Microsoft Visio is based on stencils. Stencils are palettes of shapes that can be used to create almost any diagram you need. Each palette is task-specific making it easier to locate the shape/s you require. You can open and work with multiple stencils and can even create your own.
When you find stencils online and download them, Visio stores them in the My Shapes folder. That’s where you can find them when you’re ready to use them in your diagrams.
After you download a stencil of shapes, copy it to your My Shapes folder. By default, your My Shapes folder is located inside your default Documents folder. Then, open the stencil in Visio by navigating to My Shapes. In the Shapes window, click More Shapes, point to My Shapes, and then click the stencil name.
Shapes in Visio stencils are often referred to as master shapes. When you drag a master shape onto a drawing page, you create a copy (or “instance”) of the master. The master itself remains on the stencil so that you can use it repeatedly to create new copies of the master on drawing pages.
Are Visio stencils copyrighted?
The Visio shapes on stencils supplied by Microsoft Corporation are copyrighted. You may copy and reorganize them for your own use, modify them for your own use, and distribute drawings that contain them. You may not sell or distribute original or modified Visio shapes. On the File menu, point to Shapes, and then click Open Stencil.
What if I need more shapes than a particular Visio template provides?
If you need more shapes than a particular Visio template provides, you have a couple of options, depending on which version of Visio you’re using. If you use the subscription version of Visio, new stencils and templates are regularly being added and automatically to your app.
Then, what is the my shapes folder in Visio?
This means that Visio uses the My Shapes folder as the default when you use the Open Stencil dialog box or Save As dialog box to open or save custom stencils. If you delete the My Shapes folder, Visio creates another one the next time that Visio is started.
How do I download custom stencil shapes?
Shapes aren’t available to download individually – they must be part of a stencil. But you can copy any shape to a stencil in your My Shapes library of stencils. Right-click the shape, point to Add To My Shapes, and then click the stencil you want to add it to.
How do I save a stencil I download?
When you download a stencil, and the notification bar asks if you want to open or save the file, click the arrow next to Save and click Save As.
Yet another inquiry we ran across in our research was “What is the default working folder for custom stencils?”.
Note: The default working folder for custom stencils is always the My Shapes folder. This means that Visio uses the My Shapes folder as the default when you use the Open Stencil dialog box or Save As dialog box to open or save custom stencils.
Where can I find Microsoft stencils for my design?
Under Online, (which is available when you’re connected to the internet), you’ll see shapes on the web by other companies, including Microsoft. To access those shapes, do the following: a. Click the stencil to see a preview.
These stencils contain more than 300 icons to help you create visual representations of Microsoft Office or Microsoft Office 365 deployments including Skype for Business, Microsoft Exchange Server, Microsoft Skype for Business Server, Microsoft Lync Server, and Microsoft Share, and point server.