Conversion of .vsd to .png

[Combs, Richard]

Jburgdor wrote:
 
> Does anyone know of an automated method for doing drawing conversions
> from .vsd to .png?

I suggest not doing that. Visio files are scalable vector graphics. PNG files are bitmap (raster) images, which exhibit all the limitations of bitmaps -- jaggies, poor quality when zoomed/scaled, etc. 

A much better option is converting them to PDF, which is also a scalable vector format. That's especially true if your intended destination is an FM document (which I'm assuming is the case since you posted to this list). 

I haven't used any third-party converters myself, since I have both Visio and Acrobat Pro, so I can't recommend one and don't know how or if they handle multi-page Visio files. When I use the Acrobat plug-in to save a multi-page Visio file as PDF, I get a multi-page PDF. When I import that by reference into FM, I'm prompted to select which page of the PDF to import. Very cool, very slick, totally bulletproof. 

In Google, search for "batch convert visio files" (sans quotes) for a number of options (try some variations of that search string too). You'll see that most are for converting to PDF (because that's the best choice for most purposes). But there are some options for other destination formats (PNG, JPEG, etc.) if you must. 

HTH!

Richard G. Combs
Senior Technical Writer
Polycom, Inc.
richardDOTcombs AT polycomDOTcom
303-223-5111
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rgcombs AT gmailDOTcom
303-903-6372
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