Executive Training Solutions

In Microsoft Visio, most shapes have connection points. For those times when the existing connection points aren’t enough, in the right place, or too many — you can add, move or delete connection points on Visio shapes.

To add a connection point, hold the CTRL key and click the shape where you want to add the connection point.  The small x will be purple, until you do something else and then it will turn blue.

To move a connection point, click and drag to a new location.

To delete a connection point in Visio, select and press DELETE.

For more tips on how to get the most from Visio, attend one of our classes.  We offer 2 levels of Microsoft Visio to help build your skills.

Microsoft Visio allows you to create simple or complex diagrams. Sometimes, those diagrams may be multiple pages, and it would be useful to have the same information show up on each page. If you want your company logo, or other identifying information to show up on each page, create a background page. This allows you to create the information once, but have it show up on every page in your drawing.

Creating a background page is simple.  If the BACKGROUND stencil isn’t open, add it to your stencils. Drag one of the backgrounds to your drawing, and you’ll notice that you now have a “Background” tab in addition to your existing drawings.

You can edit this background by adding text boxes, graphics, or shapes. These objects will then show up on your drawings!

Learn more useful tips about Microsoft Visio by attending one of our Visio classes.

You can add hyperlinks to your Microsoft Visio document in the same way you add them to any Microsoft Office document.  Select the item you want to attach the hyperlink to (usually a shape in Visio) and either press CTRL + K or INSERT / HYPERLINK.

The hyperlink box will appear and you will enter the page or address you wish the link to be.  If you are linking to an Internet site, be sure to include “http://” at the beginning of your hyperlink.  Any information you enter in the DESCRIPTION  box is what will appear on the screen when you hover over the shape attached to the hyperlink.

If you are in FULL SCREEN MODE, when you hover over a hyperlinked object, the pointer changes to a hand icon and you can left-click the object to follow the link.

If you are in NORMAL MODE, the pointer changes to an arrow with a hyperlink globe icon. To follow the link,  you will need to right-click and choose the link from the shortcut menu.

Any links followed will appear in their own window.

For more tips and tricks on how to use Microsoft Visio, attend one of our classes.  We look forward to seeing you in our Phoenix training center soon!

Simple commands can sometimes cause the most frustration when working with software programs. If you use Microsoft Visio to create diagrams, you know how useful it is to copy shapes within your document.

You can copy objects by holding down the CTRL key and moving them with your mouse with the left button pressed. Sometimes when you do this,  you may not copy your object, but move it instead.  This can be frustrating, and you may not know why it didn’t work after it worked the last 10 times.

The trick is to let go of your  mouse button before you let go of the CTRL key.  If you let go of the CTRL key before you let go of the mouse button, the object will move instead of making a copy of itself.

For more great Microsoft Visio tips, attend one of our classes. We’d love to show you simple and complex tips to help make drawing diagrams a snap!