Patent ID: 8510657

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for creating graphical content, comprising: providing a content entry area for entering textual data; receiving a first line of text and a second line of text in the content entry area; receiving one or more formats in addition to the first line of text and the second line of text, wherein the one or more formats comprise at least one of: a carriage return, an indent, a tab, a bullet, a text formatting, and a line spacing; in response to receiving the one or more formats, determining a parent/child relationship between the first line of text and the second line of text based on the one or more formats; providing a layout gallery area for selecting one or more of a plurality of graphical layout definitions to be combined with the first line of text and the second line of text, wherein each of the plurality of graphical layout definitions defines a graphical layout for the graphical content; receiving a selection of a first graphical layout definition; providing a drawing canvas area for displaying the graphical content, wherein the drawing canvas area is separate from the content entry area and the layout gallery area; creating the graphical content by: combining the first line of text with the first graphical layout definition to generate a first shape, combining the second line of text with the first graphical layout definition to generate a second shape, displaying the first shape in the drawing canvas area without displaying the first shape in the content entry area, wherein the first shape at least substantially encapsulates the first line of text, displaying the second shape in the drawing canvas area without displaying the second shape in the content entry area, wherein the second shape at least substantially encapsulates the second line of text, displaying a transition between the first shape and the second shape in the drawing canvas area, the transition representing the parent/child relationship between the first line of text and the second line of text; and substantially simultaneously displaying the first line of text and the second line of text in the content entry area and the first shape and the second shape in the drawing canvas area.