PowerPoint 2007- Creating Visuals

My school updated all computers with the newest version of Microsoft Office 2007 suite last summer. I have to admit, that I have been slow to warm up to it. I do want to share with you the feature of creating visuals from PowerPoint 2007, that I am enjoying tremendously. I don’t necessarily use it only in a presentation style slide, but I am printing them out for flyers or use a screenshot in letters, tutorials, and now blogs.

The example below is from a chart, I am creating for our faculty. I get asked many times what program they should choose when wanting to create a digital story. I usually tell them, it depends on what kind of media they are working with that determines the program that is most suitable.

Create an empty slide with no title, then on your Toolbar ribbon, choose the Insert tab and click on SmartArt.

This will allow you to choose from a large variety of visuals. You can pre-select from lists, processes, cycle, hierarchy, relationship, matrix or pyramid style graphics here. Don’t be too concerned in picking the "right" layout here, since it is very easily changed and edited later on.

No you can enter your text in an outline form, or if you choose directly into the visual.

Just right click on a button and choose to add a shape after, before, below or above. The rest of the layout, including the size of buttons and font will adjust according to the quantity of shapes you choose.

Once you have all your shapes and labels in place, it is time to have fun with colors, design, style and layout.

Just by moving your mouse over the different choices, the layout will adjust accordingly.

Changing colors…

Choose from 2-D or 3-D styles

And change the look again, by simply moving your mouse over another choice. Very cool.