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Avatar of Kathy Fisher
Kathy Fisher

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Visio 2016 - how do I change the default org chart format?

when I import data into the org chart wizard even tho I indicate I have no pictures, all of the formats include a place for photos. I want to change my org charts to just have a plain box. How can I do that without having to reformat each box?
Avatar of Colleen Kayter
Colleen Kayter
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You're right, the wizard is screwed up and changing the default may not be possible. If you can do it, the template will be in this folder:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\Visio Content\1033

Meanwhile, use CTRL + A to select your entire chart.

Go to Org Chart tab on ribbon, click Delete Picture (toward right end of ribbon).
Avatar of Scott Helmers
Colleen's suggestion above (Ctrl+A and then delete pictures) is a good one but has two limitations: you must do it every time you create an org chart, and it works on one page at a time -- if your org chart has more than one page, you'll need to do it on every page.

What you asked about is whether you can create a template that is preset with shapes that do not include a picture placeholder: the answer is yes, but it requires a bit of work. Two options:

1) I can "give you a fish", i.e., I can create a template for you (it will take about five minutes). I just need to know two things: which of the org chart shape styles you want (the styles are in the gallery on the Org Chart tab), and whether you want do delete the picture placeholders or just hide them (the difference is that if you delete them you can never have a picture on any shape; if you hide them, you can later "Show" photos on one or more shapes if you want to by clicking the Show/Hide button on the Org Chart tab).

2) I can "teach you to fish", i.e., I can document the steps so you can create your own custom template. The work isn't difficult but it involves modifying shapes in something called the 'Document Stencil' and also involves using the Visio ShapeSheet. Both are power user type features that you may not need to use often but that are worthwhile if you want to learn more about Visio's advanced features. To learn about the document stencil, refer to this EE article; to learn about the document stencil and the ShapeSheet, refer to this video course.

Let me know your preference...
Kathy -- was my answer above helpful? Would you like to pursue one of the two options?
Avatar of Owen D
Owen D

You can turn on and off picture using the options under main menu/ribbon>Org Chart> Picture> Show/Hide
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