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The drawing and diagram tools built into PowerPoint allow you to create many graphics that can liven up your slide presentations. Sometimes, however, those basic tools just won't do the trick.

For example, you may want to include a project timeline, a wide area network diagram, or an office layout or floor plan on a slide, all drawing types that you can easily create in Visio but that go beyond the capabilities of PowerPoint. Or you may already have created an organization chart, flowchart, or other diagram in Visio that you don't want to re-create using the PowerPoint tools.

In this article, you'll learn how to:

• Create new Visio diagrams while in PowerPoint.
• Add existing Visio diagrams to PowerPoint slides.

Create new Visio diagrams while in PowerPoint

When you're creating a diagram exclusively for a presentation, you can create it while in PowerPoint.

To create a Visio diagram on a PowerPoint slide

1. In PowerPoint, display the slide where you want the Visio diagram to appear.

   Tip  On the Slide Layout task pane, choose a Blank or Title-only layout for the slide.

2. On the Insert menu, click Object.
3. Click Create New. Click Microsoft Visio Drawing, and then click OK.

   The Visio Choose Drawing Type window opens on the slide.

4. Select the drawing type you want, choose whether or not you want to use the color scheme from the PowerPoint presentation, and create the diagram.

   Tip  You can increase the size of the Visio drawing window by dragging one of the black handles on the window's sides and corners.

5. Click anywhere outside the Visio drawing page to return to PowerPoint.

   The diagram appears on the PowerPoint slide.

Tip  If, after you create the Visio diagram, you decide you want to use it in a context besides the presentation, you can save it. Click the diagram. On the PowerPoint Edit menu, point to Visio Object, and then click Open. On the Visio File menu, click Save Copy As.

Add existing Visio diagrams to PowerPoint slides

If the Visio diagram that you want to include in your presentation already exists, or if you are creating a new Visio diagram that you intend to use in contexts other than the presentation, you can:

• Embed the diagram on a slide.
• Link the diagram to a slide.

When to link or embed

Embed a diagram on a slide

When you embed a Visio diagram on a PowerPoint slide, the embedded diagram becomes part of the PowerPoint presentation and loses any relationship to the original diagram. Changes that you make to the diagram while in PowerPoint have no effect on the original.

Because all of the diagram data is embedded in the presentation, if you move the presentation file to another computer or folder, you don't have to worry about moving any additional files. The embedded data, however, increases the size of the presentation file.

To embed a Visio diagram in a PowerPoint slide

1. In Visio, if you want to embed the entire diagram, on the Edit menu, click Copy Drawing.

   If you want to embed a portion of the diagram, select the portion you want to embed. On the Edit menu, click Copy.

2. In PowerPoint, display the slide where you want to embed the diagram.

   Tip  Choose a Blank or Title-only layout for the slide from the Slide Layout task pane.

3. On the Edit menu, click Paste Special.
4. Make sure Microsoft Visio Drawing Object is selected, and then click OK.
5. To change the size of the embedded diagram on the slide, drag a corner handle.

To edit the embedded Visio diagram while in PowerPoint

1. Double-click the diagram on the slide.

   The diagram opens in a small drawing window and the Visio 2002 menus and toolbars temporarily replace most of the PowerPoint menus and toolbars.

2. Edit the diagram.
3. Click anywhere outside of the drawing window to return to PowerPoint.

Link a diagram to a slide

When you link a Visio diagram to a PowerPoint slide, the presentation file includes only a representation of the diagram rather than all the diagram data. The representation is linked to the original Visio file. Changes that you make to the original diagram are reflected in its representation. You can also open and edit the original in Visio by double-clicking its representation on the PowerPoint slide.

Because a linked diagram doesn't add any actual data to the presentation, linking has little effect on the size of the presentation file. If you move the presentation to another computer or folder, however, you must also move the original diagram file or the link will be broken.

To link a Visio diagram to a PowerPoint slide

1. In Visio, on the Edit menu, click Copy Drawing.
2. In PowerPoint, display the slide where you want to link the diagram.

   Tip   On the Slide Layout task pane, choose a Blank or Title-only layout for the slide.

3. On the Edit menu, click Paste Special.
4. Click Paste Link, and then click OK.
5. To change the size of the linked diagram on the slide, drag a corner handle.

To control how the diagram's representation is updated

1. In PowerPoint, on the Edit menu, click Links.
2. To update the representation each time you open the presentation file or any time the diagram changes while the presentation file is open, click Automatic.

   To update the representation only when you click Update Link (right-click the representation to find the Update Link command), click Manual.