Changing Fill, Line, and Effects for Shapes within SmartArt in PowerPoint 2016 for Windows

After inserting a SmartArt graphic in your slide, you can change the color for the entire SmartArt graphic. Doing so applies new colors to the entire SmartArt graphic including the various shapes it contains. However, there may be times when you want one of the shapes to be colored differently. In this tutorial, we'll explore the fill, line, and effect options which can be applied to individual shapes within a SmartArt graphic in PowerPoint 2016:

1. Select any individual shape within your existing SmartArt graphic, as shown in Figure 1. As you can see, one of the gear shapes has been selected in this case. This will activate two contextual SmartArt Tools tabs on the Ribbon: these are the SmartArt Tools Design and the SmartArt Tools Format tabs (highlighted in blue within Figure 1). Activate the SmartArt Tools Format tab by clicking on it.
   
   
   Figure 1: SmartArt Tools Format tab selected
2. Within the SmartArt Tools Format tab, locate the Shape Styles group as shown in Figure 2.
   
   
   Figure 2: Shape Styles group
   
   Here you'll find the Shape Fill, Shape Outline, and Shape Effect options for individual SmartArt shapes. All of these options are explained below, as marked in Figure 2, above:
   
   

   A. Shape Fill:

   Select this option to view the Shape Fill drop-down gallery that you can see in Figure 3. Learn more about shape fills in our Add Solid Fills to Shapes in PowerPoint 2016 tutorial.
   
   
   Figure 3: Shape Fill drop-down gallery
   
   

   B. Shape Outline:

   Select this option to view the Shape Outline drop-down gallery that you can see in Figure 4. Learn more about shape outline in our Formatting Lines (and Shape Outlines) in PowerPoint 2016 tutorial.
   
   
   Figure 4: Shape Outline drop-down gallery
   
   

   C. Shape Effects:

   Click to open the Shape Effects drop-down gallery, as shown in Figure 5. Learn more about shape effects in our Shape Effects in PowerPoint 2016 tutorial.
   
   
   Figure 5: Shape Effects drop-downn gallery
   
   

   D. Shape Styles:

   Click the down-arrow (highlighted in red within Figure 2, shown earlier on this page) to bring up the Shape Styles drop-down gallery that you can see in Figure 6. Learn more about shape styles in our Shape Styles in PowerPoint 2016 tutorial.
   
   
   Figure 6: Shape Styles drop-down gallery
3. Apply fills, outlines, and effects to the SmartArt shapes as required. Figure 7 shows different fills, outlines, and effects applied to individual shapes of the Gear SmartArt graphic variant.
   
   
   Figure 7: Different fills, outlines, and effects applied to individual shapes within a SmartArt graphic

See Also:

Changing Fill, Line, and Effects for Shapes within SmartArt in PowerPoint 2013 for Windows
Changing Fill, Line, and Effects for Shapes within SmartArt in PowerPoint 2011 for Mac
Changing Fill, Line, and Effects for Shapes within SmartArt in PowerPoint 2010 for Windows