{"id":478,"date":"2011-04-29T12:57:44","date_gmt":"2011-04-29T19:57:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.visiozone.com\/?p=478"},"modified":"2011-04-29T13:09:49","modified_gmt":"2011-04-29T20:09:49","slug":"creating-depth-in-visio-shapes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/visiozone.com\/?p=478","title":{"rendered":"Creating Depth in Visio Shapes (Part 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Post<\/a><\/p><\/div>

\"Showing<\/div>\n

Visio is a 2D drawing program and creating the illusion of depth can really help your graphics pop out and make them look more realistic.\u00a0 Of course, Visio provides some basic features such as shadows but if you want to make objects appear as if they have real depth, we have some simple techniques to help you do that.\u00a0 Visimation uses these and other methods to create the photo-accurate equipment shapes available for our clients that they post on their sites and also on ShapeSource.com<\/a> for free download.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a series of articles, we\u2019ll demonstrate depth by creating two objects\u2026 a metal plate with edges that curve back from the eye and a pull handle that mounts on the plate.\u00a0 Just for good measure, we\u2019ll insert a semi transparent window into the plate so you can see objects behind it.\u00a0 This discussion will span 3 articles so that they are manageable in length for the busy reader.\u00a0 We\u2019ll assume that you have some familiarity with Visio as a drawing tool so we will not explicitly call out each and every menu sequence. However, we will indicate which tools and dialog boxes to use and point you to where to find them.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s begin by creating the faceplate with curving edges.\u00a0 Start with the Rectangle tool and mark out a shape 3 inches high by 5 inches wide.\u00a0 This will serve as the outline for our part. Next, we want to draw and center another rectangle over the first one with dimensions 2.75 inches high by 4.75 inces wide.\u00a0 For both shapes you can either use the grid to snap to those dimensions, or you can draw any rectangle and use the Size and Position window to resize them to the above dimensions. Select a color for the smaller rectangle like the medium orange in our example.\u00a0 If you haven\u2019t drawn the smaller box centered over the large one, use the Align tool to center it both horizontally and vertically.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n

\"Two<\/a>

Two stacked Visio rectangles<\/p><\/div>\n

To create the edges, use the Line tool to create trapezoidal shapes around the four sides of the smaller box.\u00a0 The easiest way to do this is by snapping to the vertices, or corners, of both shapes.\u00a0 Visio behavior defaults to enable snapping to vertices but if you find that\u2019s not happening, check your Snap & Glue settings to verify that Snap to Shape Vertices is selected.\u00a0 The Snap & Glue dialog is in the Tools menu in Visio 2007 and under View>Visual Aids in the Visio 2010 ribbon. Repeat the process to create trapezoidal shapes for all four edges.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n

\"Top<\/a>

Starting the first curved edge<\/p><\/div>\n

Select the orange box and double click the Format Painter tool, then apply the format to the four edge shapes so that they are all orange with black outlines.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n

\"Visio<\/a>

Visio rectangles with edges created as trapezoids<\/p><\/div>\n

With the top edge selected, open the Fill dialog which is in the Format menu in Visio 2007 and in the Home tab under Fill in Visio 2010.\u00a0 Select a fill pattern that has a gradient from light at the bottom to dark at the top.\u00a0 When done, set the Line color or Line Weight to \u201cNo Line\u201d. Do the same for all four edges but pick appropriate gradient fill patterns depending on the direction of the light to dark transition.\u00a0 So, on the right it would be a light to dark left to right, etc.\u00a0 Again, set the lines to No Line.\u00a0 Finally, set the Line color of the smaller rectangle to the same orange as its\u00a0fill color.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n

\"Visio<\/a>

Selecting a gradiant fill to indicate depth<\/p><\/div>\n

When done, your plate should look like this:\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n

\"Finished<\/a>

Finished Visio plate with curved edges<\/p><\/div>\n

In our next article we\u2019ll punch a hole in this object and fill it with a semi-transparent window.\u00a0 In our final entry for this exercise, we\u2019ll create a handle with a metallic finish.<\/p>\n

\"Post<\/a><\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"Post<\/p>\n

\"Showing <\/p>\n

Visio is a 2D drawing program and creating the illusion of depth can really help your graphics pop out and make them look more realistic. Of course, Visio provides some basic features such as shadows but if you want to make objects appear as if they have real depth, we have some simple techniques to help you do that. Visimation uses these and other methods to create the photo-accurate …Continue reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nCreating Depth in Visio Shapes (Part 1) - VisioZone<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/visiozone.com\/?p=478\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Creating Depth in Visio Shapes (Part 1) - VisioZone\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Visio is a 2D drawing program and creating the illusion of depth can really help your graphics pop out and make them look more realistic. 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