Copying Visio Shape Loses Formatting

Problem

When you copy a Visio shape from one file to another or even from one sheet to another, the copied shape loses the original formatting.

Solution

This can occur when Visio automatically applies the current them to the new instance of the shape.  When this occurs:

1) Right-click on the pasted shape

2) Point to Format, and then

3) Select Remove Theme.

The original formatting will return.

References

• Remove a theme from a shape

An error (920) occurred during the action Save As.

Problem

You are trying to save a Visio 2007 worksheet as a graphic. During this process, you experience the following error:

Resolution

This problem is often caused by objects outside of the worksheet that Visio is unable to adequately fit into the viewing area for rendering into an image.  These objects can be located so far off the worksheet that it is difficult to immediately view them; and the scroll bar won't give any indication that these objects are there (it only tracks the current worksheet.  However, there is a simple way to remove these unwanted objects lying outside the worksheet.

Zoom out from the worksheet a bit, and then press CTRL + A.  This selects all of the objects on the current tab.  Note that a dashed green line surrounds the worksheet, but that it appears to extend outside of the current zoom view.

This indicates that the current selection has captured objects lying outside of the current worksheet.  Now, zoom outward until you can see the entire selection area.  In the image below, the zoom level is such that the actual worksheet is miniscule; and now the other objects can be seen.

Delete these other objects.  Then press CTRL + A again to ensure that no more objects lay outside of the worksheet.  Once the dashed green selection line only surrounds the current worksheet, you can safely save the current worksheet as an image without encountering further Visio 920 errors.

Happy computing!

References

• MSDN Architecture Center: Visio 2007 sp1 - error (920) when exporting to jpg
• Microsoft Support: "An error (920) occurred during the action Save As" error message when you save a Visio 2002 drawing in a graphic file format.
• Saving and printing not working correctly
• Re: Error 920- Save as JPG. Visio 2002 Pro
• Printing Options Gone Mad!
• Network Diagrams: Tips for Printing From Visio