Exploring Office 2007: Using SmartArt Graphics Working with Pictures Helen Bradley
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Working with Pictures
Some SmartArt Graphics have special shapes that are designed for an image — you can recognize these by the small picture icon displayed in the shape. To add your image, click the shape to open the Insert Picture dialog and select the image to use. If you’re adding a picture to a shape that is a square or a circle, you’ll get the best possible results if you use a photo or graphic that has been cropped to a square — if you use a landscape orientation image, for example, it will be unattractively distorted.
If the photo is a rectangle you can make it a square without needing any special graphics software if you’re using Word, PowerPoint, or Excel (this technique doesn’t work in Outlook 2007). Click outside the SmartArt object and insert the image anywhere into your document, spreadsheet, or slide.
Use the Crop tool to crop it to a square and then right click it and choose Cut. Click the SmartArt object to select it, right click the shape where the picture is to go and choose Paste to paste the cropped image into position. The image will now be in the correct proportion.
Take care if you switch from one SmartArt graphic layout that has pictures in it to another one — you will lose your pictures and you will have to reinsert them in the new layout.
SmartArt objects look great and they’re a compelling way to display text such as steps in a process and organization charts. You’re sure to find plenty of uses for them in your Office 2007 documents.
About the Author: Helen Bradley is a respected international journalist writing regularly for small business and computer publications in the USA, Canada, South Africa, UK and Australia. She blogs at http://www.projectwoman.com/blogger.html.
Be sure to check out all of Helen's articles in the Exploring Office 2007 series:
