Help with .wmf files. This page gives instructions for creating the WoodShop stencils using older versions of Visio.

I have not been able to find a way to make the WoodShop stencils directly importable into versions of Visio earlier than Visio 5. If you're using Visio 4.* or earlier, and are willing to devote a few minutes to it, you can create your own stencil using the Windows metafile Woodshop_Objects_01_0.wmf.

The steps below have been verified with Visio 4.5. Please let me know if you have problems with this procedure, or if the steps need modifying. Thanks.

1. Download the .wmf file by right-clicking on the link.

2. In Visio, open the .wmf file. (File - Open - navigate to the folder where you stored the .wmf file - change "Files of type:" to Windows Metafile (.wmf) and select the .wmf file.)

3. A Visio file opens in your workspace, where you will see all the workshop items, grouped as one large object.

4. Select the one large object, and ungroup it. (Right-click, Shape, Ungroup.) This ungroups all objects from each other, and (unfortunately) also ungroups the subcomponents of each object.

5. Create a new blank stencil (File - Stencils - New Stencil).

6. In the workspace, select one object (e.g. the Bandsaw), by dragging a selection rectangle around the object.

7. Group that object (Right-click, Shape, Group).

8. Drag the grouped object onto the blank stencil area. An icon for the object will appear, with a name like Master.0.

9. Repeat steps 6 through 8 for each object that you want on your stencil.

10. Save the stencil by clicking on the diskette icon in the stencil title. You can give it any name, e.g. "WoodShop Stencil".

11. If desired, you can give the stencil icons more meaningful names, by double-clicking on each icon name and changing "Master.0" to "Bandsaw", for example.

At this point, you can use the stencil as you would any other Visio stencil.

Back to WoodShop Visio.