How To Create An Infographic In PowerPoint [+Free Templates]

To create professional-looking infographics and captivate your viewers, you possibly can profit from studying tips on how to create your personal infographics in PowerPoint.

PowerPoint is usually a marketer’s finest pal on the subject of visible content material creation, together with infographic design. 

However it may be intimidating to create your personal infographic if you don’t have a design background. You could possibly at all times fee an company or rent a designer, however that may get expensive quick.

So it’s possible you’ll be considering, the place do I begin? We’ll information you thru tips on how to create your personal infographics and even offer you examples of various varieties you possibly can work with utilizing our 15 fabulous infographic templates without spending a dime inside PowerPoint.

Use Instances for PowerPoint Infographics

PowerPoint infographics are a robust software to current data-heavy info in an accessible, digestible format — regardless of if you happen to plan to disseminate the infographic digitally or in individual. It’s also possible to merely use PowerPoint as an infographic maker if it’s your most popular design software program.

Listed below are a number of the methods you should use PPT infographics:

1. Presenting a Case Research

Designing an attractive, readable case examine isn’t any straightforward job. You’ll be able to create a PowerPoint infographic that showcases the important thing information of your case examine, reminiscent of the issue your buyer skilled, the answer you served, and the end result. You’ll be able to embrace stunning graphics, in addition to dynamic typography — one thing it’s possible you’ll not have the ability to embrace in a conventional, one-page case examine.

2. Presenting Analysis

PowerPoint infographics are a superb medium to current information, tendencies, and analysis. You should utilize all the information visualization choices PowerPoint presents to current your information in a digestible means.

For the reason that infographic shall be bigger than a typical slide, you will be as descriptive as you’d like. However if you happen to’d wish to reuse the identical info, you solely want to repeat it into a brand new PPT presentation.

3. Presenting a Pitch

You’ll be able to PowerPoint infographics to current a pitch to stakeholders or potential consumers. You’ll be able to embrace information factors, testimonials, anticipated outcomes, and even descriptions of the prospect’s downside to emphasise the significance of buying your resolution.

Photos and graphics will be simpler than simply phrases, and because you’re in PowerPoint, you possibly can create an infographic of any measurement, together with the horizontal 16:9 dimensions.

4. Presenting a Multi-Step Course of

Whether or not you’re onboarding a brand new workforce or informing stakeholders on a brand new course of, a PowerPoint infographic is an efficient medium to speak your message. PowerPoint comes filled with loads of “course of” graphics, reminiscent of text-filled arrows, cascading charts, and grids.

5. Presenting an Announcement

An advanced firm announcement — with many transferring elements or elements — deserves an infographic to make it simpler for stakeholders to learn and perceive. You’ll be able to create one proper in your PowerPoint presentation and embrace all pertinent info in a single handy slide.

Alternatively, you should use PPT as a design software and easily obtain your infographic for straightforward saving and sharing.

Infographics are an oft-used sort of content material advertising and marketing. And it’s plain to see why. Entrepreneurs who align the subject, content material, and elegance of their infographics with the wants and preferences of their goal audiences discover success amongst their viewers.

Now, let’s stroll by way of tips on how to make a easy timeline infographic in PowerPoint so you possibly can reap these advantages.

1. Obtain HubSpot’s free infographic templates.

Obtain This Free Template (and 10+ Extra) Right here

If you happen to’d wish to skip a number of the steps beneath, obtain a equipment of free, premade infographic templates you possibly can edit proper in PowerPoint. Select from information infographics to image-heavy templates to timelines, then customise the colours and fonts to replicate your model.

Plus, the equipment contains Adobe Illustrator variations in case you like enhancing your infographic in Illustrator as an alternative.

2. Establish the aim of your PowerPoint infographic.

Previous to sitting down and designing the infographic, take into consideration what your viewers ought to take away from it first. Do you goal to share analysis, ship a pitch, or clarify an idea? Will or not it’s included in a presentation, or will you need customers to obtain it?

Relying in your objectives, you’ll select completely different designs and typographic components that can finest convey your message. For example, if you happen to plan to current the infographic in individual, it is best to goal to make use of a bigger font for straightforward studying. If you happen to goal to incorporate information, it is best to first collect all of the numbers and create the charts in a extra refined software reminiscent of Excel.

Now, let’s get into the tutorial.

3. Create a brand new PowerPoint file.

First, open up PowerPoint, faucet Clean Presentation within the Residence or +New display screen, and click on Create.

If PowerPoint is already open, faucet File within the high menu bar, then click on New Presentation.

4. Change the Slide measurement to your most popular dimensions.

To start making an infographic from scratch, it’s a must to readjust the dimensions of the PowerPoint Slide to provide you extra space to work with.

Start by opening a brand new PowerPoint, within the high navigation bar, click on on Design and choose Slide Dimension.

Then within the drop-down menu, choose both one of many predetermined sizes or click on Web page Setup.

Enter your most popular width and peak dimensions and click on OK.

5. Browse SmartArt choices from PowerPoint’s library.

To make a timeline graphic in PowerPoint, appropriate for any infographic, open PowerPoint and click on Insert from the highest navigation bar, then choose the SmartArt icon beneath the navigation bar, the place you will discover a number of classes of graphics to select from.

6. Select the suitable SmartArt graphic that matches your information or message.

There are two classes of graphics that make efficient timelines. The primary is the Course of class. Click on this selection to increase the graphics menu proven beneath.

Creating Graphics for Timelines

If you happen to’re working to create a timeline infographic, we have highlighted in crimson just a few of essentially the most becoming timeline-related graphics.

Other than the Course of menu of graphics, you will additionally discover a viable timeline graphic within the Image class. Choose this class and you will find the Alternating Image Circles possibility close to the middle of the graphics menu. We have highlighted it in crimson, beneath.

7. Add or take away components from the SmartArt graphic.

We’ll use the Alternating Image Circles graphic from the Image menu. As soon as you have inserted this graphic into your first PowerPoint slide, you possibly can add or take away round icons to match the varieties of information and inputs you’re presenting.

8. Insert your information factors and edit the textual content.

At this level, the dimensions of your timeline graphic ought to match the quantity of information you’ve gotten. Start to fill your timeline with the knowledge you propose to report on utilizing this timeline and discover PowerPoint’s glorious drag and drop options to assist organize graphics as vital.

As with the opposite graphics out there in PowerPoint’s SmartArt, you possibly can edit the textual content and the pictures related together with your timeline to your liking. As you possibly can see beneath, we have edited the years and the pictures to raised characterize what occurred at every cut-off date.

To insert photographs into your timeline graphic, right-click the sq. panorama icon, choose a graphic From File and add a picture out of your laptop onto your PowerPoint slide.

To inform your story, you possibly can replace the time durations within the middle circles, substitute the placeholder textual content, and modify the visuals and colours to your liking. For these latter changes, you possibly can select Insert > Form in PowerPoint so as to add in several visuals and use the paint bucket (a.okay.a. Coloration Fill) icon to vary the colours of various components.

9. Add your emblem, desired photographs, and background colours.

You now have the right bare-bones infographic, however to really make it pop, you’ll want so as to add extra imagery and background colours. Doing this from scratch can appear daunting, however even altering the slide coloration from white to a light-weight yellow can instantly make your design look extra polished and cohesive.

Previous to taking this step, assessment coloration idea to decide on the suitable palette. You also needs to add your emblem, in order that if folks obtain the infographic alone, they are going to know the place it comes from. (If you happen to’re presenting it in individual, it is best to nonetheless do that in case your viewers takes footage.)

10. Obtain your infographic or create a slide-friendly model.

Now that you’ve your infographic readily available, it’s time to reserve it to your laptop computer. To take action, faucet File within the high menu, then click on Save As. Make sure you save solely the infographic slide, and never your entire presentation.

Alternatively, on this step, it’s possible you’ll select to create a 16:9 model of your infographic that you would be able to simply combine into any presentation. You might even divide the completely different elements of the infographic into a number of slides. This might be helpful if you wish to “zoom in” to completely different sections as you current.

If you happen to’re on the lookout for one thing extra handy, you possibly can obtain our infographic templates that open instantly in PowerPoint so you may get to creating sooner.

PowerPoint Infographic Examples

1. Information-Centric Infographic Instance

Infographics and information visualization are the peanut butter and jelly of the visible content material world.

When you’ve gotten new information to disclose to the world, you should use an infographic to show that information as a part of a cohesive, visible narrative. And that is precisely what the Information Geek template is for.

We have loaded this template with quite a lot of completely different charts and graphs, which you’ll simply replace with your personal information. (Excellent-click on a graph, select Edit Information, and you’ll customise the values in an Excel spreadsheet.)

What to Add to a Information-Centric Infographic

• Column chart: Use for evaluating completely different classes or for exhibiting adjustments over time (from left to proper).

• Pie chart: Use for making part-to-whole comparisons. (Observe: They work finest with small information units.)

• Line graph: Use for exhibiting information that adjustments constantly over time. Perfect for displaying volatility, tendencies, acceleration, or deceleration.

• Doughnut chart: Use a pie chart. This stylistic variation permits you to put a quantity, graphic, or different visible within the middle of the chart.

• Bar chart: Use a column chart. (The horizontal bars make it simpler to show lengthy class names.)

2. Timeline Infographic

Telling the historical past of a selected business, product, model, development, or tactic is usually a nice subject for an infographic. And whereas there are a selection of various methods that you would be able to visualize time — together with in a circle, which is what we did with our Google algorithm updates infographic — the timeline is by far the most typical and best design technique to make use of.

Timeline Infographic Greatest Practices

• Analysis. Analysis. Analysis. The most effective timeline infographics aren’t simply superbly designed — additionally they inform an incredible story based mostly on in depth analysis. So earlier than you begin the design section of your infographic, put within the time to floor the most effective info potential.

• Slender the scope: Timelines that cowl a whole bunch or 1000’s of years can definitely be fascinating, however they will additionally require weeks or months of analysis. To maintain your sanity, stick to shorter time durations.

• Preserve your copy concise: Infographics are speculated to be visible. If you end up writing 100+ phrases for every date in your timeline, a weblog submit will be the higher content material format.

3. Fashionable Design Infographic

For this infographic template, we needed to do one thing that mirrored fashionable design tendencies, together with utilizing banners and arrows.

By way of content material, we offered loads of house for each stats and duplicate. There’s additionally a column chart on the backside. However keep in mind, you possibly can at all times add completely different charts and graphs to the template wherever you see match. Simply choose Insert > Chart … and you will have a number of choices to select from.

Fashionable Design Infographic Greatest Practices

• Experiment with new coloration palettes. There are tons of free coloration palettes on-line. Do not consider me? Do a Google picture search of “Coloration Palette”. While you discover a palette you want, drag the picture instantly into your PowerPoint presentation. Subsequent, choose the Coloration Fill bucket, select Extra Colours … and click on on the eyedropper icon. With the eyedropper software, you possibly can choose colours out of your palette and use them for components in your infographic.

• Take the time to govern shapes. PowerPoint has an in depth library of shapes — together with banners, ribbons, and arrows — that you should use in your infographic design. By clicking and dragging on the little yellow diamonds that seem on these shapes, you possibly can customise them. For instance, you can also make the sharp ends of a ribbon longer or shorter, or make the physique of an arrow thinner or thicker.

• 4. Flowchart Infographic

Whereas on the floor a flowchart infographic could seem easy and enjoyable, lots of thought and planning wants to enter ensuring the completely different sections logically circulation into one another.

In our flowchart PowerPoint template, we created a fundamental flowchart construction, with constructive responses guiding viewers to a conclusion on the backside left of the infographic and destructive responses guiding viewers to a separate conclusion on the backside proper of the infographic.

Flowchart Infographic Greatest Practices

• Draw out the branches beforehand. Earlier than you dive into PowerPoint, get out a pen and paper and do a tough define of your flowchart. Check for weaknesses in your logic by answering questions in each potential mixture and seeing the place you find yourself. For finest outcomes, have a pal or coworker run by way of the flowchart, too.

• The smaller the scope, the better the execution. The extra questions or levels you add to your flowchart, the harder it is going to be to create (and the more durable it should doubtless be for viewers to grasp). So attempt to slim the main focus of your flowchart.

5. Picture-Heavy Infographic

Thus far, the infographic templates we have checked out have relied totally on illustrations that you would be able to create inside PowerPoint. However after all, there isn’t any motive why you possibly can’t convey exterior images and different photographs into your infographic design.

We have created this image-heavy infographic template for that precise function. It is nice for evaluating completely different classes, concepts, or outcomes, and because you needn’t create or customise lots of shapes, it is quite a bit much less work.

Picture-Heavy Infographic Greatest Practices

• Use high-quality photographs. It is higher to scale down a giant picture (e.g. 2,000 pixels by 2,000 pixels) than to scale up a small picture (e.g. 20 pixels by 20 pixels) to suit a selected house. The latter method will lead to photographs showing pixelated and grainy.

• Use borders. Including borders to your photographs will assist make them really feel like their a part of a cohesive design. In PowerPoint, you possibly can management the dimensions, model, and coloration of borders beneath the Format Image tab.

• Save your infographic as a PNG file. It is a finest follow for all infographics however is especially related when publishing an infographic that incorporates pictures. The PNG extension presents higher high quality than different choices. To save lots of your completed infographic as a PNG file, you merely want to decide on File > Save As … and choose PNG from the dropdown.

Make an Eye-Catching Infographic Right now

The probabilities are infinite if you uncover tips on how to begin creating infographics. You’ll have the ability to increase your abilities as a marketer and create extra elaborate content material that your viewers shall be intrigued by and interact with. We hope you discovered this text helpful and that you just’ll take the initiative to construct your personal infographics in PowerPoint.

Editor’s observe: This text was initially revealed in October 2020 and has been up to date for comprehensiveness.