PowerPoint 2013 Bible, 4th Edition

Chapter 10

Creating SmartArt Graphics

In This Chapter

Understanding SmartArt types and their uses

Inserting a SmartArt graphic

Editing SmartArt text

Modifying SmartArt structure

Modifying an organization chart structure

Resizing a SmartArt graphic

Manually restructuring a SmartArt graphic

Formatting a SmartArt graphic

Just as charts and graphs can enliven a boring table of numbers, a SmartArt graphic can enliven a conceptual discussion. SmartArt helps the audience understand the interdependencies of objects or processes in a visual way, so they don't have to juggle that information mentally as you speak. Some potential uses include organizational charts, hierarchy diagrams, and flow charts.

Understanding SmartArt Types and Their Uses

SmartArt is a special class of vector graphic object that combines shapes, lines, and text placeholders. SmartArt is most often used to illustrate relationships between bits of text.

The SmartArt interface is similar regardless of the type of graphic you are creating. You can type directly into the placeholders on the SmartArt graphic, or you can display a Text pane to the side of the graphic and type into that, much as you would type into an Outline pane, to have text appear in a slide's text placeholder boxes. See Figure 10.1. You can also select some text, right-click it, and choose Convert to SmartArt.

There are eight types of SmartArt graphics in PowerPoint 2013, and each is uniquely suited for a certain type of data delivery.

Figure 10.1 ...