5. Diagrams and SmartArt

In This Chapter

What we’re about to show you is going to revolutionize how you create presentations. SmartArt is a new feature for Word, PowerPoint, and Excel; but of the three, PowerPoint is definitely the application in which SmartArt makes the most impact.

By now, you realize that the presentation of your content is essential. If your presentation is organized, aesthetically pleasing, and conveys what you want, all that is left is for you to do is figure out what you are going to say during the presentation. SmartArt can handle the first three objectives, allowing you more time to come up with the actual content and what you will say to accompany the presentation.

What’s so Smart About It?

To label a SmartArt as just a diagram is like saying that Michael Jordan is just a basketball player. Instead, think of SmartArt as your first option when you want to display data in a way that will capture the attention of your audience.

The basic idea of SmartArt is that you have a set of data that you need to lay out graphically. Maybe it’s a list, maybe it’s a flow chart, maybe it’s a table of contents, maybe it’s a food pyramid; regardless of what type of relationship the data has, SmartArt makes it easy to convey it in a professional manner that will amaze your audience (see Figure 5.1).

Figure 5.1 A few types of data that can be represented with SmartArt. From left to right, Funnel, Non-directional Cycle, Basic Target. Find all of these on the Insert SmartArt dialog or gallery.

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The basic types of SmartArt are grouped together and include

  • List
  • Process
  • Cycle
  • Hierarchy
  • Relationship
  • Matrix
  • Pyramid

Within each general type of SmartArt, you can use multiple layouts to display your data.

Tip

To get the most out of your data, the approach we recommend is to insert your SmartArt first, and then try out the various layouts to see what looks best in your presentation.

The real intelligence of a SmartArt graphic is in the ease with which you can display your data beautifully and also maintain it through changes and edits. This means that you can create an amazing graphic based on an original set of data; then add to or subtract from your data, and the graphic automatically reflects the changes in the data.

Note

For the rest of the chapter, we assume that you have created your data in PowerPoint (although it could come from anywhere), and it could be anything from a list of groceries to an executive plan of action to a food chain.

In a way, you can think of the graphic in terms of relying on the data, and when you modify existing data—whether you are adding or deleting—the graphic creates space for new nodes or removes a node and gives all other nodes more space to breathe.

In Figure 5.2, notice how the graphic has updated automatically simply by observing your changes to the data. Imagine trying to do this by hand and having to remove and resize all other nodes (shapes) when an insertion or deletion occurs.

Figure 5.2 On the left is the original SmartArt; the middle has a piece of data removed; and the right has a piece of data added.

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Inserting SmartArt

Depending on whether you have already created your data, you can insert SmartArt in one of two ways.

Using the Default

Without having any data, you can insert a default SmartArt, and it contains content placeholders with the words [Text] waiting for you to replace them with your actual data (see Figure 5.3). This is great for previewing how the data will look before you insert it, so you can focus on the formatting independently from the data creation.

Figure 5.3 The default SmartArt has placeholders waiting for you to enter data marked [Text].

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To insert a default SmartArt graphic, do the following:

1. Select the Insert tab, and in the Illustrations group, click on the SmartArt icon.

2. Notice the three sections of the Choose a SmartArt Graphic dialog box: The left pane contains the basic types of SmartArt you can choose from, the middle pane shows icons that preview the look of the SmartArt, and the right pane contains a detailed description and a larger colored preview of the graphic. Figure 5.1 shows an example of how this looks.

3. By default, the All category of SmartArt diagrams is selected in the left pane. If you want to narrow down the types of graphics previewed in the middle pane, select another type of SmartArt in the left pane.

4. Select a SmartArt graphic and notice that the preview pane on the right gives you a small summary and example of how the graphic will look.

5. When you’re ready, click OK. You now have a SmartArt graphic in your presentation, ready for you to add data to and customize.

Convert Existing Content to SmartArt

An alternative way to insert a SmartArt graphic is to convert existing content to SmartArt. This is especially useful for presentations with existing data that needs to be spruced up, in addition to presentation authors who create their content first and then go back and make it look good visually. In fact, you can take all your presentations created in PowerPoint 2003 or older and convert all those boring bulleted lists into beautiful graphics.

The following types of content can be converted to SmartArt:

  • Shapes
  • Text boxes (Including WordArt)
  • Placeholders

To convert one of these types of content to SmartArt, do the following:

1. Select the Home tab.

2. In the Paragraph group, click Convert to SmartArt to drop down a few of the layouts.

Note

This gallery is a great place to take advantage of Live Preview and hover over the layouts provided to see how the conversion would look.

3. Choose one of the 20 common layouts or click More SmartArt Graphics to find a different layout (see Figure 5.4).

Figure 5.4 The Convert to SmartArt feature is a great tool that allows you to create content first using text boxes and bullets and then format it later.

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Anatomy of a SmartArt Graphic

Before we delve too much into what you can do with SmartArt, let’s look at the puzzle pieces you have to work with to create a SmartArt graphic.

Content Pane

The graphical representation of your data exists in the Content pane. With a SmartArt selected, this is the part on the right, as shown in Figure 5.5.

Figure 5.5 The anatomy of a Vertical Box List SmartArt. The left side is the Text pane; the right side is the Content pane.

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When inserting a SmartArt graphic, the preview shows what the Content pane will contain. Note that the Text pane, described in the next section, is the same regardless of the type of SmartArt.

Text Pane

Fittingly named, the Text pane is the part of the SmartArt that, by default, is docked on its left side (but you can drag it around) and is titled Type Your Text Here (see Figure 5.5).

The body of the Text pane contains a bulleted outline of all the data you want the graphic to represent.

A great thing you can do with the Text pane is format your text. Imagine the words in your Text pane as just placeholders or links for the words in the Content pane. Select anything in the Text pane and apply formatting, such as changing the color, applying a style, or any other formatting you can do to text, as described in Chapter 2, “Everything You Need to Know About Text.”

Although you can’t see a difference in the text in the Text pane itself, look at the Content pane, where the text is modified. This is great for layouts that have rotated nodes, 3D nodes, or any hard-to-select shapes with text in them. In addition, you do not have to select each shape in the Content pane; rather, you have access to all the text in one place and can modify it there.

Note

Do not forget that you can move the Text pane around and it still remembers where it should be, even if you de-select the SmartArt.

From the SmartArt Tools Design tab, use the Promote and Demote buttons in the Create Graphic group to modify bullets and make them top-level bullets or child bullets (see Figure 5.6). This is also where you can toggle whether the Text pane will show up.

Figure 5.6 Create a hierarchy for your bullets by clicking the Promote and Demote buttons.

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Nodes

The basic unit of the Content pane is a node. For many types of SmartArt, a bullet in your Text pane corresponds to a node in your graphic. If there’s one thing we want you to remember, it’s that each node is just a shape. Any formatting you can do to a shape (described in Chapter 12, “Formatting Shapes, Text, and More”), you can also do to a SmartArt Node. When a node is selected, the Format tab looks similar to the Format tab when a shape is selected.

Connectors

With some layouts, arrow shapes are added between nodes to convey the relationship between pieces of your data.

Again, these are simply shapes that are controlled by the layout engine. So, if you move a node, the connectors before and after it move to compensate for the change (see Figure 5.7).

Figure 5.7 Before and after moving a node; notice the difference in the connectors.

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The Power of SmartArt Graphics

When you insert a SmartArt graphic, notice the two separate panes described earlier. Why are there only two? The data (Text pane) is separated and decoupled from how it is displayed (Content pane).

This is the true genius of SmartArt in action; you are free to change the data independently of how it is represented visually. Let’s think about this for a second because there are two main points we want to emphasize:

  • If you modify your data, the graphics lay out again automatically. Why is this cool? Imagine trying to do this in another application—where you’ve created the graphics and data together—and then realizing that you need to add another item in your list. The amount of work required to do so would mean resizing every node, moving each one around to make room for a new one, and doing all the busy work yourself.
  • You can modify or format your graphics without needing to change your data. The real power here lies in the fact that SmartArt diagrams are responsive to style and theme changes. Apply a design to your SmartArt or change the document theme, and watch all of your nodes change with respect to the new mode.

Now that the separation has been established, let’s look at what exactly it is useful for. Compare using SmartArt versus creating a diagram in another application, creating all the pieces, and then attempting to do the following:

  • Repurpose data—This is probably one of the most common occurrences, but moving data around in your set and mucking with the order is infinitely easier.
  • Add and Remove Nodes—Data in a bulleted list is bound to be deleted and added to. Without SmartArt, you are left with adding and deleting nodes manually with no easy way of replicating nodes other than by doing a copy and paste.
  • Modify nodes—Suppose that you want a node to be placed somewhere else in the SmartArt, but you still want the connecting arrows to point to it. All you need to do is drag the node. You do not need to change the rest of the SmartArt to match it, as the layout engine handles everything.

Note

Keep in mind that for some SmartArt layouts, there is a set number of bullets that you can have in your list before the data no longer fits. For example, try to insert the Gear SmartArt with a list of four or more bullets (not including sub-bullets), and notice that the fourth bullet and every one after that contains a red X for its bullet, which means that it won’t show up in the display.

Working with SmartArt Layouts

Earlier, we gave you a list of data types that SmartArt can represent. Within each of those categories, there exist many layouts; for example, within the Process category, there are different ways in which the arrows convey data, how the nodes are arranged, and basically how the nodes show up.

Although layouts are more of a built-in attribute to a SmartArt graphic, it is important to understand how layouts affect the behavior of a SmartArt. Layouts affect only the Content pane and the location. Where your data shows up is a direct result of which layout is selected. The layout leaves your Text pane untouched, but modifies the look of your nodes; it might add connecting shapes between nodes, and—most of all—each layout changes what form your data is in and where your data ends up.

Tip

Some data works better with certain layouts but not with others. For lists, definitely use the List or Process types. We like to use Vertical Box List for tables of content or agendas in a presentation. Cycle is useful for displaying chains or pie charts and order. Hierarchy is a great organizational chart tool to show structure. Relationship, Matrix, and Pyramid fit many types of data, and you should try them out and see what fits.

You are forced to choose a layout when the SmartArt is first inserted, but do not worry—you can always change this later if you are not happy with how it looks.

To change the layout of an existing SmartArt, do the following:

1. Select a SmartArt, and then select the SmartArt Tools Design tab (see Figure 5.8).

Figure 5.8 The SmartArt Tools Design tab.

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2. Select one of the layouts you see, or click on the arrow to see more popular layouts. Figure 5.9 shows the Layouts gallery expanded.

Figure 5.9 The Layouts gallery expanded.

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Note

This is another perfect opportunity to use Live Preview to see what the new layout would look like before you apply it.

3. After you have chosen a layout you like, click on it to apply the layout to the SmartArt selected (see Figure 5.10).

Figure 5.10 The end result of applying a Hierarchy List layout.

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Using Styles and Themes

Because the contents of the Content pane consist of shapes (nodes), SmartArt is capable of handling style and theme changes.

SmartArt has out-of-the-box styles that can be applied (see Figure 5.11). Each style can change the 3D attributes, colors, gradient, or rotation of both the node itself and the text inside.

Figure 5.11 Change the Style of the SmartArt by selecting one of the preset styles from the gallery.

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To view the nine different SmartArt specific styles, do the following:

1. Select a SmartArt diagram.

2. Select the SmartArt Tools Design tab on the ribbon.

3. View some of the Styles in the SmartArt Styles group of the ribbon. Hover over a style to activate Live Preview.

4. If none of those satisfy you, expand the gallery (which enables Live Preview) to expose all nine SmartArt Styles.

Caution

Don’t forget that when you apply a style to your SmartArt, any previous formatting you have applied is lost!

Along the same lines of changing styles, SmartArt objects respect any changes to the document theme. When you change the theme for the document, the SmartArt diagram updates to the new theme as if each individual node were just another shape in the document. Chapter 11, “Dissecting Themes,” contains more information about Office themes.

Create Graphic Commands

When a SmartArt is selected, the Design tab contains a Create Graphic group with useful commands that are specific to SmartArt (refer back to Figure 5.6).

The next few sections take you on a tour of the available options and how to use them.

Add Shape

Just as the name suggests, this option adds a new shape—at the end of the SmartArt if nothing is selected; otherwise, PowerPoint adds one where you have your cursor. Use the drop-down to specify exactly where you want the new shape added.

The newly inserted shape is exactly formatted as it should be according to the rest of the SmartArt. This is just like adding a new node.

Note

An additional feature called Add assistant is available from the Add Shape drop-down only if you have an Organization Chart type of SmartArt selected. It is used to add the next node that makes sense in the hierarchy.

Add Bullet

As noted earlier, a node in a SmartArt graphic corresponds only to top-level bullets. If you want sub-bullets, either press Tab while in the Text pane or click Add Bullet.

Right to Left

If you want to completely flip your SmartArt from right to left or left to right, use this command to do so. Do not attempt to try flipping a SmartArt graphic manually, as it will only cause you headaches. Not only does this option flip the connecting shapes for you, but also the order of the nodes.

This option doesn’t change the order of the text in your text pane, only in the way that it is laid out.

Layout

This is not the same as the SmartArt Layout described earlier. This option is enabled only if you have an Organization Chart as your SmartArt. Use this option to decide how your nodes are organized—whether they hang off the left or the right, are standard, or both.

Make sure that you have a child node selected when trying to use this; otherwise, it is disabled.

Formatting Nodes

Remember that nodes are simply shapes. A great thing to do is select all (Ctrl+A) with the SmartArt selected, which chooses all the nodes. Now you can apply any formatting, such as the following cool tricks:

  • Rotation—With all the nodes selected, drag one of the green rotation handles and rotate all the shapes together. This gives the SmartArt a cool effect.
  • Change Shape—You are not constrained to the shape that comes with the layout. After you have applied a layout to your SmartArt data, simply select all and choose Change Shape from the SmartArt Tools Format tab. Use this to make it look as if you have your own Custom Layouts.
  • Edit in 2D—Useful if you have 3D formatted nodes, especially if you have many nodes and selecting a 3D rotated node is not very easy. Not only is the text easier to edit, but the entire SmartArt becomes 2D again to make it easier to see what you have.

Creating Animations

One of the biggest time-savers included in this book involves applying animations to SmartArt. By now, you should understand that SmartArt consists of shapes, and shapes can be animated; therefore, SmartArt can be animated. But the really cool part is how SmartArt is animated:

1. Select a SmartArt graphic.

2. Select the Animations tab on the ribbon.

3. Choose an animation from the drop-down that treats each shape as an individual shape for things such as fly-in and other animations that have multiple steps. It gives each node a step.

Note

Live Preview works here, so preview your animations on-the-fly.

Now, watch as each of your nodes animates independently. All you had to do was apply one animation to the entire SmartArt, not each individual node (see Figure 5.12).

Figure 5.12 Animations applied to an entire SmartArt are applied to each individual node automatically.

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Note

Not only do all the nodes animate independently, but each of the connector nodes that are automatically added, depending on the layout, gets animated too. Animations are covered in more depth in Chapter 15, “Going Beyond Slide-by-Slide.”

Placeholder Trick

Earlier, we touched on how SmartArt can be inserted from placeholders. Because placeholders often contain bullets just as the Text pane does, the Convert to SmartArt action helps spruce up boring looking placeholders. Feel free to insert your data first into a placeholder. Then you can figure out how you would like it to be graphically represented by converting it to SmartArt and previewing the various layouts.

To convert a placeholder to a SmartArt graphic, do the following:

1. With a placeholder selected, enter data in each of the bullets or one per line.

2. Select the Home tab.

3. Select the Convert to SmartArt button.

4. Select a layout that fits your needs.

The final result is a much more visually appealing representation of the original, boring bullets (see Figure 5.13).

Figure 5.13 Convert to SmartArt on a placeholder.

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Photos and SmartArt—Frame Your Pictures

One great use for a SmartArt graphic is to emphasize and accentuate a photo or image. For the types of SmartArt that have Picture in the name or a description of them—such as Bending Picture Accent List—a piece of the SmartArt has been reserved for a photo.

When you insert one of these SmartArt graphics, part of it resembles a picture icon, which brings up the Insert Picture dialog. When clicked, it lets you choose a photo or icon, as shown in Figure 5.14.

Figure 5.14 Notice the icon for the picture and the dialog that launches when you click on it.

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This is great for when you want to brand your SmartArt with the company logo or you have action shots to go along with your storyboard.

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