• The Find Shape tool has been removed from the Standard toolbar and replaced with the Search for Shapes feature, which appears in the Shapes window. If you don't see the Shapes window, on the View menu, click Shapes Window.

  To set search properties, on the Tools menu, click Options, and then on the Shape Search tab, set the options you want.

  If you have Administrator privileges on your machine, you can make indexing faster by using Indexing Service. You'll be prompted to start the service when you first search for a shape.

  For detailed information, see the Help topics about finding and adding shapes.

• The Open Stencils button is replaced by the Shapes button on the Standard toolbar. You can open stencils of shapes as well as create new stencils from this button.
• The Crop Tool is now available on the new Picture toolbar. If the Picture toolbar isn't visible, on the View menu, point to Toolbars, and then click Picture.
• The Line and Rectangle tools have been moved from the Standard toolbar to the new Drawing toolbar. You can quickly show or hide the Drawing toolbar by clicking the Drawing Tools button on the Standard toolbar.
• The Rotation Tool has been removed from the Standard toolbar and replaced with a rotation handle on each shape.

  For information about rotating shapes, see the Help topics About center of rotation and Rotate a shape.

• If you are sharing a drawing with someone who has Visio 2002 or Visio 2000, you must first save the drawing as a Visio 2002 file (Visio 2002 files can be opened with Visio 2000). Keep in mind that new and improved functionality will not work in older versions of Visio.
• Visio 2003 has new and discontinued file format support:

  New export support

  • Scalable Vector Graphics (.svg)
  • Scalable Vector Graphics - Compressed (.svgz)

  Discontinued export support

  • Adobe Illustrator File (.ai)
  • Computer Graphics Metafile (.cgm)
  • Encapsulated PostScript (.eps)
  • Initial Graphics Exchange Specification (IGES) Drawing File Format (.igs)
  • Macintosh PICT Format (.pct)
  • MicroStation Drawing (.dgn)
  • PostScript File (.ps)
  • Zsoft PC PaintBrush Bitmap (.pcx)

  New import support

  • Scalable Vector Graphics Drawing (.svg, .svgz)

  Discontinued import support

  • ABC FlowCharter (.af3, .af2)
  • Adobe Illustrator File (.ai)
  • Computer Graphics Metafile (.cgm)
  • Corel Clipart Format (.cmx)
  • CorelDRAW! Drawing File Format (.cdr)
  • CorelFLOW (.cfl)
  • Encapsulated PostScript File (.eps)
  • Initial Graphics Exchange Specification (IGES) Drawing File Format (.igs)
  • Macintosh PICT Format (.pct)
  • Micrografx Designer (.drw, .dsf)
  • MicroStation Drawing (.dgn)
  • PostScript File (.ps)
  • Text Files (.txt, .csv)
  • Zsoft PC PaintBrush Bitmap (.pcx)

  For a list of the file formats that are supported in Visio 2003, see the Help topics File formats that you can import into a Visio drawing and Formats to which you can export Visio shapes and drawings.

• In Visio 2003, both the XML for Visio schema (format) and the binary format have been enhanced and extended to support new features. You can use Visio 2003 to open Visio 2002 XML drawings, stencils, and templates, but you cannot save to Visio 2002 XML format.

  To save a drawing, stencil, or template so it can be opened in Visio 2002, save the drawing in Visio 2002 Drawing, Stencil, or Template format, and then in Visio 2002, convert to the XML format if needed.

• In Visio 2003, you can set print options for each page of your drawing. This means, for example, that you can set some pages of your drawing to print in portrait orientation and other pages in landscape orientation.

  For more information, see the Help topic Set the drawing page orientation.

• Sample drawings are no longer installed on your machine when you install Visio 2003. You can download sample drawings from the Microsoft Download Center.

  Download Visio 2003 sample diagrams.

• The Stencils command on the File menu has been renamed the Shapes command.
• Visio 2003 creates a new folder on your machine called My Shapes, in which a custom stencil named Favorites is located. You can edit this stencil, and you can also create additional custom stencils.

  For more information, see the Help topic About the Favorites stencil and My Shapes.

• It's no longer possible to edit the stencils shipped with Visio. If you're used to editing stencils—for example, to add custom properties to Visio shapes or to add custom shapes to a Visio stencil—you can create a custom stencil instead.
• To quickly copy a Visio master shape to a custom stencil, right-click the master, point to Add to My Shapes, and then click the name of the custom stencil you want to add it to, or click Add to New Stencil and then type a name for the new stencil in the Save As dialog box.

  For example, if you want to add custom properties or property sets to master shapes on a stencil, first create a new custom stencil, copy the masters you want to your custom stencil, and then add the custom properties.

  For more information, see the Help topics about creating and customizing stencils.

• In Visio 2002, if you want to perform certain actions on a selection of shapes—such as rotating them or resizing them—you have to first group the shapes. In Visio 2003 you can use the new Lasso Select or Multiple Select tools (available from the arrow on the Pointer Tool) to quickly select the shapes you want and then make your changes.

  For more information, see Secrets to selecting shapes.

• The Table shape on the Charting Shapes stencil has been replaced by the Grid shape. Table shapes in drawing made in a previous version of Visio and opened in Visio 2003 retain their formatting, but the commands to change that formatting no longer work.

• In Visio 2003, you can quickly change the style of a connector in your drawing by right-clicking it and then selecting Right-Angle Connector, Curved Connector, or Straight Connector.

  Using this method, you can select and change multiple connectors more quickly and without affecting the layout of your shapes.

  You can also access this functionality, as in Visio 2002, on the Layout and Routing tab of the Page Setup dialog box (from the File menu) or the Lay Out Shapes dialog box (from the Shapes menu).

• Connector path and routing options are no longer available on the right-click menu from a selected connector. You can instead use the Reroute Freely, Reroute as Needed, Reroute on Crossover, and Never Reroute tools on the Layout and Routing toolbar.

  If the Layout and Routing toolbar is not visible, on the View menu, point to Toolbars, and then click Layout & Routing.

• When you open a drawing that includes a Space shape and was created in Visio 2002 in Visio 2003 for the first time, a dialog box opens asking whether you want Visio to update the Space shapes. If you choose to update the shapes, the old Space shapes will be removed and new Space shapes drawn in their place.

  These new shapes are added to the top of the stacking order in the drawing and created with 75% transparency. In this way you can see the shapes "inside" the shape, and easily select the Space shape because it is in the top of the stacking order.

  To quickly move all the Space shapes to the bottom of the stacking order:

  1. On the Edit menu, click Select by Type.
  2. In the Select by Type dialog box, click Layer, and then select Space.
  3. Click OK.
  4. On the Shape menu, point to Order, and then click Send to Back.

• The Audit Diagram, Cause and Effect Diagram, TQM Diagram, and Work Flow Diagram templates have been moved to the new Business Process drawing category.
• The Mind Mapping template has been replaced by the new Brainstorming template (in the Brainstorming drawing category), which streamlines the process of adding topics, arranging topics, and formatting your diagram.

  There is no automatic conversion of Mind Mapping drawings to the new Brainstorming drawing.

• The Import Flowchart Data wizard and the Organization Chart 5.0 conversion utility have been removed. To import data into a flowchart in Visio 2003, you must first open the file in any version of Visio that has the feature you need and then save the file in that version. You can then open the file from within Visio 2003.

• This drawing category was renamed to Charts and Graphs and the Form Design template was removed.

• The Logical Network Diagram template (Visio Professional) has been replaced with the new Detailed Network Diagram template, which provides updated versatile shapes that meet the increasing requirements for network design and documentation.
• The Visio Network Equipment Sampler template (Visio Professional) has been removed from Visio 2003. Some equipment manufacturers might have shapes available on their Web sites.
• The Directory Services Navigator (Visio Professional) has been removed from the Novell Directory Services template.

• When you open an organization chart created with earlier versions of Visio (as far back as Visio 5.0c), the organization chart is converted to work with Visio 2003. The conversion happens automatically. Visio 2003 organization charts, however, use features that do not work in earlier versions of Visio. To keep your original organization chart file, make sure you save the updated organization chart with a new name:
1. Open the organization chart.
2. When asked if you want to save the updated file with a new name, click Yes.
• If you open an organization chart that was created with an earlier version of Visio and some of its formatting, text, and connectors are missing, you need to update your installation of Visio 2003 by downloading Microsoft Office Visio 2003 Service Pack 1 or later. To get the latest update, go to Downloads on Office Online. Under Office Update, click Check for Updates.

• The Process Engineering Custom Property Manager (Visio Professional) for the Process Flow Diagram template has been removed from the Process Engineering menu and renamed Custom Property Sets. This feature is now available for all templates. You can find it on the Tools menu.

  For detailed information, see the Help topics about entering data in shapes.

Calendar

• When you open a calendar drawing that was created in Visio 2002 in Visio 2003 for the first time, all imported appointments are indicated using a 24-hour clock.

Gantt Chart

• You can no longer convert data between a timeline and a Gantt chart using the Import Project Data Wizard.
• You can still import Microsoft Office Project data to create a Gantt chart using the Import Project Data Wizard; the wizard is now available on the Gantt Chart menu.

Timeline

• You can no longer import Microsoft Office Excel data, .txt., or .mpx files into a timeline drawing.
• You can still import Microsoft Office Project data using the new Import Timeline Data Wizard, which is available on the new Timeline menu.
• When a Visio 2002 timeline drawing is opened in Visio 2003, in opens with full visual fidelity, but it cannot be used with the Visio 2003 timeline functionality unless it is converted. To start the conversion, right-click one of the shapes and click the Configure option (for example, right-click the timeline shape and click Configure Timeline). If you choose to convert, the drawing is converted to Visio 2003 with the following caveats:
  • Rotated text is not rotated.
  • Chiseled timelines are replaced with block timelines.
  • Chiseled intervals are replaced with block intervals.
  • Dagger milestones are converted to diamond milestones.
  • If more than one type of text formatting is used in a milestone or interval, only the first formatting type is used.
  • Interval fill coloring is not retained.
  • The short date and long date formats are replaced by the standard date format for the language type of the drawing. All other date formats are retained.

• The Windows User Interface template has been replaced with the new Windows XP User Interface template. This template provides shapes designed according to Microsoft Windows XP user interface guidelines.
• The Data Flow Model Diagram Model Explorer (Visio Professional) has been removed from the Data Flow Model Diagram template.

• If you're used to sharing drawings with someone who has Visio Viewer, make sure they update to Visio Viewer 2003 so they can view drawings you create with Visio 2003. Visio Viewer 2003 opens:
  • Visio drawing (.vsd) files saved in version 5.0, 2000, 2002, or later
  • Visio XML drawing format (.vdx) files saved in version 2002 or later

  Download Visio Viewer 2003.

• You might notice that whenever you open a version of Visio other than one you last opened (for example, if you've been using Visio 2003 and then you open Visio 2002), the Windows Installer will run. This doesn't mean that your other version was uninstalled. This installer takes just a minute or two to configure the use of the other version.