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Course Reference Handout

MICROSOFT VISIO -
HANDOUT
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Visio User Interface:

Ribbon: Window Control Buttons:

The Ribbon in Visio replaces what were known as the 7 From left to right, these are the Minimize, Maximize/Restore,
Standard Toolbar & the Formatting Toolbar, as well as and Close commands.
1 any other toolbars, in previous versions of Visio. To switch
the display from one set of commands to another on the Stencils:
Ribbon, click on the Command Tabs which were known as Stencils provide you with the Drawing Shapes you will
the Menu Bar commands in previous versions of Visio. 8 need to create your Visio drawings. Specific stencils will
automatically open with particular Drawing Templates, but
The File Tab: you can always open other stencils as needed manually.
The File Tab, located at the far left of the Ribbon, replaces
2 the File Menu command from previous versions of Visio. Rulers:
This activates a screen within Office applications known as Rulers are used to determine measurements within your
the “Backstage View”. 9 drawing. Rulers in Visio can be set to represent many units
of measurement, from centimeters or inches, to feet or
The Quick Access Toolbar: meters, according to the drawing you are working on.
The Quick Access Toolbar is a customizable toolbar in Visio.
3 Add command buttons you use most often to the Quick Drawing Page:
Access Toolbar. To customize the Quick Access Toolbar click 10 The main working area for your Visio drawing. This is the
the arrow to its right. area in which you add drawing shapes to.

Command Tabs: Drawing Shapes:

Click a tab name to view commands specific to that name. Drawing Shapes are shapes added to the Visio drawing to
4 You will notice additional tabs will be added to the far right represent elements within the drawing. There are hundreds
of shapes to choose from, depending on the drawing type
of the Ribbon when utilizing specific features within the
application.
11 you are creating. Drawing shapes can be formatted with
background colors and borders, and can have text added to
Title Bar: them. They can also be connected to other drawing shapes
5 The Title Bar displays the name of the Visio Drawing file you in the Visio drawing to show relationships between shapes.
are currently viewing.
Connector Lines/Arrows:
Minimize Ribbon Button & Help Button:
Click the small up arrow on the right-hand side of the
12 Lines or arrows that connect drawing shapes to create
relationships or show process directional flow within the
6 window to minimize or expand the ribbon. Click the blue drawing.
question mark icon to open the Help dialog box.

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Page Navigation Buttons:
13 Buttons used to view additional Drawing Pages if there are too many pages to view at one time.
Drawing Page Tabs:
14 Allows you to select a particular page of your drawing. You can create multiple pages within a single drawing file. The last of these
tabs will add an additional page to the drawing file.

Scroll Bars:
15 Scroll bars for viewing parts of a drawing if the entire drawing cannot be seen at once. You can either drag the scroll bar boxes within
the scroll bar, or click the arrows located at the ends of the scroll bars.

Zoom Control Lever:

To zoom in or out on the drawing, you can click and drag the handle located within the Zoom Bar to the left or right. You can also
16 use the Plus and Minus buttons on either end of the Zoom Bar to zoom in or out respectively. To Zoom to a specific percentage,
click the Zoom Percentage Number to the left of the Minus button located to the left of the Zoom Bar, then enter the specific zoom
percentage amount you want to view the drawing at.

Fit Page to Current Window button:

Allows you to auto-zoom so that the entire drawing can be seen within your screen.

Pan and Zoom Window button:

17 Opens the Pan & Zoom window, which allows you to zoom in and out while panning across the drawing using your mouse.
Switch Windows button:
Allows you to navigate between other drawing files opened within Visio.

The Visio File Tab (Backstage View):

File Tab: Info:

Use the File Tab to activate the Visio Backstage View, providing Provides specific information about the current drawing file,
many other actions specific to Visio drawing files and the Visio such as name and file location, size, the template the file was
application. based on, and many other file properties about the drawing file.

File Action Buttons: Start Screen (Recent):

Provides file commands, such as Save (to save current drawing By default, Visio opens with the start screen. The start screen
file), Save As (to save the current drawing file with another name provides you with a list of recently opened Visio drawings and
or in another format), Open (to open a drawing file) and Close (to any templates you’ve used.
close the current drawing file.) Options for saving to the cloud if
connected to OneDrive are also available.

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Share:
Provides options for saving the drawing file into various formats
as well as options for making the drawing available to others,
such as via email or saving to a SharePoint server.

New:
Allows you to begin creating new drawing files from the many
different drawing templates provided by Visio. Templates are Create:
organized into template categories, which include Business, Creates a drawing based on the type of Template you have
Flowcharts, Maps & Floor Plans, and Network, just to name a few. selected. After selecting a template type from the Templates
options, click Create. A blank drawing page will open and Visio
Print: will provide you with appropriate stencils for the template you’ve
Access Print and Print Preview options. selected.

Export:
Allows you to save your Visio drawing as another file type, such
as a PDF.

Help:
Access Visio help system providing “how to” type help as well as
tips for using Visio.

Options:
Open the Visio options window to set default options for Visio.

Close:
Exit out of Visio.

Visio Tips & Tricks:

To add shapes to a drawing page, click and drag the shape you want to add to your drawing from the Stencils located on the left side of
the Visio window.
To change from one Stencil to another, click on the name of the stencil to activate shapes from that particular
stencil.
After inserting a drawing shape into the drawing page, use the square resizing handles around the outside
of the shape to resize the shape, and the circle rotate handle located at the top of the shape to rotate the
shape.
To add text to a shape, select the shape by clicking, and then begin typing
the text.
To change the background color of a shape, select the shape, and then
choose a fill color using the Fill button located in the Shape group on the
Home Ribbon tab.
To connect one shape to another, click the Connector button located in
the Tools group of the Home Ribbon tab. Next, mouse over one of the red
connecter points, then click and drag from the connector points of one shape
to the connector points of the other shape. You can also connect shapes to
other nearby shapes by using the arrows located at the top, bottom, left &
right side of a selected shape.
To open additional stencils, or to create and open custom stencils, click the
arrow to the right of the More Shapes command at the top of the Stencil
pane located on the left side of the Visio window. From the menu that opens
to the right, you can choose from additional stencils from other templates
you wish to use, or select Open Stencil… from the bottom of the menu to
open a custom stencil you have created, or select New Stencil to create a
custom stencil for use in the current and new drawings.
To format connector lines and arrows, click the Pointer Tool button if necessary in order to select shapes
in the drawing. Click the connector line or arrow you want to format, and then click the Line button from
the Shape group of the Home Ribbon to format the selected line or arrow. Choose from options such as
Line Color, Weight and Arrow Type.

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