Importing Visio diagrams into Framemaker

[Guest]

Hi all, I am considering using framemaker9 as my main documentation tool, and using visio2003 as my diagramming tool.

As such, I will be importing the visio diagrams into framemaker by reference so that any mods to the visio diagrams will be automatically reflected in the framemaker document.

The questions I have is:

1. Which file format is the best to use for the importing? Should I save the visio diagrams in PDF or SVG format? I would prefer a format which provide the most resolution.

2. When I have more than 1 page in a visio file, I noticed that there is no way for me to choose which page to be imported when importing in SVG format. However, with PDF, a dialog box would pop up to allow me to select which page in the visio file to be imported. Is this a bug in framemaker or have I missed some step in the process of importing SVG file?

3. When importing some graphics/diagrams into an anchor frame, is there a way to make the imported graphics/diagrams automatically adjust its size to fit into the anchored frame area? If so, what are the steps?

TIA

BTW, I am just an engineer trying to document my work.

[mtorrenc]

The process I use is to create a PDF of the Visio diagram and import the PDF into FrameMaker by reference.  Multi-page Visio files just make it interesting on the configuration management/version control front, but you make a PDF of each individual page to be imported.

The only thing to be sure you do in Visio is size the page to the graphic before creating the PDF.  This has worked well for me with jobs with 500+ Visio graphics.

[Van Kurtz]

I never use Visio. If you can make a multi-page PDF from a multi-page Visio file, then you can import a page of the PDF file into FrameMaker by reference. It is NOT necessary to create a single PDF file for each page in the Visio file.

HOWEVER, you cannot import all the pages of the PDF file at once. You can import only one page at a time; however, you can import the PDF file more than once, selecting a different page each time. When you update the Visio file and then update the PDF file, the imports update automatically when you open the Frame file.

Furthermore, if you change the name of the PDF file and open the Frame file, FrameMaker prompts you only once for the location of the missing PDF file. If you had each page of the Visio file saved as a separate PDF file, then you would be prompted for  PDF file because there is no way for FrameMaker to know that the separate PDFs belong to the same Visio. This is one advantage to using a multi-page PDF.

[Guest]

I like the PDF method of importing. However, I am wondering whether I will loose any detail when the graphic is displayed on monitor (as opposed to printed form). I have heard that SVG is better when viewed on display. Is this true?

[mtorrenc]

I haven't had any issues with the display. We output everything to PDF for

electronic delivery/display and embedded PDFs work well. I never compared

PDF/SVG, the PDFs worked well, so we never looked at using SVG.

[Russ Ward]

framethrower,

A PDF might be the most portable and reliable option for rendering; however, I find PDF generation to be a bit cumbersome when there are many images to deal with. I use Visio frequently and have had good success using the WMF format. All vector qualities of the original image are maintained and it looks OK on the screen. Naturally, it prints perfectly. I also like how the final image size automatically adjusts to the exact dimensions of the artwork, regardless of the original canvas size. Some caveats:

- WMF is Windows only

- Fonts are not embedded. If you distribute the image in any format besides a PDF, the target computer will need to have any fonts that you used.

Otherwise, I'd suggest it as an option. I have a macro set up in Visio that saves a copy of an image as WMF, so I can refresh my WMF version with a click. I've pasted the basic macro text below. Note that this macro also saves a PNG version as well. It may be possible to adjust it to save a PDF version, I'm not sure. In any case, over the long haul, it saves much time over doing the manual Save As.

Russ

Sub Save_as_PNG_WMF()

    Dim path As String

    Dim newpath As String

    Dim length As Integer        ' Get the document path    path = Application.ActiveWindow.Document.FullName        ' get the length of the path, to be used for truncation    length = Len(path)        ' change our filename to have a wmf extension    newpath = Left(path, length - 4)    newpath = newpath + ".wmf"

    ' save the wmf

    Application.ActiveWindow.Page.Export newpath    ' do the same for png
   
    newpath = Left(path, length - 4)
    newpath = newpath + ".png"
    Application.ActiveWindow.Page.Export newpath
End Sub

[Guest]

Hi Russ,

Thanks for the info. I've just tried WMF and I liked the fact the diagram was auto-fitted into the anchor frame. However, it does not let me choose which visio page to import. I have many visio diagrams, each on a visio page, in one single visio file. With PDF, framemaker will let me choose the visio page to import. This is a good feature as I don't have to have too many visio files around. I will try to find out how the vector graphics are handled when importing via PDF format. I would appreciate hearing from anyone with prior experience in importing visio diagram into framemaker.

[ysadler]

This is a roundabout method, but it works reasonably well. My engineer pastes

his Visio drawings into a Word document. I copy the drawing from Word and paste it into a Photoshop document. Then I save that as a tif and import.

The resolution is still not that great, but it's been acceptable, as long as I don't have to take the drawing too big.

[Van Kurtz]

ysadler,

I would avoid copying anything, including bitmaps created in Photoshop, from a Word document. The result is the screen preview, not the underlying image. I suggest trying to get the engineer to save the Visio drawing as eps or PDF. Then you can open the eps or PDF in Photoshop and set the resolution to anything you want.

Van

[Guest]

Hi Van,

You mentioned saving the visio diagram into EPS format. I have visio 2003, and was unable to do so.

Could you give the step to do so?

TIA

[Arnis Gubins]

The Visio eps export filters are really lousy and I wouldn't recommend using them. Go the PDF route into FM for the best quality.

[Van Kurtz]

Framethrower,

I do not use Visio, so was just guessing that one could save as eps. But as Arnis points out, PDF is just as good as eps, so use PDF.

Van