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I have a shape with a text label below. I want to be able to draw a line down from the shape and NOT have it run through the text label because it obscures the text. What I have done to get around this is to disconnect the line from the top shape and draw it from some point in space just below the text area. This is a pain and has to be readjusted every time I move shapes. I was hoping to find a way to connect the line to the text label directly or possibly apply a fill to the text label area to make it look like the line starts below the text field. Any suggestions?

I tried to illustrate this below. Assume the boxes are actually shapes. You can (hopefully) see that the line goes between shapes runs straight through the text label.

+---------+
|         |
|         |
|         |
+---------+
     |
     |
Text |label
     |
     |
+---------+
|         |
|         |
|         |
+---------+

Ideally it would look something like the below after the "fix"

+---------+
|         |
|         |
|         |
+---------+


Text label
     |
     |
+---------+
|         |
|         |
|         |
+---------+
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4 Answers 4

Reset to default
1

Select the shape, then right-click -> Format -> Text, select Text Block, set Text Background to Solid Color and select white.

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3
  • I looked for this but couldn't find it. In 2013 I have no Format option in the right-click menu but having remembered doing this before I searched again and finally found it. There's probably a better way but I selected the shape, open Paragraph options > Text Block tab > Text background. I have a colored background so I chose a matching color instead of white but I still have the problem where the line shows above the text label, is hidden behind the text label, and then extends to the shape. So... this is progress but I don't want the line showing above the text label.
    – JeffC
    Jun 27, 2014 at 13:16
  • Well, in that case put your text in a text box rather than the shape itself, put the text box below the shape, group them. Now you can glue your connector to the text block shape.
    – Paul Herber
    Jun 27, 2014 at 13:49
  • I'm going to mark this as the answer because it's the easiest and closest to what I wanted. Hopefully in the future they will add the ability to connect to the textlabel without having to edit the Shapesheet. Thanks!
    – JeffC
    Jun 27, 2014 at 17:15
1

Another way: open the shape's shapesheet, insert section Connection points, create a new connection point and set the point's X and Y coords to the TxtPinX and TxtPinY. Glue to that.

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1
  • I didn't know the Shapesheet existed. Thanks for sharing this... I may use it in the future.
    – JeffC
    Jun 27, 2014 at 17:16
0

Select the shape and press Bring to Front under the Arrange section of the Home tab.

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0
0

The accepted answer doesn't quite match Visio 2201. I'd have just commented but I wanted better formatting so, here's an updated answer.

  1. Select the shape and right-click, Edit Text.
  2. Right click within the resulting selected text and select Paragraph.
  3. In the resulting Text dialog, select the Text Block tab.
  4. Within tab's Text Background section, select Solid color:
    • Use the color dropdown to change the color to your desired background color, e.g. White, White.
  5. You may also need to select the connector line and Send to Back, Send backward.
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