SMARTART GRAPHICS

SmartArt allows you to communicate information with graphics instead of just using text. There
are variety of styles to choose from, which you can use to illustrate many different types of ideas.
Creating a graphic to illustrate the organization of the people at a company.
To get started, click where you want your SmartArt to appear, then go to the insert tab, select the
SmartArt command and you’ll see a list of categories and graphics to choose from. The type of
SmartArt needed is under the Hierarchy category. The graphic will appear in your document with
the Text pane on the left. Now if that’s not visible, just click the small arrow to toggle it on and off.
Now, all you have to do is start typing and the text will appear in your SmartArt graphic. It will also
be resized to fit the shapes automatically. See how the bullet corresponds to its own shape?
Now you can also enter your text in the shape themselves, which is fine for a simple graphic. But
for more complex you’ll probably want to stick with the Text pane. You can also rearrange the
shapes from within the text pane using your keyboard. Pressing the tab key will demote (or move
down) a shape, while backspace will promote (or moves up) a shape.

It’s a lot like creating an outline with a multi-level list. You can even add new shapes to the list by
pressing Enter.

Deleting shape: just select the bullet for the shape you want to delete, then press Backspace on
your keyboard.
If you prefer not to use the Text pane for these tasks, just look to the Design and Format tabs that
appear whenever you have your SmartArt selected. From here you can easily add, rearrange, and
remove shapes in your SmartArt.

Customize the appearance of the graphics using the SmartArt Styles. Click the drop-down arrow
on the SmartArt Styles to see a full list and however each style for a preview.
There are also several color schemes to use with SmartArt. Simply click the Change Colors
Command and choose something you like.
If you decide you don’t like the way your information is organized within a SmartArt graphic, you
can always change the layout to better fit the content. Start by selecting the graphic you’d like to
change, then in the layouts group, click the More drop-down and choose the one you want. You
can also change the appearance of the formatting of the individual shapes and the text inside. Just
select one or more shapes, switch to the format tab and take advantage of any of the options you
see here.
SmartArt is a great way to incorporate more graphics into your document and communicate
complicated ideas with simple illustrations.