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WHAT IS A FLOWCHART?
A flowchart illustrates the steps in a process. By visualizing the process, a flowchart
can quickly help identify bottlenecks or inefficiencies where the process can be
streamlined or improved.
Start/End
The terminator symbol marks the starting or ending point
of the system. It usually contains the word "Start" or
"End."
Action or Process
A box can represent a single step ("add two cups of
flour"), or and entire sub-process ("make bread") within a
larger process.
Document
A printed document or report.
Decision
A decision or branching point. Lines representing different
decisions emerge from different points of the diamond.
Input/Output
Represents material or information entering or leaving the
system, such as customer order (input) or a product
(output).
Connector
Indicates that the flow continues where a matching
symbol (containing the same letter) has been placed.
Flow Line
Lines indicate the sequence of steps and the direction of
flow.
Delay
Indicates a delay in the process.
Merge
Indicates a step where two or more sub-lists or sub-
processes become one.
Collate
Indicates a step that orders information into a standard
format.
Sort
Indicates a step that organizes a list of items into a
sequence or sets based on some pre-determined criteria.
Subroutine
Indicates a sequence of actions that perform a specific
task embedded within a larger process. This sequence of
actions could be described in more detail on a separate
flowchart.
Manual Loop
Indicates a sequence of commands that will continue to
repeat until stopped manually.
Loop Limit
Indicates the point at which a loop should stop.
Data storage
Indicates a step where data gets stored.
Database
Indicates a list of information with a standard structure
Basic Flowchart
A basic flowchart identifies the starting and ending points of a process, the sequence of
actions in the process, and the decision or branching points along the way.
Opening a Template
The easiest way to draw a new flowchart is by
starting with a SmartDraw template. Both the
SmartDraw Flowchart Edition and the SmartDraw
Suite come with hundreds of flowchart examples
you can access through the New Drawing dialog.
Templates and examples listed under this category have all the special settings for
grid snaps, line- and shape-linking, wizards, and other crucial attributes that make
it easy to draw a flowchart.
You can start with an example that closely resembles your project or you can start
with a blank page by choosing Empty.
Drag-and-Drop Shapes
You can also access most flowchart shapes straight from the toolbar.
Choose between a simple rectangle for a process, a diamond for a decision, a circle
for a connector, and more.
Click on the arrow next to the currently selected shape to choose another, then
simple drag-and-drop the selected shape to the page.
Note: If you don't see a flowchart library docked in your work area, click on the
Symbols tab in the left panel to browse your SmartDraw Explorer for the
appropriate symbols. You'll also find additional flowcharting symbols with
professionally-designed styles and more.
Touch the pencil to the edge of one shape and click down with the mouse (you'll
see black dots on the edge of the shape). Drag the pencil to the edge of another
shape, and release when you see the Anchor Symbol.
Start drawing the line from the edge of the first shape
Once connected, lines and shapes stay connected, even if they are moved or
stretched.
To detach a line, click on it and drag one of its endpoints away from the shape.
Drag one of the endpoints of a line away from the shape to detach it
To convert a line into any other type, you can use the Change Line Shape
command under the Lines menu.
Line Hops
For
the
sake
of
clarity
, you
should
avoid
crossi
ng flow lines in your chart when
possible. You can usually get rid of
any crossed lines by rearranging your
chart. However, if you find that two
lines must cross, you can use a "line hop" or "bridge" to show that the lines don't
really intersect.
You can create a line hop in SmartDraw by right-clicking on a line to bring up the
Line Hops dialog.
In the Line Hops dialog, click on "Show" to turn on line hops for your entire
drawing. (Note: If you ever need to, you can always turn off a line hop for any
selected individual line from this dialog by unchecking the last check box.)
Next, you can specify a style (round or square) and size (small, medium, or large)
for your line hops.
A line hop
You can turn on these lines from the Add Lines tab of the
Flowchart Wizard in the left panel.
SmartDraw shapes are designed to automatically contain your text and carry it with
them wherever they go. They also control the size of the text, to keep it from spilling
out of the shape.
If you enter more text than will fit in the shape, the text will start to shrink to
accommodate more.
Editing Text
To modify a piece of existing text, double-click on it to enter editing mode.
All the standard Windows editing conventions apply: dragging the mouse selects text;
selected text can be cut, deleted, or copied; the font, size, style and color of the
selected text can be changed using commands in the Text menu or on the toolbar.
Use the commands on the toolbar for quick and easy editing
You can also create independent text objects on the page—ones not
contained inside any shape. Simply click on the Text Tool on the toolbar
and type anywhere on the page. Once done writing, you can move,
rotate, and edit this text object just like any other shape.
To
chan
ge
the
fill
color
of a
shap
e,
simpl
y
selec
t it,
click
on the Fill Color button on the toolbar, and choose a color from
the drop down list that appears (you can also use the Fill Color
command from the Shapes menu).
You can choose a color from SmartDraw's default palette, set your
fill to be transparent, or click on More Colors to choose from any
of the 16 million colors supported by Windows.
Once a color is set, it will become the default fill color of any new
shape added to the drawing afterward.
To set the style and thickness of a border, use the commands in for
Border Style, Border Thickness, and Border Color located in
the Shapes menu.
You can also set the border color using the Line and Border Color
tool on the toolbar.
Rotating a Shape
Arranging Objects
SmartDraw helps keep your shapes aligned by snapping them to an
invisible grid that lies behind the drawing area. But frequently,
you'll want to adjust or reposition your shapes, and SmartDraw
helps you do that with several alignment tools.
The last object you click on will have black selection handles
signifying that it's the Target Object. When you use the Align or
Make Same Size commands (under the Arrange menu), all the
selected objects will be aligned or sized to match the target object.
When you choose the Space Evenly command, the objects at each
end of the series stay fixed, and the others will be spaced evenly
between them.
The results after using Align, Make Same Size, and Space
Evenly
To apply a uniform
style, just choose
Colors and Shadows
from the View menu
and select one of the
professionally designed
styles. Your whole
drawing will be instantly
converted to the new
style.
HOW TO DRAW FLOWCHARTS (cont'd)
A deployment flowchart
consists of a flowchart
laid on top of a table,
where each column
represents a person or a department involved in the process.
You can create a new table by clicking on the Table button on the
toolbar or by selecting Add New Table from the Table menu.
Once your table is ready, move your cursor over the bottom grid
line until you see the grid line selection cursor, click on the grid line
to select it, and drag it downwards to stretch the table to an
appropriate length.
By forbidding text editing in the table, you can work with the
flowchart shapes more easily
2) Clearly
indicate the starting and ending
points of the process, using the
standard terminator symbols.
6) Make sure there are at least two outcomes from every decision
diamond.
Continue reading to learn how you can insert your flowcharts into
any MS Office document
Windows programs,
especially Microsoft Office
software such as Word® and
PowerPoint®.
Paste Special
Another way to transfer a
SmartDraw drawing to
another Windows program is
to paste an OLE Link using the
other program's Paste
Special command under the
Edit menu.
When you paste a link to the actual SmartDraw file, any changes to
the original drawing will be automatically reflected in the linked
drawing.
For example, let's say you want to always keep an updated version
of your flowchart in three different corporate documents
simultaneously: a Word document, a PowerPoint presentation, and
an Excel spreadsheet. You need not update all three documents.
Just update the linked SmartDraw drawing, and the documents will
all automatically update themselves!
Inserting a Photo
into a Flowchart
To add a photo to
your diagram, first
click the SmartDraw
Image Plug-In
button on your
SmartDraw toolbar
to launch the
Image Plug-In in a
separate window.
Click on the
SmartDraw Image
Plug-In button in
SmartDraw to
launch the Image
Plug-In
Let's begin by
inserting a photo
using the
SmartDraw Image
Plug-In button .
Click on the
SmartDraw Image
Plug-In button to
open the Image
Plug-In in a separate
window. You can
now use the Image
Plug-In's Explorer to
browse and open the
photo that you want
to insert into your
SmartDraw drawing.
Browsing in the
Image Plug-In is Browse through your albums and photos
very similar to with the help of previews
browsing the symbol
libraries in the
SmartDraw Explorer.
The Explorer
displays the file
system on your
computer in a
familiar Windows
tree format. You can
browse your system
for images by
clicking on the plus
sign next to folders
to expand them and
the minus sign to
collapse them.
Along the same lines, placing your cursor over any individual image
will also pop up an image preview. These previews allow you to
Opening an Image
To open an image,
double-click on it
either in the Image
Explorer or within
the album. You can
also simply drag and
drop the image to
the work area.
Returning to SmartDraw
To return to
SmartDraw, just
close the Image
Plug-In and your
chosen photo will be
automatically
inserted into your
SmartDraw drawing.
To return to your
SmartDraw diagram,
just close the chosen
photo in the Image
Plug-In
Simply double-click on
any photo to open it in
the Image Plug-In. Now,
you can edit it using all
the intuitive photo
editing tools and
wizards available at
your fingertips.
When you close the edited photo in the SmartDraw Image Plug-In,
your photo will be automatically updated inside SmartDraw.
Flowchart Types
Different kinds of processes lend themselves to different types of
flowcharts.
Continue through the next pages for some examples