Inserting Visio into Word

[Elbert]

Hello,

I haven't found a convenient way to insert Visio objects into a Word
document. Here's how I'd like to be able to do it:

1. “Insert|Object|Microsoft Visio drawing†would open Visio in separate
process with a large (say 8.5x11 inch) drawing space. (By default, Visio
edits in place with a 3x5 drawing space.)

2. When I return to Word, Visio would automatically remove the white space
from around the drawing for me. (By default, Visio leaves the white space; I
can get rid of it, but I haven't found a way to do it that comes even close
to convenient.)

3. When I double click on the drawing in Word, Visio would open in a
separate process with the drawing on the large drawing space exactly as it
was when I created it. (By default, it edits in place, and if I've
eliminated the white space there's no room to add to the drawing.)

I'd appreciate any guidance you can give me to set up Visio so it will work
this way, or a way that would be equally convenient.

Thanks,

Elbert

 

[Elbert]

In case somebody else has the same question I have, and since there has been
no response to my question, here's what I've been able to find out on my own:

If you need to insert a lot of drawings into Word documents, then you will
quickly come to prefer root canal to using Visio. Try to insert a drawing
with more than a couple of simple shapes. Try to get rid of the white space
around the drawing. Try to put some white space around it again when you
open it to make a change, then get rid of the extra white space again. After
hours of trying, I figured out how to do all of these things, but they're so
tedious I finally gave up on Visio.

It's discouraging. I tried Visio around 10 years ago before it got gobbled
up by Microsoft. Although they claimed it did, it just didn't do object
linking and embedding at all--the best advice I could get from Visio was to
do the drawings in Visio and copy and paste them into Word, saving the Visio
document in case a change was needed. I thought surely when Microsoft took
over they'd fix the OLE. It now works, but it's awful. There's probably a
reason Microsoft doesn't do OLE well (or even at all--ever try to insert an
equation into OneNote?), but I can't imagine what it is.

So much for the venting. My suggestion is to try SmartDraw
(www.smartdraw.com, free trial.) Inserting into Word goes just the way you'd
like it to: SD opens in a separate process with a nice big drawing space (not
3x5 like Visio), automatically eliminates the white space when you return to
Word, and puts it back so you have room to work when you double click on the
drawing to make a change.

Elbert