Visual Presentations Made Easy With Diagramming Software

Whether your organization is restructuring its staff, preparing a financial report, or evaluating technology vendors, a chart, graph, or diagram can be a compelling way to display information. And while you could create graphics using your word processor's built-in drawing features, these tools may not be sophisticated enough for every type of professional presentation. Likewise, using a high-end graphics program — such as Quark XPress or Adobe Illustrator — to make a simple diagram might be unnecessarily complicated and time-consuming, especially for inexperienced users.

When a project calls for a visual presentation, you may want to turn to a specialized piece of software commonly known as a diagramming program, which usually provides a number of different symbol sets for creating particular types of visual maps and drawings.

For instance, if you wanted to map out the local area network you're building at your nonprofit's new headquarters, you'd do something similar to the following: open a diagramming utility; look for a symbol set called "computers" or "networking"; then create the basic diagram by dragging and dropping icons for computers, servers, and printers onto the work grid. To finish the diagram, you'd add in arrows and connection lines to show how all of the hardware devices interface with one another, as well as any explanatory text.

As is true for all classes of software, diagramming applications vary in terms of their feature sets and cost. For example, a commercial program might offer templates for certain types of diagrams, saving you the trouble creating a custom drawing. On the other hand, a free program may only save drawings in a limited number of file formats.

Understanding different diagramming applications and their features can help you better decide which program best suits your organization's needs. To help you narrow your choices, we've taken a quick look at six popular diagramming programs and the major features they provide. The applications listed below all offer some sort of trial period, so you can download them to decide which one is the best choice for your nonprofit.

1. ConceptDraw VI Professional by Computer Systems Odessa
   Cost: $299 retail; academic discounts available
   System requirements: Windows ME/NT/2000/XP; Macintosh OS X 10.1.5 or later
   Download either trial version.
   
   ConceptDraw provides more than 100 symbol sets, divided into categories such as Web site designs; general business and marketing diagrams; and project-management charts. The program offers tools for resizing, rotating, and changing the color of individual symbols, as well as those for drawing lines and shapes. Like many professional diagramming programs, this utility can create diagrams with layers, allowing you stack multiple images. ConceptDraw diagrams can be saved in a variety of formats, including, HTML, JPEG, PDF, and PowerPoint. In addition, the application provides a built-in tool for saving diagrams to your organization's FTP server.
2. Corel iGrafx FlowCharter 2006  
   Cost: Contact Corel for pricing
   System requirements: Windows 2000/XP
   Download the trial version.
   
   Corel's iGrafx FlowCharter features about 20 diagram templates pre-populated with symbols  for comparison charts, workflows, organizational charts, and more. Users can customize the templates by rearranging or removing symbols, or by adding additional shapes from FlowCharter's 100-plus symbol sets. If none of the templates meet your purpose, you can always create a diagram from scratch. FlowCharter allows you to build diagrams with multiple layers and also provides standard tools for drawing lines and shapes. The application can open files created in Visio, Microsoft's diagramming program, and can also automatically export files to Word or PowerPoint. FlowCharter saves diagrams as HTML files or in a number of standard graphic formats such as JPEG and GIF.
3. Dia
   Cost: Free
   System requirements: Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP; Linux
   Download the Windows version.
   Download the Linux version.
   
   Open-source diagramming application Dia offers more than 30 symbol libraries for building diagrams ranging from simple flowcharts to complex Cisco and Sybase computer networks. The application also supports multiple layers and offers tools for quickly drawing shapes like polygons and boxes. Dia opens several different types of image files and can also export diagrams in formats such BMP, JPEG, and GIF. However this free program can neither open Visio diagrams nor save drawings in HTML format. Note that in order to use Dia with Windows, you'll need to download and install the free GTK+ Runtime Environment first.
4. Kivio mp by theKompany.com
   Cost: $90 for full version
   System requirements: Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP; Macintosh OS X 1.03 and later; Linux
   Download any trial version.
   
   The Windows demo version of Kivio mp — which has an unlimited trial period — bundles only a single set of flowchart-building symbols. If you want to design more complex flowcharts, diagram computer networks, or create other types of drawings, you'll need to purchase additional stencil sets (which cost $5 to $10 each) or buy the full version. The application supports layers and saves documents in either its proprietary KVO format or as common image files such as BMP, PNG, and JPEG. However, Kivio cannot export diagrams to HTML. It's also worth noting that the Kivio mp demo lacks dedicated help files, though users can get advice in the support forums at the developer's Web site.
5. Microsoft Visio Professional
   Cost: $499 retail; $20 from TechSoup Stock
   System requirements: Windows 2000/XP
   Download the trial version.
   
   Microsoft's take on the diagramming application provides users with more than 100 different symbol sets (called "stencils") grouped into 16 categories, such as organizational charts, project schedules, computer network layouts, and brainstorming maps. You can build a diagram containing shapes from multiple categories, then save it as a custom stencil for later reference. Like many diagramming programs, Visio lets you create diagrams with multiple layers and offers a standard assortment of drawing tools to help you resize, rotate, and flip shapes. Visio files can be saved in a handful of different proprietary Microsoft formats as well as JPEG images, as AutoCAD files, or as XML and HTML pages. Visio diagrams can also be inserted into Word, PowerPoint, and other applications.
6. SmartDraw
   Cost: $197; discounts available for educational institutions
   System requirements: Windows 2000/XP
   Download the trial version.
   
   This diagramming application offers 150 templates in categories such as software and Web design, flyers and certificates, and network design. All of SmartDraw's templates are pre-populated with symbols, though you can easily customize them by dragging and removing symbols or by adding other shapes from the program's large library. If your diagram requires an even deeper level of customization, you can edit individual symbols by changing elements' color, size, and shape. SmartDraw lets you design diagrams from scratch; supports layers; provides tools for drawing lines and shapes; and offers wizards to help novice users quickly create drawings. The application can open Visio files, and also saves diagrams in multiple formats, including HTML, PDF, GIF, and JPEG.

Using a diagramming application, rather than graphics or word-processing software, can reduce the number of hours required to create visual presentations. After all, your time is valuable — and you probably want to spend more of it working on that important project rather than diagramming it.