Using icons in SmartArt Vertical Picture List

Question

Hello! Hoping someone can help me. I am on a mac and have the newest version of PowerPoint. I am using a SmartArt vertical picture list, and I want to add icons to the image boxes on each line. It seems there are two ways to do this, but I want to do it in a way that automatically formats the icons the same way as the rest of the list and fits the icons within the box rather than clipping them.

The only way that seems to work is the following:

• Select image box and randomly move or hover mouse around until...
• tiny box with lightning bolt appears (design suggestion related?)
• allowing you to choose an icon for the box
• which is then automatically formatted to your SmartArt color scheme

Sometimes the tiny box with the lightning bolt will not appear, ever.

I have also tried going directly to the icon menu while the image box is selected, and inserting an icon. This results in a new image box with a solid black icon (ie it is not formatted like my SmartArt). If I copy this and paste it into the SmartArt image box it places a black icon in the box, and does not adapt the formatting to fit the SmartArt, and it also does not respect the aspect ratio of the box and the icons are often clipped/cropped.

Is there a reliable way to get the tiny lightning bolt box to appear? Or can we consider adding this functionality to the normal 'insert icon' process? I have spent/wasted a ton of time trying to work this out, can anyone help?

Thanks!

Answer 1

Thanks for the screenshots. That's a different lightning bolt. It's not related to animations.

In PowerPoint for Mac, clicking on the picture icon in the middle of the picture placeholder only opens a dialog to insert a local picture.

In Windows, the same operation brings up a pane with more options, including icon insertion:

Inserting the icon then works pretty seamlessly, though it does crop the image if the aspect ratio of the icon is different from that of the picture placeholder.

I've been hovering my mouse on a selected picture placeholder, but I'm not getting any lightning bolt icons. In your screenshot, it looks like you had already inserted an icon.

What if you try this:

1. Choose Insert>Icon, then choose one. It is added to the slide as a free-standing graphic.
2. Cut it.
3. Select the picture placeholder in the SmartArt, then Paste.

Here, the icon goes into the SmartArt placeholder.

Answer 2

This is what I'm looking for, if this clarifies. 

When you click on the box it pulls up an icon menu. Is this animation related?

When you select an icon this way it automatically formats and resizes to fit the box. When you just "insert" an icon from the icon menu it creates a whole new non-smart box, and I want the icon to go in the box and be formatted automatically. Is this related to animation?

I've googled all the terms I can think of and couldn't find an answer. Nothing is really wrong except sometimes, most of the time, I cannot get the box with the lightning bolt to appear, and thus cannot access the icon menu. Even when I use the same smart art settings and the same everything else. If I could find another way to reliably access or trigger this menu appearing, all would be well.

Answer 3

Happy to do that, but it's disappointing to see that there is this inconsistency between platforms, in the same software. Are they trying to get me to switch to Windows? Hmm. Anyway, I'll certainly send a note, with disappointment that this is apparently a dead end until some developer decides it is important.

Answer 4

Thank you, I would agree that it seems extremely erratic, but also that it has a lot of potential. I hope they keep working on it-- my boss was really happy with slides done with the design assistant.

Answer 5

OK, the lightning bolt is for Design Ideas, one of Microsoft's flakiest features (do a search on this site for all the people who complain "Where did Design Ideas disappear to?").

Design Ideas is an Artificial Intelligence feature, but so far Microsoft AI is moody and only works when it feels like it. If we could answer "How do you turn it on and keep it on", it would solve a lot of people's problems.