How to specify an additional location for storing stencils in Visio 2007 or in Visio 2003

This article describes how to specify an additional location for storing stencils in Microsoft Office Visio 2007 or in Microsoft Office Visio 2003.

Overview

The method that you use to specify an additional location for storing stencils is changed in Visio from earlier versions of Visio. For example, in Microsoft Visio 2002, you specify an additional location for storing stencils when you copy stencil files (.vss) to the following folder either on your hard disk or to a subfolder of the following folder on your hard disk, where Drive is the drive where Visio is installed: In Visio 2003 and in Visio 2007, you copy the stencil files (.vss) to a folder, and then you specify the path of the folder that contains the stencils in the File Paths dialog box. After you do so, the stencils that are contained in the folder that you specified are listed on the submenu that appears when you point to Shapes on the File menu.

Specify an additional location for storing stencils in Visio

To specify an additional location for storing stencils in Visio, follow these steps:

1. Start Visio (if it is not already started).
2. Copy the stencil files to the folder that you want.
3. On the Tools menu, click Options.
4. Click the Advanced tab, and then click File Paths.
5. In the Stencils box of the File Paths dialog box, specify the path of the folder that contains the stencils. To do so, do one of the following:
   • Type the path of the folder that contains the stencils.
     
     -or-
   • Click the ... button next to the Stencils box.
     
     In the Choose Directory dialog box, locate the folder that contains the stencils, click the folder, and then click Select.
   Note To specify multiple folder locations, separate each path with a semicolon character (;).
6. Click OK, and then click OK again.

Open a stencil that is stored in the additional location that you specified

To open a stencil that is stored in the folder that you specified, follow these steps:

1. Start Visio and open your drawing.
2. On the File menu, point to Shapes.
   
   The stencils that are contained in the folder that you specified are listed on the submenu that appears.
3. Click the stencil that you want to open.

For more information about Visio, visit the following Microsoft Web site: