This is sad, but true: not everybody has Microsoft Visio installed on their PC.

Therefore, you need a way to print your Visio document, distribute the file electronically, or place it a location where it can be viewed, such as a web site. The method of publication can affect the way you prepare your document for consumption by others.

Some electronic formats are raster images, which means they are built up from a number of pixels or dots, while others are vector images, which means they are built up from lines. A raster image does not look good if you zoom in to it. This is because the size of the pixels gets larger, giving a blocky appearance. On the other hand, vector images do not get any worse when you zoom in on them because the lines are defined between points. A photograph is suited to raster formats, because the images are created from a number of pixels anyway: the more pixels you have, the clearer the image and the larger the file size. Visio drawings, though, like CAD files, are mainly vectors in the first place so, obviously, using a vector format for distribution is best, if possible.

The other consideration is data and hyperlinks. Visio drawings often contain data for specific shapes, and these may each contain from no data to many hyperlinks. So, if the end user for the Visio document needs to view both data and hyperlinks, then consider a format that enables access to both of these.

Other areas for considerations are the capability to see a reviewer’s markup, the use of layer control, and the capability to print well locally by the end user.