When it came to exporting the file back to Visio I was disappointed to find that my options were restricted to just the old XML format, vdx. In fact, the composition of shapes was completely destroyed … which makes a Visio shape developer like myself weep with incredulity. The master to shape instance relationship that I take pains to preserve was gone, as were all of the shape data, hyperlinks and layers. I did not attempt to do any work in Lucidchart after the import because there was no integrity left in the Visio shapes for me to work with. The Visio files can be the pre-2013 binary or XML, I did not bother to try a vsdm file because I cannot see anyway that Lucidchart could claim to preserve VBA macros! Lucidchart can import Visio files in the pre-2013 binary or XML, or the newer Open Packaging Convention zipped up XML format.

I took an earlier version of this document, without the extra callouts that I added after Microsoft moved the video files to YouTube, which has just two pages and was 673 kb in size in Visio 2013 vsdx file format.

My conclusion is if you use Visio for high quality vector graphics or for any type of business intelligence then wait for Microsoft to do it right! Please do not even consider round tripping Visio files to Lucidcharts and back, because you will be extremely disappointed. I present my findings below, based on just one Visio document that I have used in this blog before ( see ). Well, although I would love to have a web-edition of Visio from Microsoft, I was interested to discover if the claims are true … so I signed up for a trial. My fellow Visio MVP, John Marshall (see ), pointed out recently that Lucid Software claim to have a Visio for Mac application that offers import and export of real Visio files.

Visualizing Information with Microsoft Visio.

Microsoft Visio Business Process Diagramming and Validation.

Mastering Data Visualization with Microsoft Visio.

My session and other Visio sessions at MSIgnite 2019.

Designing Power Automate Flows with Microsoft Visio.

Creating Visio Tabs and Apps for Teams with SharePoint Framework (SPFx).

Using the Visio Data Visualizer in Excel.Key differences between the Visio desktop and web apps.Customising Visio Shapes for the Web App.Comparing Visio for the Web and Desktop.Visualizing Construction Project Schedules.How Visio smartness can help your business.

View visio file on mac