Visustin - Save flow charts

To use the flow charts in your documentation you can save them in several file formats and copy them to the clipboard.

Save formats

Visustin can save and export the flow charts in a multitude of file formats. You can save the charts as bitmaps, in vector format, as a web page or export directly to other applications.

Format	Type	Specific uses	Editor
Publication formats
PDF, single page	Document	View large charts	No
PDF, paged	Document	Print	Yes
Image formats
BMP	Bitmap		Yes
PNG	Bitmap		Yes
PNG with source code (.code.png)	Bitmap + code		No
GIF	Bitmap		Yes
GIF with source code (.code.gif)	Bitmap + code		No
JPG	Bitmap		Yes
PCX	Bitmap		Yes
PBM, PGM, PPM	Bitmap	Cross-platform tools	Yes
TGA	Bitmap		Yes
TIFF	Bitmap		Yes
TIFF with source code (.code.tif)	Bitmap + code		No
WMF, EMF	Vector		Yes
Visio (more) *	Vector	Edit	No
Word (more)	Document		Yes
PowerPoint (more)	Document	Slide show	Yes
DOT	Graph definition	Edit with special software	No
HTML	Web page	Web	No
MHT	Web page	Archive	No
Multi-image formats (Bulk flowcharting only)
TIFF archive *	Multi-page bitmap	Archive	No
TIFF archive with code (.code.tif) *	Multi-page bitmap + code	Archive	No
MHT web archive *	Multi-page web	Archive	No
Visustin Editor specific formats
Visustin Editor (.flw)	Flow chart	Edit	Yes
PNG with Visustin Editor (.flw.png)	Bitmap + Flow chart	Editable image	Yes

* Requires Pro Edition.

Choosing a format that fits the use

Show to boss	PDF, single page
Print	PDF, paged
Import in word processor	EMF, PNG, Word
Publish online	PDF, PNG, HTML
Edit	FLW, Visio
Keep image editable	.flw.png
Make slide show	PowerPoint
Store for later reference	PDF
Store code with chart	PNG, TIFF, MHT
Store all charts in one file	TIFF, MHT
Use with legacy tools	PPM, PCX, TGA
Use with GraphViz tools	DOT

Publication formats

PDF is a great format to view, distribute and archive your flow charts. It stores high-quality vector flow charts for easy zooming and navigation.

PDF, single page. This is a preferred format for viewing on a monitor. PDF allows for easy zooming and panning, making it ideal for viewing large flow charts. Give PDF files to your boss or colleagues. Create PDFs as your project documentation. The single page version does not add any page breaks. Larger charts will occupy an area several times larger than your printer's page size. For printing, use PDF, paged. PDF sample chart
PDF, paged. This is a preferred format for print-outs. It is a regular PDF with page breaks. To configure the PDF page size or orientation, use Page setup in the File menu before saving as PDF. The default page size is that of your printer.

PDF is an optimal save format for flow charts. It's easy to use, image quality is high and the files are small.

Good news to existing users. Previous versions of Visustin required you to print on a PDF printer driver to create PDFs. Now you can save instead. Saving PDFs is faster than printing and the files are optimized.

Visustin Editor formats

When you wish to edit the flow chart with Visustin Editor later, save it in one of the editable formats.

Visustin flow chart (.flw). This is the Visustin Editor native format. You can load it back to continue editing later. Sample.flw (save and open in Visustin)
PNG with Visustin flow chart (.flw.png). This format is a standard bitmap which also contains an Visustin flow chart. You can include the file in your documentation or on a web page. If you wish to modify the picture later, load it back to Editor, change and save. Sample.flw.png (save and open in Visustin)

Bitmap pictures

Bitmap file formats are useful for all kinds of documentation.

PNG bitmap. Use this format for your documents and web publication. PNG offers the best quality/size ratio, which is especially good for web use. PNG sample chart
BMP bitmap. Use BMP for your documents. Import it in a word processor, for example. This format is widely supported by virtually all Windows programs. BMP sample chart
GIF bitmap, the old web standard format for drawings. GIF is appropriate for your documents and web publication. GIF is widely supported by other programs. GIF has some technical limitations. Its image area is limited to 65,535 pixels. GIF is not compatible with Visustin Editor gradient colors (Full color mode). Instead of GIF, consider PNG as it doesn't suffer from the limitations of GIF. GIF sample chart
JPG JPEG bitmap. This photo format is not recommended for flow charts. It provides large files and less than perfect quality. JPG is supported for compatibility with other applications. JPG sample chart
PCX bitmap. This format offers compatibility with applications that read PCX images. PCX is similar to BMP and offers no specific advantages over BMP.
PBM Portable Bitmap (black & white). This format is similar to PPM and PGM, but it contains a monochrome image. Use PBM for black & white flow charts to save some disk space. Available in Editor only.
PGM Portable Greymap (grayscale). This format is similar to PPM, but it contains a grey image. Use PGM instead of PPM for black & white flow charts to save some disk space.
PPM Portable Pixelmap (color bitmap). This format offers compatibility with (Unix) applications that read PPM images. PPM produces large files but is compatible with many applications and tools.
TGA Targa bitmap. This format offers compatibility with applications that read TGA images. TGA is similar to BMP and offers no specific advantages over BMP.
TIFF bitmap. Use this format for your documents. TIFF is a standard with many imaging and document archival programs. TIFF sample chart

Visustin can optionally save your source code in a GIF, PNG or TIFF file. Read more

Vector drawings

Vector formats are good for exporting pictures that need to be resized or edited. The picture consists of lines and other shapes. Vector formats typically takes less memory and allows lossless zoom in/out. Not all programs support vector files.

EMF Enhanced Metafile. Use EMF to import in a word processor or slide show. EMF and WMF are very similar formats. EMF is slightly better for flow charts. EMF sample chart
WMF Windows Metafile. A lot of Windows applications support WMF metafiles. You can import metafiles to a word processor, for example. WMF sample chart
DOT is a graph language. Visustin uses it internally. It can be displayed, converted and edited with the free Graphviz. This is a technical program suitable for those interested in programmatic graph generation.

Good news. Starting with Visustin v6, EMF and WMF are of higher quality than before.

Office documents

Visio. Export to Visio
PowerPoint. Export to PowerPoint
Word. Export to Word

Web publication

HTML with PNG. This option generates a web page with the flow chart and also the source code. The web pages saved are compatible with Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 (or later) and Mozilla Firefox 1.0 (or later). HTML sample chart
MHT Web Archive. This is the same as HTML, but in one file. It is compatible with Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 and later. MHT sample chart

Note about HTML and MHT formats. Internet Explorer may be unable to display very large charts. Upgrade your browser to the latest version of either Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox to fix this.

Bitmap with source code

Visustin can optionally save the original source code in the following image formats. You can view the code by opening the file in Visustin. This way you get to see the original code, even if you already changed the original program.

GIF with source code (*.code.gif). This format extends the GIF image by adding the original source code in the file. View the code by opening the file in Visustin. GIF sample chart (save and open in Visustin)
PNG with source code (*.code.png). This format saves a standard PNG image with source code. View the code by opening the file in Visustin or another imaging application that displays PNG text fields. PNG sample chart (save and open in Visustin)
TIFF with source code (*.code.tif). This format saves a standard TIFF image with source code. View the code by opening the file in Visustin. TIFF sample chart (save and open in Visustin)

The images in these files are fully compatible with all applications. The source code in the files is not standards compatible. Other applications are unlikely to display the source code. They will display the image, but not the code in it. Note: The .code. formats contain source code. Do not distribute them unless you wish to share your code.

Multi-image formats / Bulk charting

The following file formats are specific to the bulk flowcharting feature of the Pro Edition. These formats save several images in a single file. This makes it easy to archive a group of related flow charts. As an example, you can document a small program in a single file.

TIFF archive is a regular multi-page TIFF image. Many image viewers, but not all, support multi-page TIFF files. TIFF offers the best multi-page compatibility across viewers making it the best format for archiving several charts in one file.
TIFF archive with code (.code.tif) contains several flow charts along with the original source code they were created from. View the charts with any multi-page TIFF viewer. View the code by opening the file with Visustin.
MHT web archive contains several flow charts along with the original code. This file format is compatible with Microsoft Internet Explorer.

Change notice. Visustin v4 and v5 supported a multi-image GIF archive format. While saving GIF archives is no longer possible, Visustin still loads existing GIF archive files.

See samples for multi-image examples.

Tips

Create an XPS flow chart

An XPS flow chart is roughly similar to a PDF flow chart. Visustin does not natively save XPS files, but you can use Microsoft XPS Document Writer to create one. It is a printer driver that is available for free download from Microsoft. Just print the flow chart on the XPS "printer" and you get a .xps file.

Troubleshooting save failures

If saving a large chart fails, you may have exceeded the capabilities of the file format or your computer. Read more about Save failures with large charts.

File sizes

The following bar chart displays the relative file size of a saved flow chart using the default options.

pgm and ppm files are very large. They didn't fit on the chart.

pdf is the best format in terms of file size (and also quality). Of regular bitmap formats, png and gif are the best ones. jpg, pgm and ppm are the least suitable formats for flow charts. They not only consume lots of disk space, but jpg image quality is not perfect either.