A Tour of the SmartArt Categories in Excel 2007:-


The SmartArt gallery groups the 84 SmartArt layouts into 7 broad categories:

1. List—This category is designed to show a nonsequential list of information. Variations include horizontal, vertical, and bending lists. Some lists include chevrons, and some include pictures. In general, these styles do not include arrows between shapes.

2. Process—This category is designed to show a sequential list of steps. Variations include horizontal, vertical, bending, equations, funnels, gears, and several varieties of arrows. Some process charts allow the inclusion of images. Most styles include arrows or other connectors in order to convey a sequence.

3. Cycle—This category is designed to show a series of steps that repeat. It includes cycle charts, radial charts, a gear chart, and a pie chart.

4. Hierarchy—This category is designed to show organization charts, decision trees, and other hierarchical relationships. Variations include horizontal and vertical charts and charts with and without connecting lines.

5. Relationship—This category is designed to show a relationship between items. Many of the layouts in this category are duplicated from the other six categories. This category includes examples of arrow, chart, cycle, equation, funnel, gear, hierarchy, list, process, pyramid, radial, target, and Venn chart layouts.

6. Matrix—This category is designed to show four quadrants of a list. Only two options exist: either four quadrants with a central element or four quadrants.

7. Pyramid—This category is designed to show containment, overlapping, proportional, or interconnected relationships.

Figure (given below) shows one version of each of the seven categories.



(SmartArt diagrams exist in seven broad categories.)