Core Training for Microsoft Office Visio Standard 2003

Creating and Customizing Shapes, Stencils, and Templates

Drawing Shapes from Scratch

1To display the Drawing toolbar, on the Standard toolbar, click the Drawing Tools button, as indicated.
2To use the Pencil Tool, on the Drawing toolbar, click the Pencil Tool button, and then point to the location on drawing page grid that is at the 6-inch mark on the vertical ruler and the 3-inch mark on the horizontal ruler.
3To draw an arc, use an exaggerated curving motion to drag up, to the right, and down, as indicated.
4To connect a second arc segment to the first, point to the right endpoint of the existing arc, and use an exaggerated curving motion to drag down and to the left, as indicated.
5To close the shape, point to the bottom endpoint of the second arc, and use an exaggerated curving motion to drag left and up, as indicated, connecting the new arc segment to the beginning point of the first arc segment.
6To use the Ellipse tool, on the Drawing toolbar, click the Ellipse Tool button.
7To draw an oval, click in the indicated location to the right of the current shape, and drag diagonally down and to the right.
8To cancel the selection of the shape, press the ESC key.
9To draw a circle, click at the 5-inch mark on the vertical ruler and the 3-inch mark on the horizontal ruler, hold down the SHIFT key, and then drag diagonally down to the right, to create a circle approximately 0.75 inch in diameter.
10To create a copy of the circle, point to it, hold down the CTRL key, and then drag down and to the right so that the copy overlaps the original circle.
11To change the fill color of the selected circle, on the Formatting toolbar, click the Fill Color arrow, and then in the color palette, click the Light Yellow box, as indicated.
12To change the fill color of the attached circle to a color that is not on the color palette, click the circle, and on the Formatting toolbar, click the Fill Color arrow, and then click More Fill Colors.
13To pick a color from a diagram called a color wheel, in the Colors dialog box, click the Standard tab.
14To select a color, click the indicated shade of pink.
15To confirm the new color, click OK.

Saving Shapes on Stencils

1To open a new stencil, on the Standard toolbar, click the Shapes button, as indicated, and then click New Stencil.
2To add a shape to the stencil, drag the green shape from the drawing page to the stencil.
3To add another shape, drag the blue shape from the drawing page to the stencil.
4To rename the green shape on the stencil, double-click the text Master.0, in Stencil1.
5To enter the new name, press SPACEBAR, wait while the new name is typed for you, and then press ENTER.
6To rename the blue shape, double-click the text Master.1, press SPACEBAR, wait while the new name is typed for you, and then press ENTER.
7To clear the selection of the shape on the stencil, press the ESC key.
8To save the stencil, in the Shapes window, click the icon to the left of Stencil1, and then click Save As.
9To enter a name for the new stencil file, press SPACEBAR to have the file name typed for you in the File name box of the Save As dialog box.
10To finish saving the stencil, click Save.

Grouping and Merging Shapes

1To draw an oval, on the Drawing toolbar, click the Ellipse Tool button, click in the indicated location on drawing page, and drag diagonally down and to the right, as indicated.
2To change the shape's fill color, on the Formatting toolbar, click the Fill Color arrow, and then in the color palette, click the Light Purple box, as indicated.
3To cancel the selection of the current shape, press the ESC key.
4To draw a small circle, point to the center of the purple oval, hold down the SHIFT key, and drag diagonally down and to the right to create a circle approximately 0.2 inch in diameter.
5To create a copy of the circle, click the Edit menu, and then click Duplicate.
6To create a polka-dot effect, on the Standard toolbar, click the Pointer Tool button, click in the center of the selected circle, and then drag it onto the left side of the oval.
7To select two shapes to move together, click the circle on the border of the oval, hold down the SHIFT key, and then click the circle outside the oval.
8To complete the polka-dot effect, click first of the selected circles, and then drag the selection onto the oval.
9To select the oval and all the circle shapes, click above and to the left of the oval, and then drag diagonally down and to the right until a selection box encloses the entire oval shape.
10To group the shapes, click the Shape menu, point to Grouping, and then click Group.
11To move the grouped shape, click within the selection, and then drag diagonally down and to the right, as indicated.
12To change the weight of the borders of all the shapes in the group, on the Formatting toolbar, click the Line Weight arrow, as indicated, and then click the third line from the top.
13To format one of the grouped shapes, click the left-most dot in the group, and on the Formatting toolbar, click the Fill Color arrow, and then in the color palette, click the Light Green box, as indicated.
14To select two shapes that you want to merge, click the yellow circle at the bottom of the drawing window, hold down the SHIFT key, and then click the pink circle that it overlaps.
15To merge the selected shapes, click the Shape menu, point to Operations, and then click Union.
16To move the merged shape, click within the selection, and then drag diagonally up and to the left about 2 inches, as indicated.

Modifying Shapes

1To get a better view of the shape you need to work with, on the Standard toolbar, click the Zoom arrow, and then click 200%.
2To select a shape and display its vertices and control points, on the Drawing toolbar, click the Pencil Tool button, and then on the drawing page, click the large yellow shape.
3To select a vertex, which appears as a small diamond shape, click the vertex at the left junction of the two arcs.
4To break apart the shape, drag the selected vertex diagonally down and to the left approximately 0.5 inch.
5To select a control point, which appears as a small green circle in the center of each arc, click the control point at the top of the upper arc.
6To decrease the curve of the upper arc, drag the selected control point diagonally down and to the right approximately 0.25 inch.
7To add an arc, point to the vertex at the left end of the upper arc, and drag by using a clockwise circular motion to the vertex on the lower arc, as indicated.
8To add a vertex, hold down the CTRL key, and then click the right edge of the shape at the 6-inch mark on the vertical ruler.
9To indent the curve of the lower arc, drag the vertex you just added to the left approximately 0.2 inch.
10To increase the curve of the arc that is just above the new vertex, drag the control point on that arc diagonally up and to the right, as indicated.
11To delete a vertex and change the shape that it controls, click the vertex just below the selected control point, and then press the DELETE key.

Creating a Custom Template

1To begin creating a template from a blank diagram, click the File menu, point to New, point to Block Diagram, and then click Basic Diagram.
2To change the page setup, click the File menu, and then click Page Setup.
3To change the page orientation, in the Page Setup dialog box, in the Printer paper area of the Print Setup tab, click to select Landscape, and then click OK.
4To add a title to the template, in the Shapes window, click the Borders and Titles stencil, and then drag the Border elegant shape so that it is centered on the drawing page.
5To change the title of the diagram, on the Standard toolbar, click the Text Tool button, and then for the purposes of this exercise, press SPACEBAR to have the title information typed for you.
6To add a background to the template, in the Shapes window, click the Backgrounds stencil, and then drag the Background leaf shape over the drawing page.
7To open a stencil that will be used with the template, on the Standard toolbar, click the Shapes button, and then click Open Stencil.
8To open a stencil saved in a folder on your hard disk, on the left side of the Open Stencil dialog box, click the My Documents icon, double-click the Garden Company folder, click the Perennials file, and then click Open.
9To add a shape to the template, drag the Coleus shape from the Perennials stencil to the left end of the title area on the drawing page.
10To save the drawing and its settings as a template, click the File menu, and then click Save As.
11To name the file, press SPACEBAR to have the name typed for you in the File name box of the Save As dialog box.
12To specify that the drawing should be saved as a template file, click the Save as type arrow, and then click Template.
13To specify where the template should be saved, double-click the Garden Company folder, and then click Save.
14To close the template, click the Close Window button to the right of the Type a question for help box.
15To begin opening a drawing based on the custom template, click the File menu, point to New, and then click Choose Drawing Type.
16To access a template that you saved on your computer, in the Templates area of the New Drawing task pane, click On my computer.
17To select the template on which you want to base the drawing, in the Browse Templates dialog box, double-click the Garden Company folder, and then double-click the Perennial Garden Plan file.
18To add a shape to the drawing, in the Perennials stencil, drag the Boltonia asteroides shape so that it is centered below the title on the drawing page.
19To cancel the selection of the shape, press the ESC key.
20To save the new drawing, on the Standard toolbar, click the Save button.
21To name the file, press SPACEBAR to have the name typed for you in the File name box of the Save As dialog box.
22To designate the folder in which to save the new drawing, double-click Garden Company, and then click Save.