A recent Visio Guy forum post asked about a creating a hexagonal grids. The poster wanted to create some new Visio network shapes that show-off the groovy new hexagonal ventilation grids that you see on modern-looking servers. As I considered all the subtle, yet elegant, ways in which I could hint, guide, steer—teach the man to fish—I finally caved-in and whipped up a hexagonal Visio custom fill pattern that you can download (for free) right here! [Read more…] about Hexagonal Custom Fill Pattern
Archives for 2008
‘Indexed’ Shapes – for that Hand-drawn Look
A few ideas have been burning (another) hole in my head, and I just had to get them out.
I’ve wanted to build shapes that look hand-drawn for quite some time. Using random formulas in the ShapeSheet, each shape could have slight variations that make them look natural.
I’ve also wanted to make a set of shapes for creating simple graphs and charts. Not that this hasn’t been done before, but I wanted some simple shapes for illustrative purposes.
A few recent posts and articles finally drove me to it. I hope you find the results useful, interesting, and most importantly, amusing!
[Read more…] about ‘Indexed’ Shapes – for that Hand-drawn Look
Crayon Network Shapes
Daily graphics have improved by leaps and bounds over the past few years. Visio comes with lots of attractive isometric and 3D network shapes. Office 2007’s Smart Art lets you make even the most boring info chunks jump off the page.
But sometimes this sophistication can be distracting. If your audience are newbies, complicated graphics can make your subject seem complicated.
One Visio Guy reader, Don Harris, decided to do something about it. Don recently approached me with a really nice set of network shapes that he calls: Crayon Network. He wanted to share his creation with other Visio fans, so I offered to wrap them in an article…
Create Better-looking, More-efficient SmartShapes
Attractive, realistic-looking Visio equipment shapes don’t have to be heavy and inefficient.
In this article, we’ll look at some innovative A/V equipment shapes from D-Tools that offer the win-win scenario of good-looking and light weight.
We’ll tear these SmartShapes apart and show how you can use custom line patterns and creative shadow techniques to add pizzazz to your shapes, without adding bloat!
[Read more…] about Create Better-looking, More-efficient SmartShapes
Top 9 Reasons for Turning-on Developer Mode
If you actually read the articles on Visio Guy, then chances are you have braved the world of the Advanced User.
This might have involved creating Shape Data fields, linking those fields to text, creating a custom Data Graphic or, *gasp*, even venturing into the ShapeSheet.
If you’re one of these types, you’ll want to consider running Visio In Developer Mode…
[Read more…] about Top 9 Reasons for Turning-on Developer Mode
How to Build Smart Frames and Bezels #2
In our last article on smart frames, we built a SmartShape that maintained a constant border-thickness, no matter the size of the shape.
It was a fairly simple frame, it got the job done, but it had a uniform frame-thickness all the way around, and offered no way for an end-user to change that thickness.
In this article, we’ll add some flexibility to the shape by making separate margin parameters for each side. We’ll also expose the margin settings to the user via Shape Data fields.
Battle Zone Theme Template
1980 witnessed the launch of the classic arcade game Battlezone by Atari.
In 2007, Microsoft launched Visio 2007, which included the new Themes feature.
For 28 years, the two have been on a collision course with destiny…linked by computers, the Geek Factor…and Fate.
Visio 2007 Exchange Server Add-In
If you are an Exchange administrator, you might have worked with Exchange Management tools. And while you might enjoy the power and flexibility of these tools, you might be missing the ability to get a graphical overview of user mailbox details.
Now, I’m not an Exchange administrator, but I get the feeling that this thing is probably pretty cool for those of you who are…
Go 3D with Free Isometric Piping Shapes for Visio
Attention process engineers!
Calling all techies who work in:
– Oil refineries
– Water treatment facilities
– Any plant that produces a product in liquid form!
For years one of Japan’s top Visio experts, Junichi Yoda, has offered his 3D Isometric Piping shapes to download for free. I’ve long loved these shapes (having studied mechanical engineering myself), and have put off far showcasing them on Visio Guy for far, far too long!
[Read more…] about Go 3D with Free Isometric Piping Shapes for Visio
Save Time & Simplify Your VBA Code With CallByName
VBA in Visio is great for learning, prototyping and getting repetitive tasks done quickly. One problem I run into–when I’m not careful—is bloated code resulting from the copying and pasting of too many loops. But with the CallByName function in VBA, we can streamline our code! [Read more…] about Save Time & Simplify Your VBA Code With CallByName