Screenshots can be taken, but the resulting image may not be as clear as the vector-based elements created in Visio. Sometimes it’s important to include a diagram (or part of one) in a report. Draw can be used to open, edit, and convert those documents to open formats that are more accessible. Yet they still may have a need to keep old Visio documents readable well into the future. They may have stopped producing drawings themselves. There may have changed diagramming applications. Draw’s free-drawing tools can be used to enhance a diagram or flowchart.Īn organization or individual may no longer have a copy of Visio. Elements from a Visio diagram can be copy and pasted into a report open in a word processor. It is good for preserving Visio documents. LibreOffice Draw’s ability to open and edit Visio documents serves several purposes. For LibreOffice to convert documents to a format that most vector applications can open, such as SVG, they need to be exported.

Most other vector applications cannot open these formats. They can only be opened by LibreOffice, OpenOffice, or NeoOffice. The open-source vector application can only save in these formats. When a Visio document is saved in Draw, the format choices are as follows: Draw, however, can keep most of the other elements from a Visio document, including glued connectors.ĭraw, however, cannot save the document in VSD or VSDX, like LibreOffice can with other Microsoft formats. The Microsoft application that is used to create flowcharts, network diagrams, org charts, floor plans, and engineering designs, has the ability to run macros that Draw and the other vector-applications cannot run. While they have shapes and flowchart symbols, they also have free-drawing tools that are not present in Visio.

The other applications are for graphic artists. Visio’s purpose is mainly to create diagrams, flowcharts, and similar types of drawings. Visio is a vector application, but it is different than Adobe Illustrator and those just mentioned. There are several other vector-drawing applications that can directly open and edit Visio documents. These formats cannot be opened by Word, Excel, or PowerPoint, even though Visio is considered to be an Office application. LibreOffice Draw can open standard Visio documents, which are in VSD and VSDX formats. One interesting advantage LibreOffice has over Microsoft Office is that it works with some Microsoft products and formats that Office does not.

Edit visio files on mac