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Hello everyone, in this PowerPoint tutorial, we have two learning objectives. The first
objective is to learn how to transform plain text into a SmartArt graphic in PowerPoint.
The second objective is to learn how to edit a SmartArt graphic.
First, type in the text you wish to have transformed into a SmartArt Graphic. As an example, I
will type in desert, dock, and tree. Make sure the text is formatted into a bulleted
list; so that each bullet point will be transformed into one shape (Here, shape is the term for
individual graphic component). Please note that text entered as titles or subtitles cannot
be formatted into a bulleted list.
Then select the text to be transformed and click the "convert to SmartArt" button
in the Home tab under the Paragraph group.
Choose a SmartArt graphic template of your choice. If you wish to browse more options
than what's being displayed in the dropdown menu or to bring up the detailed dialog box,
click the "More SmartArt Graphics" at the bottom of the dropdown menu.
Here graphics are arranged into different types based on the underlying logic among
the graphic components. In each type of graphic, multiple layout templates are available. A
description of each layout template would appear in the right panel once you click on
the template. The tutorial will take "picture" type as an example. Specifically, the "Hexagon
Cluster" style has been adopted as the template.
Once you've hit "OK" after selecting the desired template, the template will be
added in the document with the text transformed into texted shapes. Currently there are three
hexagon pieces populated with text from the original bulleted list. Simply click on a
piece to edit the text contained within. There are three other placeholder hexagons for insertion
of pictures.
In order to add pictures to the picture hexagons, simply click the picture icon to bring up
the Insert Picture dialog box. Choose a picture of your choice from files. Click "insert"
to insert the picture into the shape.
Now, let's talk about editing a SmartArt graphic.
For the "picture" type templates, each picture shape is paired with a text shape
and thus is dependent on its corresponding text shape. Therefore, only text shapes are
deletable and each deletion will remove the entire pair. After each deletion, the graphic
will automatically readjust itself to reflect the new structure.
On the other hand, if you need to add a piece to the original graphic, select the graphic
and click the "Add Shape" button in the upper left corner under the "Design" tab.
There are a variety of other edits that you can make to the SmartArt graphic. Under the
"Design" tab, you will be able to change colors and apply visual effects to the graphic.
Under the "Home" tab you will be able to update text as per the usual Microsoft
Word settings, such as embolden, italicize, and underline.