Creating visual models can be an important step in planning operations projects. For example, your first task on a new project is often to create a process flow diagram (PFD). A PFD helps you and others see the flow of resources, information, and services through every phase of a project. And typically, you want to get feedback before you include your finished diagram in a team document.
You may already know that Microsoft Office Visio® Professional 2003 is a great program for creating dynamic, accurate process diagrams. But you often have to share your diagrams with people who don't have Visio installed on their computers.
How can you use the right tool for the job — Visio — and still share what you've created with everyone who needs to see it? Easily.
Choose the format that fits your needs
There are a number of ways to share your Visio drawings with someone who does not have Visio. Whether you are sharing a process flow diagram, an organization chart, or a site layout, you can save or export Visio drawings in a format that all your coworkers can view.
Important To find out how to perform each of these tasks, click the appropriate topic in the See Also box on the right side of your screen.
Save the diagram as an image
One of the fastest ways to share your process diagram is to save the drawing as an image. In Visio, you select the diagram and then save it in one of the standard graphical formats, which include:
- AutoCAD Drawing (.dwg)
- AutoCAD Interchange (.dxf)
- Compressed Enhanced Metafile (.emz)
- Enhanced Metafile (.emf)
- Graphics Interchange Format (.gif)
- Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) File Interchange Format (.jpg)
- Portable Network Graphics (.png)
- Scalable Vector Graphics Drawing (.svg)
- Scalable Vector Graphics Drawing – Compressed (.svgz)
- Tag Image File Format (.tif)
- Microsoft Windows® Bitmap (.bmp, .dib)
- Windows Metafile (.wmf)
To share the diagram with others, you can save the file to a shared folder or attach it to an e-mail message.
Copy the diagram and include it in another Office program
You can share your process diagram with others by copying or embedding the drawing into a Microsoft Office Professional 2003 program that all the recipients have access to, like Microsoft Office Word, Microsoft Office PowerPoint®, or Microsoft Office Outlook®. You just copy your drawing and then paste it into the Office program of your choice.
To share the diagram with others, you can save the file to a shared folder or attach it to an e-mail message.
Save the Visio drawing as a Web page
Project teams often use team intranet sites to share information. In Visio, saving your project diagram as a Web page takes just a few mouse clicks. After the drawing is saved as an HTML document, you can save the file to a shared folder and then publish it to your team intranet.
Direct your coworkers to download Visio Viewer 2003
Users who do not have Visio installed on their computers can still view drawings created in Visio. They only need to install the Microsoft Office Visio Viewer 2003 from the Office Online Download Center site. Visio Viewer is a great way to share Visio drawings with team members, because it enables all recipients to view your Visio information by using Microsoft Internet Explorer.
Collaboration made easy
Whatever solution you choose for sharing your Visio diagram, Microsoft Office offers you the flexibility to share your work at any stage in the project. You do your best work when you can use the best tool for the job, and now you can collaborate with your team easily and professionally.
