Creating Site Plans in Microsoft Visio

1
Creating Site Plans in Microsoft Visio

• A self-paced tutorial
• by MCFRS Technology Training

2
Table of Contents

• Introduction and Objectives
• Lesson 1 Visio Tutorial
• Lesson 2 Map Guidelines and Examples
• Lesson 3 GIS Maps
• Lesson 4 Existing Maps
• Lesson 5 New Maps
• Review

3
Introduction and Objectives

• This tutorial is intended for personnel who have
  been assigned to create and/or edit site plans in
  Microsoft Visio.
• It is assumed that you are familiar enough with a
  computer to understand how to access menus, drag
  objects and scan pictures.
• This tutorial is intended to be used with
  Microsoft Visio 2002.

4
Introduction and Objectives

• After completing this tutorial you will be able
  to create a site plan from
• Geographic Information System (GIS) Maps
• An existing (scanned) site plan
• A new file based on minimal information

5
Lesson 1 Visio Tutorial
6
Lesson 1 Visio Tutorial

• Examining Visio
• Using stencils
• Resizing objects
• Duplicating objects
• Rotating objects
• Changing line thickness

7
Lesson 1 Examining Visio

• Main parts of the Visio screen

Menus and Toolbars
Rulers
Stencil Window
Grid and Workspace
Page Tabs and Status Bar
8
Lesson 1 Examining Visio

• Menu and Toolbar breakdown
• Menus (as in other programs) offer all of the
  program functions and will often offer more
  options than use of the toolbars.
• Toolbars offer quick access to the tools you need
  most.

Menus and Toolbars
9
Lesson 1 Examining Visio

• Visio-specific tools from the Standard Toolbar

Open stencil access other stencils
Find a shape access shapes by name
Pointer tool select objects for editing
Connector tool draw a line between two objects
Text tool draw a text box
Rectangle tool draw a rectangle or ellipse
Line tool draw a line or
Rotation tool rotate or crop an object
Zoom enlarge your view of an object
10
Lesson 1 Examining Visio

• Rulers
• For easier alignment and measurement, keep your
  rulers visible.
• If they are not visible, they may be seen by the
  following
• Access the View menu.
• Select Rulers.

11
Lesson 1 Examining Visio

• Stencil Window
• Stencils are pre-shaped drawing tools. Need a
  school in your map, simply click and drag the
  school stencil to your grid workspace.
• A station mapping group of stencils is available
  for you to use and it is called PS2000.
• Switch from one stencil group to another by
  clicking the group name (found in a gray bar).

12
Lesson 1 Examining Visio

• Grid and workspace
• Visio offers a grid for you to use so that your
  alignment and spatial relations may remain
  realistic.

• Simply click and drag objects wherever they are
  needed.
• The entire page is shown, so do not expect
  objects placed in the blue area to print.

13
Lesson 1 Examining Visio

• Page tabs and status bar
• Right-click the page tab to add new pages, delete
  unwanted pages and rename existing pages.
• See the dimensions of a selected object in the
  status bar. Simply click once on a building, road
  or other object to see length and width.

14
Lesson 1 Examining Visio

• To be successful in Visio, you need three things
• Patience The difference between frustration and
  fixing something that is one pixel or space out
  of alignment may just come down to a deep breath.
• Practice No one becomes and expert in any
  software package without a lot of practice.
• Perspective Use your rulers and other
  measurement tools to ensure that things measure
  correctly.

15
Lesson 1 Examining Visio

• Now that youve seen whats involved in using
  Visio, its time to learn the basics.

16
Lesson 1 Using Stencils

• Find a stencil you would like to use.

17
Lesson 1 Using Stencils

• Click and drag a stencil across the page for use.

18
Lesson 1 Using Stencils

• Release your mouse wherever the object is needed.

19
Lesson 1 Resizing Objects

• Ensure that the object is selected. If you can
  see the eight green squares (called handles), it
  has been selected.
• Note that selected lines only show two handles
  instead of eight.

20
Lesson 1 Resizing Objects

• Click and drag a handle to resize.

21
Lesson 1 Using Stencils

• Corner dots affect two dimensions.

22
Lesson 1 Duplicating Objects

• Instead of dragging a stencil to the grid twice,
  Visio enables you to duplicate an object.

23
Lesson 1 Duplicating Objects

• Hold down the Ctrl key and drag the object.

24
Lesson 1 Duplicating Objects

• Release both Ctrl and the mouse button.

25
Lesson 1 Rotating Objects

• Locate and click the rotate tool icon (next to
  the zoom control on your Standard toolbar).
• Notice that the green handles change from
  squares to dots.
• Leave the center dot alone it is your pivot
  point.

26
Lesson 1 Rotating Objects

• Click the rotate tool icon.

27
Lesson 1 Rotating Objects

• Hover over a green handle, click and drag.

28
Lesson 1 Rotating Objects

• Release the mouse when the angle is appropriate.

29
Lesson 1 Changing Line Thickness

• Weight is the computer term for how thick or
  heavy a line appears. Building footprints,
  streets and even parking lots have line weights
  associated with them.
• You will now learn how to set/change your line
  weight.

30
Lesson 1 Changing Line Thickness

• Access the Road Shapes stencils and drag a road
  to your file.
• Note that your road is an object and has two
  handles (green squares), making things easy for
  you to resize the road as needed.

31
Lesson 1 Changing Line Thickness

• Access the Format menu and select Line.

32
Lesson 1 Changing Line Thickness

• Click the drop-down menu for Weight.

33
Lesson 1 Changing Line Thickness

• Select the appropriate weight (5 for streets).

34
Lesson 1 Changing Line Thickness

• Click the OK button.

35
Lesson 2 Guidelines and Examples
36
Lesson 2 Guidelines and Examples

• The following guidelines should be used on all
  MCFRS Visio Maps. For future reference these
  items are listed on the Tech Training Website.
• Note An example of each property will follow.

37
Lesson 2 Guidelines and Examples

• Line Weights
• Building Footprints
• Use a solid line with a weight of 13.
• Streets and Parking Lots
• Use a solid line with a weight of 5.
• Fences
• Use a pattern line 13 and a line weight of 5.

38
Lesson 2 Guidelines and Examples
39
Lesson 2 Guidelines and Examples

• Fonts
• Use 12 point Arial font.
• Apply bold formatting as needed
• House and building numbers
• Any fire-related information
• Minimum building size e.g. townhouse
• Note that a five digit house number (still using
  12 point Arial) fits in the building/townhouse
  footprint.

40
Lesson 2 Guidelines and Examples

• The following images are examples of the Visio
  Site plans.
• Notice the key items (which you should also use)
• Access and lack of access
• Hydrants
• Fire/Rescue-related items

41
Lesson 2 Guidelines and Examples

• Visio Site Plan Template

42
Lesson 2 Guidelines and Examples

• Site Plan Example

43
Lesson 2 Guidelines and Examples

• Floor Plan Example

44
Lesson 2 Guidelines and Examples

• Floor Plan Example

45
Lesson 3 GIS Maps
46
Lesson 3 GIS Maps

• The following slides will explain the process of
  creating a new Site Plan from converted GIS Maps.
• From this point on it is understood that you have
  a general knowledge of MS Visio and simple items
  (e.g. save, open and close) will not be
  explained.

47
Lesson 3 GIS Maps

• Open a New Site Plan Template in Visio.
• Access the PS2000 folder from your C drive.
• Open the Converted GIS folder and locate your
  station
• C\PS 2000\converted gis\sta gis.vsd

48
Lesson 3 GIS Maps

• Find the building or complex that you will be
  creating.

49
Lesson 3 GIS Maps

• Zoom in considerably (e.g., 2000 - 3000).

50
Lesson 3 GIS Maps

• Press and Hold the Shift key while left clicking
  the items you wish to select.

51
Lesson 3 GIS Maps

• Once all items have been selected go to the Shape
  menu and select Grouping gtgt Group.

52
Lesson 3 GIS Maps

• Copy and Paste the grouping/site or complex to
  the Template you opened in Visio.
• Notice that your pasted map is very small.
• Zoom in to the site and then click and drag a
  corner to enlarge the site plan.

53
Lesson 3 GIS Maps Example
Before Enlarging
After Enlarging
54
Lesson 3 GIS Maps

• Finish your site plan now once you have resized
  your complex.
• Remember the drawing guide and add or delete any
  necessary fire-related items to the site plan
  from the PS2000 stencil.
• Use Visios extensive stencil library.
• Save as often as you prefer not to have to redo
  whatever tasks you have just accomplished.

55
Lesson 3 GIS Maps Practice

• Open a new site plan template.
• Open the converted GIS maps, locate FS31 and open
  this file.
• Locate the PSTA.
• Select only the engine bay and parking lot.
• Copy and paste this to your site plan template.
• Add the AS connection, doors and any other
  fire-related items, based upon your knowledge of
  the PSTA.

56
Lesson 4 Existing Maps
57
Lesson 4 Existing Maps

• You will now be creating a new site plan from an
  existing one.
• First, you must know how to scan. If you do not
  know how to scan seek help from someone in the
  firehouse that does. Alternatively, you can
  contact the MCFRS IT HelpDesk for information.

58
Lesson 4 Existing Maps

• The following are recommended settings to use
  when scanning the existing map.
• Keep the final scan area no larger than 8.5 x
  11.0 inches.
• Choose File as destination.
• Create a Scanned Station Map Folder on the
  Desktop.
• Consider optional adjustments
• Output Type Select Best Color Photograph
• Output Size Use Original Size

59
Lesson 4 Existing Maps

• (Scanning continued)
• Press Save Scan Now.
• Select the following formatJPEG File
  Interchange Format (.jpg or .jpeg)
• Create a name for the scanned map. Use the
  existing map number or complex name.
• Click the Save button.

60
Lesson 4 Existing Maps

• Start a new Site Plan Template in Visio now that
  you have a scanned map.
• Open the Scanned Maps folder and select the map
  to be recreated.

61
Lesson 4 Existing Maps Example
62
Lesson 4 Existing Maps

• Adjust the scanned map over the template.
• Zoom in to the site or complex and trace the
  building footprints and parking lots with the
  recommended lines.
• Apply other stencils as needed.

63
Lesson 4 Existing Maps Example

• Note the tracing of buildings and parking lots

64
Lesson 4 Existing Maps

• Click on the scanned map and delete it once you
  have added all the buildings, parking lots,
  fences, etc.
• Add new stencils as needed.

65
Lesson 4 Existing Maps Example
66
Lesson 5 New Maps
67
Lesson 5 New Maps

• In the event that you are unable to scan a map at
  this time, you may create a new site plan with
  Visio using the information you have and the
  tools the application provides for you.

68
Lesson 5 New Maps

• Open a Site Plan Template.
• Access more stencil libraries to help you with
  creating your site plans.
• Basic shapes
• Road shapes
• Landmark shapes
• And more...

69
Lesson 5 New Maps

• The townhouse complex below was drawn from
  memory. It is possible to create great site plans
  with no traceable image. It just takes practice.

70
Review

• Now that you have experienced Visio mapping
  first-hand, it is time to apply what you have
  learned.
• Return to Visio and create a site plan from each
  of the following for your station
• Geographic Information System (GIS) Map
• An existing (scanned) site plan
• A new file based on minimal information
• Contact Tony Cochran (station 21) or the MCFRS IT
  HelpDesk if you have questions or concerns.

restart ?
? back