Copyright: (C) 1996-1997 Visio Corporation
Citation: (C) 1996-1997 Visio Corporation


Office Layout Template

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Before you draw your office layout, you should

•	Measure the dimensions of the office space you want to plan.

•	Measure the size of the objects you want to include in the office you're planning.

•	Measure the size of the windows and doors, and note which direction the doors open.

Laying the foundation

Before you add any shapes to the page, be sure your drawing is set up correctly.

By default, the Office Layout Template opens with a drawing scale of ¼ inch = 1 foot. The page size is 8.5 x 11 inches and the page orientation is landscape (wide). With these settings, you can draw a room of up to 30 feet x 45 feet. If you're satisfied with these settings, you can begin creating your drawing.

To change scale and page settings:

•	Choose File > Page Setup, then click the Drawing Scale tab. Choose the settings you want, then click OK.

See also:

Setting drawing scale

Tip: Visio includes an Office Layout Wizard that guides you through setting up an office layout drawing and creating the basic wall structure. To start the wizard, Choose Tools > Office Layout Wizard.

Drawing to scale

When you're choosing a drawing scale for an office layout, keep the following in mind:

•	In Visio, drawing units are sizes in the real world. Page units are sizes on the printed page. The ratio of page units to drawing units is the drawing scale.

•	The smaller the drawing scale, the larger the area you can represent. A scale such as 1/8 inch = 1 foot allows you to draw an entire floor on one page. A scale such as 1 inch = 1 foot allows you to focus in on one cubicle.

•	When you drop shapes on a scaled drawing page, they adjust to the scale you've set. If you want to change the scale with shapes already on the page, cut the shapes first, change the scale, then paste the shapes back into place.

See also:

Setting drawing scales

Assembling the office walls

The first step in an office plan is to assemble the wall structure. By using guides and the zero point, you can easily establish the dimensions of the room.

To assemble office walls:

1.	Drag guides from the horizontal and vertical rulers to indicate the dimensions of the room on the page.

2.	Hold down the Ctrl key and drag the zero point from the intersection of the two rulers to the upper-left corner of the room.

3.	Place a Wall Corner shape in the upper-left corner so the wall thickness is outside the room's perimeter. If necessary, choose an option from the Shape menu to flip or rotate the shape. Repeat this step to place a Wall Corner in the three remaining corners.

4.	Drop Wall Section shapes and glue their ends to the Wall Corner shapes. The selection handles turn red when the shapes are glued.

5.	Align Window and Door shapes on top of the walls. If necessary, choose an option from the Shape menu to flip or rotate window shapes so their endpoints snap to the guides on the inside of the walls. Flip or rotate Door shapes so the doors open in the appropriate direction.

See also:

Aligning and distributing shapes

Layers and layout diagrams

When you create an office layout, Visio places the shapes on layers. For example, the wall, door, and window shapes are placed on the Building Envelope layer; chairs, tables, and other furniture shapes are placed on the Movable Furnishings layer; and computers and printers are placed on the Equipment layer.

A layer is a named category of shapes. When shapes are assigned to separate layers, you can treat them separately. For example, you can hide or lock all layers except the one you want to work on, or you can print shapes based on their layer assignments.

See also:

About layers


Laying the foundation

Drawing to scale

Assembling the office walls

Layers and layout diagrams