Beginner tutorial for Visio

Visio lets you transform complicated text and tables that are hard to understand into
visual diagrams that communicate information at a glance. There are many kinds of
Visio diagrams, including organization charts, network diagrams, workflows, and
home or office plans. Getting started with Visio can be summarized into three basic
steps: using a template, arranging and connecting shapes, and modifying shapes with
text.

Note: See Install Visio if you haven't installed the Visio app yet.

Basic steps to create a Visio diagram:

1. Choose and open a template
2. Arrange and connect shapes
3. Add text to shapes and connectors

Choose and open a template

Templates include stencils, shapes, and grid measurements to help you get started
quickly and easily when making your diagram.

1. Start the Visio app or open Visio on the web. If Visio is already open,
select File > New.
a. Note: Haven't installed Visio yet? If you have Visio Plan 2, you can
download and install the Visio desktop app.
2. Select the template you want or select Basic Diagram to start from scratch.
a. You can also browse for more templates by clicking Categories, and
you can enter terms to search for templates.
 3. If you're using the desktop link, you may have to specify a specific type of that
template and then select Create.

Arrange and connect shapes

To create your diagram, you drag shapes from the stencil in the Shapes window to the
canvas and connect them. There are several ways to connect shapes, but the simplest
way is with AutoConnect arrows.

Note: AutoConnect is available by default when your drawing is based on a template for a type
that typically requires connections, like a flowchart. If do not see the AutoConnect
arrows when you hover the mouse pointer over a shape, AutoConnect is not active. To activate
AutoConnect, click Connector in the Tools area on the Home tab.

1. In the Shapes window, select a shape and drag it onto the canvas.

2. Hold your mouse over one of the arrows and a mini toolbar appears with the
top four shapes in the Quick Shapes area.

3. Select the shape you want and it'll automatically connect to the arrow you
selected.
4. You can also drag all your shapes onto the canvas. Then hold the mouse over a
shape until the arrows appear. Then grab an arrow and drag it to a shape you
want to connect to.
 5. If you're using the Visio desktop app, you can also drag a new shape directly
from the Shapes window to an existing shape's arrows and connect them
automatically.

Add text to shapes and connectors

Now it's time to add details to your diagram by adding text.

Select a shape.

1. Type your text. When you start typing, Visio switches the selected shape to text
editing mode.

2. Click an empty area of the page or press Esc when you’re finished.

Note: To move text on a shape, go to Home > Tools > Text Block , and go to a
shape that has text on it. Drag the text around and then go back and click Home >
Tools > Pointer Tool when you’re done.

Add text to a connector the same way. After you press ESC or click away, select the
connector again and you’ll see a tiny box on the text – this is a handle for moving the
text block. Click and drag it up, down, or beside the connector.

Add text to the page

You can also add text directly to the page, independent of any shape or object in the
drawing.

1. On the Home tab, in the Tools group, click Text .

2. Click anywhere on the page to create a text box or click and drag to make the
text box the size that you want.
3. Type your text.
 4. To format the text, you can do either of the following:
 On the Home tab, in the Font group, set the font characteristics.
 On the Home tab, in the Paragraph group, set the alignment and
other characteristics.
5. Click a blank area on the page or press ESC to finish.

Edit text
1. Double-click the text that you want to edit.
2. Edit the text.
3. Click a blank area on the page or press ESC to finish.

Notes:

 If you are not already zoomed in to the shape, Visio zooms in while you
type. When you finish typing, click a blank area on the page or press ESC.
Visio zooms back out.
 To stop Visio from zooming in on your text:
 Click the File tab, and then click Options.
 Click the Advanced tab.
 Under Editing options, in the Automatically zoom text when
editing under box, enter 0 (zero) for the point size.

Move or rotate text

On a shape

1. On the Home tab, in the Tools group, click the Text Block tool .
2. Click the shape to select its text block.

Note: If the text is in a group, click to select the group, and then click to select
the text in the shape.

3. Drag the text to move the text block.

4. On the Home tab, in the Tools group, click the Pointer Tool .

After you switch back to the Pointer Tool , the text keeps the same position
relative to the shape. If you use the Pointer Tool to drag the text, the shape will also
move, even if the text is no longer on the shape. To move the text independently of the
shape, use the Text Block tool .

On the page

1. On the Home tab, in the Tools group, click the Pointer Tool .

Click the text and drag to move it or drag the rotation handle to rotate the text. When
the pointer is over a rotation handle, it changes to an arrow that forms a circle .
Basics of Visio shapes
• Visio shapes are ready-made objects that you drag onto your drawing page —
they are the building blocks of your diagram.

• When you drag a shape from the Shapes window onto your drawing page, the
original shape remains on the stencil. That original is called a master shape. The
shape that you put on your drawing is a copy — also called an instance of that
master. You can drag as many instances of the same shape onto your drawing as
you want.

• Instead of static pictures, you can create data-connected Visio diagrams that
display data, are easy to refresh, and dramatically increase your productivity. You
can use the wide variety of diagram templates and stencils in Visio to understand,
act on, and share information about organizational systems, resources, and
processes throughout your enterprise.

Rotating and resizing shapes

 Rotation handles

The round handle located above a selected shape is called a rotation handle.
Drag it right or left to rotate the shape.

 Connection arrows for AutoConnect

The connection arrows help you easily connect shapes to one another, as
you saw in the previous section.

 Selection handles for resizing shapes

You can use the square selection handles to change the height and width of your
shape. Click and drag a selection handle on the corner of a shape to enlarge the
shape without changing its proportions or click and drag a selection handle on
the side of a shape to make the shape taller or wider.

Visio shapes can hold data

• You can add data to each shape by typing it in the Shape Data window – on
the View tab, in the Show group, click Task Panes, and then click Shape Data.
With Visio Professional Edition, you can also import data from an external data
source.

• Data is not displayed in the drawing by default. To see the data for an individual
shape, open the Shape Data window at Data > Show/Hide > Shape Data
Window, then select the shape.

• If you want to display the data for lots of shapes at once, you can use a feature called
data graphics, also on the Data tab. The following illustration shows the data for
two trees at once.
Visio shapes with special behaviour
Many Visio shapes have special behaviour that you can find by stretching, right-
clicking, or moving the yellow control handle on the shape.

For example, you can stretch a People shape to show more people or stretch
the Growing flower shape to indicate growth.

Tip: A great way to find out what a shape can do is to right-click it to see if there are
any special commands on its shortcut menu.

If you’re building an organization chart, shapes can automatically build the reporting
structure. Drag each person’s shape to the chart and drop it on top of their manager’s
shape. The shapes automatically connect to show the hierarchy.

Customize your Visio diagram

Once you have created your Visio diagram, there's more you can do to make it your
own:

Apply a theme to a Visio diagram

1. On the Design tab, hover the mouse pointer over the various themes.

Visio temporarily applies each theme as you hover the mouse pointer over
them.
 2. To see other available themes, click More .

3. Click the theme that you want to apply to the diagram.

Add a background to a Visio diagram

1. Click Design and then click Backgrounds.

2. Click a background.

Your diagram gets a new background, and, a new background page

called VBackground-1. This page you can see in the page tabs along the
bottom of the canvas.

Apply a border or title to a Visio diagram

1. Click Design > Borders & Titles and click the title style that you want.
2. Click a title style.
3. The title and border appear on the background page.
4. At the bottom of the diagramming area, click the VBackground-1 tab.
5. Click the title text.
6. The entire border is selected, but when you start typing it changes the title
text.
7. Type your title, then press ESC.
8. To edit other text in the border, first select the entire border, and then click
the text you want to change and start typing. You may have to click more than
once to get the text selected.
9. Click Page-1 in the lower-right corner of the page to return to the drawing.