Distributing Shapes

Visio tip:

Creating an organisation chart in Visio using Excel data

A quick and easy way to create an organisation chart by importing names and titles stored in list format in an Excel spreadsheet into Visio.

1. Select File, New, Organization Chart.

2. Start the Organization Chart Wizard.

3. At the first step of the wizard, select the 'Information that I enter using the wizard' option, and click Next.

4. At the second step of the wizard, select Excel, then type the name of the file.

5. Select Browse to choose the location you wish to save the file to, click Save, and then click Next.

6. Click OK - a Microsoft Office Excel workbook will open with column headings already entered for you.

7. Replace the sample text with the text you wish to appear in your organisation chart. By holding your cursor over each column heading, you should be able to view data entry tips.

8. Save the Excel file, then close Excel.

9. Proceed through the remaining steps in the wizard to create your organization chart from the data you entered into the Excel file.

Visio's organisation chart wizard will also recognise the following file formats (besides .xls):

- Microsoft Exchange Server Directory (Microsoft Exchange e-mail Address Book).

- Tab- or Comma-delimited text (.txt).

- Org Plus (.txt).

- Microsoft Office Access (.mdb) or any other file format for a database created in an Open Database Connectivity (ODBC)-compliant database application.

View all Visio hints and tips