PowerPoint 2007: Adding Custom Animation to Ungrouped Chart Elements

In a previous article I taught you how to ungroup chart elements for more specific formatting. Say you were giving a presentation on quarterly sales and wanted to keep your audience in suspense by having the bars of your chart come in one at a time. Today you'll learn how to do that.

1. Follow those instructions to insert a fully ungrouped chart.

   

2. Click outside of the chart area to deselect all.
3. Hold down [Ctrl] on your keyboard and select the second bar from the 1st Qtr section.
4. Still holding [Ctrl], click the top of the second bar so that the 3-dimensional plane of the bar is selected as well.

   

5. Press [Ctrl] [X] on your keyboard to cut the bar from the graph. This will allow you to see the hidden side of the first bar so you can select it for animation.
6. Hold down [Ctrl] on your keyboard and select the first bar from the 1st Qtr section.
7. Still holding [Ctrl], click the top and side of the first bar so that the 3-dimensional planes of the bar are selected as well. (If you find it difficult to select the planes of the bar, increase your zoom to make the bar larger and try again.)
8. Choose Animations > Custom Animation to open the Custom Animation pane.
9. Click the Add Effect button and choose Entrance > Fly In.
10. There should now be three items listed in the Custom Animation pane making up your first build. Ensure the first item is selected and from the Start drop-down menu choose On Click.
11. Modify the Direction and Speed as you see fit.
12. Ensure the next two items on the list are set to Start: With Previous.
13. Modify the Direction and Speed to match the first item.
14. When you are satisfied with the animation for the first bar, select the chart area and press [Ctrl] [V] to paste the second bar back into the chart.

Repeat these steps to add animation to the rest of the bars in the chart.

About the author: AJ George, a cum laude graduate of Towson University is IconLogic's lead Technical Writer and author of the book "PowerPoint 2007: The Essentials."

Interested in creating beautiful multi-media presentations but having difficulty with PowerPoint's new interface? PowerPoint 2007: The Essentials is now shipping and will get you up and running in no time!