Tidy up the chart before it goes out
An evenly laid-out, consistently styled chart that fits the slide.
Screenshots are taken from the app on every release. Updated 13 October 2026.
The group structure is drawn and the content is right. Before it goes into the client's deck, a board paper or an opinion, it should look like it was drawn with care: subsidiaries on one level in a straight row, boxes of the same kind the same size, lines that do not cross labels, and the whole chart inside the slide.
Two questions decide how far to go. Where will the chart be read? A PowerPoint slide has a fixed area; a chart in a memo only needs to be even. And is the content settled? Every new entity moves things again, so tidy up last.
See the slide area
Click PowerPoint Canvas in the canvas controls at the bottom of the screen. The canvas now shows the area of the slide that goes into the PowerPoint export, so you can see what falls outside it. Click Infinite canvas to go back.
Check the Page format under Settings (on the Layout tab if you use the Traditional ribbon). It is only offered while PowerPoint Canvas is on. Choose the format of the deck the chart goes into, such as Widescreen (16:9) or A4 landscape, or Company template for the firm's own slides.
Line up the boxes on each level
Select the boxes on one level, for example the subsidiaries under a holding company. Drag a frame around them on the empty canvas; if the canvas moves instead, hold Shift while you drag.
In the toolbar that appears above the selection, click Align elements and choose how they line up. Align top puts a row of subsidiaries on one line; Align left or Align right lines up a column. Align vertically centres a row on a shared line, and Align horizontally centres a column of boxes under each other.
In the same menu, click Distribute horizontally (or Distribute vertically for a column) to give the boxes equal gaps between the first and the last.
When the gap has to be an exact distance, click Spacing in the toolbar instead. Choose the direction, then drag the slider to the distance you want, from 0 to 5 cm. The boxes move when you let go.
Give boxes of the same kind the same size
Select the boxes, right-click the selection and choose Set Dimensions.
Enter the Width and Height in centimetres. If the boxes already share a size, it is filled in; otherwise the line above the fields says Mixed. Leave a field empty to keep each box's current width or height.
Press Enter or click the tick. Boxes in a row or a column keep the gaps between them as they grow or shrink.
To size a single box exactly, right-click it and choose Set Dimensions; the form shows its Current size.
Give boxes and lines the same style
Right-click a box that looks the way you want and choose Copy formatting.
Select the boxes that should match, right-click and choose Paste formatting.
Lines work the same way: right-click a line, choose Copy formatting, then right-click another line and choose Paste formatting.
Clear the lines and labels
Click a line to select it and drag the handles on it to move its route, so it runs around boxes rather than through them. Drag a line's label to a clear spot when it sits on top of a box or another line. If the connection dots on the boxes get in the way of a line, turn off Show handles; set up the Structure canvas the way you work explains how.
Let Juristic lay out the slide
On a crowded slide it can be quicker to start from a fresh layout. Click AI layout under Settings (on the Layout tab in the Traditional ribbon). The boxes and lines of the current slide are laid out again from what is on it, which can take up to a minute. One undo puts everything back where it was. Then fine-tune the result with the steps above.
Fit the chart to the slide
Turn on PowerPoint Canvas.
Select everything on the slide with Ctrl + A (⌘ + A on a Mac).
Click Fit content to PowerPoint (the PowerPoint icon) in the selection toolbar. The selection is scaled and placed inside the slide area. The legend and locked elements stay where they are.
What matters for which destination
| Where the chart goes | What to concentrate on |
|---|---|
| A slide in the client's deck | PowerPoint Canvas, the right Page format, and Fit content to PowerPoint last |
| A memo or an opinion | Even rows and equal sizes; the slide area matters less |
| A step plan over several slides | The same box sizes and styles on every slide, so the reader sees what changes and nothing else |
Tips from practice
- Size first, then align. Changing the size of boxes moves their edges, so set the dimensions before you line them up and distribute them.
- Nudge with the keyboard. The arrow keys move the selected boxes a small step; hold Shift for larger steps.
- Boxes on top of each other. Right-click and choose Bring to front or Send to back when one box hides part of another.
- Check the export. Look at the slide once it is exported, not only the canvas: send the structure as an editable PowerPoint.
Next, explain the chart with a legend so the reader knows what each colour and line means. Still drawing? Start with draw the group structure chart.