You can create your own custom fill patterns, line patterns, and line ends. To design a custom pattern, you create a master pattern that represents one instance of the pattern. For example, you can use a single dot to create a custom pattern that, when applied as a fill, looks like a complete pattern of dots.

When you create a custom pattern, you can specify the following pattern properties:

• The name of the pattern.
• The type of pattern: fill pattern, line pattern, or line-end pattern.
• The behavior of the pattern: how the pattern is applied to a shape and how it changes as the shape is stretched or formatted.
• Whether to adjust the pattern as the drawing-page scale changes or to keep the pattern at a constant size.

You can base patterns on existing Microsoft Office Visio shapes and fills, or you can base them on bitmaps you create or import from another program.

Custom fill and line patterns appear at the bottom of the Pattern list in the Fill and Line dialog boxes. Custom line ends appear at the bottom of the End list in the Line dialog box.

Colors in custom fill patterns

Colors in custom line patterns