Add Multiple Layers At Once With This Neat Trick
So I’ve been working on this Layer Utility for a customer the last few weeks, and stumbled upon a neat trick for adding multiple layers to a page in one fell swoop!
I got this idea to sneak in a handy feature for adding multiple layers at once. As I was writing the code, I thought; “I wonder if those guys at Visio already snuck this [hidden] feature in?“…
Well, to my surprise, Visio does have a secret add-layers feature after all!
The big secret is to enter a semi-colon separated list when Visio prompts you for a new layer name. So for example, if I select a shape, then choose the menu item: Format > Layer…, I can enter a list of names, as shown here:
As a result, three layers are created, and the shape is applied to all three of them. Really easy, really powerful:
You can also do this at the page level, where you don’t need to have any shapes selected. This is a good way to setup a new page, much more quickly.
Just go to the menu: View > Layer Properties…, or click the Layer Properties button on the View toolbar.
Here we see a more realistic and useful set of layers being entered as a list:
Which results in a nice set of ready-to-go layers:
I hope this tip helps you get your Visio work done faster and with more enjoyment!
this was a great little feature that was unknown to me – thanks for the great tip!
what is best way to show 2-D relationships of four components?