Animations that you apply to a SmartArt graphic are different from animations that you can apply to shapes, text, or WordArt in the following ways:

• Connecting lines between shapes are always associated with the second shape and are not animated individually.
• If you apply an animation to shapes in a SmartArt graphic, the animation plays in the order that the shapes appear. The order can be reversed only as a whole. For example, if you have six shapes and each contains a single letter A through F, you can play the animation from A to F or F to A. You cannot play the animation out of order, such as A to C and then F to D. However, you can create multiple slides to mimic this order. In this example, you can create one slide that animates shapes A to C and a second slide that animates shapes F to D.
• When you convert a diagram that was created by using a version of PowerPoint earlier than Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007 to a SmartArt graphic, you may lose some animation settings, or the animation may appear differently.

When you switch to a different layout, any animation that you have added is transferred to the new layout.

Add an animation

1. Click the SmartArt graphic that you want to animate.
2. On the Animations tab, in the Animations group, select the animation that you want from the Animate list.
   
   When you animate your SmartArt graphic, depending on the layout that you use, you can choose from among the following options.

Animation	Description
As one object	The animation is applied as though the entire SmartArt graphic is one large picture or object (object: A table, chart, graphic, equation, or other form of information. Objects created in one application, for example spreadsheets, and linked or embedded in another application are OLE objects.).
All at once	All of the shapes in the SmartArt graphic are animated at the same time. The difference between this animation and As one object is most notable in animations where the shapes rotate or grow. With All at once, each shape rotates or grows individually. With As one object, the entire SmartArt graphic rotates or grows.
One by one	Each shape is animated individually, one after the other.
By branch one by one	All of the shapes in the same branch are animated at the same time. This animation works well with branches of an organisation chart or a hierarchy layout and is similar to One by one.
By level at once	All shapes at the same level are animated at the same time. For example, if you have a layout with three shapes that contain Level 1 text and three shapes that contain Level 2 text, the three shapes that contain Level 1 text are animated together first, and then the three shapes that contain Level 2 text are animated together.
By level one by one	The shapes in the SmartArt graphic are animated first by level and then individually within that level. For example, if you have a layout with four shapes that contain Level 1 text and three shapes that contain Level 2 text, each of the four shapes that contain Level 1 text are animated individually first, and then each of the three shapes that contain Level 2 text are animated individually.

Notes

• When you apply All at once, some animations behave differently than they do when you apply As one object. For example, with the All at once option applied to the Fly In animation, shapes that have farther to fly will fly at a faster speed so that all of the shapes arrive at their destinations at the same time. With As one object applied, all parts of the SmartArt graphic are animated in the same way (in the case of the Fly In example, at the same speed).
• If you apply any animation to your SmartArt graphic other than As one object, then any other animations you apply to that same SmartArt graphic cannot be As one object. Multiple animations applied to SmartArt graphics must be all As one object or all not As one object.
• If you apply any animation (except As one object) to a SmartArt graphic, the background for the SmartArt graphic is always visible on the slide. It is not possible to animate the background, although the background may not be apparent to you if it does not have a fill or lines applied to it.
• If you apply an animation, such as Fly In, to your SmartArt graphic and then delete the animation for a particular shape, the shape from which you deleted the animation will start out visible on the slide.
• If you copy a SmartArt graphic that has an animation applied to it to another slide, the animation is also copied.
• Addition animation effects, such as the Color Typewriter Entrance effect or the Flip Exit effect, are available for shapes. Effects that are unavailable for SmartArt graphics will appear dimmed.

Reverse the order of an animation

1. Click the SmartArt graphic with the animation that you want to reverse.
2. On the Animations tab, in the Animations group, click Custom Animation.
   
3. Right-click the custom animation in the Custom Animation list (Custom Animation list: The list of animation sequences for a slide. Items are listed in the order in which they are added, and include icons that indicate timing in relation to other animation events.), and then click Effect Options on the shortcut menu.
4. Click the SmartArt Animation tab, and then select the Reverse order check box.