So, several weeks go by without any Visio tips. Shame on me.
This one will have to be a tip and a free stencil.
I’ve noticed a lot of people don’t use the Text Block Tool. It’s a handy tool that allows you to resize and reposition the text area for any shape inside or outside the shape area. I’m particularly fond of using this to reposition the text outside of a normal rectangle – and, poof, a form field with a label. It has the advantage of being the editable text when you click on the form field shape.
If you’re going to play around with the Text Block Tool, you have to remember to switch back to the Text Tool when you want to edit that text.
Dan Brown has a nifty rotating arrow, and Bryce has a variation on the arrow he built. They’re really cool. I’m just more interested in the notes.
So, I made my nice number inside a circle. Because I’m lazy, I want to be able to change the note text with one click. I grouped the shapes together and – using the Text Area Tool – I moved the text area to create a nice indent on the note. Control+Shift+T aligned the text nicely on the top of the block. Then, I made a matching circle for the note (because I’m lazy, they don’t rotate to point at anything). I did that fifteen times. If you have more than fifteen notes on a page, you have bigger problems.
Now, get the stencil.