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You are here: Home / Development / Code / Export All Pages in Document

Export All Pages in Document

September 18, 2006 By Visio Guy 32 Comments

Every once in a while, a question comes along in the newsgroups that just screams at me; “WRITE SOME SAMPLE CODE!” Now I can’t describe exactly which types of questions speak to me in this way. Perhaps they’re questions I’ve heard time and again? Or they involve a fascinating graphical problem? Or is it just that I can actually finish them in one evening’s work?Whatever the reason, the latest question is; “How do I export all of the pages in a Visio document to image files?”

Export All Pages in Visio Document

Well, the simple answer is to use the Page.Export function, and simply give the name of an image file as an argument.

For instance: To do all the pages in a document simply requires a loop through each Page object in Document.Pages. To do all the pages in a document simply requires a loop through each Page object in Document.Pages.

But that’s only half the answer.

The big bone about programatically exporting images in Visio is that you can’t programmatically control the resolution of the output. I believe this is because the export filters (originally?) came from third parties, and didn’t necessarily have automation interfaces. But all is not entirely lost. If you manually export an image, you’ll see this dialog:

 

Visio Export Filter Options

You can set various options for the export, including the resolution, which is what most folks want to do. This seems all well and good, except for the fact that you can’t get at it programmatically, and even worse, Visio forgets your settings every time you close Visio.With all these limitations in mind, it seems like we’re left with no choice but a work-around that looks like this:

1. Manually export an image using SaveAs.
2. Set the resolution in the dialog.
3. Before shutting Visio down, run any automation code to export multiple images.

And that is exactly what the VBA code in the companion download file does.

Note: Visio 2010 has expanded the API for exporting images from Visio. Among the new features is programmatic control over export resolution. See: New Visio 2010 API for Configuring Raster Export

When your run the sub ExportAllPages either via the VBA interface, or by clicking on the big button sitting at the bottom of Page-1, you’ll see a funny dialog that lets you choose your export image type: .bmp, .gif, .jpg, .png or .tif.

 

Export Dialog

Once you’ve selected an image type, you’ll be presented with the SaveAs dialog:

This is your big chance to choose your export settings. In the File name field, type in an image file name such as test.gif, test.bmp, test.png, etc. (but not test.vsd!) Just make sure the extension on your dummy file matches the extension you picked in the first dialog!

After you’ve done this, the code will take over and export every page in your document to the image type you’ve selected. The files will be in the same directory as the .vsd file, and will be prefixed with the number of the page: 001, 002, 003, etc.

For those who just want to get the loop going, here’s a simpler version of the export code, without all the dialogs:

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Public Sub ExportAllPages_ToGif()
 
    Dim formatExtension As String
    formatExtension = ".gif" '...or .bmp, .jpg, .png, .tif
 
    '// Init folder, doc and counter:
    Dim filename As String, folder As String
    folder = ThisDocument.Path
 
    Dim doc As Visio.Document
    Set doc = Visio.ActiveDocument
 
    Dim i As Integer
    i = 1
 
    '// Loop through pages:
    For Each pg In doc.Pages
 
        '// Setup the filename:
        filename = Format(i, "000") & " " & pg.Name
 
        '// Append '(bkgnd)' to background pages:
        If (pg.Background) Then filename = filename & " (bkgnd)"
 
        '// Add the extension:
        filename = filename & formatExtension
 
        '// Save it:
        Call pg.Export(folder & filename)
 
        i = i + 1
 
    Next
 
Cleanup:
    Set doc = Nothing
End Sub
Public Sub ExportAllPages_ToGif()

    Dim formatExtension As String
    formatExtension = ".gif" '...or .bmp, .jpg, .png, .tif

    '// Init folder, doc and counter:
    Dim filename As String, folder As String
    folder = ThisDocument.Path

    Dim doc As Visio.Document
    Set doc = Visio.ActiveDocument

    Dim i As Integer
    i = 1

    '// Loop through pages:
    For Each pg In doc.Pages

        '// Setup the filename:
        filename = Format(i, "000") & " " & pg.Name

        '// Append '(bkgnd)' to background pages:
        If (pg.Background) Then filename = filename & " (bkgnd)"

        '// Add the extension:
        filename = filename & formatExtension

        '// Save it:
        Call pg.Export(folder & filename)

        i = i + 1

    Next

Cleanup:
    Set doc = Nothing
End Sub

Download “ExportAllPages.zip” Downloaded 3795 times – 103 B

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Filed Under: Code Tagged With: Exporting Images, Visio Code Samples, Visio Pages

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Liam says

    October 24, 2007 at 7:56 pm

    This is great!

  2. Bobby Dazzler says

    December 14, 2007 at 3:48 pm

    Quality little bit of code. Spot on. Saved me 30 x “Save As…” boredom (plus future occasions of the same task). Cheers. Bobby.

  3. Diwakar says

    July 22, 2008 at 6:39 am

    Excellent Script!

  4. Paul Irish says

    January 8, 2009 at 4:31 pm

    Quick tip.
    Make sure this vsd file is saved to a real place on the harddrive, not a temp folder.
    Also, even better if its in the same folder as the other VSD you’re processing.

  5. DurzoFlint says

    February 14, 2009 at 1:16 pm

    How can I modify this to save a selected drawing to a specific path and as a png file.

    thanks

    Durzo

  6. Visio Guy says

    February 16, 2009 at 9:36 am

    Hi Durzo,

    Just change a few lines, for example:

    Dim formatExtension As String formatExtension = “.png”

    folder = “C:\DurzosExports”

    – Chris

  7. Rick Bond says

    April 9, 2009 at 10:51 pm

    Dumb question:

    When I click the “Export All Pages” button in “Export All Pages.vsd, it exports only the Export All Pages” image.

    How do I tell it to export all the pages in MY document?

    Thank you,

    Rick

  8. Visio Guy says

    April 10, 2009 at 11:23 am

    Hi Rick,

    Make the document you want to export the “active” document. Ie: give it focus and minimize the “exporter”.

    Then, go into the VBA project and look for ThisDocument.ExportAllPages. Place your cursor somewhere in this procedure, then press F5 to run it.

    The code gets the ActiveDocument and exports that. When you press the button, then the exporter document is always active, so if using the button, you’re kind of stuck.

    But when running from the code window, any document can be active, so this is more flexible.

  9. david says

    August 30, 2010 at 7:40 pm

    Visio Guy, you are the BOMB!!! Thanks for saving me time and pain. May Karma repay you. 😀

  10. Mana says

    September 11, 2010 at 5:22 pm

    Hello,

    Please tell me more detail about how can I create the button Export all in my new Visiso document and insert the VB code?

    I tried to copy the button in demo file (Export All Pages.vsd) to my Visio file, but nothing happen when clicking on it.

    Thank you.

  11. Visio Guy says

    September 13, 2010 at 2:09 pm

    Hi Mana,

    Just copying the button doesn’t copy all the code behind it. You probably just end up with another button that is linked to nothing.

    Here’s roughly how to hook a button to VBA code. After adding a button to a Visio page:

    1. Right click the button
    2. Choose CommandButton Object > View Code
    3. In the VBA editor that appears, add the code from this article either by referencing sub ExportAllPages, or copying the code and pasting it into the Button’s procedure.

  12. jabbett says

    September 13, 2010 at 3:34 pm

    Looks like Visio 2010 has more API hooks for configuring export formats:

    New Visio 2010 API for Configuring Raster Export

  13. Visio Guy says

    September 13, 2010 at 3:55 pm

    Thanks jabbett,

    Yup, Visio 2010 finally has added some control over export resolution!

  14. Mana says

    September 16, 2010 at 9:17 am

    Thank you Visio Guy!
    Some small issues:

    formatExtension = “.gif” ‘…or .bmp, .jpg, .png, .tif
    =>
    formatExtension = “.gif”
    ‘//…or .bmp, .jpg, .png, .tif

    Set doc = Visio.ActiveDocument i = 1
    =>
    Set doc = Visio.ActiveDocument
    i = 1

  15. Visio Guy says

    September 16, 2010 at 11:00 pm

    Hi Mana,

    Fixed the second typo, not sure what your first comment was about…those are just comments!

  16. Lantrix says

    February 8, 2011 at 2:52 am

    Mana’s first comment was in essence this:

    Change this:

    1
    2
    
    <br />
    Dim formatExtension As String formatExtension = ".gif" '...or .bmp, .jpg, .png, .tif<br />
    <br />
    Dim formatExtension As String formatExtension = ".gif" '...or .bmp, .jpg, .png, .tif<br />

    to this:

    1
    2
    3
    4
    
    <br />
    Dim formatExtension As String<br />
    formatExtension = ".gif"<br />
    '//…or .bmp, .jpg, .png, .tif<br />
    <br />
    Dim formatExtension As String<br />
    formatExtension = ".gif"<br />
    '//…or .bmp, .jpg, .png, .tif<br />

  17. Rob Pearson says

    November 9, 2011 at 4:46 am

    Many thanks for this. Your comment from April 10 2009 was essential to understand how to get this to work, so that should probably be in the main body of the article – don’t overestimate our level of knowledge!

    Also the export falls over if you have any disallowed characters in your page names – I had colons and it took me a while to figure out that I needed to remove them.

    Thanks again 🙂

  18. Visio Guy says

    November 9, 2011 at 12:42 pm

    Thanks Rob,

    TODO: replace characters from page names that will be illegal in file names.

  19. Pam says

    February 17, 2012 at 8:11 pm

    This is definitly great. Have you tried publishing web pages by looping through the pages? Is this possible?
    thank you

  20. ro says

    March 27, 2012 at 5:19 pm

    Hello,

    I am running the code and it is only exporting 8 sheets (my document has over 60 sheets which is why this macro would be ÜBER helpful!!)

    any help?

    thx

  21. Visio Guy says

    April 12, 2012 at 11:12 am

    Hi RO,

    I wonder if the export is taking too long and VBA is tripping over itself?

    Maybe try adding a DoEvents call after pg.Export, or put a breakpoint there and keep F5-ing to it to see if you get further than 8 pages (ie: give the system time to catch up)

  22. Visio Guy says

    April 12, 2012 at 12:35 pm

    @Pam,

    Yes, you could loop through pages and publish as web, but Visio’s Save As Web Page functionality automatically creates a mini-web-site with all of the pages in a document for you!

  23. Ken says

    January 16, 2015 at 5:15 pm

    You sir, are the man! Your nifty bit of code saved me hours and hours of work, thank you so much.

    If you are ever in Washington, DC please shoot me an email so that I may buy you all the drinks.

    Eternal Gratitude,

    Ken

  24. Israel Anthony Lopez says

    March 16, 2015 at 3:24 pm

    Visio Guy,

    I am having an issue in Microsoft Visio 2013 and get an error at:

    Call pg.Export(folder & filename)

    The funny thing is that it imports about half the pages then stops on my 12 page Visio diagram.

  25. sputnik says

    February 7, 2016 at 1:34 pm

    Hi Visio Guy,

    thanks a lot from here as well, it is a crazy useful bit of code!

    I believe that since the new version of Visio has been around for quite some time now, you have no intention to enhance this snippet, but if you happen to have come across the topic of applying transparancy settings via the API, I would appreciate if you could point me to some docs.

    Unfortunately I am forced to stick to Visio 2007, and whereas the script itself if spot on for batch export, transparency setting is simply not applied, and by googling I could not find any solution to apply it via the standard API.

    Keep it up, BR,
    sputnik

  26. Visio Guy says

    February 24, 2016 at 9:20 am

    Hi ???????,

    Re: transpaerncy: be sure to check out:

    The Hidden World of Visio Shapes
    http://www.visguy.com/2006/09/05/the-hidden-world-of-visio-shapes/

  27. sputnik says

    February 24, 2016 at 10:37 am

    Hi,

    thanks again; it is yet another very useful addition to my superficial knowledge about Visio.

    However I missed one important aspect in my previous comment: my intention is to apply transparency for the page/background of each sheet (which I am doing manually during exporting to images by setting transparency for white), but the ShapeSheet of does not seem to have any option for that (opposed to shapes or images, where there are parameters for this). If you have any further hints, they would be still appreciated!

    Thanks, BR,
    sputnik

  28. MILO says

    October 23, 2017 at 2:25 pm

    Hi,

    Thanks very much for the excellent scripts.

    Is it possible to use the same script for generating separate pdf files? Seems like simply adding additional .pdf extension, along with other extensions, does not work.

    Thanks & BR

  29. Alex says

    January 31, 2018 at 11:10 am

    Hi,

    Wanted to say i used this excellent export code as as a macro in my own Visio template and changed the extension to a .dwg, to export for AutoCAD, using Visio 2016. Anyway wanted to say a massive thanks to for supplying this and provide my adaption back to the community.

    Alex

    Public Sub ExportAllPages_ToDWG()

    Dim formatExtension As String
    formatExtension = “.dwg” ‘…or .bmp, .jpg, .png, .tif

    ‘// Init folder, doc and counter:
    Dim filename As String, folder As String
    folder = ThisDocument.Path

    Dim doc As Visio.Document
    Set doc = Visio.ActiveDocument

    Dim i As Integer
    i = 1

    ‘// Loop through pages:
    For Each pg In doc.Pages

    ‘// Setup the filename:
    filename = ” x” & pg.Name

    ‘// Append ‘(bkgnd)’ to background pages:
    If (pg.Background) Then filename = filename & ” (bkgnd)”

    ‘// Add the extension:
    filename = filename & formatExtension

    ‘// Save it:
    Call pg.Export(folder & filename)

    i = i + 1

    Next

    Cleanup:
    Set doc = Nothing
    End Sub

  30. Brad says

    September 28, 2019 at 6:34 pm

    Thanks for your code, I was excited to try it in Visio 2016. Unfortunately, after I opened the VSD file, it looks like Visio created an auto-recover file, which Bitdefender 2020 then blocked —

    “The file C:\Users\brads\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Excel\~ar68A6.xar has been detected as infected. The threat has been successfully blocked, your device is safe”

  31. Visio Guy says

    September 30, 2019 at 9:34 pm

    Hi Brad,

    I don’t know much about Bitdefender. A few thoughts: first, the file is pretty old. Visio has some file block settings buried deep in the Trust Center stuff in the backstage area. But I think they mostly are concerned with Visio 5 and earlier, so that’s pre-2000. Also, the file has VBA code, so you’re up against macro settings inside of Visio, and Bitdefender probably has some settings against VBA macros in Office documents.

    Luckily, the code is posted in this article, so you don’t really need the download!

Trackbacks

  1. Batch export Visio to DWG | Audio Visual Technology Blog & Reference says:
    January 31, 2018 at 11:45 am

    […] for a efficient way to export all pages as a DWG.  I started with the excellent code from Visio Guy. I then adapted the code by editing the Macro of the Visio file to a .dwg extension , to export for […]

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