9 replies to this topic

[EliseF]

Hi all,

Can any recommend a good flowcharting program?  Must be windows compatible, easy to use, etc.  I have past experience with Visio, but would appreciate any comments on if that is still good, or if there are others out there that are better.

 

Many thanks!

Elise

[Quality Ben]

Hi Elise - you may find this article useful, I did.

Visio is pretty good for my money.

 

http://flowchart-sof...tenreviews.com/

[Philip @ Safefood 360°]

If you would like a nice, simple and dare I say "free" flow diagram tool then you can't go wrong with https://www.draw.io/

 

It is entirely web based so will work in any browser. Easy to use and you can save your diagrams in a number of different formats.

 

I recommend saving in the XML format as you will be able to edit it again in the future through this tool, or other flow diagram tools which support XML like Visio and Safefood 360.

 

Hope this helps.

[Simon]

If you would like a nice, simple and dare I say "free" flow diagram tool then you can't go wrong with https://www.draw.io/

Good call Philip, that's really nifty.

[nwkc]

We've used Smart Draw for years. It's fairly user friendly, easily creates re-sizable, professional-appearing flow charts, and is reasonably priced. You can download a free trial at  www.smartdraw.com . Charts produced with the trial will have a watermark on them when printed, but if you purchase a license, those watermarks will be removed.

[Mr. Incognito]

I've always just used PowerPoint to make flow charts.  It has good shapes, the lines connect well as long as you use it properly.  It helps you with spacing to keep things spaced evenly and will how spacing trends.  PowerPoint is easy to integrate into word and excel because they are all Microsoft products.  You can use colors and all sorts of other nifty things... and it's easy to use.

 

The only thing I can't remember is if it does cross over lines (lines that go past each other but don't connect).

[Kellio]

Smart Draw.. it is compatible with MS WORD Excel, and PowerPoint.  Also, it will generate PDF files.

 

Licenses are inexpensive if you buy the corporate version.

[AS NUR]

i am use excell.. its seem so familiar to make flowchart

 

 

rgds

 

AS NUr

[Mr. Incognito]

i am use excell.. its seem so familiar to make flowchart

 

 

rgds

 

AS NUr

 

Excel isn't a bad choice to use the only issue I have with it is having to deal with row and column spacing... technically if you shrink them all down to look like graph paper I suspect it would work exceptionally well.

[fgjuadi]

Power point, excel, all MS Word programs have "shapes", which are easy to use and can be copied / pasted into other Office Programs.  If' you're going MS Office, pick Visio - it is designed for visual representation (also I'm going to marry it).   Visio has a tool that lines up shapes and lets you edit arrow types etc, while on other Office programs you have to get "creative" to get there.

 

I like Open Office Draw, it is an open source alternative to Visio (free).  That also means it has weird bugs sometimes and doesn't have all of the functionality of Visio.  But the community is great and chances are it'll meet your needs if you already know Visio.  Free.  Best for the adventurous.

 

Excel can do many things.  But that doesn't always mean it should do those things.  For example - I have a warehouse manager that built an entire factory map, in Excel, by making each cell represent one 1/2in of the factory.  It was a remarkable triumph of using the wrong program.  You could tell hours of work and manipulation went into it.  It was 26 by 50-some pages printed.  But with Visio, you just type in your scale, and enter h &w, and an object the right size pops up.