This is highly desirable since it will simplify your work and reduce file
size. Go to File Shapes My Shapes and open the Favorites stencil. Then
drag one of your shapes from the drawing to the Favorites stencil. This
creates a new master that can be reused.

--
Mark Nelson
Microsoft Corporation

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

"JackNYC" wrote in message
...

Visio Wizards,
I apologize in advance if this is a FAQ, but I can't seem to find a clear
answer in the online sources.

I'm working on a large Visio document where I frequently reuse the same
user-defined element over and over again (frequently, it's text--not sure if
I should be referring to this as a shape so I'll stick with the more generic
element for now) . Currently, I'm doing this by copying and pasting, and
it's a nightmare (yes, the updates are more than I understand can be updated
with search and replace).

Is it possible to make this frequently reused elements into an object (a
shape?) that has a "master instance" that would enable me to only have to do
updates in one place thereby creating a global change?

Thanks so much for any help--I really appreciate it.

Jack