Similarly, add two more shapes that connect to your existing Decision shape, as shown in Figure 11, below.You will find that the connector reorients according to the new position of your moved shape.įigure 10: Shapes connected to each other To make sure that your connector indeed “connects”, select any shape, and hit any of the arrow keys on your keyboard to nudge the shape. Figure 10 shows a connector that links both our shapes.You can learn more about connectors in our Using Flowchart and Connector Shapes Together in Office 2011 tutorial.įigure 9: Choose a connector with an arrowhead We won't get into details about how connectors work in this tutorial. We need the arrowhead end of the connector to be “connected” to your Decision shape and the non-arrowhead end will emanate from the Terminator shape. This shape is a connector that has an arrowhead at one end. To do so, access the Shape drop-down gallery (see Figure 2, above) and select the second shape within the Lines and Connectors category (see Figure 9, below). We now need to link the Terminator shape to the Decision shape using a connector.We just typed “Are you happy?”, as shown in Figure 8, below. Then drag and draw to place an instance of the shape on your slide (or document/sheet). Choose the Decision (Diamond) shape option from the Flowchart category within the Shapes gallery (refer to Figure 4, above). Now add a shape to represent a decision.Anything you type shows up within the flowchart shape, as shown in Figure 7, below.įigure 7: Text within your flowchart shape With your terminator shape still selected, start typing.Drag and draw on your slide, document, or worksheet to place an instance of the terminator shape, as shown in Figure 6, below.įigure 6: Place a Terminator shape to start your flowchart Your cursor will turn into a crosshair.Now, select the Terminator shape within the Flowchart shapes gallery (see Figure 5).Note: Want to know more about all the flowchart shapes? Look at our Flowchart Symbols: What They Represent? page. Hover your cursor over any of these shapes to see a tool tip that provides you with the name/description of the hovered shape (see Figure 4, below).įigure 4: Flowchart shapes are described within the tool tips There are 28 flowchart shapes available here. First let us explore the Flowchart category. Let us now explore the various shapes available within these categories.These are the Lines and Connectors and Flowchart categories, highlighted in red and blue respectively within Figures 2 and 3, above. To create flowcharts, only two of these categories matter to you. There are plenty of shapes that are arranged in various categories.This brings up a Media browser window, with the Shapes tab active, as shown in Figure 3. In Excel (or even Word and PowerPoint), select the Insert | Shape menu option.Doing so brings up the Shape drop-down gallery, as shown in Figure 2, below.
Locate the Insert group and within this group, click the Shape button.
Alternatively, here are some thoughts that will help you decide which of these three programs work best for your flowcharts: If you already need to create a flowchart in Word, Excel, or PowerPoint, then the choice has already been made for you.