Create Custom Templates

The Template Generator (Standard edition only) automates the process of creating cross-functional, swim lane templates, but if you need more customization this section covers how to manually create your own templates.

FlowBreeze allows you to load custom templates via the Load Template toolbar button or at the start of a flowcharting session in the Start Flowcharting window. In addition to cross functional flowcharts (a.k.a. swim lane diagrams), you can also create simple templates for title blocks or block diagrams.

Step by Step Instructions

1. Create a grid.

2. Turn on Snap to Grid and Snap to Shape.

3. Set the page properties for paper size, orientation, and margins as desired.

Excel 2000 - 2003: Click the File > Page Setup.

Excel 2007 - 2010: Click the Page layout tab on the ribbon.

4. Type anything into a cell and do a print preview in Excel. Then close the print preview. This will display the page breaks, giving you a visual boundary for the template layout. Delete the entry you typed.

5. Get access to the Excel Drawing tools:

Excel 2000 - 2003: Click the Drawing Toolbar button on the main Excel toolbar. (The button's appearance will vary slightly between Excel versions.)

Excel 2007 - 2010: Click the Insert tab. For the steps below, you will need to click the Shapes drop down while on the FlowBreeze tab.

6. Use a rectangle shape to add any title blocks to the diagram. Apply text formatting with the built-in formatting tools in Excel. If you wish to add swim lanes, add those beneath the title blocks.

Note: Keep a margin of one grid space between the title block and the left, right and bottom page break lines. The border lines will not display when printed if they are directly on the page break line.

7. Add any vertical lines for borders and swim lanes. Use the plain Line available from Excel's drawing tools. DO NOT use a Connector Line, because they will try to attach to the connection points on shapes, making them difficult to work with.

8. Rename all the shapes, so that each shape name starts with "TEMPLATE_". This is critical to integration with FlowBreeze because it will treat these shapes specially. To rename a shape, click on it, then rename it in the Name Box, as shown below. The picture shows the Excel 2003 Name Box, but it's in the same location in Excel 2007 and 2010 as well.

Note that no two shapes can have the same name. This must be done for both shapes and lines.

9. Use the Shape Selection Tool to select all the shapes, then Group them together.

10. Open the document properties window:

Excel 2000 - 2003: Click the File > Properties.

Excel 2007 - 2010: Click the Office logo in the top left corner of Excel. From the drop down menu, click Prepare, then select Properties from the right panel. A new band will be shown below the ribbon. There will be a drop down list labeled "Document Properties". Click the drop down arrow and select "Advanced Properties".

11. Add the information below to the document properties. This is necessary so that the template information will be displayed in the Start window.

Summary tab: Add a Title and (optionally) your name and organization. Checking the "Save preview picture" box will make a small preview image of the template visible in Windows Explorer.

Custom tab: In the Custom tab, you will enter the properties listed below. The Optional entries were used by a Template Selector window in previous versions of FlowBreeze, but are no longer required.

12. Save as an Excel template file, i.e. an .xlt file type for Excel 2000-2003 and an .xltx file type for Excel 2007 - 2010.