Introducing SmartArt

Quick reference

• 00:01 In this video, we're going to look at SmartArt as a way to
• 00:05 graphically represent information in our presentations.
• 00:10 Now here, I've already downloaded this presentation from the Internet, and
• 00:13 it's got various slides that we can start populating.
• 00:16 So, the first thing that I'm going to do is insert a new slide,
• 00:19 so right click, new slide, and now I'm going to insert the smart art.
• 00:24 Now, we can insert the smart art diagram from the insert tab in this
• 00:28 button in the illustrations group, or
• 00:30 we can click the smart art icon within this content placeholder.
• 00:35 And I'll do that and out pops this dialogue box, and
• 00:37 it's got a whole bunch of smart art types in it.
• 00:40 So on these tabs we've got types such as all types, several lists,
• 00:45 processes, cycles, hierarchies, and so on.
• 00:50 The hierarchies are a form that used to be the old organization charts.
• 00:55 And if you click on a particular icon, you get a preview of what it looks like,
• 00:59 as well as some text that explains whether it's appropriate to our needs or not.
• 01:03 So I'm going to go and select this process tab, and
• 01:07 the first one in the top left hand corner is a basic process.
• 01:12 Now, that looks fine based on that diagram that we get,
• 01:16 that shows us what it looks like.
• 01:17 Now, we can actually change the size of this text pane by selecting it
• 01:21 with our mouse and dragging it to give ourselves more room to work.
• 01:25 Now, because this is essentially a process diagram,
• 01:28 I'm going to enter the text into this pane in a way that makes sense.
• 01:32 So, for example, in animating a presentation,
• 01:36 the process would be to start with a storyboard, and
• 01:39 I can hit enter on the keyboard to get a new line, objects.
• 01:43 Or because there's already a line further down,
• 01:45 I could use the arrow key on the keyboard movement.
• 01:49 And we can continue to add bulleted items below.
• 01:53 But notice these buttons up here that allow us to work in the text pane as well.
• 01:58 I could reverse the direction of the graphic from right to left.
• 02:01 We can demote items and promote them, as well as move them up and down.
• 02:05 And all the time seeing a preview on the diagram because it is automatically
• 02:09 updated.
• 02:11 If we hover our mouse over a particular layer,
• 02:13 we get a preview of what that change would look like.
• 02:16 And if we click on it to select it, the Smart Art instantly changes and
• 02:20 updates provided that the type that we selected is appropriate to the text that
• 02:24 we have added, and the numbers of lines and bullets.
• 02:28 We can change the colors based on whatever our template is,
• 02:31 as well as change the smart art style.
• 02:34 And such a quick way of putting diagrams into presentations, entering text, and
• 02:38 formatting the look of the diagram is really useful.
• 02:42 If we muck something up we can reset the graphic with this button,
• 02:45 or we convert it into text or into shapes.
• 02:49 But if you do that, you would need to convert it back in smart art,
• 02:52 because it's no longer a smart art diagram.
• 02:55 So, let's go to slide three and have a look at some further options.
• 02:59 Now, this bulleted text within the content place holder I'd rather convert to
• 03:03 a diagram rather than have excess text on this slide.
• 03:08 So, I select all of the text with the mouse and on
• 03:11 the home tab select the little drop down button that says convert to smart art.
• 03:16 Now, I can immediately see one that suits me here.
• 03:18 So, I choose more smart art graphics and
• 03:21 scroll down and here is one that looks suitable, a list with pictures.
• 03:26 And as soon as I click okay,
• 03:27 what used to be bullet points is now text within those shapes with the associated
• 03:32 picture icon that I can us to put pictures beside each line of text.
• 03:37 And as long as it's relevant, that will look really good.
• 03:40 So, I either click this or double click it, and
• 03:44 the dialogue box pops up, and I can search for various locations for a picture.
• 03:48 Here is one I want to use.
• 03:50 So, I select that and click, and there it is.
• 03:52 That's suitable, and I can continue doing that for the rest of the diagram, and
• 03:57 do other formatting and change the style and the colors, and so on.
• 04:00 But notice also when I select all of the text in this particular
• 04:03 content placeholder, I right click on the text that's selected, and
• 04:07 select convert to smart art diagram.
• 04:10 And we can see a preview of possible types and convert that, as well.
• 04:14 So, please consider and use smart art diagrams as a way of converting a lot of
• 04:18 text into diagrams, but please also don't over use them
• 04:22 because ultimately in a presentation it's good to have balance between graphics and
• 04:26 pictures, as well as text, diagrams, tables and even charts.
• 04:31 However, smart art diagrams are very good, and
• 04:33 they're a great tool to use when you need them.
• 04:36 You can insert them via the button on the insert tab here, and
• 04:40 the illustrations group or from within this content placeholder.
• 04:44 And you can use them and learn particular kinds that suit your needs
• 04:48 based on the amount of text you have and what you're trying to explain.
• 04:51 Please explore them and have lots of practice.
• 04:53 They are really great.

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