sketch lines

John, you hit in on the head. Its simply to give the client the perception
of the drawings not being finalized as a cadd drawing typically does, but
more of a sketch. Nothing changes in the drawing except the "line
type/quality", but the client feels its still preliminary/conceptual in
nature as oppsoed to hard line. Again the best analogy I can give is
google's sketchup. You can draw anything, then apply a style and I can
create a 3d model and submit it in various "stages" of compeltion, just by
changing the line style. I tried importing the visio drawing as a jpg and
recreating it, but its added work that I was hoping would be unnecessary.
Alternately, importing it as a jpg into photoshop allows certain filters to
be applied, but not quite the results i'm looking for. Look forward to
hearing back on what you find from Cindy

"John Marshall, MVP" wrote:

I understand what he is looking for, but Visio is missing a random property
in the line patterns. Create a line pattern in Visio and it is nice, neat,
clean and organized. Larry is looking for a way to change the line pattern
so that it has the random pattern of a hand drawn line. There have been
times when I have created preliminary sketches and the client has considered
them as final drawings and has wasted time concentrating on the details of
the line measurements rather than the overall layout of the drawing. Being
able to switch the line pattern to a hand drawn one would deemphasis the
details and make the overall drawing more important.

This line pattern would be handy in being able to differentiated finished
portions of a drawing from the preliminary portion. For now I use colour to
indicate portions that are to be highlighted (green) or ignored (red).

Back in the old days, Cindy L created something, I'll see if I can dig it
out of the archives.

Another thing to consider is to change the text font, there are many that
look like they are hand drawn.

John... Visio MVP

Need stencils or ideas? http://visio.mvps.org/3rdparty.htm
Need VBA examples? http://visio.mvps.org/VBA.htm
Visio Wishlist http://visio.mvps.org/wish_list.htm
"John Goldsmith" wrote in message
...
Hi Larry,

As we're having trouble understanding, could you point to a web link as an
example of what you're after?

Alas, I'm not an architect

Best regards

John


John Goldsmith
www.visualSignals.typepad.co.uk
www.visualSignals.co.uk

"larry" wrote in message
...
John, well this is a nice find...but for other things. Was just
basically
hoping I could select a line type with a sketchy quality and point to the
drawing or items in the drawing and have them take that quality.
Almost
like a style of drawing - preliminary/hand versus computer hard lined.

Larry

"John Goldsmith" wrote:

Hello Larry,

Do you mean something like View / Toolbars / Ink ?

Best regards

John


John Goldsmith
www.visualSignals.typepad.co.uk
www.visualSignals.co.uk

"larry" wrote in message
...
I guess I'm still not being clear. Well aare of the pattern menu, but
there
is no"sketchy" line type. Basically, more of a freehand looking line
drawn
with a marker. If you were an architect, the sort of line work you do
on
yellow trace. If your familiar with googles sketchup, you would know
exactly
waht I mean.



"Paul Herber" wrote:

ah, select the line and then menu Format - Line
then select the pattern you require.


On Sat, 19 Jan 2008 16:53:02 -0800, larry
wrote:

not exactly what I mean. I'm talking about a line type tool that
looks
"sketchy". Sort of like drawing with a marker instead of hardlines.
Makes
it look more preliminary/conceptual.

Larry

"Paul Herber" wrote:

On Sat, 19 Jan 2008 16:18:00 -0800, larry
wrote:

any way to get a "sketch" line to make your presentation look for
preliminary

There are a couple of freehand tools on the drawing toolbar.


--
Regards, Paul Herber, Sandrila Ltd.
Visio Utilities http://www.visio-utilities.sandrila.co.uk/

Hello John and Larry,

Well further to John's answer I've been trying out some custom line patterns
with some success. I used Expression Design to create a line, which I then
applied a 'pencil-like' line pattern to and then exported it as a 100 x 10
pixel jpg. You can then add create a new line pattern in Visio, import the
image into the line pattern and then apply to the lines required. 10px high
is probably a bit too fat but you could play around with the line pattern
image to get what you're after.

I'll attach a screen shot (only for Outlook Express / Mail users I'm afraid)
that shows the effect.

For details on creating your own custom line patterns check out this link:

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/lib...ffice.10).aspx

Hope that helps.

Best regards

John


John Goldsmith
www.visualSignals.typepad.co.uk
www.visualSignals.co.uk



"John Marshall, MVP" wrote in message
...
I understand what he is looking for, but Visio is missing a random property
in the line patterns. Create a line pattern in Visio and it is nice, neat,
clean and organized. Larry is looking for a way to change the line pattern
so that it has the random pattern of a hand drawn line. There have been
times when I have created preliminary sketches and the client has
considered
them as final drawings and has wasted time concentrating on the details of
the line measurements rather than the overall layout of the drawing. Being
able to switch the line pattern to a hand drawn one would deemphasis the
details and make the overall drawing more important.

This line pattern would be handy in being able to differentiated finished
portions of a drawing from the preliminary portion. For now I use colour
to
indicate portions that are to be highlighted (green) or ignored (red).

Back in the old days, Cindy L created something, I'll see if I can dig it
out of the archives.

Another thing to consider is to change the text font, there are many that
look like they are hand drawn.

John... Visio MVP

Need stencils or ideas? http://visio.mvps.org/3rdparty.htm
Need VBA examples? http://visio.mvps.org/VBA.htm
Visio Wishlist http://visio.mvps.org/wish_list.htm
"John Goldsmith" wrote in message
...
Hi Larry,

As we're having trouble understanding, could you point to a web link as
an
example of what you're after?

Alas, I'm not an architect

Best regards

John


John Goldsmith
www.visualSignals.typepad.co.uk
www.visualSignals.co.uk

"larry" wrote in message
...
John, well this is a nice find...but for other things. Was just
basically
hoping I could select a line type with a sketchy quality and point to
the
drawing or items in the drawing and have them take that quality.
Almost
like a style of drawing - preliminary/hand versus computer hard lined.

Larry

"John Goldsmith" wrote:

Hello Larry,

Do you mean something like View / Toolbars / Ink ?

Best regards

John


John Goldsmith
www.visualSignals.typepad.co.uk
www.visualSignals.co.uk

"larry" wrote in message
...
I guess I'm still not being clear. Well aare of the pattern menu, but
there
is no"sketchy" line type. Basically, more of a freehand looking line
drawn
with a marker. If you were an architect, the sort of line work you
do
on
yellow trace. If your familiar with googles sketchup, you would know
exactly
waht I mean.



"Paul Herber" wrote:

ah, select the line and then menu Format - Line
then select the pattern you require.


On Sat, 19 Jan 2008 16:53:02 -0800, larry
wrote:

not exactly what I mean. I'm talking about a line type tool that
looks
"sketchy". Sort of like drawing with a marker instead of
hardlines.
Makes
it look more preliminary/conceptual.

Larry

"Paul Herber" wrote:

On Sat, 19 Jan 2008 16:18:00 -0800, larry
wrote:

any way to get a "sketch" line to make your presentation look
for
preliminary

There are a couple of freehand tools on the drawing toolbar.


--
Regards, Paul Herber, Sandrila Ltd.
Visio Utilities http://www.visio-utilities.sandrila.co.uk/

That looks good. You seem to have made it long enough that the repeating of
the pattern is not noticable. So that may be the secret to creating an
apparently random pattern.

I could not find Cindy's stencil in my archive (it is probably there, I just
can not remember the corect name), I've dropped Cindy a message to see if
she still has a copy. Since this was before Microsoft, I'm hoping she is as
much of a pack rat for Visio files as I.

John... Visio MVP

Need stencils or ideas? http://visio.mvps.org/3rdparty.htm
Need VBA examples? http://visio.mvps.org/VBA.htm
Visio Wishlist http://visio.mvps.org/wish_list.htm
"John Goldsmith" wrote in message
...
Hello John and Larry,

Well further to John's answer I've been trying out some custom line
patterns with some success. I used Expression Design to create a line,
which I then applied a 'pencil-like' line pattern to and then exported it
as a 100 x 10 pixel jpg. You can then add create a new line pattern in
Visio, import the image into the line pattern and then apply to the lines
required. 10px high is probably a bit too fat but you could play around
with the line pattern image to get what you're after.

I'll attach a screen shot (only for Outlook Express / Mail users I'm
afraid) that shows the effect.

For details on creating your own custom line patterns check out this link:

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/lib...ffice.10).aspx

Hope that helps.

Best regards

John


John Goldsmith
www.visualSignals.typepad.co.uk
www.visualSignals.co.uk



"John Marshall, MVP" wrote in message
...
I understand what he is looking for, but Visio is missing a random
property
in the line patterns. Create a line pattern in Visio and it is nice,
neat,
clean and organized. Larry is looking for a way to change the line
pattern
so that it has the random pattern of a hand drawn line. There have been
times when I have created preliminary sketches and the client has
considered
them as final drawings and has wasted time concentrating on the details
of
the line measurements rather than the overall layout of the drawing.
Being
able to switch the line pattern to a hand drawn one would deemphasis the
details and make the overall drawing more important.

This line pattern would be handy in being able to differentiated finished
portions of a drawing from the preliminary portion. For now I use colour
to
indicate portions that are to be highlighted (green) or ignored (red).

Back in the old days, Cindy L created something, I'll see if I can dig it
out of the archives.

Another thing to consider is to change the text font, there are many that
look like they are hand drawn.

John... Visio MVP

Need stencils or ideas? http://visio.mvps.org/3rdparty.htm
Need VBA examples? http://visio.mvps.org/VBA.htm
Visio Wishlist http://visio.mvps.org/wish_list.htm
"John Goldsmith" wrote in
message
...
Hi Larry,

As we're having trouble understanding, could you point to a web link as
an
example of what you're after?

Alas, I'm not an architect

Best regards

John


John Goldsmith
www.visualSignals.typepad.co.uk
www.visualSignals.co.uk

"larry" wrote in message
...
John, well this is a nice find...but for other things. Was just
basically
hoping I could select a line type with a sketchy quality and point to
the
drawing or items in the drawing and have them take that quality.
Almost
like a style of drawing - preliminary/hand versus computer hard lined.

Larry

"John Goldsmith" wrote:

Hello Larry,

Do you mean something like View / Toolbars / Ink ?

Best regards

John


John Goldsmith
www.visualSignals.typepad.co.uk
www.visualSignals.co.uk

"larry" wrote in message
...
I guess I'm still not being clear. Well aare of the pattern menu,
but
there
is no"sketchy" line type. Basically, more of a freehand looking
line
drawn
with a marker. If you were an architect, the sort of line work you
do
on
yellow trace. If your familiar with googles sketchup, you would
know
exactly
waht I mean.



"Paul Herber" wrote:

ah, select the line and then menu Format - Line
then select the pattern you require.


On Sat, 19 Jan 2008 16:53:02 -0800, larry
wrote:

not exactly what I mean. I'm talking about a line type tool that
looks
"sketchy". Sort of like drawing with a marker instead of
hardlines.
Makes
it look more preliminary/conceptual.

Larry

"Paul Herber" wrote:

On Sat, 19 Jan 2008 16:18:00 -0800, larry
wrote:

any way to get a "sketch" line to make your presentation look
for
preliminary

There are a couple of freehand tools on the drawing toolbar.


--
Regards, Paul Herber, Sandrila Ltd.
Visio Utilities
http://www.visio-utilities.sandrila.co.uk/

John,

that's it. can you also attach the jpg you created to your resposne. I
couoldn't follow the directions in the link as it didn't see a reference to
usign a jpg, but I've printed it out and will look again. But your
instructions seem clear. From an archtiects perspective, I've given so many
recs toVisio in the past which they haven't used, it probably doesn't pay to
submit this one, but it still would sure be nice to just apply this style to
any drawing.

Larry

"John Goldsmith" wrote:

Hello John and Larry,

Well further to John's answer I've been trying out some custom line patterns
with some success. I used Expression Design to create a line, which I then
applied a 'pencil-like' line pattern to and then exported it as a 100 x 10
pixel jpg. You can then add create a new line pattern in Visio, import the
image into the line pattern and then apply to the lines required. 10px high
is probably a bit too fat but you could play around with the line pattern
image to get what you're after.

I'll attach a screen shot (only for Outlook Express / Mail users I'm afraid)
that shows the effect.

For details on creating your own custom line patterns check out this link:

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/lib...ffice.10).aspx

Hope that helps.

Best regards

John


John Goldsmith
www.visualSignals.typepad.co.uk
www.visualSignals.co.uk



"John Marshall, MVP" wrote in message
...
I understand what he is looking for, but Visio is missing a random property
in the line patterns. Create a line pattern in Visio and it is nice, neat,
clean and organized. Larry is looking for a way to change the line pattern
so that it has the random pattern of a hand drawn line. There have been
times when I have created preliminary sketches and the client has
considered
them as final drawings and has wasted time concentrating on the details of
the line measurements rather than the overall layout of the drawing. Being
able to switch the line pattern to a hand drawn one would deemphasis the
details and make the overall drawing more important.

This line pattern would be handy in being able to differentiated finished
portions of a drawing from the preliminary portion. For now I use colour
to
indicate portions that are to be highlighted (green) or ignored (red).

Back in the old days, Cindy L created something, I'll see if I can dig it
out of the archives.

Another thing to consider is to change the text font, there are many that
look like they are hand drawn.

John... Visio MVP

Need stencils or ideas? http://visio.mvps.org/3rdparty.htm
Need VBA examples? http://visio.mvps.org/VBA.htm
Visio Wishlist http://visio.mvps.org/wish_list.htm
"John Goldsmith" wrote in message
...
Hi Larry,

As we're having trouble understanding, could you point to a web link as
an
example of what you're after?

Alas, I'm not an architect

Best regards

John


John Goldsmith
www.visualSignals.typepad.co.uk
www.visualSignals.co.uk

"larry" wrote in message
...
John, well this is a nice find...but for other things. Was just
basically
hoping I could select a line type with a sketchy quality and point to
the
drawing or items in the drawing and have them take that quality.
Almost
like a style of drawing - preliminary/hand versus computer hard lined.

Larry

"John Goldsmith" wrote:

Hello Larry,

Do you mean something like View / Toolbars / Ink ?

Best regards

John


John Goldsmith
www.visualSignals.typepad.co.uk
www.visualSignals.co.uk

"larry" wrote in message
...
I guess I'm still not being clear. Well aare of the pattern menu, but
there
is no"sketchy" line type. Basically, more of a freehand looking line
drawn
with a marker. If you were an architect, the sort of line work you
do
on
yellow trace. If your familiar with googles sketchup, you would know
exactly
waht I mean.



"Paul Herber" wrote:

ah, select the line and then menu Format - Line
then select the pattern you require.


On Sat, 19 Jan 2008 16:53:02 -0800, larry
wrote:

not exactly what I mean. I'm talking about a line type tool that
looks
"sketchy". Sort of like drawing with a marker instead of
hardlines.
Makes
it look more preliminary/conceptual.

Larry

"Paul Herber" wrote:

On Sat, 19 Jan 2008 16:18:00 -0800, larry
wrote:

any way to get a "sketch" line to make your presentation look
for
preliminary

There are a couple of freehand tools on the drawing toolbar.


--
Regards, Paul Herber, Sandrila Ltd.
Visio Utilities http://www.visio-utilities.sandrila.co.uk/

Hello Larry,

Here's the jpg, and for anyone else who's interested I think I'll write this
up as a blog post to show the steps in details, but basically it's as
follows:

1) Click View / Drawing Explorer Window

2) Right click on the Line pattern folder and add a new line pattern and
name it 'Pencil'

3) In the dialog under the 'Behavior' section click on the continous arch
button (3rd from left) and check the 'Scaled' option.

4) Click OK and then right click the new 'Pencil' pattern that appears in
the explorer and select 'Edit Pattern Shape'

5) Insert / Picture / From file... and select the jpg

6) Close the edit window clicking 'Yes' to the Update message box

7) Now select you lines, and select Format / Line... / Pattern drop down /
'Pencil'

Best regards

John


John Goldsmith
www.visualSignals.typepad.co.uk
www.visualSignals.co.uk

"larry" wrote in message
...
John,

that's it. can you also attach the jpg you created to your resposne. I
couoldn't follow the directions in the link as it didn't see a reference
to
usign a jpg, but I've printed it out and will look again. But your
instructions seem clear. From an archtiects perspective, I've given so
many
recs toVisio in the past which they haven't used, it probably doesn't pay
to
submit this one, but it still would sure be nice to just apply this style
to
any drawing.

Larry

"John Goldsmith" wrote:

Hello John and Larry,

Well further to John's answer I've been trying out some custom line
patterns
with some success. I used Expression Design to create a line, which I
then
applied a 'pencil-like' line pattern to and then exported it as a 100 x
10
pixel jpg. You can then add create a new line pattern in Visio, import
the
image into the line pattern and then apply to the lines required. 10px
high
is probably a bit too fat but you could play around with the line pattern
image to get what you're after.

I'll attach a screen shot (only for Outlook Express / Mail users I'm
afraid)
that shows the effect.

For details on creating your own custom line patterns check out this
link:

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/lib...ffice.10).aspx

Hope that helps.

Best regards

John


John Goldsmith
www.visualSignals.typepad.co.uk
www.visualSignals.co.uk



"John Marshall, MVP" wrote in message
...
I understand what he is looking for, but Visio is missing a random
property
in the line patterns. Create a line pattern in Visio and it is nice,
neat,
clean and organized. Larry is looking for a way to change the line
pattern
so that it has the random pattern of a hand drawn line. There have been
times when I have created preliminary sketches and the client has
considered
them as final drawings and has wasted time concentrating on the details
of
the line measurements rather than the overall layout of the drawing.
Being
able to switch the line pattern to a hand drawn one would deemphasis
the
details and make the overall drawing more important.

This line pattern would be handy in being able to differentiated
finished
portions of a drawing from the preliminary portion. For now I use
colour
to
indicate portions that are to be highlighted (green) or ignored (red).

Back in the old days, Cindy L created something, I'll see if I can dig
it
out of the archives.

Another thing to consider is to change the text font, there are many
that
look like they are hand drawn.

John... Visio MVP

Need stencils or ideas? http://visio.mvps.org/3rdparty.htm
Need VBA examples? http://visio.mvps.org/VBA.htm
Visio Wishlist http://visio.mvps.org/wish_list.htm
"John Goldsmith" wrote in
message
...
Hi Larry,

As we're having trouble understanding, could you point to a web link
as
an
example of what you're after?

Alas, I'm not an architect

Best regards

John


John Goldsmith
www.visualSignals.typepad.co.uk
www.visualSignals.co.uk

"larry" wrote in message
...
John, well this is a nice find...but for other things. Was just
basically
hoping I could select a line type with a sketchy quality and point to
the
drawing or items in the drawing and have them take that quality.
Almost
like a style of drawing - preliminary/hand versus computer hard
lined.

Larry

"John Goldsmith" wrote:

Hello Larry,

Do you mean something like View / Toolbars / Ink ?

Best regards

John


John Goldsmith
www.visualSignals.typepad.co.uk
www.visualSignals.co.uk

"larry" wrote in message
...
I guess I'm still not being clear. Well aare of the pattern menu,
but
there
is no"sketchy" line type. Basically, more of a freehand looking
line
drawn
with a marker. If you were an architect, the sort of line work
you
do
on
yellow trace. If your familiar with googles sketchup, you would
know
exactly
waht I mean.



"Paul Herber" wrote:

ah, select the line and then menu Format - Line
then select the pattern you require.


On Sat, 19 Jan 2008 16:53:02 -0800, larry
wrote:

not exactly what I mean. I'm talking about a line type tool
that
looks
"sketchy". Sort of like drawing with a marker instead of
hardlines.
Makes
it look more preliminary/conceptual.

Larry

"Paul Herber" wrote:

On Sat, 19 Jan 2008 16:18:00 -0800, larry
wrote:

any way to get a "sketch" line to make your presentation look
for
preliminary

There are a couple of freehand tools on the drawing toolbar.


--
Regards, Paul Herber, Sandrila Ltd.
Visio Utilities
http://www.visio-utilities.sandrila.co.uk/

Thanks John. I guess the ideal would be black shading on a transparent
background. It's an interesting effect anyway. I wonder what other uses it
might have?

Best regards

John


John Goldsmith
www.visualSignals.typepad.co.uk
www.visualSignals.co.uk

"John Marshall, MVP" wrote in message
...
That looks good. You seem to have made it long enough that the repeating
of the pattern is not noticable. So that may be the secret to creating an
apparently random pattern.

I could not find Cindy's stencil in my archive (it is probably there, I
just can not remember the corect name), I've dropped Cindy a message to
see if she still has a copy. Since this was before Microsoft, I'm hoping
she is as much of a pack rat for Visio files as I.

John... Visio MVP

Need stencils or ideas? http://visio.mvps.org/3rdparty.htm
Need VBA examples? http://visio.mvps.org/VBA.htm
Visio Wishlist http://visio.mvps.org/wish_list.htm
"John Goldsmith" wrote in message
...
Hello John and Larry,

Well further to John's answer I've been trying out some custom line
patterns with some success. I used Expression Design to create a line,
which I then applied a 'pencil-like' line pattern to and then exported it
as a 100 x 10 pixel jpg. You can then add create a new line pattern in
Visio, import the image into the line pattern and then apply to the lines
required. 10px high is probably a bit too fat but you could play around
with the line pattern image to get what you're after.

I'll attach a screen shot (only for Outlook Express / Mail users I'm
afraid) that shows the effect.

For details on creating your own custom line patterns check out this
link:

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/lib...ffice.10).aspx

Hope that helps.

Best regards

John


John Goldsmith
www.visualSignals.typepad.co.uk
www.visualSignals.co.uk



"John Marshall, MVP" wrote in message
...
I understand what he is looking for, but Visio is missing a random
property
in the line patterns. Create a line pattern in Visio and it is nice,
neat,
clean and organized. Larry is looking for a way to change the line
pattern
so that it has the random pattern of a hand drawn line. There have been
times when I have created preliminary sketches and the client has
considered
them as final drawings and has wasted time concentrating on the details
of
the line measurements rather than the overall layout of the drawing.
Being
able to switch the line pattern to a hand drawn one would deemphasis the
details and make the overall drawing more important.

This line pattern would be handy in being able to differentiated
finished
portions of a drawing from the preliminary portion. For now I use colour
to
indicate portions that are to be highlighted (green) or ignored (red).

Back in the old days, Cindy L created something, I'll see if I can dig
it
out of the archives.

Another thing to consider is to change the text font, there are many
that
look like they are hand drawn.

John... Visio MVP

Need stencils or ideas? http://visio.mvps.org/3rdparty.htm
Need VBA examples? http://visio.mvps.org/VBA.htm
Visio Wishlist http://visio.mvps.org/wish_list.htm
"John Goldsmith" wrote in
message
...
Hi Larry,

As we're having trouble understanding, could you point to a web link as
an
example of what you're after?

Alas, I'm not an architect

Best regards

John


John Goldsmith
www.visualSignals.typepad.co.uk
www.visualSignals.co.uk

"larry" wrote in message
...
John, well this is a nice find...but for other things. Was just
basically
hoping I could select a line type with a sketchy quality and point to
the
drawing or items in the drawing and have them take that quality.
Almost
like a style of drawing - preliminary/hand versus computer hard lined.

Larry

"John Goldsmith" wrote:

Hello Larry,

Do you mean something like View / Toolbars / Ink ?

Best regards

John


John Goldsmith
www.visualSignals.typepad.co.uk
www.visualSignals.co.uk

"larry" wrote in message
...
I guess I'm still not being clear. Well aare of the pattern menu,
but
there
is no"sketchy" line type. Basically, more of a freehand looking
line
drawn
with a marker. If you were an architect, the sort of line work you
do
on
yellow trace. If your familiar with googles sketchup, you would
know
exactly
waht I mean.



"Paul Herber" wrote:

ah, select the line and then menu Format - Line
then select the pattern you require.


On Sat, 19 Jan 2008 16:53:02 -0800, larry
wrote:

not exactly what I mean. I'm talking about a line type tool that
looks
"sketchy". Sort of like drawing with a marker instead of
hardlines.
Makes
it look more preliminary/conceptual.

Larry

"Paul Herber" wrote:

On Sat, 19 Jan 2008 16:18:00 -0800, larry
wrote:

any way to get a "sketch" line to make your presentation look
for
preliminary

There are a couple of freehand tools on the drawing toolbar.


--
Regards, Paul Herber, Sandrila Ltd.
Visio Utilities http://www.visio-utilities.sandrila.co.uk/

When you create the blog, do not forget to mention the lack of frame
reference. There is no reference lines to indicate where a shape starts or
ends and no reference lines to indicate how the height of the shape
corresponds to the line width. For things like a Sine wave, you need to go
outside the box.

John... Visio MVP

Need stencils or ideas? http://visio.mvps.org/3rdparty.htm
Need VBA examples? http://visio.mvps.org/VBA.htm
Visio Wishlist http://visio.mvps.org/wish_list.htm
"John Goldsmith" wrote in message
...
Hello Larry,

Here's the jpg, and for anyone else who's interested I think I'll write
this up as a blog post to show the steps in details, but basically it's as
follows:

1) Click View / Drawing Explorer Window

2) Right click on the Line pattern folder and add a new line pattern and
name it 'Pencil'

3) In the dialog under the 'Behavior' section click on the continous arch
button (3rd from left) and check the 'Scaled' option.

4) Click OK and then right click the new 'Pencil' pattern that appears in
the explorer and select 'Edit Pattern Shape'

5) Insert / Picture / From file... and select the jpg

6) Close the edit window clicking 'Yes' to the Update message box

7) Now select you lines, and select Format / Line... / Pattern drop down /
'Pencil'

Best regards

John


John Goldsmith
www.visualSignals.typepad.co.uk
www.visualSignals.co.uk

"larry" wrote in message
...
John,

that's it. can you also attach the jpg you created to your resposne. I
couoldn't follow the directions in the link as it didn't see a reference
to
usign a jpg, but I've printed it out and will look again. But your
instructions seem clear. From an archtiects perspective, I've given so
many
recs toVisio in the past which they haven't used, it probably doesn't pay
to
submit this one, but it still would sure be nice to just apply this style
to
any drawing.

Larry

"John Goldsmith" wrote:

Hello John and Larry,

Well further to John's answer I've been trying out some custom line
patterns
with some success. I used Expression Design to create a line, which I
then
applied a 'pencil-like' line pattern to and then exported it as a 100 x
10
pixel jpg. You can then add create a new line pattern in Visio, import
the
image into the line pattern and then apply to the lines required. 10px
high
is probably a bit too fat but you could play around with the line
pattern
image to get what you're after.

I'll attach a screen shot (only for Outlook Express / Mail users I'm
afraid)
that shows the effect.

For details on creating your own custom line patterns check out this
link:

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/lib...ffice.10).aspx

Hope that helps.

Best regards

John


John Goldsmith
www.visualSignals.typepad.co.uk
www.visualSignals.co.uk



"John Marshall, MVP" wrote in message
...
I understand what he is looking for, but Visio is missing a random
property
in the line patterns. Create a line pattern in Visio and it is nice,
neat,
clean and organized. Larry is looking for a way to change the line
pattern
so that it has the random pattern of a hand drawn line. There have
been
times when I have created preliminary sketches and the client has
considered
them as final drawings and has wasted time concentrating on the
details of
the line measurements rather than the overall layout of the drawing.
Being
able to switch the line pattern to a hand drawn one would deemphasis
the
details and make the overall drawing more important.

This line pattern would be handy in being able to differentiated
finished
portions of a drawing from the preliminary portion. For now I use
colour
to
indicate portions that are to be highlighted (green) or ignored (red).

Back in the old days, Cindy L created something, I'll see if I can dig
it
out of the archives.

Another thing to consider is to change the text font, there are many
that
look like they are hand drawn.

John... Visio MVP

Need stencils or ideas? http://visio.mvps.org/3rdparty.htm
Need VBA examples? http://visio.mvps.org/VBA.htm
Visio Wishlist http://visio.mvps.org/wish_list.htm
"John Goldsmith" wrote in
message
...
Hi Larry,

As we're having trouble understanding, could you point to a web link
as
an
example of what you're after?

Alas, I'm not an architect

Best regards

John


John Goldsmith
www.visualSignals.typepad.co.uk
www.visualSignals.co.uk

"larry" wrote in message
...
John, well this is a nice find...but for other things. Was just
basically
hoping I could select a line type with a sketchy quality and point
to
the
drawing or items in the drawing and have them take that quality.
Almost
like a style of drawing - preliminary/hand versus computer hard
lined.

Larry

"John Goldsmith" wrote:

Hello Larry,

Do you mean something like View / Toolbars / Ink ?

Best regards

John


John Goldsmith
www.visualSignals.typepad.co.uk
www.visualSignals.co.uk

"larry" wrote in message
...
I guess I'm still not being clear. Well aare of the pattern menu,
but
there
is no"sketchy" line type. Basically, more of a freehand looking
line
drawn
with a marker. If you were an architect, the sort of line work
you
do
on
yellow trace. If your familiar with googles sketchup, you would
know
exactly
waht I mean.



"Paul Herber" wrote:

ah, select the line and then menu Format - Line
then select the pattern you require.


On Sat, 19 Jan 2008 16:53:02 -0800, larry
wrote:

not exactly what I mean. I'm talking about a line type tool
that
looks
"sketchy". Sort of like drawing with a marker instead of
hardlines.
Makes
it look more preliminary/conceptual.

Larry

"Paul Herber" wrote:

On Sat, 19 Jan 2008 16:18:00 -0800, larry
wrote:

any way to get a "sketch" line to make your presentation
look
for
preliminary

There are a couple of freehand tools on the drawing toolbar.


--
Regards, Paul Herber, Sandrila Ltd.
Visio Utilities http://www.visio-utilities.sandrila.co.uk/

well good news/bad news ;-) . Installed the line, works perfectly
except...... can not change thicknesses or patterns. and even worse, only
really works in a 1 to 1 scale. Most of my drawings are in a scale for plans
etc. Tried using it in a 1/2"-1'-0" scale adn it was hardly readable. Are
these easy fixes?

Larry

"John Goldsmith" wrote:

Hello Larry,

Here's the jpg, and for anyone else who's interested I think I'll write this
up as a blog post to show the steps in details, but basically it's as
follows:

1) Click View / Drawing Explorer Window

2) Right click on the Line pattern folder and add a new line pattern and
name it 'Pencil'

3) In the dialog under the 'Behavior' section click on the continous arch
button (3rd from left) and check the 'Scaled' option.

4) Click OK and then right click the new 'Pencil' pattern that appears in
the explorer and select 'Edit Pattern Shape'

5) Insert / Picture / From file... and select the jpg

6) Close the edit window clicking 'Yes' to the Update message box

7) Now select you lines, and select Format / Line... / Pattern drop down /
'Pencil'

Best regards

John


John Goldsmith
www.visualSignals.typepad.co.uk
www.visualSignals.co.uk

"larry" wrote in message
...
John,

that's it. can you also attach the jpg you created to your resposne. I
couoldn't follow the directions in the link as it didn't see a reference
to
usign a jpg, but I've printed it out and will look again. But your
instructions seem clear. From an archtiects perspective, I've given so
many
recs toVisio in the past which they haven't used, it probably doesn't pay
to
submit this one, but it still would sure be nice to just apply this style
to
any drawing.

Larry

"John Goldsmith" wrote:

Hello John and Larry,

Well further to John's answer I've been trying out some custom line
patterns
with some success. I used Expression Design to create a line, which I
then
applied a 'pencil-like' line pattern to and then exported it as a 100 x
10
pixel jpg. You can then add create a new line pattern in Visio, import
the
image into the line pattern and then apply to the lines required. 10px
high
is probably a bit too fat but you could play around with the line pattern
image to get what you're after.

I'll attach a screen shot (only for Outlook Express / Mail users I'm
afraid)
that shows the effect.

For details on creating your own custom line patterns check out this
link:

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/lib...ffice.10).aspx

Hope that helps.

Best regards

John


John Goldsmith
www.visualSignals.typepad.co.uk
www.visualSignals.co.uk



"John Marshall, MVP" wrote in message
...
I understand what he is looking for, but Visio is missing a random
property
in the line patterns. Create a line pattern in Visio and it is nice,
neat,
clean and organized. Larry is looking for a way to change the line
pattern
so that it has the random pattern of a hand drawn line. There have been
times when I have created preliminary sketches and the client has
considered
them as final drawings and has wasted time concentrating on the details
of
the line measurements rather than the overall layout of the drawing.
Being
able to switch the line pattern to a hand drawn one would deemphasis
the
details and make the overall drawing more important.

This line pattern would be handy in being able to differentiated
finished
portions of a drawing from the preliminary portion. For now I use
colour
to
indicate portions that are to be highlighted (green) or ignored (red).

Back in the old days, Cindy L created something, I'll see if I can dig
it
out of the archives.

Another thing to consider is to change the text font, there are many
that
look like they are hand drawn.

John... Visio MVP

Need stencils or ideas? http://visio.mvps.org/3rdparty.htm
Need VBA examples? http://visio.mvps.org/VBA.htm
Visio Wishlist http://visio.mvps.org/wish_list.htm
"John Goldsmith" wrote in
message
...
Hi Larry,

As we're having trouble understanding, could you point to a web link
as
an
example of what you're after?

Alas, I'm not an architect

Best regards

John


John Goldsmith
www.visualSignals.typepad.co.uk
www.visualSignals.co.uk

"larry" wrote in message
...
John, well this is a nice find...but for other things. Was just
basically
hoping I could select a line type with a sketchy quality and point to
the
drawing or items in the drawing and have them take that quality.
Almost
like a style of drawing - preliminary/hand versus computer hard
lined.

Larry

"John Goldsmith" wrote:

Hello Larry,

Do you mean something like View / Toolbars / Ink ?

Best regards

John


John Goldsmith
www.visualSignals.typepad.co.uk
www.visualSignals.co.uk

"larry" wrote in message
...
I guess I'm still not being clear. Well aare of the pattern menu,
but
there
is no"sketchy" line type. Basically, more of a freehand looking
line
drawn
with a marker. If you were an architect, the sort of line work
you
do
on
yellow trace. If your familiar with googles sketchup, you would
know
exactly
waht I mean.



"Paul Herber" wrote:

ah, select the line and then menu Format - Line
then select the pattern you require.


On Sat, 19 Jan 2008 16:53:02 -0800, larry
wrote:

not exactly what I mean. I'm talking about a line type tool
that
looks
"sketchy". Sort of like drawing with a marker instead of
hardlines.
Makes
it look more preliminary/conceptual.

Larry

"Paul Herber" wrote:

On Sat, 19 Jan 2008 16:18:00 -0800, larry
wrote:

any way to get a "sketch" line to make your presentation look
for
preliminary

There are a couple of freehand tools on the drawing toolbar.


--
Regards, Paul Herber, Sandrila Ltd.
Visio Utilities
http://www.visio-utilities.sandrila.co.uk/

Here a video on
Google Sketchup Pro - Layout
see "What is Layout"
http://sketchup.google.com/gsu6vtvideos.html

"John Goldsmith" wrote:

Hi Larry,

As we're having trouble understanding, could you point to a web link as an
example of what you're after?

Alas, I'm not an architect

Best regards

John


John Goldsmith
www.visualSignals.typepad.co.uk
www.visualSignals.co.uk

"larry" wrote in message
...
John, well this is a nice find...but for other things. Was just
basically
hoping I could select a line type with a sketchy quality and point to the
drawing or items in the drawing and have them take that quality. Almost
like a style of drawing - preliminary/hand versus computer hard lined.

Larry

"John Goldsmith" wrote:

Hello Larry,

Do you mean something like View / Toolbars / Ink ?

Best regards

John


John Goldsmith
www.visualSignals.typepad.co.uk
www.visualSignals.co.uk

"larry" wrote in message
...
I guess I'm still not being clear. Well aare of the pattern menu, but
there
is no"sketchy" line type. Basically, more of a freehand looking line
drawn
with a marker. If you were an architect, the sort of line work you do
on
yellow trace. If your familiar with googles sketchup, you would know
exactly
waht I mean.



"Paul Herber" wrote:

ah, select the line and then menu Format - Line
then select the pattern you require.


On Sat, 19 Jan 2008 16:53:02 -0800, larry
wrote:

not exactly what I mean. I'm talking about a line type tool that
looks
"sketchy". Sort of like drawing with a marker instead of hardlines.
Makes
it look more preliminary/conceptual.

Larry

"Paul Herber" wrote:

On Sat, 19 Jan 2008 16:18:00 -0800, larry
wrote:

any way to get a "sketch" line to make your presentation look for
preliminary

There are a couple of freehand tools on the drawing toolbar.


--
Regards, Paul Herber, Sandrila Ltd.
Visio Utilities http://www.visio-utilities.sandrila.co.uk/

Thanks John, good point. Will do.

Best regards

John


John Goldsmith
www.visualSignals.typepad.co.uk
www.visualSignals.co.uk

"John Marshall, MVP" wrote in message
...
When you create the blog, do not forget to mention the lack of frame
reference. There is no reference lines to indicate where a shape starts or
ends and no reference lines to indicate how the height of the shape
corresponds to the line width. For things like a Sine wave, you need to go
outside the box.

John... Visio MVP

Need stencils or ideas? http://visio.mvps.org/3rdparty.htm
Need VBA examples? http://visio.mvps.org/VBA.htm
Visio Wishlist http://visio.mvps.org/wish_list.htm
"John Goldsmith" wrote in message
...
Hello Larry,

Here's the jpg, and for anyone else who's interested I think I'll write
this up as a blog post to show the steps in details, but basically it's
as follows:

1) Click View / Drawing Explorer Window

2) Right click on the Line pattern folder and add a new line pattern and
name it 'Pencil'

3) In the dialog under the 'Behavior' section click on the continous arch
button (3rd from left) and check the 'Scaled' option.

4) Click OK and then right click the new 'Pencil' pattern that appears in
the explorer and select 'Edit Pattern Shape'

5) Insert / Picture / From file... and select the jpg

6) Close the edit window clicking 'Yes' to the Update message box

7) Now select you lines, and select Format / Line... / Pattern drop down
/ 'Pencil'

Best regards

John


John Goldsmith
www.visualSignals.typepad.co.uk
www.visualSignals.co.uk

"larry" wrote in message
...
John,

that's it. can you also attach the jpg you created to your resposne. I
couoldn't follow the directions in the link as it didn't see a reference
to
usign a jpg, but I've printed it out and will look again. But your
instructions seem clear. From an archtiects perspective, I've given so
many
recs toVisio in the past which they haven't used, it probably doesn't
pay to
submit this one, but it still would sure be nice to just apply this
style to
any drawing.

Larry

"John Goldsmith" wrote:

Hello John and Larry,

Well further to John's answer I've been trying out some custom line
patterns
with some success. I used Expression Design to create a line, which I
then
applied a 'pencil-like' line pattern to and then exported it as a 100 x
10
pixel jpg. You can then add create a new line pattern in Visio, import
the
image into the line pattern and then apply to the lines required. 10px
high
is probably a bit too fat but you could play around with the line
pattern
image to get what you're after.

I'll attach a screen shot (only for Outlook Express / Mail users I'm
afraid)
that shows the effect.

For details on creating your own custom line patterns check out this
link:

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/lib...ffice.10).aspx

Hope that helps.

Best regards

John


John Goldsmith
www.visualSignals.typepad.co.uk
www.visualSignals.co.uk



"John Marshall, MVP" wrote in message
...
I understand what he is looking for, but Visio is missing a random
property
in the line patterns. Create a line pattern in Visio and it is nice,
neat,
clean and organized. Larry is looking for a way to change the line
pattern
so that it has the random pattern of a hand drawn line. There have
been
times when I have created preliminary sketches and the client has
considered
them as final drawings and has wasted time concentrating on the
details of
the line measurements rather than the overall layout of the drawing.
Being
able to switch the line pattern to a hand drawn one would deemphasis
the
details and make the overall drawing more important.

This line pattern would be handy in being able to differentiated
finished
portions of a drawing from the preliminary portion. For now I use
colour
to
indicate portions that are to be highlighted (green) or ignored
(red).

Back in the old days, Cindy L created something, I'll see if I can
dig it
out of the archives.

Another thing to consider is to change the text font, there are many
that
look like they are hand drawn.

John... Visio MVP

Need stencils or ideas? http://visio.mvps.org/3rdparty.htm
Need VBA examples? http://visio.mvps.org/VBA.htm
Visio Wishlist http://visio.mvps.org/wish_list.htm
"John Goldsmith" wrote in
message
...
Hi Larry,

As we're having trouble understanding, could you point to a web link
as
an
example of what you're after?

Alas, I'm not an architect

Best regards

John


John Goldsmith
www.visualSignals.typepad.co.uk
www.visualSignals.co.uk

"larry" wrote in message
...
John, well this is a nice find...but for other things. Was just
basically
hoping I could select a line type with a sketchy quality and point
to
the
drawing or items in the drawing and have them take that quality.
Almost
like a style of drawing - preliminary/hand versus computer hard
lined.

Larry

"John Goldsmith" wrote:

Hello Larry,

Do you mean something like View / Toolbars / Ink ?

Best regards

John


John Goldsmith
www.visualSignals.typepad.co.uk
www.visualSignals.co.uk

"larry" wrote in message
...
I guess I'm still not being clear. Well aare of the pattern
menu, but
there
is no"sketchy" line type. Basically, more of a freehand looking
line
drawn
with a marker. If you were an architect, the sort of line work
you
do
on
yellow trace. If your familiar with googles sketchup, you would
know
exactly
waht I mean.



"Paul Herber" wrote:

ah, select the line and then menu Format - Line
then select the pattern you require.


On Sat, 19 Jan 2008 16:53:02 -0800, larry
wrote:

not exactly what I mean. I'm talking about a line type tool
that
looks
"sketchy". Sort of like drawing with a marker instead of
hardlines.
Makes
it look more preliminary/conceptual.

Larry

"Paul Herber" wrote:

On Sat, 19 Jan 2008 16:18:00 -0800, larry
wrote:

any way to get a "sketch" line to make your presentation
look
for
preliminary

There are a couple of freehand tools on the drawing toolbar.


--
Regards, Paul Herber, Sandrila Ltd.
Visio Utilities http://www.visio-utilities.sandrila.co.uk/