Smart Shapes  

What do you want to do?

You can use Smart Shapes, such as  swim lanes, funnels, or tables, in a flowchart or map to distinguish responsibility for sub-processes of a process. Swim lanes and funnels can be arranged either horizontally or vertically. For more information about formatting Smart Shapes see Work with  objects.

Smart Shapes are topic containers by default. Topic containers allow you to group floating topics or flowchart topics. When you reposition it, any contained flowchart or floating topics also move. For more information, see Group floating topics or flowchart topics.

See also:

 

Insert swim lanes

  1. On the Insert tab, in the Objects group, click the Smart Shapes arrow, click Swim Lanes, and then click either Horizontal Swim Lanes or Vertical Swim Lanes.

  2. Then, click the number of swim lanes to insert.

  3. Click in the map where you want the swim lanes, hold down the mouse button, and drag.
    The more you drag, the bigger the swim lanes are.

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Change the number of swim lanes

Do one of the following:

Right-click the swim lane, click Format Object, type the desired number of lanes in the Lanes box, and click Apply. or Right-click the swim lane, click Lanes, and choose the number of lanes you want.

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Resize all swim lanes 

Do one of the following:

Right-click the swim lanes, click Format Object, and type the desired number of  pixels in the Height and Width boxes. or Click the swim lanes to display handles, and drag the handles.

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Add titles to swim lanes

  1. Right-click a swim lane, and click Show Titles.
    A check mark next to the command indicates that swim lanes are enabled.

  2. Do any of the following:

The Format Object dialog opens.

  1. Do any of the following:

Insert funnels

  1. On the Insert tab, in the Objects group, click the Smart Shapes arrow, click Funnel, and then click either Horizontal Funnel or Vertical Funnel.

  2. Then, click the number of funnel segments to insert.

  3. Click in the map where you want the funnel, hold down the mouse button, and drag.
    The more you drag, the greater the size of the funnel.

Change the number of funnel segments

Do one of the following:

Right-click the funnel, click Format Object, type the desired number of segments in the Lanes box, and click Apply. or Right-click the funnel, click Lanes, and choose the number of segments you want.

Read Hints

Resize all funnel segments 

Do one of the following:

Right-click the funnel, click Format Object, and type the desired number of  pixels in the Height and Width boxes. or Click the funnel to display handles, and drag the handles.

Insert a table

  1. On the Insert tab, in the Objects group, click the Smart Shapes arrow, and then click Table.

  2. Then, click the number of rows and columns to insert.
    If you click More and drag, you can interactively set the number of rows and columns.

  3. Click in the map where you want the table, hold down the mouse button, and drag.
    The more you drag, the greater the size of the table

Change the number of table rows or columns

  1. Right-click the table, and click Format Object.

  2. Enter a number in the Rows and Columns boxes.

  3. Click Apply.
    Read Hint

Delete a table row or column

  1. Click a cell in the row or column to delete.

  2. Right-click, and choose one of the following:

Resize a single swim lane, funnel segment, or table row or column

  1. Hover over the border of a swim lane, funnel segment, or table row or column until the cursor becomes a double arrow .

  1. Drag the border to resize.

Name a single swim lane, funnel segment, or table cell

  1. Right-click a single swim lane, funnel segment, or table cell, and choose Rename.

  1. Type a name in the Name box.

Change the fill color of a single swim lane, funnel segment, or table cell

  1. Right-click the swim lane, funnel segment, or table cell.

  2. Choose Format Object.

  3. Choose a fill color from the Color drop-down menu.
    You can adjust the fill color transparency by moving the Transparency slider.

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