PowerPoint, like several of the other Office apps (Word, Excel and Publisher) have the ability to create Visio like drawings. These are not Visio drawings, just drawings that have Visio featuresContinue reading “Converting from PowerPoint to Visio”
Category Archives: Visio
Where do I find a Visio shape for…
One of the common requests I have seen from Visio users is where do I find a shape for… Today was no different and the request was for a Map of Spain. Unfortunately, Visio Maps was discontinued several years ago and a simple Bing should many results, none that were relevant. Luckily you are notContinue reading “Where do I find a Visio shape for…”
Who needs a Technical Editor?
Last month I had a request to review a new book on Visio. It had not been written and they were trying to line up some reviewers. Since it was a new book, I asked who the technical editor would be and was told they did not need one. Once the book was written, theyContinue reading “Who needs a Technical Editor?”
User Groups and the PH factor
The local Microsoft office, Microsoft Evangelists and the local MVPs do an excellent job supporting the local user groups and encouraging members to step up and present. They also encourage locals to attend the user groups and support these novice speakers. Of course, in some cases, it is hard to tell a difference between theContinue reading “User Groups and the PH factor”
Visio – Revision Dates per Page
One of the posters in the newsgroup was asking about providing a revision date on each page of a Visio document and this is what I came up with. The only dates that are associated with a Visio drawing are done at the document level, so another approach is necessary. To create a date stampContinue reading “Visio – Revision Dates per Page”
Visio – Non Standard Timelines
One of the long time requests for the Visio Timeline is to support something other than standard dates and times. Items that are not related to the standard concept of time. This can be accomplished by NOT using date formats in the shapes. Each shape is grouped and has a top level shape that containsContinue reading “Visio – Non Standard Timelines”
Visio – How do I Change Skin Colour?
I have a few Google alerts set up to let me know if the word Visio is mentioned on the internet. I am always interested in new stencils for Visio and this has proven an effective way of finding them. Most of the time, the hit has nothing to do with the product Visio orContinue reading “Visio – How do I Change Skin Colour?”
Visio – a Percentage Ruler
When I try to create Visio shapes from a sample image, I import the image into Visio and stretch it so it matches the scale of the drawing. I can then use the dimension shapes to “measure” the image. Recently I came across a collection of shapes that had similar profiles, but the proportions varied. IContinue reading “Visio – a Percentage Ruler”
Visio’s Custom Line Ends
One interesting feature of Visio that is not well documented is that you can create your own custom fill patterns, line patterns and line ends. For now, I will review the procedure for creating a semicircular line end. Something like: (—–) Open Drawing Explorer Select New Pattern from Line Ends. Set the name. Set theContinue reading “Visio’s Custom Line Ends”
Visio’s How do the background shapes work?
When dropped on the current page the background shapes automatically adjust to the size of the current page. This is more obvious when the page has a landscape orientation. This same feature is also used in the border shapes. To make your own background shape, create a shape that has no problems being stretched andContinue reading “Visio’s How do the background shapes work?”
john Visio MVP 