When you think of Google Slides, you probably just imagine something you can use to design slides for many of your presentations. What you might not realize is that Google Slides is also great for creating diagrams, whether they're flow diagrams, Venn diagrams, or mind maps.
Why should you use Google Slides to create diagrams?
Of course, there are plenty of other (more specialized) tools you can use to create diagrams, like Lucidchart and other Google Docs add-ons. However, Google Slides is a great and viable option for many reasons.
A key advantage is real-time collaboration. If you've used Google's toolset, you know how easy it is to access projects from any device with an Internet connection. This accessibility makes team collaboration easy; just use option Share to invite colleagues, give them edit or comment permissions so they can provide feedback or make changes to the diagram instantly.
Google Slides also integrates seamlessly with Google Sheets, making it perfect for you to use if your diagram needs to incorporate data. By navigating to tab Insert and choose Chart > From Sheets or copy and paste cells directly from Sheets, you can link your data so that any updates in the spreadsheet are reflected in the slides.
Plus, Google Slides is completely free, offering powerful features at no cost – all you need is a Google account. Unlike tools that require a subscription or have limited free features, Google Slides offers enough built-in tools to create polished, professional diagrams.
With shapes, lines, charts, and even basic AI support, creating and exporting your diagrams as JPEG, PNG, or SVG images is fast and intuitive. From basic shapes to more advanced features, Google Slides has a number of tools that can help you create great diagrams. Here are some of the most useful features.
Shapes, arrows and lines
Every good diagram includes some basic shapes and connections, and Google Slides offers many of these. With these tools, you can create flow diagrams, Venn diagrams, and even some charts.
Because Google Slides allows you to group and ungroup elements on your page, you can easily treat multiple elements as a single unit. This is especially useful when you need to move or resize parts of a diagram.
You can also click Order to change the layer of elements on the slide, bringing some elements to the front or bringing them back, ensuring the diagram looks exactly how you want.
Integrated diagram template
Google Slides offers a number of reliable diagram templates you can use to get started quickly. These templates include pre-designed layouts for flow diagrams, timelines, and process maps.
Click Insert > Diagrams > View all. Choose the type of diagram you want, choose levels, dates, steps or areas, and choose colors. Then, look through the options and choose any template that looks like what you have in mind.
You can then modify the diagram to suit your needs.
Add-on to increase power
While Google Slides' native features are quite complete, you can take advantage of add-ons like Lucidchart to expand its functionality.
These add-ons integrate directly with Google Slides, allowing you to create more complex diagrams without leaving the slide. Click Extensions > Add-ons > Get add-ons and you will find a lot of relevant options.
Some of these add-ons have free plans, with paid plans for even more features.
Custom colors and additional fonts
You can apply solid or gradient colors to your shapes, and you have full control over the font and text style in your diagram. This means you can match the look and feel of your diagram to your project or brand guidelines without needing any advanced design skills.
For example, you can ungroup elements in a diagram, select a line, and click Format > Borders & Lines > Border color. Then, click the plus icon below the section Custom to enter the hex code of the color you want.
Although you can't add custom fonts, you can still add additional fonts to Google Slides, so you have more font options than what's accessible right away.
Gemini AI
If you're part of Google Workspace Labs, you'll have access to Gemini in Google Slides. Creating illustrations is one way to use Gemini AI in Slides.
This tool is not the best for creating charts and mind maps, but it is a pretty good tool for creating diagrams, as all you have to do is provide a detailed description of the what you want.
You can use Gemini AI by launching the Ask Gemini bar, but you may also have more success with the bar Create an image. Just keep in mind that your diagram will look more like an image than a graph, and the text may be unreadable because the AI has difficulty writing text in images.
You can just use Gemini AI to brainstorm ideas for your diagrams, such as the best color combinations, shapes, and connections, to create what you have in mind.
Animations and transitions
If you're creating a step-by-step diagram or want to show the progress of a process, Google Slides animations and transitions can be extremely useful. You can animate each shape or element in your diagram to appear one by one so your audience can follow the process in a structured way.
On your computer, simply select the element you want to animate and click Insert > Animation. You can choose to have them fly in, zoom out, or any other option you like.
Google Slides might not be the first tool you think of when you need to create a diagram, but it's actually capable of so much more. So next time you're thinking of creating a diagram, don't ignore Google Slides!
