Configuring Slide Layouts with SmartArt for Document Agent

Document Agent can generate complete, editable PowerPoint presentations from your approved slide layouts, including slides that feature native SmartArt diagrams. When a user's prompt naturally leads to structured concepts — a process, a timeline, an organization chart, a cycle — the agent will select an appropriate layout and populate the diagram with generated content.

This article explains which SmartArt layouts are supported, the three ways a slide layout can offer SmartArt, how to prepare layouts correctly in PowerPoint, and how to configure layout descriptions so Document Agent can make good decisions when generating presentations.

Supported SmartArt layouts

Document Agent works with a curated catalog of native PowerPoint SmartArt layouts. Generated diagrams are real, fully editable SmartArt — users can restructure, reword, and restyle them in PowerPoint after generation.

• List: Basic Block List, Grouped List, Horizontal Bullet List, Table List, Vertical Bullet List, Picture Accent List.*
• Process & Timeline: Basic Process, Basic Chevron Process, Accent Process, Closed Chevron Process, Continuous Block Process, Basic Timeline.
• Cycle: Basic Cycle, Continuous Cycle, Block Cycle, Text Cycle, Segmented Cycle, Nondirectional Cycle, Multidirectional Cycle, Radial Cycle.
• Hierarchy: Hierarchy, Horizontal Hierarchy, Table Hierarchy, Organization Chart, Horizontal Organization Chart, Name and Title Organizational Chart, Circle Picture Hierarchy.*
• Relationship: Funnel, Cycle Matrix.
• Matrix: Basic Matrix, Grid Matrix, Titled Matrix.
• Pyramid: Basic Pyramid, Inverted Pyramid.

* Supports images inside the diagram. All Hierarchy layouts support parent–child structure.

Three ways to offer SmartArt on a slide layout

• A content placeholder. A standard empty placeholder that can hold several content types, SmartArt among them. Whether the agent may place SmartArt there is your choice; see Allow native SmartArt below.
• A SmartArt placeholder. A placeholder reserved for SmartArt when the layout was designed. It accepts no other content, so SmartArt is always enabled for it.
• A preset SmartArt diagram. A finished diagram placed on the slide. The agent keeps the diagram's layout and styling and replaces its text with generated content.

In the first two cases the placeholder must be empty: a placeholder that contains sample text is not offered for SmartArt.

Preparing your PowerPoint template

The quality of Document Agent output depends on how well your slide layouts are structured. Follow these guidelines when building or updating your Slide layouts.

General principles

• Use native PowerPoint SmartArt. Insert diagrams with Insert > SmartArt, and placeholders through the slide master. Avoid pasting in images or screenshots of diagrams; the agent cannot populate those.
• Keep one structured element per slide. Layouts work best when a slide contains a single diagram alongside supporting text placeholders such as a title.
• Leave content placeholders empty. A content placeholder with sample text in it will not be offered for SmartArt.

Preset SmartArt diagrams

• Choose a layout from the supported list above; diagrams with unsupported layouts are kept as-is instead of generated.
• Sample node text is fine — it is replaced during generation. Keep the sample structure representative of how the slide should be used, since it also appears in slide previews.
• You do not need to recolor the diagram for the agent: generated SmartArt is automatically restyled to a monochrome scheme derived from your template's theme colors, so it stays on-brand. When the agent refills an existing diagram without changing its layout, the diagram keeps its original colors.

SmartArt placeholders

• In the slide master view, use Insert Placeholder > SmartArt to reserve a slot that should always hold a diagram.
• Use a SmartArt placeholder when the diagram is the point of the slide; use a regular content placeholder when SmartArt is one of several good options for the space.

Configuring layouts in the admin interface

Once your slide layouts are ready, upload the PowerPoint file in the Templafy admin interface and configure each slide layout. Accurate layout descriptions are the primary way Document Agent understands when and how to use a slide.

Upload your slides

1. In the Templafy Admin Center, go to the AI Agents section and then to the Slide Layouts tab.
2. Upload your presentation under an appropriately named collection.
3. The system will automatically extract and analyze the shapes and placeholders on each slide.

Review extracted shapes and placeholders

After upload, each slide layout displays the shapes the system has detected. For slides with SmartArt, verify that each element has been correctly identified.

• A preset SmartArt diagram appears as a SmartArt shape. Content type, formatting, and length settings do not apply to it — only its name and the Keep existing content setting are editable.
• A SmartArt placeholder appears with Allow native SmartArt switched on and locked.
• A content placeholder that can hold SmartArt shows an editable Allow native SmartArt checkbox.

Configure the layout description

Open the layout editor for each slide. The following fields are especially important for slides with SmartArt.

Layout name and usage description 

Write a clear, specific name and description. Document Agent reads these to decide which layout to select when generating a slide. Be explicit about the type of content the slide is designed for.

Examples of effective descriptions:

• "Use this layout for illustrating a multi-step process or workflow as a chevron diagram."
• "Use this layout for presenting a team or reporting structure as an organization chart."
• "Use this layout for a four-quadrant framework or 2x2 model."

Allow native SmartArt

The Allow native SmartArt setting controls whether the agent may place a diagram in a placeholder:

• For a content placeholder, the checkbox is off by default. Enable it on placeholders where a diagram is a good use of the space.
• For a SmartArt placeholder, the checkbox is on and locked — the slot accepts nothing else.
• A preset SmartArt diagram has no checkbox; the diagram itself fixes the SmartArt type.

Keep existing content

Select Keep existing content on a SmartArt shape to have the agent leave the diagram exactly as designed. This works the same way as for any other shape: the slide can still be selected, but the diagram is never repopulated.

Best practices

Choosing layouts

• Match the layout to the structure of the content, not just the look. Sequences and roadmaps suit process and timeline layouts; loops suit cycles; parent–child structures suit hierarchy and organization charts; peer concepts suit lists; four-part frameworks suit matrix layouts; narrowing selections suit the funnel; layered levels suit pyramids.
• Prefer plain text for plain lists. If the content is a simple list with no structural relationship, a text placeholder often communicates better than a forced diagram.
• Use hierarchy layouts only for genuine parent–child content, not for ranked or ordered lists.

Node counts and display limits

Some layouts display a fixed number of shapes. Content beyond the limit stays in the diagram's text pane but is not shown on the slide, so the agent is held to these limits during generation:

• Basic Matrix, Grid Matrix, Cycle Matrix: exactly four ideas.
• Titled Matrix: one main idea plus four supporting ideas.
• Funnel: three funnel stages plus one outcome.
• Segmented Cycle: up to seven segments.

Flexible layouts such as Basic Process, Basic Chevron Process, Basic Timeline, Hierarchy, Organization Chart, and the pyramid layouts handle variable counts well. Aim for slides designed around three to six ideas.

Images in diagrams

• Only Picture Accent List and Circle Picture Hierarchy support images inside the diagram. The agent selects and inserts suitable images automatically during generation.
• Use image-capable layouts when pictures add meaning — people, teams, offerings, locations, rather than decoration.

Content guides

• Steer the agent with a brief content guide, for example "Chevron process with three to five project phases" or "Organization chart, at most three levels."
• Expect short, audience-facing node labels. The agent writes concise labels rather than sentences; slides that need narrative text should pair the diagram with a text placeholder for the supporting prose.