Polishing a Flowchart for Maximum Impact

You can add the final polish to your flowchart quickly and without a lot of effort. Figure 9-18 provides an example of a simple flowchart that was formatted using some of these methods:

• Add a background Drag a background shape from the Backgrounds stencil onto your drawing. When Visio 2007 prompts you to create a background page, click Yes.

• Add a border or title Add a border or title shape to give your flowchart a more professional look. Drag the shape you want from the Borders And Titles stencil, and then type. For details, see the section titled “Adding Title Blocks” in Chapter 4, “Adding Text to Shapes and Diagrams.”

• Format shapes with styles Use styles to change text, fill, and line formatting quickly and consistently. For example, you can change the definition of the Flow-Normal style to quickly reformat all the text in a diagram. To do this, choose Format, Define Styles, and then select Flow-Normal and specify new options. (You must be in Developer Mode to use the Format, Define Styles command. Choose Tools, Options, select the Advanced tab, and turn on the Run In Developer Mode checkbox.) For details, see the section titled “Creating and Editing Styles” in Chapter 23, “Defining Styles, Patterns, and Colors.”

• Apply a Theme Quickly assign fill, line, and text colors to each shape in your drawing, as shown in Figure 9-18. Choose Format, Theme. This will open the Theme task pane, you can select your desired theme, and also choose Theme Effects for different line styles. For more information on themes, see the section titled “Choosing a Theme” in Chapter 2, “Quickly Formatting Shapes and Diagrams.”

Figure 9-18. This flowchart has the Title Block Deco shape from the Borders And Titles stencil, the Background Stripes shape from the Backgrounds stencil, and a theme.

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