Smart graphics for visual people
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 in the wrong hands and on the wrong shapes, tabs can blow up in your face!
But never fear, for today we introduce the concept of Smart Tabs. Smart tabs are tabs that organize your text properly, even when your shape changes size!
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 bits of info: when the doc was created, edited, printed, or the current date/time.
The user simply had to choose which field to display from a drop-down list in the Shape Data Window, and Visio automatically took care of updating the values in the shape’s text.
If you need to create lots of different title blocks for different projects, then a shape like this can save you a lot of work.
And if you’re extremely curious, a power user, or a technical type, then you’ll be interested in how to build shapes like these of your own, and customize them to your own specific needs.
Today’s article will do just that. It’s fairly advanced and detailed, but if that’s what you’re looking for, then come along with us as we rip it apart, and see what it takes to build one of these “Multi-field Visio SmartShapes”
[Read more…] about Title Block #2: Let’s Make a Multi-field SmartShape!
Title blocks on drawings are important for many, many reasons.
If your company has created more than a small number of drawings, it’s useful to know who created them, when they were created, who updated the drawings, and when they were updated.
Often times, copies of a drawing are e-mailed or sent in printed form to customers, installers, contractors, builders, inspectors. For these recipients, contact information and drawing scale data can be of utmost importance.
As it turns out, much of the information that is imperative to title blocks is already in the drawing. Through Visio’s SmartShape features, it can automatically be extracted, eliminating the need to re-key it.
Other information that is not available by default can be entered in a central location, or extracted from existing data sources, then displayed by cleverly-constructed title block shapes.
This article is a first in a series on how you can use Visio’s built-in features, ShapeSheet capabilities and even automation code to make smart Title Block shapes that save you work.
[Read more…] about Title Blocks #1: How to Display Existing Document Information