Articles in ShapeSheet
A feature lacking in Visio, like for-EVER, is the ability to align text along a connector’s path.
Now, Visio 2010’s new ShapeSheet functions and capabilities finally deliver.
Today we’ll show-off the cool new connector that I’ve developed …
We all know the numbers of the months. January is Number One! July is the 7th month, and December is the 12th.
But some folks need to know which week it is, and Visio has no …
Do you have shapes that contain multiple colors that you’d like to easily change?
Wouldn’t it be neat to be able to specify those colors in Shape Data fields, along with other parameters for the shape?
Visio’s …
It’s easy to use Visio and not notice some of the things that make it a great diagramming application.
One great feature is how shapes resize–or more aptly–how parts of shapes resize. If you’ve wondered about …
=”one;two;three;four;five” So how do you know that there are five items in that list–using ShapeSheet formulas?
We’ll teach you text-handling techniques for creating top-notch Visio SmartShapes!
Shapes have geometry, geometry has circles, circles have curves. Let’s talk about all-things-round in Visio!
Learn a ShapeSheet trick that lets you convert Visio shape text to meaningful numbers and quantities, and build a calculator that accepts free-form text as input.
Learn how to create a bar-graph Visio shape which visually responds to data. Once you’ve built this SmartShape, we’ll then show you how to link it to external data imported from Excel!
Today we’ll continue our discussion of title block topics by talking about how to control the location of text chunks in a shape’s text block.
Sure, Visio text has tabs, which we’ll put to use. But …
Learn about conditional formatting of Visio SmartShapes, and enjoy an ancient treat from the dusty, musty Visio archives!
Download and learn with this Visio file and SmartShape that relate to today’s momentous US Presidential inauguration!
In our last article on Visio title blocks, Title Blocks #1: How to Display Existing Document Information, we were introduced to a remarkable title block shape.
This single shape could display any of four different date-related …
Make your text stand out with a ShapeSheet formula that chooses a contrasting text-color, based on the fill color of your shape.
Create more intelligent title block shapes by inserting fields into the text of your Visio shapes that automatically link to information about the document! Your title blocks will be smarter, your drawings completed more quickly, and you’ll spend less time re-keying information!
Learn about the benefits of Visio SmartShapes, the power of the ShapeSheet, and how a few parameterized Visio shapes can replace a whole set of “dumb” clip-art symbols!
Learn about the benefits of Visio’s Developer Mode, how it will help you work more efficiently, and how it will solve some mysteries that you might have encountered with Visio 2007.
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 …
UPDATE!
Hey football/soccer fans! We’ve got an update to our automated smart drawing for this years European Cup soccer tournament.
Perhaps you are familiar with the first version, which can be found here: European Cup 2008 …
Learn how to parameterize your Visio SmartShapes by using ShapeSheet formulas to control Geometry. In this first article in a series, you’ll build a frame shape which maintains a constant border-thickness when the shape is resized!
Learn how to add smarts to your Visio SmartShapes–and have fun doing it–by looking at mischievous examples of badly behaved, not-so-smart shapes!
Visio is a natural choice for creating brackets for sports tournaments.
I have seen many elimination-tournament diagrams created in Visio over the years. In fact, just a few years ago, a very nice example was done …
If you’ve ever drawn arcs in Visio, then grouped them together, you may have noticed that they behave oddly when you resize the group. In this article, we’ll explain why this happens and how to fix it. You’ll also learn about the two shape interaction styles that Visio shapes have: 1D and 2D shapes!
Visio has tons of keyboard shortcuts, including modifiers for constraining the resizing and moving of shapes. For instance, with the Shift key depressed, you can constrain a shape to move only vertically or horizontally. Neat-o!
But …
There are many ways to view or change the size of your Visio shapes. In this article, you’ll learn about a whole slew of methods to do this!
Recently we were introduced to the Cisco IP Telephone Shapes, and learned how they could be improved in the article: Making Shapes More Efficient: Using Fewer Shapes & Groups.
Today we’re going to focus on what …
Learn how to make your Visio shapes more efficient by reducing the number of sub-shapes and nested-group levels.
Learn how to apply four colors to a single shape, make use of advanced gradient and transparency techniques, and download a shape that does it all!
Getting text on a circle in Visio was always a pain until the Circular Text Generator (version 1) appeared on Visio Guy. V1 was evidently a big hit, but you wanted more! Version 2 adds …
Learn how to create interesting visual effects while uncovering the capabilities of Visio’s ShapeSheet and the Smart Shapes it enables you to create. This article shows you how to create a wintry scene with Smart Trees that fade into the distance as you reduce their size.
