Register your product to gain access to bonus material or receive a coupon.
Visio 2013 Absolute Beginner's Guide
- By Chris Roth
- Published Jul 29, 2013 by Que. Part of the Absolute Beginner's Guide series.
Book
- Sorry, this book is no longer in print.
About
Features
- Practical, approachable, and packed with useful tips
- Covers all the basics: diagram creation, editing, formatting, sharing, and more
- Includes Visio 2013's best new features for creating diagrams more quickly, making them more attractive, and collaborating on them more effectively
- By Visio MVP Chris Roth, one of the world's most experienced and successful Visioinstructors
Description
- Copyright 2014
- Dimensions: 7" x 9-1/8"
- Pages: 400
- Edition: 1st
- Book
- ISBN-10: 0-7897-5087-2
- ISBN-13: 978-0-7897-5087-7
Make the most of Visio 2013–without becoming a technical expert! This book is the fastest way to master Visio and use it to build powerful, useful diagrams, org charts, and flowcharts of all kinds! Even if you’ve never used Visio before, you’ll learn how to do what you want, one incredibly clear and easy step at a time. Visio has never, ever been this simple!
Who knew how simple Visio 2013 could be?
This is the easiest, most practical beginner’s guide to using Microsoft Visio 2013...simple, reliable instructions for doing everything you really want to do! Here’s a small sample of what you’ll learn:
- Master new tools for creating intuitive, visually appealing diagrams
- Learn high-efficiency touch features for Windows 8 and tablets
- Create business and engineering diagrams, flowcharts, maps, floor plans, network diagrams, schedules, and more
- Instantly set or change diagram designs with enhanced templates and themes
- Simplify diagramming with built-in shapes and stencils–or create your own
- Craft more sophisticated diagrams with containers, callouts, screentips, and layers
- Import external images, from SVG graphics to AutoCAD drawings
- Visually present Excel spreadsheet data in Visio drawings
- Dynamically update diagrams with real-time data to support better decision-making
- Share diagrams to improve team collaboration
Sample Content
Online Sample Chapter
Working with Basic Diagrams in Microsoft Visio 2013
Sample Pages
Download the sample pages (includes Chapter 3 and Index)
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION
What This Book Covers 2
How This Book Is Organized 3
Conventions Used in This Book 3
Working with Visio Tools and Menus 4
Using Screen Illustrations 4
Web Addresses 4
Special Elements to Watch For 5
Part I Visio 2013 Basics 7
1 Getting to Know Visio 2013 9
What Is Visio? 10
Create a Basic Flowchart 10
What Else Can I Make? 13
Which Edition Should I Use? 16
What Is New in the 2013 Editions? 17
Improved Touch Support 18
Streamlined Layout 18
The New VSDX File Format 20
2 Finding Your Way Around the Interface 21
The Ribbon 22
Embrace the Tab 22
Contextual Tabs 23
Template Tabs 24
Customizing the Ribbon 24
Where Did That Command Go? 29
Important Features of the Visio Application 30
The Quick Access Toolbar 30
Context Menus 31
The Backstage 31
The Status Bar 33
A Look at the Drawing Window 33
Task Panes 34
Rulers and Grids 34
Manipulating Shapes 34
1D Shape Handles 35
2D Shape Handles 36
Vertex Handles 36
Eccentricity Handles 37
Get Around Using Your Keyboard 38
3 Working with Basic Diagrams 41
Making Diagrams 42
What Is a Template? 42
Working Without a Template 46
Clone Your Drawing 47
Find Online Templates and Samples 49
Save Your Diagram 49
Save As 49
AutoSave 51
Working with Drawing Windows 53
Task Panes 53
Switching Between Windows 55
Working with Full Screen Windows 57
4 Taking Control of Your Diagrams 61
Working with Pages 62
Adding Pages 62
Inserting Pages 63
Using Background Pages 64
Rename Pages 66
Reorganizing Pages 66
Customizing Pages 67
Scaling Your Page 71
Working with Themes 72
The Theme Gallery 73
Changing Themes on-the-Fly 76
Working with Color 77
5 Working with Shapes 81
Find the Right Shape 82
Selecting Available Shapes 82
Frequently Used Shapes 83
Changing Shapes 87
Saving Favorites 89
Understanding Stencils 90
What Is a Master? 90
Creating Personalized Stencils 91
Edit Stencil Sets 93
Searching for Shapes 96
6 Manage Shapes 101
Using Groups to Organize Shapes 102
When to Use Groups 102
When It Is Better to Avoid Groups 107
Editing Groups 107
Arranging Shapes 108
Using the Dynamic Grid 108
Straighten Up Shapes with Auto Align 109
Using Position to Arrange the Diagram 111
Old-School Grid, Ruler, and Guides 115
When Overlaps Occur 117
Using Layout to Organize Shapes 118
Part II Customizing 121
7 Connecting Shapes 123
What Are Connectors? 124
How to Connect Shapes 124
Understanding Connectors 129
Connecting Shapes Versus Points 129
What Happens to Connections 132
…When I Drag a Shape? 132
…When I Split a Connector? 132
…When I Delete a Shape? 133
Modifying Connectors 134
Formatting 135
Routing Styles 136
Using Line Jumps 136
Manual Override 138
Working with Connector Points 140
Adding or Removing Connection Points 140
8 Making Advanced Diagrams 143
Organizing Diagrams 144
Containers 144
Lists 148
Callouts 151
ScreenTips 155
Using Headers and Footers 157
Working with Text 159
Creating Text Boxes 160
Using Text Fields 160
Layers 163
Creating Layers 163
When to Add Layers 165
9 Shapes: Customizing 167
Duplicating Shapes 168
Making Several Copies 168
Resizing Shapes 170
Rotating Shapes 171
How to Format a Shape 172
Modifying Common Format Attributes 173
Modifying Less Common Attributes 174
Using Format with Groups 175
Changing Text 176
Editing and Formatting Text 176
Modifying Text Blocks 179
10 Shapes: More Than Meets the Eye 185
Understanding Special SmartShape Features 186
What Is Shape Data? 186
Right-Click Menus 186
Control Handles 187
Hyperlinks 188
Smart Tags 188
Import External Images 189
What You Can Do with Images 190
Resizing Images 192
Working with Clip Art 193
Using Excel Charts 194
Importing Scalable Vector Graphics 196
Importing AutoCAD Drawings 197
Adding Content to AutoCAD Drawings 200
11 Printing Visio Diagrams 203
Just the Basics 204
Print from the Backstage 204
The Print Preview Pane 208
Test Your Print Job 210
Controlling the Space Around the Print Job 211
Headers and Footers 211
Margins 213
Selecting What You Will Print 214
Printing Just a Portion of a Diagram 215
Selecting Specific Pages in Visio 216
Background Page Printing (or Not) 217
Selecting Shapes to Print 219
Printing by Layer 219
Gridlines 221
Get High-Quality Print Jobs 221
Color Printing 223
Part III Advanced 225
12 Sharing Visio Diagrams 227
Share Drawings Using Email 228
Visio Viewer 229
SkyDrive 230
Social Networks 232
Creating a Web Page from Your Diagram 234
Saving to Other File Formats from Visio 235
Creating PDF and XPS Files 236
XML Formatted Drawings 237
Older Visio Formats 237
Getting Visio Drawings into Other Applications 238
Office Applications 238
Other Applications 240
Exporting Drawings to Image Formats 240
13 Unique Needs: Touchscreens, Custom Templates, and
Complex Printing Concerns 245
Touchscreens 246
Switching Between Touch Mode and Mouse Mode 246
Working with Shapes 247
General Touch Controls 248
The Touch Keyboard 251
Creating Your Very Own Template 252
A Look at Complex and Multipage Print Jobs 256
Printing Tiled Drawings 256
Using Page Scale 258
Using Avoid Page Breaks 260
Printing Mixed Orientation Drawings 260
Combine Drawings into a Single Sheet 262
14 Using Data 265
What Can I Do with Shape Data? 266
Exploring 266
Types and Uses 268
Creating Shape Data Fields 269
Add a Simple Data Field 270
Adding Lists and Format 274
Saving a Set of Shape Data Fields 276
Displaying Text in Shape Data Fields 278
Creating Reports 279
Using the Report Definition Wizard 279
Generating Reports 283
Adding Totals and Subtotals 285
15 Working with External Data and Data Graphics 287
Linking Shapes to External Data 288
Look at Your External Data First 288
Using Link Data to Shapes 289
What Are Data Graphics? 296
How to Create a Data Graphic 296
Customizing Data Graphics 299
16 Additional Visio Resources 303
Visio Viewer 304
Resources and Tools 304
Visio Help 305
The Official Visio Blog 306
Office.com 307
Additional Reading 310
Websites Worth Checking Out 311
17 Collaborating with Visio 315
SharePoint 316
Saving and Editing in SharePoint 317
Co-Authoring 320
Markup and Review in Visio 323
Adding Comments 323
Using Ink 326
Using Track Markup 329
Don’t Share Too Much 331
What Is Removed 334
What Is Not Removed 335
18 Tips for Flowcharts, Process, and Block Diagrams 337
Process and Flow Chart Diagrams 338
Auto Resize and Flowchart Shapes 338
Decision Shapes 339
Using Subprocesses 340
Swimlanes and Phases in Cross-Functional Flowcharts 342
Validating Your Diagram 345
Business Process Diagrams (BPMN 2.0) and SharePoint Workflows 346
BPMN Diagrams 346
SharePoint Workflows 347
Block Diagram Tips 348
Blend Block Shapes 348
3D Perspective Block Diagrams 349
19 Tips for Working with Other Diagram Types 353
Working with Network Diagrams 354
Logical Diagrams 354
Rack Diagrams 355
Timeline Tips 357
Org Chart Tips 359
Create Org Charts Manually 361
Using the Organization Chart Wizard 363
Office and Space Plans 365
Creating Plans Using Shapes 366
Space Shapes 367
Working with Dimension Lines 368
Index 371