An infographic is information shaped into a picture: a process as connected steps, a share as a row of icons, a comparison as two columns, a set of figures as large numbers with symbols. On a slide it does what a bullet list cannot — it shows the structure of the information, not just its words.
Most infographics are built from five patterns. Knowing which one your content follows makes the slide almost design itself:
| Pattern | Shows | PowerPoint tool |
|---|---|---|
| Process | Steps in order | SmartArt Process, chevrons, arrows |
| Cycle | A loop that repeats | SmartArt Cycle, circular arrows |
| Hierarchy or pyramid | Levels, priorities, structure | SmartArt Pyramid or Hierarchy |
| Key figures | Three or four numbers that matter | Large text with icons |
| Comparison | Two or more options side by side | Columns of shapes, icons, ticks |
Step 1: draw the structure with SmartArt
Turn a list into an infographicWindows and Mac
Convert existing text
If the points are already a bulleted list, select the text box and choose Home → Convert to SmartArt (on a Mac: Convert to SmartArt on the Home tab, or right-click the box). Hover over the layouts for a preview.
Home → Convert to SmartArt Or insert a new graphic
Choose Insert → SmartArt and pick from Process, Cycle, Hierarchy, Relationship, Matrix or Pyramid. Picture layouts add a frame for a photo per item.
Insert → SmartArt categories Restyle it
On SmartArt Design choose Change Colors and a flat style; avoid the 3D styles. Shorten each label to two to four words.
Convert to shapes for freedom
To add icons and move items freely, choose SmartArt Design → Convert → Convert to Shapes. The graphic becomes a group of shapes; ungroup it with Shape Format → Group → Ungroup (Ctrl+Shift+G on Windows, Cmd+Option+Shift+G on a Mac).
Step 2: add icons
Icons turn labels into symbols the eye recognises before reading. PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 has a library of icons built in.
Insert and colour iconsWindows and Mac
Insert icons
Choose Insert → Icons, search for a word (“recycle”, “truck”, “people”), tick several and click Insert.
Insert → Icons Colour them
Select the icons and choose Graphics Format → Graphics Fill for one colour from your theme. Keep all icons in one style — all outline or all filled.
Size them evenly
Select all icons, then in Graphics Format → Size type the same height. Align them with Align → Align Middle and Distribute Horizontally.
Step 3: build custom shapes and figures
For infographic elements SmartArt does not have — a circle split in segments, a road with milestones, a badge — combine basic shapes.
Combine shapes with Merge ShapesWindows and Mac
Draw and overlap
Draw the shapes from Insert → Shapes and overlap them where they should join or cut.
Two overlapping shapes before merging Merge them
Select all of them and choose Shape Format → Merge Shapes: Union joins, Combine cuts the overlap out, Fragment splits into pieces, Intersect keeps only the overlap, Subtract cuts the later shapes out of the first.
Shape Format → Merge Shapes Add the numbers
Put key figures in text boxes at 40 to 60 pt in the heading font, each with a short label under it. Numbers are the heroes of an infographic; make them the largest text on the slide.
For data, use real charts rather than drawn ones: Insert → Chart keeps the values editable. A donut chart with one segment coloured, or a single bar against a grey total, is an infographic element in itself — see our guide to presenting data.
A tall infographic to share as a picture
Classic infographics are tall and read top to bottom, for blogs, intranets and social media. PowerPoint can make them on a single portrait slide.
Make and export a portrait infographicWindows and Mac
Set a tall slide size
In a new file choose Design → Slide Size → Custom Slide Size (Mac: Page Setup), set Width to 8 in and Height to 20 in (or 20 × 50 cm), and choose Portrait.
Custom Slide Size, portrait Build in sections
Divide the page into bands — title, three to five sections, sources — with a coloured rectangle behind every second band. Use guides (View → Guides) for a common left margin.
Export as a picture
Choose File → Export → Change File Type → PNG (Mac: File → Export, format PNG) and save the current slide only.
Read our guide to slide sizes for the dimensions in inches, centimetres and pixels.
Infographic templates and AI generators
Templates save time when the pattern fits your content exactly: search “infographic” under File → New in PowerPoint, or in Google Slides use Insert → Diagram for grids, hierarchies, timelines, processes, relationships and cycles. Check that a template’s elements are real shapes, not pictures, and paste slides into your deck with Use Destination Theme so they take your colours. AI infographic generators are useful for a first draft; check every number they show, because they draw what they are told — or what they guess.
Rules that make infographics readable
- One message per infographic slide. The structure serves a point; write it as the title.
- Few colours: one accent for what matters, greys and one or two theme colours for the rest.
- Short labels, large numbers, consistent icons.
- Clear reading direction: left to right or top to bottom, never both on one slide.
- Sources in small text at the foot when numbers come from elsewhere.
Example: a recycling process as an infographic slide
Take a typical text slide: “Our recycling programme collects material from 40 sites, sorts it in two plants, sells 85 % of it to manufacturers and sends the rest to energy recovery. Last year that saved 1,200 tonnes of CO₂.” As bullets, it is four lines nobody remembers. As an infographic it becomes:
- A process of four steps — Collect, Sort, Sell, Recover — drawn as chevrons from SmartArt → Process → Basic Chevron Process, each with an icon above it (a truck, a conveyor, a factory, a flame).
- One figure per step under its chevron: “40 sites”, “2 plants”, “85 % reused”, “15 % to energy”.
- The result as the largest text on the slide, to the right or below: “1,200 t CO₂ saved”, with a leaf icon in the accent colour.
- A title that states the point: “Our recycling loop reuses 85 % of what we collect”.
The words are almost the same; the slide now shows the order, the scale of each step and the result in one glance. That is the test of any infographic: does the shape of the slide carry part of the meaning? If you could replace it by a bullet list without losing anything, it is decoration.
Animating an infographic
Reveal an infographic in the order it is read. Select the SmartArt graphic, choose Animations → Wipe (from the left for a process) and set Effect Options → One by One, so each step appears on a click as you explain it. For figures, a Fade per number is enough; flying icons distract from the content.
Designs for this kind of deck
Every design brings its own colours, fonts and layouts to the whole deck.
Infographic slides in ExpertSlides
Much of the ExpertSlides library is infographics already: processes and flowcharts, cycles, pyramids, Venn diagrams, funnels, matrices, mind maps, key numbers with icons and customer journeys, each in many arrangements. When the AI builds a deck from your prompt or your documents, it chooses such a layout where the content is a sequence, a cycle, a hierarchy or a set of figures, and writes every label to fit — the AI infographic generator, built into the deck.
For your own additions, the icon library has more than 14,000 icons in eight styles (all of them on Pro and Business), the one-colour ones in the deck’s colours, the Insert tab has 36 shapes, and charts come in nine kinds with their data. In the PowerPoint export (Pro and Business) the shapes, texts and charts stay editable, so you can continue with the steps above.
More on the building blocks: shapes and symbols in PowerPoint and timelines. Ready-made looks are in Design Templates and on our PowerPoint templates page.
Questions, answered
How do I make an infographic in PowerPoint?
Choose the pattern (process, cycle, hierarchy, figures or comparison), draw the structure with Insert, SmartArt, add icons from Insert, Icons, put key numbers in large text, and keep to one accent colour.
Can PowerPoint make a tall infographic?
Yes. Set a custom portrait slide size such as 8 by 20 inches under Design, Slide Size, build the infographic in bands, and export the slide as a PNG.
Where can I find infographic templates for PowerPoint?
Search for infographic under File, New in PowerPoint, or use SmartArt layouts. In Google Slides, Insert, Diagram has ready-made grids, processes, timelines and cycles.
How do I combine shapes in PowerPoint?
Select the overlapping shapes and choose Shape Format, Merge Shapes, then Union, Combine, Fragment, Intersect or Subtract.
Can ExpertSlides create infographic slides?
Yes. Its library has processes, cycles, pyramids, funnels, matrices and key-number slides; the AI picks one for your content and writes each label to fit, and the shapes stay editable.
