Introducing SmartArt

Quick reference

• 00:04 In this video we’re going to look at SmartArt as a way to graphically represent information in our presentations. Now here I’ve already downloaded
• 00:11 this presentation from the internet, and it’s got various slides that we can start populating. So the first thing that I’m going to do is insert a new
• 00:18 slide so right click, insert slide, and now I’m going to insert the SmartArt. Now we can insert that SmartArt diagram from the insert tab in this
• 00:27 button in the illustrations group, or we can click the SmartArt icon within this content placeholder and I’ll do that and up pops this
• 00:35 dialog box and it’s got a whole bunch of SmartArt types in it. So on these tabs we’ve got types such as all types, several lists,
• 00:43 processes, cycles, hierarchies, and so on. Now hierarchies are the new form of what we used to call the old organization charts. And if you click
• 00:53 on a particular icon you get a preview of what it looks like, as well as some text that explains whether it’s appropriate to our needs or not. So
• 01:01 I’m going to go and select this process tab, and the first one in the top left corner is a basic process. Now that looks fine based on that
• 01:10 diagram that we get, that shows us what it looks like. So we can actually change the size of this text pane by selecting it with our mouse and
• 01:17 dragging it to give ourselves more room to work. Now because this is essentially a process diagram, I’m going to enter the text into this
• 01:25 pane in a way that makes sense. So for example in animating a presentation, the process would be to start with a storyboard and
• 01:33 I can hit ENTER on the keyboard to get a new line, objects, or, because there’s already a line further down I can use the arrow key on the
• 01:41 keyboard, movement, and we can continue to add bulleted items below but notice these buttons up here that allow us to work in the text
• 01:50 pane as well. I can reverse the direction of the graphic from right to left. We can demote items and promote them as well as move them up and
• 01:59 down, and all the time seeing a preview in the diagram because it automatically updates. And there’s also keyboard shortcuts that you do that
• 02:07 as well and that’s essentially the subject of other videos. Now if we hover our mouse over a particular layout we get a preview of what that
• 02:15 change would look like and if we click on it to select it, the SmartArt instantly changes and updates, provided that the type that we select is
• 02:24 appropriate to the text that we’ve added and the numbers of lines of bullet points. We can change the colors based on whatever our
• 02:31 template is, as well as change the SmartArt style. And such a quick way of putting diagrams into presentations, entering text, and formatting
• 02:41 the look of the diagram. Now if it all, an Aussie saying is that if it all goes to turps, or turpentine. If we muck something up we can reset the
• 02:51 graphic with this button or we can convert it into text or into shapes but if you do that you would need to convert it back into a SmartArt because
• 03:00 it’s no longer a SmartArt diagram. So let’s go to slide 3 and have a look at come further options. Now this bulleted text within the content
• 03:10 placeholder I’d rather convert to a diagram rather than have excess text on this slide. So I select all of that text with the mouse, and on the home
• 03:18 tab, select the little drop down button that says convert to SmartArt. Now I can’t immediately see one that suits me here so I choose more
• 03:26 SmartArt graphics and scroll down and here is one that looks suitable, a list with pictures. And as soon as I click ok, what used to be bullet
• 03:36 points is now text within those shapes with the associated picture icon that I can use to put pictures beside each line of text and as long as
• 03:47 it’s relevant that will look really good. So I either click on this or double click it and the dialog box pops up and I can search for various locations
• 03:58 for a picture and here is one that I want so select that and click and there it is and that’s very suitable and I can continue doing that for
• 04:09 the rest of the diagram and do other formatting and change the style and the colors and so on. But notice also when I select all of the text in
• 04:18 this particular content placeholder, I right click on the text that’s selected and select convert to SmartArt diagram, and we can see a preview of
• 04:28 possible types and convert that as well. So please consider and use SmartArt diagrams as a way of converting a lot of text into diagrams
• 04:34 but please also don’t overuse them because ultimately in a presentation it’s good to have balance between graphics and pictures, as well
• 04:43 as text, diagrams, tables, and even charts. However, SmartArt diagrams are certainly very good and they’re a great tool to use when you
• 04:51 need them. You can insert them via the button on the insert tab here and the illustrations group or from within this content placeholder and as
• 05:01 you use them you will learn the particular kinds that suit your needs based on the amount of text you have and what you’re trying to explain.
• 05:10 Please explore them and have lots of practice; they are really great.

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