Flowchart Wizard

Top Previous Next

Available in Standard Edition only.

The Flowchart Wizard is a tool that transforms a sheet of text into a flowchart in just a few steps. With it, you can enter all the process steps into worksheet cells and the rough pattern that you want the final flowchart to be in. The Flowchart Wizard will load all the text into a form that lets you assign symbol types, formatting, and flow line routings to each process step. It will then generate a flowchart from that information. You may need to make some minor adjustments to the flowchart layout and flow lines routings, but overall it cuts the time to create a flowchart considerably.

Step By Step Instructions

Step 1: Layout out the text for the flowchart on the sheet. The picture below shows a worksheet with the text for the process steps entered into cells. When you enter the process text, the goal is to arrange it so that the layout is roughly how you want the flowchart to be organized.

Picture 1 - Sample Flowchart Text

Step 2: Click the Flowchart Wizard button on the toolbar. This will open the Flowchart Wizard window.

The FlowBreeze toolbar for Excel 2000-2003. The equivalent Excel 2007 button has the caption "Flowchart Wizard".

Step 3: Edit the symbol types, styles, and flow line destinations in the Flowchart Wizard window shown in Picture 2. The Symbol and Style columns are both drop down fields, allowing you to quickly change the flowchart symbol and styling. Note that the Symbol and Style columns have drop down galleries for quick editing.

Picture 2- Text-To-Flowchart Wizard

Step 4: Click OK and the wizard will generate a flowchart.

Picture 3 - Wizard Output

Step 5: Edit as necessary. This wizard is a productivity enhancement tool, but it is not 100% automatic. Often you will need to re-arrange the layout to your liking. See the Moving Symbols and Working with Flow Lines sections for more details.