A stencil (.vss file) is a collection of shapes associated with a particular Microsoft Office Visio template (.vst file). To save changes to or a copy of a stencil, do one of the following:

• To save changes to a stencil, right-click the stencil title bar, and then click Save.
• To save a copy of a stencil with a new name, right-click the stencil title bar, click Save As, type a name for the new stencil, and then click Save.

By default, custom stencils are saved in your My Shapes folder.

 Notes 

• To open a custom stencil, on the File menu, point to Shapes, and then point to My Shapes.
• To edit a custom stencil, right-click the stencil title bar and click Edit Stencil. The icon in the stencil title bar changes from (indicating that the stencil is read-only) to (indicating that the stencil is editable).
• To share a custom stencil with someone, copy the stencil (.vss file) to their My Shapes folder.