Convert Visio files to PDF (Windows)

PDFs created from Visio files preserve page sizes and support layers, searchable text, custom properties, links, bookmarks, and comments, depending on your settings in the conversion settings. (Choose Adobe PDF > Change Conversion Settings to review these, if needed.)

When you convert your Visio file to a PDF, you can preserve all or just some layers, or you can flatten all layers. If you flatten layers, the PDF will look like the original drawing, but won’t contain any layer information. All shapes in the Visio drawing are converted, regardless of their protection or behavior, and shape custom properties can be converted to PDF object data.

When flattened, only shapes that belong to both visible and printable layers appear in the converted PDF.

Note: Guides are converted only if they are visible and printable in Visio.

Convert Visio files

  1. If you want to change the PDFMaker conversion settings, open Visio and choose Adobe PDF > Change Conversion Settings. (For information about a setting, place the pointer over the setting to display a tooltip below.)
  2. If you want to convert each page in the Visio file to a bookmarked page in the PDF file, choose Adobe PDF > Convert All Pages In Drawing. If this option is deselected, only the current page is converted.
  3. Do one of the following:

    • Click the Convert To Adobe PDF button in the Adobe PDF toolbar.

    • Choose Adobe PDF > Convert To Adobe PDF. 

    • Choose Adobe PDF > Convert To Adobe PDF And EMail. The PDF file attaches to a new email message in your default email application. 

    • Choose Adobe PDF > Convert To Adobe PDF And Send For Review. The file converts to an Adobe PDF file, and an email-based review process begins. 

  4. If you want to include the custom properties of shapes, select that option.
  5. Click Continue.
  6. Select a layers option to retain or flatten layers in the resulting PDF, and click Continue:
    Note: If you select Retain Some Layers In The Selected Page, you’ll be prompted to choose which Visio layers to include.
  7. Click Convert To Adobe PDF, specify a location and filename, and click Save.

Select Visio layers to convert

You can convert a Visio drawing that contains layers to a PDF and retain some or all of the layers in the resulting PDF, or you can flatten the layers. You can also organize the Visio layers in layer sets, which are folders in the Acrobat Layers panel.

  1. With the multilayered file open in Visio, click a button in the Adobe PDF toolbar, and select Retain Some Layers In The Selected Page.
    Note: If the Retain Some Layers In The Selected Page option is not available, deselect the Convert All Pages In Drawing option.
  2. Select one or more layers in the Layers In Visio Drawing list:

    • To select a single layer, click the name of the layer.

    • To select all layers, right-click and choose Select All.

    • To select more than one layer, Ctrl-click the desired layers. (You can also Ctrl-click a layer to remove it from a selection.)

  3. To add the selected Visio layers to the list of layers to convert to the PDF file, do one of the following:

    • To convert the selected Visio layers to individual PDF layers within a PDF layer set, click Create Layer Set, and optionally, type a layer name.

    • To convert the selected Visio layers to individual layers (but not grouped under a layer set), click the Add Layer(s) button.

      Note: The name of a layer in the Layers In Visio Drawing list is unavailable if that layer is included in the Layers In PDF list. When you select that layer in the Layers In PDF list, a bullet appears next to the layer’s name in the Layers In Visio Drawing list.
  4. Optionally, do any of the following:

    • To reorder the layers in the Layers In PDF list, drag an item up or down in the list.

    • To include a visibility property that can be switched on or off in Acrobat, deselect Locked On adjacent to the PDF layer; to lock the resulting PDF layer’s visibility on, select Locked On.

    • To save the current settings of Visio layers selected, click Save PDF Settings, and click OK. These settings are used the next time you convert the current Visio file to a PDF file.

  5. Click Convert To PDF, specify a folder in the Save In box in which to save the PDF file, type a filename, and then click Save.
    Note: Visio layers that were selected for conversion and that have Visio settings for visible, printable, or lock are converted to PDF layers; the visible and printable properties are included in the resulting PDF layers. If the Visio file contains a background page, header, or footer, the PDF file automatically has PDF layers named for those items.
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