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2 min read

Learn to create 3-D shapes in Visio

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The new Visio is more than a tool to create and edit diagrams and connect dashboards to data–now you can work  with 3-D objects too. Try these step-by-step instructions to create a diagram using graphical features of the new Visio.

Here’s what the 3-D Visio drawing will look like when we’re finished.

On the diagram you can see two Visio objects, a half sphere and the letter V. First, we’ll create the half sphere.

  1. On the Ribbon, unlock the Developer tab. To do this, click File, then click Options, and then click Customize Ribbon. (The default is that the Developer tab isn’t visible.)
    The Developer tab can help you create new stencils, templates, macros and more.

  2. Choose an object that you’d like to create. In this example, we’ll select Ellipse.
  3. Right-click the ellipse shape. On the menu, select Format Shape.
  4. On the Format Shape menu, there are a lot of different effects that you could add to your shape. (We’re showing 2 parts of the menu side by side here to make it easier to follow along with this exercise.) Under the Fill section of the menu, click Color, then select Blue.
  5. Still in the Fill section, select Gradient fill.
  6. On the Line section of the menu, make sure Solid line is selected. Here’s the shape we created shown next to the parameters we selected to create it.
  7. On the Shadow section of the menu, make sure the settings display the following: Transparency 100%, Size 1%, Blur 9pt, Angle 0, Distance 0pt.
  8. Set Reflection parameters to display the following: Transparency 28%, Size 87%, Blur 0.5pt, Distance 2pt.
  9. Set the Glow parameters to display the following: Size 150pt, Transparency 46%.
  10. On the 3-D Format section of the menu, make sure the Top bevel settings display the following: Width 92.5 pt, Height 73.5 pt. Bottom bevel, Depth, Contour, and Lighting settings all should display 0.

Now the 3-D half sphere shape is complete. Next, we’ll create the letter V that goes on top of it.

The letter V is really 2 separate rectangles created in a new stencil and then joined together. To create the rectangles:

  1. Click the Developer tab, then click the rectangle shape.
  2. Click in the drawing area. A rectangle will appear. This is the starting point of your drawing.
  3. Click a corner of the rectangle and drag it into the shape you want.
  4. Click in the drawing area again and create a second rectangle using Steps 1-3.

Rotate the angle of the rectangles. To do this:

  1. Click one of the rectangles. A circle symbol will appear at the top of the rectangle.
  2. Click and drag the circle symbol to move the rectangles to the angle you want.

Now join the rectangles:

  1. Select both of the rectangles.
  2. Click the Developer tab, then click the Operations button, and then click the Union button.

To complete the image:

  1. Apply the effects you learned when you created the half sphere shape (steps 4-10).
  2. Select the letter V, then drag and drop it onto the half sphere shape.

Let us know in the comments what you think of Visio 3-D drawing!