Animating SmartArt Graphics

When you animate SmartArt graphics, it’s important to remember a few points:

• Connecting lines between shapes are always associated with the second shape. They will not animate individually.

• Animation will play in the order that shapes within a SmartArt graphic appear- you can reverse the order only for the entire object. If you want the animation to jump around, try creating multiple slides and graphics to create the effect you want.

• Diagrams created in earlier versions of PowerPoint and converted to SmartArt graphics might lose some animation settings or appear differently.

You can animate SmartArt graphics in various ways depending upon the layout involved. It’s worth taking some time to play with a couple of different graphics to see how different levels and shapes react to different animation instructions. Here’s how to animate a SmartArt object:

1. Click the SmartArt graphic.

2. Go to the Animations tab. In the Animations group, click the arrow to the right of Animate. There may be text in the box beside Animate that says “No Animation” or it might show other animation effect text.

3. Click an animation effect from the options provided in the displayed list.