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Quick reference

Create SmartArt Diagrams

Learn how to use SmartArt to create diagrams. 

When to use

We can use SmartArt graphics whenever we need to quickly create a diagram in Excel. 

Instructions

SmartArt refers to the gallery of graphics we can use to create diagrams in Excel. SmartArt can be used to create different types of diagrams including process flow charts, Venn diagrams, organizational charts, pyramid diagrams, etc. 

Create a Process Flow Diagram with SmartArt

A process flow diagram is used to show the steps of a process. 

  • From the Insert tab, in the Illustrations group, click SmartArt. 

SmartArt graphics are listed by category. We can see a preview of the selected SmartArt diagram in the window on the right. 

  • Click on Process. 
  • Choose Step Down Process. 

  • Click OK. 

By default, SmartArt diagrams show three shapes. We can modify the text, formatting, and add new shapes to the diagram using the SmartArt Design and Format contextual ribbons. 

Edit the Text

There are two ways to edit text. Double-click on the text within the shape or click on the arrow to open the text pane. 

To add more bullet points, press Enter. 

Add Shapes

Often our process will contain more than three steps so we need to add more shapes. 

  • From the SmartArt Design tab, in the Create Graphic group, click the drop-down next to Add Shape. 
  • Choose Add Shape After or Add Shape Before to add a new shape. 

The SmartArt Design Ribbon

We can make changes to the design of the diagram using the SmartArt Design ribbon. 

Change the Layout

We can easily change the layout of our diagram. 

  • Click on the SmartArt diagram. 
  • From the SmartArt Design tab, in the Layouts group, expand the Layouts gallery. 
  • Choose another SmartArt diagram from the list. 

Change the Colors

The colors used in our diagrams are based on the theme we have selected in Excel. 

  • Click on the SmartArt diagram. 
  • From the SmartArt Design tab, in the SmartArt Styles group, click Change Colors. 
  • Choose another color from the gallery.

We can modify the color of individual elements by selecting the element and changing the fill color from the Format tab. 

Create an Organization Diagram with SmartArt

Organization diagrams are useful for showing the hierarchy of a team. There are several SmartArt templates we can use to create an organization diagram. 

  • From the Insert tab, in the Illustrations group, click SmartArt. 
  • Click on Hierarchy. 
  • Choose Picture Organization Chart. 
  • Click OK. 

This diagram type allows us to add a picture as well as text into the shape. 

  • Click on the picture placeholder. 

We can insert a picture from a File, from the Stock Image library, from Online or we can insert an Icon. 

  • Click Stock Images. 
  • Type 'Business Woman' into the search bar and press Enter. 

  • Select an image. 
  • Click Insert. 
  • Add Text. 

  • Repeat this process until you have all images in the diagram. 

Remember, we can change the style, change the colors, change the layout, and add shapes to the diagram in the same way. 

 

Hints & tips

  • To see different colors in the drop-down, click on the Page Layout tab and choose a different theme. 
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  • 00:04 In this lesson,
  • 00:05 we're going to take a look at how we can use SmartArt diagrams within Excel.
  • 00:09 So if you ever need to insert something like a process flow chart to show
  • 00:13 the different stages of a particular process or
  • 00:16 maybe you want to insert something like a hierarchy chart, an organization chart
  • 00:22 to show the structure of your company, this is where we can use SmartArt.
  • 00:26 And there are so many different templates,
  • 00:29 it really depends what kind of diagram you want to insert.
  • 00:32 And you'll find SmartArt diagrams across all of the major Microsoft applications.
  • 00:37 So you'll find them in Word, you'll find them in PowerPoint, and
  • 00:41 you'll also find them in Excel.
  • 00:42 Now my recommendation here is that if as part of your job role you have to insert
  • 00:47 or you have to create a lot of diagrams on a reasonably regular basis,
  • 00:51 I would definitely go for an application like Visio to do that.
  • 00:55 Because it's specifically for creating complex diagrams.
  • 00:58 However, if you just want to insert something that's pretty simple,
  • 01:02 then you can definitely do that using SmartArt in Excel.
  • 01:05 Now the first thing I'm going to do here is I'm going to remove the grid lines from
  • 01:09 this worksheet just to give us a cleaner canvas to place our diagram onto.
  • 01:13 So let's jump up to the view ribbon up here.
  • 01:16 And in the show group, I'm going to remove the check mark from grid lines, and
  • 01:19 that's just going to remove all of those grid lines from the worksheet.
  • 01:23 So now we have a nice blank canvas to place our SmartArt diagram.
  • 01:28 Now you'll find SmartArt on the insert ribbon and
  • 01:31 it's under this illustrations group.
  • 01:33 And you can see there it is just there.
  • 01:35 If we click, it's going to open up the Choose a SmartArt Graphic dialog box.
  • 01:41 And the SmartArt diagrams are divided down into different categories, so
  • 01:45 it really depends what type of SmartArt you want to insert.
  • 01:48 For example, if you have something that's in a list, then you might choose one
  • 01:52 of these different graphics to display those in a bit of a nicer way.
  • 01:56 If you have a process that you want to display,
  • 01:59 you could choose something like this.
  • 02:01 We have cycle diagrams.
  • 02:02 We have hierarchy diagrams.
  • 02:04 So this is great if you want to insert something like an organization chart.
  • 02:08 We have relationship diagrams, matrix, pyramid, picture, and
  • 02:12 then we have more which are available on Office.com.
  • 02:16 And if you want to see just a big long list of everything you can click all at
  • 02:20 the top here and you're just going to get all of those diagrams in a big long list.
  • 02:23 Now, notice when you select any of these diagrams,
  • 02:26 you get a little preview over on the right-hand side and
  • 02:29 a little bit of an explanation as to what this SmartArt diagram is going to show.
  • 02:33 So for example, this vertical box list used to show several groups of
  • 02:37 information, especially groups with large amounts of level 2 text.
  • 02:41 A good choice for bulleted lists of information.
  • 02:43 So instead of just having a plain old boring bulleted list of items, you can
  • 02:48 make this look a lot nicer and a lot more professional by utilizing SmartArt.
  • 02:52 Now we're going to go across to process and we're just going to use one of these.
  • 02:56 So let's start out with something pretty basic.
  • 02:59 I'm going to go for this step-down process.
  • 03:02 Let's click on OK.
  • 03:03 And immediately you can see what happens there.
  • 03:06 It inserts this SmartArt diagram.
  • 03:08 Now currently we just have template text in there, it just says text.
  • 03:12 So we can now customize this to show the information that's relevant for us.
  • 03:15 Now when it comes to entering in information in your SmartArt diagram,
  • 03:19 you can simply click in the shapes and start typing.
  • 03:22 Or alternatively,
  • 03:24 you can use this little pop-out box on the side to type in your items.
  • 03:28 Now, this pop-out box is collapsible and expandable, so
  • 03:31 if we click this little arrow, it's going to get rid of it.
  • 03:35 If we click again, it's going to show it.
  • 03:37 So we can now go in and add in our items.
  • 03:40 So let's just do something really basic to show a process flowchart.
  • 03:44 I'm just going to do a quick process for making a cup of tea.
  • 03:46 Obviously, I'm British, this is very important.
  • 03:49 So we're going to say boil water.
  • 03:52 And you see as I type it in the actual text resizes so
  • 03:56 that it fits neatly inside the shape.
  • 03:59 Now for this particular diagram that I've selected,
  • 04:02 we can kind of add some sub-processes here as well.
  • 04:04 So if we click on this one, maybe I want to say boil for 3 minutes,
  • 04:09 and if I hit Enter, it's going to give me another bullet point.
  • 04:14 Now, of course, we can resize these text boxes as well so
  • 04:17 we can drag them out and then move them around.
  • 04:20 It's really up to us how we want these to look.
  • 04:25 I can add another one in there, so on and so forth.
  • 04:27 So let's just add some other items for our process chart.
  • 04:32 And there we go, reasonably simple to construct a quick diagram.
  • 04:36 Now, what you'll notice with these diagrams is that in general,
  • 04:39 you get three steps in the process.
  • 04:41 Now, it might be that we need to add more steps into this diagram.
  • 04:45 Now that's not a problem.
  • 04:46 Let's just close down this pane and make sure we have the diagram selected because
  • 04:50 if we jump up to the SmartArt Design ribbon,
  • 04:53 notice in the create graphic group we can add shapes.
  • 04:56 So I can click on one of these shapes here.
  • 04:59 So let's select the last one, pour water in cup, and
  • 05:02 I can choose to add another shape after.
  • 05:04 And that's going to give me another step in the process flow.
  • 05:09 I also have options in here to add a shape before so
  • 05:12 we can really customize how these look.
  • 05:15 Now some of the other options that we have on the ribbon up here we can choose
  • 05:19 different layouts.
  • 05:20 So if I want to switch up this layout for something else,
  • 05:22 then I can definitely do that.
  • 05:24 So maybe I decide that I want a different type of process flowchart,
  • 05:28 I could click maybe basic timeline and that's going to switch that out.
  • 05:32 I can change the colors.
  • 05:34 Now, remember these colors are based on the theme that you have selected.
  • 05:38 So if I switch my theme, let's go to Page Layout, and I'm going to use
  • 05:42 my Custom Theme, the color palettes I get are then a little bit different.
  • 05:46 So I'm going to go for a colorful palette just here.
  • 05:50 Now, of course, you can fiddle around with this.
  • 05:51 You can make it look exactly as you want it to look, but
  • 05:54 that's the general premise of how you can use SmartArt.
  • 05:57 If you want to really get specific with the colors that you're using, you don't
  • 06:01 necessarily want the theme to decide these colors, you can select any element.
  • 06:05 For example, this little circle just here jump up to the Format ribbon, and
  • 06:10 then you can use your usual Shape Fill utilities to change the color of any
  • 06:14 element of your SmartArt diagram.
  • 06:16 And if we just finish off by taking a look at another type of SmartArt diagram,
  • 06:21 let's insert a organization chart.
  • 06:24 So we're going to go to Hierarchy, we're going to insert this one here,
  • 06:28 a picture organization chart.
  • 06:30 Let's click on OK.
  • 06:31 Again, we get a similar theme but this time notice we have picture placeholders.
  • 06:36 So I could click on this and choose a file that I have stored off.
  • 06:40 So if I'm creating a hierarchy or an organization chart for
  • 06:43 my company, I might want to have people's pictures showing that.
  • 06:47 So I'm just going to select something that I have stored off onto my PC so
  • 06:51 that you can see how that works.
  • 06:53 And with these organization charts, if you want to add different levels.
  • 06:58 Again, if we go up to SmartArt design and add shape, we can add a shape after,
  • 07:03 a shape before, a shape above, a shape below, or we can add an assistant.
  • 07:08 So you can see here this one is an assistant so we might have
  • 07:13 the CEO at the top here, and then this might be the CEO's PA.
  • 07:18 We can add a shape after, we can add a shape before,
  • 07:21 we can add one above to give us a different structure.
  • 07:25 And of course, we can resize our SmartArt and move it to wherever we want to move it
  • 07:29 to, move it around, and we can even copy and paste it into other applications.
  • 07:34 So that is how SmartArt works in Excel.

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