Skip to main content

Import a Process on a Word/PDF/Visio Document

Import directly onto the map or onto the stage from where the sections can be dragged-and-dropped onto the map to build your workflow.

Hylet Pistorius avatar
Written by Hylet Pistorius
Updated over 3 weeks ago

Importing speeds up process creation and editing by allowing you to bring in Activities, Tasks, Notes, Activity tags, Process objectives ,Process notes, Triggers

Inputs and outputs.

Import a Process from a Word/PDF/Visio Document

  1. Open the Process/value stream you want to import into.

  2. In the right-hand side diagram content menu, select the import icon

    to open the import panel.

  3. Toggle stage - see details further down in the article

  4. Two ways to import:

    1. Select Browse to upload a file.

    2. Drag and drop the file onto the import stage.

  5. Wait for the document to load.

  6. Once imported:

    1. Into the staging area:

      • Review each section that was created from the document.

      • Edit any text that did not import correctly using the Edit button.

      • Delete unnecessary sections using the Delete button or by selecting a section and pressing Delete (fn-Backspace) on your keyboard.

      • Change the section types where needed (for example, to Activities, Tasks, Notes, etc.).

      • Drag and drop the sections onto the map to create the Process.

    2. Onto the Map:

      1. Edit the map as you would usually edit activities, process links, decisions, events.

Stage/Map Toggle:

  1. Stage (toggle is grey) - process will import onto the stage from where it can be edited, dragged-and-dropped onto the map.

  2. Map (toggle is green) - process will import directly onto the map.

Notes on the Different Document Types

  • Word (.docx, .dotx, .docm)

    • Each sentence becomes its own section if it ends with a period and a space (". ").

    • Bullets and numbered points become separate sections, even without a period and space.

    • Tables are split by row and then by cell; each cell is further split into sentences.

    • You can edit or delete sections directly in the Import panel.

    • If the file is too large, you may be prompted to select a page range (this selector is not very accurate for Word).

  • PDF

    • PDFs are treated more like a single image when processed, and may not always import accurately.

    • Some PDF fonts may not convert correctly.

    • Sentences, bullets, numbered points and tables are split in the same way as Word where possible, but results can be less reliable than Word.

  • Visio

    • Each shape that contains text becomes its own section.

    • Objects in Visio that will be mapped as Decisions: Decision, Gateway, Diamonds

    • Both Visio Drawing and Visio Viewer files can be imported:

      • Visio drawing

        • This is the actual diagram file you create and edit.

        • Common file types:

          • vsdx – modern Visio drawing

          • .vsd – older Visio drawing

          • .vsdm – Visio drawing with macros

        • You need Microsoft Visio (the full app or Visio for the web) to edit these.

      • Visio Viewer

        • This is not a drawing format, it’s:

          • Either the Visio Viewer application (a free add-on to view diagrams)

          • Or sometimes people loosely say “Visio viewer file” when they mean:

            • A web link to a Visio file opened in the browser

            • A PDF or image exported from Visio for viewing only

        • You can’t edit in Viewer – only zoom, pan, see shapes, maybe comments.

  • Images (Word & PDF)

    • Images in Word and PDF documents appear in the Import panel and can be added to Activities. Drag-and-drop the image onto an activity to automatically create an attachment containing the image.

    • Because the original image names are unknown, images are named in the format:
      ​import_document_ACTIVITYID (for example, import_document_14825).

Notes

  • Maximum file size for import: 3.99 GB.

  • For large files with multiple tabs:

    • You may be asked to select a tab.

    • The Word page range selector is not very accurate.

    • For more accurate page selection, convert the Word document to PDF and import the PDF instead.

  • If you experience issues importing a PDF (for example, due to fonts or layout), convert it to a Word document and import the Word version.

Did this answer your question?