You can right-click the shape itself to save the shape to your own custom stencil, or again, change the grouping or the view. Audit Diagram Shapes) to open the stencil, group/ungroup the shapes by stencil name, or change the layout of the view. For example, you can right-click the name of the stencil (e.g. The search results aren’t just a static display. Use the newly found shape like any other, by simply dragging it onto the page. When the search is complete (it might take some time, so be patient), a list of shapes that meet your criteria are presented, grouped by their containing stencil. Searching doesn’t get any more complicated than that. It does not understand synonyms, only exact keyword matches.Ĭhoose whether to require any of the words (default, OR search) or all of the words (AND search). There is no “related terms” logic typing “circuit” will not return “circuits”. Power User Tip: You cannot use wildcards (* or ?) to broaden your search. Power User Tip: The drop-down menu holds previous search terms for easy re-use. Like any search engine, more terms mean a narrower field of results, but risk excluding an item of interest by being too specific. Now type the search term(s) that loosely (or exactly) describe what you’re looking for. The Find Shape pane opens up underneath any open stencils. (For you experienced Visio users – it’s no longer under Tools -> Macros -> Visio Extras, so don’t bother looking.) You’ll need to go back to your installation CD to get it.) (Note: If the Find Shape feature is not available, it was not installed. If you have an active Internet connection, then Visio can automatically search for new and updated shapes provided online by Microsoft. The Find Shape feature enables you to search your hard drive for Visio stencils and index the shapes found within each one. Older versions of Visio, such as 5, have a different interface, which I’ll briefly discuss below.) Now that that’s out of the way, let’s find some shapes! (Note: the steps and screen captures are from Visio 2002. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist though – the shape could be available in another version of Visio, or even online through Microsoft or other parties who make stencils commercially. The first thing you have to come to terms with is that the shape you want may not exist in your library, and that you may have to draw it yourself. Select all the stencils you want (using SHIFT- or CTRL-click) then click Open. Power User Tip: To open multiple stencils at once, click the main part of the Open Stencil button to access the Stencil Open dialog. Repeat the action as necessary to open another stencil. Opening other stencils is accomplished most efficiently by clicking the Open Stencil button’s little drop-down arrow, clicking the folder name, then clicking the desired stencil. A new title bar, called Shapes, comes into existence, and it’s equipped with its own little X to close off all the stencils with one click. The stencils are normally displayed on the left-hand side of the screen, and you can close them by clicking their control icon and choosing Close.Īs soon as you have more than one stencil open, Visio 2002 makes a slight change in the appearance of the stack. The template includes stencil files (VSS extension) the designers felt would be appropriate for use in that type of diagram. Normally you’ll start a Visio diagram (VSD extension) from a template (VST extension). Why reinvent the wheel when you can just pop open a stencil and use what it has? But which stencil? Which shape? Finding the shape you want can be quite a challenge – until of course, you read this column!īy the end of this column, you will be able to find the shape you want in a Visio stencil or on the Internet.Ĭlosing and Opening Stencils – You Know What You Want and Where It Is Visio has thousands of shapes available for you to use.