 Creating infographics using PowerPoint. A good infographic can help to simplify complex information in a concise and visually appealing manner. They are an intersection of data, text, and message combined into one artistic representation, and they are an excellent method of storytelling. It can be daunting to set out to create an infographic from scratch, but there are resources out there to help make this task simple. If you're struggling with design ideas, there are plenty of infographic templates for PowerPoint available online. In this video, we will dive into PowerPoint as an infographic creation tool with step-by-step instructions. You will find it easier to get started if you have developed your visual plan, have some design tips in mind, and have collected your images and icons ahead of time. PowerPoint is a tool that most of us have been familiar with for years, but it can be so much more than just a presentation tool. The first step is to launch PowerPoint and create a new presentation. Many of the templates and placeholders in PowerPoint are not designed to support infographics. Try starting from scratch by selecting blank presentation and removing any pre-populated placeholders. Placeholders work great when designing a presentation, but are not helpful when creating an infographic. To remove the slide's placeholder, navigate to the Home tab, select Layout, and then select Blank. Automatically, your canvas will be sized for a normal slideshow presentation. To alter this to infographic size under the Design tab, select Slide Size, and then select Page Setup. Here you are able to decide whether the orientation of your infographic will be portrait or landscape. If you plan on printing your infographic, you can also resize it so it aligns with standard page sizes. We recommend anywhere from 600 to 1200 pixels wide and 2000 to 5000 pixels long. By default, PowerPoint measures slides and centimeters, so just make sure to type PX after your number. Here our infographic will be 800 by 2000 pixels. PowerPoint has various color palettes to choose from. In the Design tab, select the down arrow in the Variance section and select Colors. Here you will be able to select your infographic color palette. If you do not like any of the default options, select Customize Colors to create your own. The same goes for fonts. To change the default font of your infographic, select Fonts from the Variance section. Once you've decided on an overall theme, you can begin to insert graphics and media. Graphics and icons tend to work better than photographs and infographics. You can insert images from PowerPoint as well as images you found on the web or created yourself. More recent versions of PowerPoint now come included with a large collection of images, icons, cutout people, stickers, and illustrations. From the Insert tab, tap Icons. Here you are able to search for and choose your desired graphic. Once you have selected your graphic, tap Insert to place it into your infographic. Older versions of PowerPoint may not have a robust collection of graphics to choose from. As an alternative, you can insert graphics you have found online or created yourself. From the Insert tab, tap Pictures, and then select Picture from File. Locate the graphic you wish to insert and tap Insert. If you want to add an image to the background of the slide, consider adding it from Design and Format Background instead. When you found a graphic that works for you, it may need to be altered to work properly on your infographic. To crop your graphic, select the image, select the Format tab located under Picture Tools, and select Crop. Use the black corner guides to resize your graphic. Once you are finished, select Crop again. You are also able to recolor some graphics. To recolor your graphic, select it, tap the Picture Format tab that appears when you select the graphic, then tap the Color button and select a color. If you do not see your desired color, you will need to change the color theme you are using for your infographic, or select more colors under More Variations. Shapes are also often used throughout infographics. You can use them to organize your content, direct the reader's gaze, or make your information appear more visually interesting. Select the Insert tab and then tap Shapes. Select a desired shape, then click and hold the left mouse button while moving the mouse until you have drawn your chosen shape. SmartArt is another great tool for displaying information in a visual format. Under the Insert tab, select SmartArt. Now select the type of SmartArt that will best represent the information you are trying to visualize. Once selected, write your information into the SmartArt's placeholders. To insert a graph, select the Insert tab and then select Chart. Choose the type of chart that you wish to insert and then click. Use the small spreadsheet that pops up from Excel to enter your information. You are able to recolor your shapes by selecting Shape Fill under the Shape Format tab. You're SmartArt by clicking SmartArt Design and selecting Change Color and your charts by selecting Change Colors located under the Chart Design tab. Lastly, to add text, go to Insert and then Text Box and type or paste in your content. You can change the color of your text or text box by selecting it and clicking Shape Format, then Shape Fill or Text Fill. Just like in any academic paper, citing your resources is very important. Leave a bit of space at the bottom of your infographic for your citations. Unless instructed differently, you can provide an abbreviated citation that credits the person who made the resource and where you found it. Play around with the layout and design of your infographic until you have something that you're happy with. It is a good idea to frequently save your work as you build your infographic. Use the Save button to quickly save your work. Once you have completed your infographic and have carefully reviewed it, it's time to export it. To make your infographic easily shareable, it is recommended that you convert your infographic to a PDF file. Navigate to File, Save As, and then PDF and choose a location on your computer. Congratulations, you're done. Double check that your infographic looks right in its final form and that your citations and image credits are all there. Then share your completed infographic with the world.