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Software

Five Apps: Create professional flowcharts

By Brien Posey August 28, 2013, 12:51 PM PDT

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Five Apps: Create professional flowcharts

Five flow charting applications

Five flow charting applications

Thisrnscreenshot gallery is also available as a TechRepublic article.

rnrn

As a freelance technology writer, I find myself often havingrnto create various types of charts. In doing so, I have discovered that therernare a number of different tools available to help you to create flowcharts.rnHere are five such tools.

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Credit: Images byrnBrien Posey for TechRepublic

a1_1888 1.jpg
a1_1888 1.jpg
Five Apps: Create professional flowcharts

1888 Quick Flow Chart Creator 1

1888 Quick Flow Chart Creator 1

Five Apps

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1. 1888 Quick Flow Chart Creator

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1888rnQuick Flow Chart Creator is a free flow chart application. This particularrnapplication doesn’t really measure up to the paid applications, but it will getrnthe job done.

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The program provides a series of flow chart symbols that yourncan place on the screen and connect to one another. You also have the abilityrnto change the color of the symbols or add text to them.

rnrnThe program is fine forrncreating a basic flow chart, but it isn’t really conducive to high precisionrnwork. There don’t seem to be any tools to help you line up the objects that yournplace on the screen, so producing a clean looking flow chart can take a bit ofrnpractice. The software could also benefit from some better documentation, as itrntook me a few minutes to figure out how to use some of the features.

Credit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

a2_1888 2.jpg
a2_1888 2.jpg
Five Apps: Create professional flowcharts

1888 Quick Flow Chart Creator 2

1888 Quick Flow Chart Creator 2

Credit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

b1_WizFlow 1.jpg
b1_WizFlow 1.jpg
Five Apps: Create professional flowcharts

WizFlow Flowcharter 1

WizFlow Flowcharter 1

2. WizFlow Flowcharter

rnrn

WizFlowrnFlowcharter is a very basic flow charting application that seems to workrnreally well. This program starts off by asking you to choose a color pallet,rnfont, etc. After doing so, you are presented with a screen containing a seriesrnof objects that you can drag and drop to create your flowchart.

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I found the interface to be very intuitive, but admittedly,rnit took me a few tries to get the hang of object placement. The process wasn’trndifficult, it was just a little bit different from what I was used to. Allrnthings considered, this application is probably a good choice for those whornneed basic flow charting capabilities.

rnrnWizFlow Flowcharter sellsrnfor $69.95, but a free 30-day trial is available.

Credit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

b2_WizFlow 2.jpg
b2_WizFlow 2.jpg
Five Apps: Create professional flowcharts

WizFlow Flowcharter 2

WizFlow Flowcharter 2

Credit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

b3_WizFlow 3.jpg
b3_WizFlow 3.jpg
Five Apps: Create professional flowcharts

WizFlow Flowcharter 3

WizFlow Flowcharter 3

Credit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

b4_WizFLow 4.jpg
b4_WizFLow 4.jpg
Five Apps: Create professional flowcharts

WizFlow Flowcharter 4

WizFlow Flowcharter 4

Credit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

c1_RFFlow 1.jpg
c1_RFFlow 1.jpg
Five Apps: Create professional flowcharts

RFFlow 1

RFFlow 1

3. RFFlow

rnrn

RFFlowrnis everything that a flow charting application should be. The utility is fast,rnefficient, and intuitive. It makes light work of object placement and a popuprntakes all of the guess work out of adding text to an object. The program alsornmakes it simple to resize, move, or delete objects that you have alreadyrncreated. The software even includes templates that you can use to creaternvarious other types of charts.

rnrnRFFlow sells for $49.00,rnbut a free trial version is available for download.

Credit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

c2_RFFlow 2.jpg
c2_RFFlow 2.jpg
Five Apps: Create professional flowcharts

RFFlow 2

RFFlow 2

Credit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

c3_RFFlow 3.jpg
c3_RFFlow 3.jpg
Five Apps: Create professional flowcharts

RFFlow 3

RFFlow 3

Credit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

c4_RFFlow 4.jpg
c4_RFFlow 4.jpg
Five Apps: Create professional flowcharts

RFFlow 4

RFFlow 4

Credit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

c5_RFFlow 5.jpg
c5_RFFlow 5.jpg
Five Apps: Create professional flowcharts

RFFlow 5

RFFlow 5

Credit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

d1_Novagraph 1.jpg
d1_Novagraph 1.jpg
Five Apps: Create professional flowcharts

Novagraph Chartist 1

Novagraph Chartist 1

4. Novagraph Chartist

rnrn

NovagraphrnChartist is a relatively powerful tool for creating flow charts and otherrntypes of charts (such as organizational charts). Although there is a bit of arnlearning curve associated with using this tool, it is at least somewhatrnintuitive. More importantly, the tool is jam packed with features and should bernable to accommodate even the most demanding flow charting requirements.

rnrnNovagraph Chartist sellsrnfor $49.00, but a free trial version is available for download.

Credit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

d2_Novagraph 2.jpg
d2_Novagraph 2.jpg
Five Apps: Create professional flowcharts

Novagraph Chartist 2

Novagraph Chartist 2

Credit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

d3_Novagraph 3.jpg
d3_Novagraph 3.jpg
Five Apps: Create professional flowcharts

Novagraph Chartist 3

Novagraph Chartist 3

Credit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

d4_Novagraph 4.jpg
d4_Novagraph 4.jpg
Five Apps: Create professional flowcharts

Novagraph Chartist 4

Novagraph Chartist 4

Credit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

d5_Novagraph 5.jpg
d5_Novagraph 5.jpg
Five Apps: Create professional flowcharts

Novagraph Chartist 5

Novagraph Chartist 5

Credit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

e1_Visio 1.jpg
e1_Visio 1.jpg
Five Apps: Create professional flowcharts

Microsoft Visio Professional 2013 1

Microsoft Visio Professional 2013 1

5. Microsoft Visio Professional 2013

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MicrosoftrnVisio Professional 2013 is the flow chart application that I personally usernfor my day to day work. The main reason why I use Visio is because it’s builtrnin network diagramming tools are extremely helpful for some of the books andrnarticles that I write.

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When it comes to creating flow charts (as opposed to networkrndiagrams or other types of diagrams), Visio is easy to use. It behaves muchrnlike other Microsoft Office applications, such as Word or Publisher. Visiornallows you to drag and drop objects to build your flow chart.

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In all honesty, Visio performs almost identically to RFFlow,rnwhich costs a small fraction of what Visio costs. If you only need to creaternflow charts, you are probably better off getting RFFlow than Visio. However, ifrnyou need to be able to create a wide variety of chart types then Visio is anrnexcellent application choice.

rnrnMicrosoft Visio Professionalrn2013 sells for $589.99.

Credit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

e2_Visio 2.jpg
e2_Visio 2.jpg
Five Apps: Create professional flowcharts

Microsoft Visio Professional 2013 2

Microsoft Visio Professional 2013 2

Credit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

e3_Visio 3.jpg
e3_Visio 3.jpg
Five Apps: Create professional flowcharts

Microsoft Visio Professional 2013 3

Microsoft Visio Professional 2013 3

Credit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

e4_Visio 4.jpg
e4_Visio 4.jpg
Five Apps: Create professional flowcharts

Microsoft Visio Professional 2013 4

Microsoft Visio Professional 2013 4

Credit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

e5_Visio 5.jpg
e5_Visio 5.jpg
Five Apps: Create professional flowcharts

Microsoft Visio Professional 2013 5

Microsoft Visio Professional 2013 5

Credit: Images by Brien Posey for TechRepublic

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By Brien Posey
* 1988 - Started teaching myself about computers \ * 1992 - Mainframe programmer for an insurance company \ * 1993 - Network Administrator for a different insurance company \ * 1996 - Author for The Cobb Group \ * 1998 - Network Administrator
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