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You are here: Home / Products / LayerManager

LayerManager

LayerManager

LayerManager is an add-in for desktop Visio, and is just $99 / user, and can be purchased from Paddle.com, from within the add-in, or contact us for a quotation.

Request a download from here to try free for 7 days : Click

View the LayerManager help file here : Click

Note: You should uninstall version 1.x before installing the new version.

May ’23: Layer Set options added

  • Layer Set menu options and calls from code added to LayerManager

Mar ’23: Update for non-English users

  • Update to LayerManager add-in for non-English users

Oct ’22: Editing multiple layers and their colors simultaneously

  • Editing Visio Layer Colours with LayerManager

Sep ’21: New Fix sub-shape layers tool and menu options

  • Fixing the sub-shape layer assignments of Visio shapes
  • Developer Mode for advanced Layer Manager actions

Dec ’20: New installation, purchasing and licensing process

Feb’20: New updated version includes shape counts and hash layer tool for Power BI integration!

Microsoft Visio has a complex layering system that can be confusing. The appearance of a Visio page can be drastically altered by changing the visibility and printability of layers. Effective use of layers can provide multiple views of the same base visual information, reducing the need to copy shapes from one page to another, and thus eliminates mistakes.

An animation of the visibility of layers in a Visio diagram being toggled.

Layer Manager makes this simple.

I have recorded 3 short videos to explain why:

  • What’s the issue with layers in Visio?
  • Making it simple to toggle layer settings
  • Saving and recalling multiple layer settings easily

Still need convincing? … Read the help file

Important: Developer Mode must be ON to see the Toggle Buttons and Layers tabs (and the new Shape Layers tab).

An animation of the visibility of groups of layers being toggled.

Toggle Layer Buttons provide a visual indication of layer states and colors.

An animation of sets of layers being applied to a Visio page.

Non-printable Layer Set Buttons make it easy to save and recall multiple layer settings.

KEY BENEFITS

  • Toggle visibility of layers in a window or with in page buttons
  • Apply settings to a group of layers together
  • Save and recall multiple layer settings by name
  • Prepare for Power BI integration
  • Fix missing sub-shape layer assignments

RELEASE NOTES

  • LayerManager is an add-in for Visio 2013+
  • Request a download from here : Click
  • View the LayerManager help file here : Click
  • Latest version is 21.09.1.0 – see bottom of page for details
  • *Older versions should be uninstalled first
  • **Existing users of version 1* should request a new activation code before installing this version

Version history

Related Blog Articles

The importance of #layers in Visio for Power BI

Judging by the number of downloads of my free Visio and Power BI GuIde, there is an increasing recognition of this great feature. I recently started to prepare an example for someone, but found that their sample Visio document has just over the 1,000 shape limit, so what can you do about that? The answer…

Layer Set menu options and calls from code added to LayerManager

LayerManager for Microsoft Visio layer sets can now be called from external code and are also available from a sub-menu of the Layer Buttons drop-down ribbon button. The Layer Manager window does not need to be open to use the sub-menu because it detects the Layer Set buttons on the page. (more…)

Update to LayerManager add-in for non-English users

A French user of LayerManager recently reported that the Refresh Counts button was not working for him, and a few other users were recently finding that the trial period was reporting expired immediately after download. Both of these issues have hopefully been addressed in the latest version 23.3.1, which is available for free to current…

Pushing Data Visualizer in Visio to the limits!

Regular readers of my blog will know that I like to use the Data Visualizer (DV) in Visio Plan 2, but I recently tried to help a user who really decided to push it to the limits. In this scenario, there were multiple connections, but with different labels, being created between the same flowchart shapes,…

Editing Visio Layer Colours with LayerManager

Desktop Visio has a tremendous ability to assign shapes to none, one or more layers, and the efficient use of them can make a drawing so powerful by toggling layers visibility or locking certain layers whilst working on other layers. The same drawing can be used, displayed or printed for many different purposes just by…

Fixing the sub-shape layer assignments of Visio shapes

I was preparing a new update of my Layer Manager tool, and was constantly coming across a lack of quality control in the sub-shape layer assignment in a number of the master shapes in Microsoft provided stencils. I have mentioned this to Microsoft as a bug before but the problem still persists in Visio for…

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