Solution-specific Visio Discussions > Artistic and Graphical Effects

Fill problem with custom created shape

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VWNASW:
Ok, I'm new here, but hope that you can help me. I'm new to Visio, and haven't really done much with Gimp or Photoshop before, so I guess you can call me an artistic newbie. LOL But, my boss has put me on a crash course to learn Visio for our needs. So far, so good with being able to spit out a few org charts for proposals, that could pass themselves off as professionaly done. However .. now he is wanting me to create a few things that are pushing my limited experience and knowledge in the program. I just received a copy of Visio 2007 Inside Out, but it doesn't cover all the questions I have. So .. here is my first question (of probably many to come):

I'm making an onion diagram style drawing, with circles that are layered on top of each other. I've been working on recreating a cover of a proposal that anothe company did, to sharpen my skills and get to the point that I can do some of the things my boss would like to see. I've figured out the photo aspects, and layering and all, but am having a problem with fill on a few arc patterns I made (even though I have grouped the image together), as well as word art (but heard I can create what I need in PowerPoint and then import or copy/paste it into Visio for my needs. So, here's the item I made, and the problem is, when I try to do fill on it, it won't show the inside of the item filled. What am I doing wrong?

Thanks,

Scott

Visio Guy:
Hi Scott,

Have a look at the visual-tutorial below. This might give you some tips.

Here's a quick summary for the search engines. To make concentric rings in Visio, or closed arc shapes do this:

1. Draw some circles
2. Give them no-fill, so that you can see them after the next step
3. Align them on center, using Shape > Align (center x, center y)
4. Draw some cutting lines, using Shape > Align to center
5. Select all, Shape > Operations > Fragment to cut the circles and lines into separate shapes
6. Delete the shapes that you don’t need

VWNASW:
Awesome, I'll have to give that a shot. There is so much to learn with this program, but I'm doing my best. LOL
Also, is there a way to work with pictures (jpg's, gif's, etc.) in the program so that I could create a circle, and crop the photo to the circle and then divide it as in your illustration? That would help a ton as well, but have yet to figure out how to crop the photo just just what is in the circle?!

Visio Guy:
Hi Scott,

Visio's official focus is "business diagrams", so some of the trickier illustration effects have never been implemented. Sophisticated image-clipping is one of those features. There's been some discussion on this here: http://visguy.com/vgforum/index.php?topic=494.0

There are some work-arounds that will get you some of what you want, but not necessarily easily. Have a look at these articles:

- Masking Images in Visio
- Visio Tutorial: Advanced Fill Effects
- Super Mask Visio Clipping Shape

VWNASW:
Thanks a ton. I'll have to check those links out and see what I can do. I managed to make the image shape the way I wanted in GIMP 2.0, but was wondering if I could just stay in Visio to do it. But then again, I also found out that I'd have to go into Power Point and do my word art and then import it over into Visio, so still can't stay in Visio completely I guess. LOL

Thanks for the info though. Glad I joined this site. I'm sure I'll be posting many, many more, moronic questions to come. LOL

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