Visio diagrams

[jeglash]

I'm creating a Visio diagram for a help system, and I notice that Flare does not support the .vsd Visio extension. What is the best practice/recommendation for diagrams? To create in Visio and then convert? If conversion is recommended, then please provide the method, etc. - the completed compiled size of the help system also is an issue in considerations.
thanks,
Joanne

[Nita Beck]

Hi Joanne. Welcome...

In Visio, save your image to one of the formats that Flare supports. I'd experiment with PNG, maybe GIF, but not JPEG, as that will be too big and unnecessary for anything other than photos.

I also suggest that you store your original Visio file with the Flare project and that you use a filename that clearly marks it as your source image. (My practice is to include "original" in the filename, as in "my_visio_diagram_original.vsd".) Although Flare can't use the file directly, if you ever need to edit it, it will be with the rest of your content. Open it from Windows Explorer, edit it, and then save it in the Flare-supported format using the same filename that Flare knows the image as. (My practice is to name it something like "my_visio_diagram_flare.png".)

Hope this helps.

[jeglash]

Thanks, very good suggestion!

[NorthEast]

I also suggest that you store your original Visio file with the Flare project and that you use a filename that clearly marks it as your source image. (My practice is to include "original" in the filename, as in "my_visio_diagram_original.vsd".) Although Flare can't use the file directly, if you ever need to edit it, it will be with the rest of your content.

We do the same.
However, I'd also suggest applying a condition tag to the VSD file and then excluding it in your target; otherwise it'll be included in any of your help outputs.

Also, Flare supports WMF files now, so it might be worth experimenting with this format as it is scaleable and likely to be more suited to diagrams (unlike PNG/GIF/JPG which are bitmaps). It may work better for print output than help, but it's worth trying out anyway.

[jeglash]

When you save the Visio diagram as a png, what do you recommend for the settings, e.g. non-interlace, 24-bit color? And do you do resolution as Screen or Source?

thanks,
JOanne

[wbrisett]

I haven't had time to try yet, so maybe Dave knows. Does Flare support .svg files? We use that format for all our structured/vector drawings and png for all of our screenshots.

Wayne

[brerdane]

Sorry for the late post but I just saw this post.

I had an issue a while back similar to this and I can't remember who gave me the best practice for Visio. They told me to save it as an Enhanced Metafile (*.emf) in Visio. The diagrams came in much clearer than png, etc.

Not sure about the svg file format support. The Enhanced Metafile worked like a charm so I've stuck with it.

HTH, Deb