Computer diagramming is the process of creating scalable diagrams on a PC that can be used in various applications such as layout design, organization charts, timelines, floor plans and even prototype software user interfaces. Diagrams are made of shapes, objects and stencils, which when combined together correctly, can help project a lot of useful information. Modern computer diagramming relies on using vector-based shapes instead of raster shapes. Raster shapes or bitmaps do not scale well, and their resolution and quality deteriorates with every edit.

However, vector shapes are mathematical representations of a shape and hence scale well. Vector shapes are not affected by edits and are the most appropriate to use when precise measurements are required. Computer diagramming can be shape-based artwork or more complex drafting often seen in CAD Computer Aided Design programs. CAD contains a lot more information such as the materials, processes, and specific conventions of the diagram.

Shape-based artwork is more commonly used to depict lesser technical information. Microsoft Visio is the most popular diagramming software, however, there are alternatives that are often as good and in some cases, free. For simple diagramming requirements, the following tools should work just fine. Gliffy is a popular online diagramming tool. Gliffy supports floor plans, venn diagrams, flow charts, network diagrams, etc.

Gliffy can import Microsoft Visio documents and integrate with Google Drive to enable saving documents in the cloud and easy collaboration. There are many themes and templates to choose from, making Gliffy a solid online alternative to Visio. Gliffy can be used freely for up to 5 diagrams or 2 MB file size. There are monthly plans that can be purchased depending on the number of diagrams needed. It can import Visio documents and work with very complex diagrams such as biological pathways.

It is optimized for large CAD drawings and allows easy collaboration and sharing. There are many sample diagrams and templates to help you get started as well. OmniGraffle is a comprehensive diagramming software that can create visually appealing designs at a significantly cheaper price than Visio.

It supports importing Visio documents and exporting to a ton of popular formats including SVG. There are extensive options for stencils, canvases, templates, and objects allowing to easily create wireframe diagrams, trees, floor plans, and a whole lot more. The latest version supports scripting in AppleScript or JavaScript to automate almost every aspect of the software.

It also supports Touch Bar on the latest MacBooks. Microsoft Visio is one of the most popular diagramming software that empowers diagramming, data visualization, and process modelling in a familiar interface. Visio comes with an array of templates and built-in shapes that allow creating virtually any diagram of any complexity. Visio also allows users to define their own shapes and import them into the drawing.

Visio has been more of an enterprise-class software as home users rarely would need to use the advanced diagramming functions in Visio. However, many home users are purchasing the Standard edition of Visio to better visualize simple diagrams such as family trees or floor layout plans. Visio owes its success in the enterprise due to its tight integration with other Microsoft Office products such as Word, Excel, and Access.

Data can be directly imported from these softwares and converted into meaningful diagrams, which change in real-time in accordance with the data. For example, an Excel spreadsheet might have information about current flows through an electrical line. Visio can be used to diagrammatically represent this and whenever the Excel data gets updated, the same will be reflected in the Visio diagram as well. Newer versions of Visio from Visio onwards support.

The latest version of Visio can also be purchased as part of the Office subscription with access to the online Visio viewer as well. Getting Visio as part of Office is the best choice in order to keep up-to-date with the latest features and enhancements.

Visio being part of the Office suite, is updated continuously throughout the year. If you have a qualifying Office subscription, you are entitled to regular updates automatically. Users who purchase the standalone versions of Visio do not however, receive feature updates and must upgrade separately to a higher version when released. Data Visualizer helps in automatically creating process diagrams from Excel data.

Premade or custom Excel templates containing information that fit into diagrams can be imported directly into Visio using the Data Visualizer and transformed into a Visio diagram.

Any changes made to the original Excel file reflects in the Visio diagram as well. The latest version of Visio enables reverse engineering of databases to create a visual representation of the database. The latest update to Visio for Office comes with many new standardized templates catering to industries such as business processes, software development, IT and education.

These templates are supplied by both Microsoft and other third parties extending the capabilities of Visio Visio diagrams stored on SharePoint or OneDrive for business can now be opened for review in any modern web browser with Visio Online available with Office or in the free Visio Viewer app for the iPad.

In this chapter, we will learn about the user interface in Visio. It is important to properly understand the user interface to get the most out of this tool.

The user interface of Visio is similar to that of other programs in the Office suite. You will be greeted with a Start page that lists some of the recent documents you have opened along with featured templates for creating common diagram types. The top right corner shows the Microsoft account you are connected to, if you are an Office subscriber.

Apart from the featured templates, you can also click Templates to browse through the template categories. The document interface of Visio is similar to other Office programs such as Word or Excel.

On the top, you have the Quick Access toolbar, which contains common commands, such as Save, Undo, and Redo. This can be customized as needed. Below the Quick Access toolbar is the familiar Office Ribbon.

The Home tab lists common commands for working with the document. We will learn more about other tabs as we go along. On the left-hand pane, there is Shapes, which lists the common shapes that go well with the template. To insert a shape, just click and drag the shape onto the canvas. There are many shapes available in Visio and we will get more familiar with them as we move ahead.

Of course, you can also search for more shapes, if needed online, using the built-in search tool. When you place shapes onto the canvas, you will see guides that help you align the shapes with respect to the objects already on the canvas. You also have a ruler on the top and left of the canvas. This gives a sense of perspective and lets you create perfectly aligned diagrams. Shapes in Visio are basically vector graphics and as such you can enlarge or shrink the size as needed without loss of quality.

You also get an idea of the relative dimensions of all the other shapes indicated by green arrows when you try to change the dimensions of any shape. To open a file in Visio, go to the File menu, which opens the backstage view and click Open. The Recent section lets you directly access the recent drawings that you have opened or saved.

Based on your setup, the Open menu lists some of the file locations that you can browse for Visio drawings. Alternatively, click Browse and select the Visio drawing from a local or network folder. Visio files have the extension. Once you open a Visio drawing, you will see that the user interface changes according to the drawing. In the following example, we have opened an org chart and you can observe that the shape stencils corresponding to the org chart are now available in the Shapes pane.

In case of this file, you will also notice an Org Chart tab in the Ribbon that gives you additional options for working with the shapes in the chart, and also allows linking the shapes to data from external sources such as Excel. You can adjust the spacing between individual shapes and also change the height and width of all shapes in one click.

The Compare command in the Organization Data section of the Org Chart tab lets you compare the contents of this org chart with another org chart or diagram open in Visio. The output is generated as an HTML file, which lists out the similarities and differences between the two diagrams.

You can show or hide elements in the UI to whatever suits you best. The Quick Access Toolbar allows you to easily add often-used commands so that they are always available within reach. Apart from the standard Undo, Redo, and Save commands, you can add additional buttons, such as a toggle between Touch and Mouse mode depending on your display by clicking the arrow icon in the Quick Access Toolbar.

You can also add more commands by clicking the option More Commands The Ribbon can be collapsed to allow more real estate for the canvas. You can reduce or expand the Shapes pane by clicking and dragging the edge of the pane inwards or outwards respectively. The Ribbon can be customized just like the Quick Access Toolbar but to do so, you need to navigate to the File menu and click Options.

Then click Customize Ribbon. You can select the tabs that you wish to display on the workspace. You can also create a new tab or group by clicking New Tab or New Group to accommodate the commands that you use frequently. Visio has a few options for changing how you view the drawing. The View tab lists all the possible view options that you can use on the canvas.

We will look at some of the commands that are useful in changing view modes. Basically, slide snippets allow you to directly export a Visio diagram as a PowerPoint slide.

To take a slide snippet, click the Slide Snippets Pane in the View tab to open it. Then, select an area of the drawing that you want to export to a PowerPoint slide and click the Add button in the Slide Snippets Pane. Add a title in the Enter title here The Presentation Mode shows a full screen view of the drawing without any distractions. This mode can also be toggled by pressing F5 on the keyboard. You can toggle between showing the vertical and horizontal rulers, the grid, and the guides by toggling the corresponding checkboxes in the Show area of the View tab.

Microsoft Visio Tutorial: What is MS Visio? How to Use [Example]

 
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Tell Me – Look up Visio tools, get help, or search the web. 5. Stencils & Shapes – Use this to open stencils and drag and drop shapes to your drawing pane. 6. Drawing Pane – This is where you insert shapes, connections, pictures, and more into your drawing. 7. Status Bar – View the number of pages, view drawing dimensions, switch windows, or File Size: KB. Sep 28,  · Download our free Office Quick Start Guides. By the Office team. To coincide with last week’s release of Office , we put together a set of handy Quick Start Guides that introduce you to the newest versions of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote. Whether you’re coming from previous versions of your favorite. beginning to learn about Microsoft Visio and then build your skills as you learn to perform increasingly specialized procedures. Or, if you prefer, you can jump in wherever you need ready guidance for performing tasks. The how-to steps are deliv – ered crisply and concisely—just the facts. You’ll also find informative, full-color graphicsFile Size: 3MB.