Line, Fill and Text Properties in Visio 2003

All shapes in Visio have certain common properties such as Line properties, Fill properties and Text properties. You can change the format of the text, edit the color and thickness of the border surrounding the shape and fill the shape with a pattern and color of your choice by modifying these properties. These properties can be viewed and modified using the context menu of the shape.

To view or modify these properties:

1. Right-click a shape within the drawing.
2. This displays a context menu listing all the options to work with the selected shape.
3. Select Format from the context menu.
4. Another menu with the format options appears on the right. Using this menu, you can customize the appearance of the selected shape.
5. Select the corresponding option from the this menu to change the format of the text or the shape by clicking on it. Each option opens a dialogue box where you select the format properties.

Select Line... to bring up the Line Properties window.

Line properties affect the appearance of the lines in and around a shape. Options available for Pattern are none, solid, dashed and mixed. Weight controls the thickness of the line. Color controls the line color. For thicker line weight Cap can be used to make the ends of the lines appear Round or Square. Line Ends group of properties control the appearance of arrow heads in lines that have arrows at end points.

Fill properties control the appearance of the inside of a shape and the shadows on the outside.

Text Properties control the appearance of the caption associated with a shape.