Visio® 2007 Bible

Chapter 6. Working with Text

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Adding text to shapes and groups

• Adding text-only shapes

• Selecting text

• Finding and replacing text

• Checking spelling

• Moving and rotating text shapes and text blocks

• Creating tables

• Adding callouts

• Using title blocks and legends

• Labeling and numbering shapes

Pictures might be worth a thousand words, but usually, drawings need words, too. Text pops up in many forms in Visio: text that appears within shapes, shapes specifically for annotation, and stand-alone text blocks. All Visio shapes, including connectors, have associated text blocks perfect for labeling those shapes. Although these text blocks belong to their parent shapes, you can improve the readability of your drawings by relocating, rotating, or formatting shape text.

The built-in annotation shapes include boxes with callouts for adding notes to diagrams, as well as popular annotation devices, such as title blocks that display the attributes of drawings. You can also configure text into tabular form by using a built-in Table shape or by formatting the text in a text block. In addition, Visio add-ons can automate labeling and numbering shapes on your drawings.

If you're like most people, you probably devote a significant amount of time working with text, because drawings often contain as much text as they do graphics. Besides the text that you type, Visio can accommodate handwriting with digital ink. Whatever its form, text in Visio works like any other Visio shape. Visio makes it easy to add, ...