SHAPES

Introduction to Shapes
PowerPoint has a gallery of shapes to choose from.
A shape is the form of an object or its external boundary, outline, or external
surface, as opposed to other properties such as color, texture, or material
composition.
You can create your own shapes. Additionally, you can duplicate shapes and
merge shapes together to create custom shapes. You can also copy the style
of one shape to another. You can also animate shapes.

For internal use only

Inserting a shape
Steps:
Home tab  Drop down shape box Select on required shape.

or
Insert tab  Select Shapes

For internal use only

Changing Shape
Steps:
Select shape  Format tab  Edit shape  Change shape

For internal use only

Fill, Outline, Effects
The fill is the interior of the shape. We can fill it with color and/or texture. We can also blend
colors to create a color variance.
Steps to change the fill
1. Select the shape
2. Go to the Drawing Tools menu in the ribbon
3. Click on the Format tab
4. Look in the Shape Styles grouping of commands. You will see three icons on the
right: Shape Fill, Shape Outline and Shape Effects
5. Click on Shape Fill
6. Select a color

Notice when you click on the Shape Fill command, you have several more options to choose from
• There are more standard colors with the option to • You can choose from different variances or gradients of
create custom colors color
• You can also fill the shape with a picture or image • You can fill the shape with different textures

We would follow the same process to change the outline. Notice when you select the Shape Outline
Outline command, in addition to having more colors to choose from, you can change the weight or the
thickness of the outline, and also you can make the outline dotted or dashed.

Finally, we have the Shape Effects. Here you can change the style of the shape by adding effects, such as
Shapes
shadows and reflections. The best choice here is to use the presets or pre-designed options that
Effects
combine different effects together

For internal use only

Internal margins of the shape
When you need to write text into a text box or shape for a clean formatted look
without changing the shape’s or font’s size, change the margin between the text
and the edge of the text box or shape.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet,

consectetuer adipiscing elit.
Maecenas porttitor congue massa.
Fusce posuere, magna sed pulvinar
ultricies, purus lectus malesuada
libero, sit amet commodo magna
eros quis urna.

Nunc viverra imperdiet enim. Fusce

est. Vivamus a tellus.

For internal use only

How to adjust internal margins
Steps:
Select shape  Format tab  Drawing  Shape option 
Size and properties tab  Text box

or
Select shape  right click Format shape  Drawing  Shape
option  Size and properties tab  Text box

or
Select shape  Format tab  Drawing  Text option  Text
box

For internal use only

Using Shapes in Title and Content Box

Shapes can be used to

separate the title text
from the body without HEADING
changing the meaning of HEADING:
• Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet,
the slide and make the • Lorem ipsum dolor sit consectetuer adipiscing elit.
slide look clean and nice amet, consectetuer • Pellentesque habitant morbi
adipiscing elit. Mauris et orci.
• Pellentesque habitant
morbi Mauris et orci.
When we use shapes in a
slide we mostly used the
title only or the blank
layout

For internal use only

Grouping Objects

You may want to group multiple objects into one object so they will
stay together if they are moved or resized. This is often easier than
selecting all of the objects each time you want to move them.
Pictures, shapes, clip art, and text boxes can all be grouped together

To group objects To ungroup objects

1. Click and drag your mouse to form a selection box 1. Select the grouped object
around the objects you want to group. The Format you want to ungroup.
tab will appear 2. From the Format tab, click
2. From the Format tab, click the Group command, the Group command, then
then select Group select Ungroup
3. The selected objects will now be grouped. There 3. The objects will be
will be a single box with sizing handles around the ungrouped.
entire group to show that they are one group. You
can now move or resize all of the objects
at once

For internal use only

How to group shapes
Steps:
Select shapes you want to group together  Ctrl+G

or
Select shapes you want to group together  Format tab 
Group  Group

For internal use only

How to un-group shapes
Steps:
Select grouped shapes you want to undo  Ctrl+Shift+G

or
Select grouped shapes you want to undo  Format tab 
Group  Ungroup

For internal use only

Arrangement and Alignment of shapes
Aligning Objects
When you move objects in
PowerPoint, alignment
guides and spacing guides will
appear around the objects to
help you align them. However, if
you have many different objects
on a slide, it may be difficult and
time consuming to get them
perfectly aligned. Luckily,
PowerPoint provides you with
several alignment commands
that allow you to easily
arrange and position objects
For internal use only
To Align two or more Objects:
1. Click and drag your mouse to
form a selection box around the
objects you want to align.
The Format tab will appear

2. From the Format tab, click

the Align command, then
select Align Selected Objects

3. Click the Align command again,

then select one of the
six alignment options

4. The objects will align based on the

option you selected

For internal use only

To Distribute Objects Evenly:
1. Click and drag your mouse to
form a selection box around the
objects you want to align
2. From the Format tab, click
the Align command, then
select Align to Slide or Align
Selected Objects
3. Click the Align command again,
then select Distribute
Horizontally or Distribute
Vertically from the drop-down
menu that appears
4. The objects will distribute evenly

For internal use only

Ordering Objects

In addition to aligning objects, PowerPoint

gives you the ability to arrange objects in
a specific order. The ordering is important
when two or more objects overlap because
it will determine which objects are in
the front or the back

Understanding levels
When objects are inserted into a slide, they
are placed on levels according to the order
in which they were inserted into the slide. In
the image, the Circle is on the top level, but
we can change the level to put it behind the
other objects

For internal use only

To Change the Ordering Level
1. Select an object. The Format tab
will appear
2. From the Format tab, click the Bring
Forward or Send Backward command to change
the object's ordering by one level. If there are
multiple objects on the slide, you may need to click
the command several times to achieve the desired
ordering

To bring an object to the front or back

If you want to move an object behind or in front of
several objects, it's usually faster to bring it to
front or send it to back instead of clicking the ordering
commands multiple times.
1. Select an object.
2. From the Format tab, click the Bring Forward or Send
Backward drop-down box.
3. From the drop-down menu, select Bring to Front or
Send to Back.

For internal use only

Selection Pane
If you have several objects
placed on top of each other, it
may be difficult to select an
individual object.
The Selection Pane allows
you to easily drag an object to
a new location. To access the
Selection pane,
click Selection Pane on
the Format Tab. Or press alt
+ F10

For internal use only

Rotating objects

If you need to turn an object so it faces

a different direction, you can rotate it
to the left or right or flip it
horizontally or vertically

To rotate an object
1. Select an object. The Format tab
will appear
2. From the Format tab, click the Rotate
command. A drop-down menu will
appear.
3. Select the desired rotation option
4. The object will rotate

For internal use only

Internal Margin in Shapes

When you need to squeeze more text into a

text box or shape without changing the shape’s
or font’s size, change the margin between the
text and the edge of the text box or shape

Steps to change the Internal Margin

1. Right-click the border of the shape or text box you
want to adjust the margin for and then click
Format Shape
2. Click the Size and Properties icon (Layout &
Properties in Word) and then click
Text Box
3. In the box for each margin, click the down arrow to
decrease the distance. The change is applied
immediately, so you can tell when you’ve got it right
4. The bigger the font the bigger the internal margin

For internal use only

How to set Default Shapes and TextBox

1. Add the shape or text box to your file

(your spreadsheet, email message, or
slide presentation)

2. Select the shape or text box.

3. Apply any formatting. You can

change the fill color or add an effect,
change the color, style, or weight of a
line, or make any other changes

4. Right-click the border of the shape or

text box and click Set as default on
the shortcut menu

For internal use only

Smart Guides

Smart Guides are the dashed lines that

appear to help you with alignment as
you move shapes around the slide

Equidistant Alignment
Smart guides aren’t just for direct
alignment, they can also help you have
consistent spacing between shapes. When
trying to align 3 or more shapes to be the
same distance apart, small arrows will
appear to let you know that the spacing is
identical

For internal use only

Smart Guides
Resize Snapping

Have you ever wanted to resize a shape so that the

edges of two shapes line up exactly? Smart guides can
help do just that. As you resize a shape you’ll see the
Smart Guides appear letting you know that the edges
are perfectly aligned

How to enable Smart guide

Just right click on the slide’s background and from the

“Grid and Guides” menu select Guides and presto
Guides are turned on

For internal use only

SmartArt Graphics
SmartArt allows you to communicate
information with graphics instead of just
using text. There are a variety of styles to
choose from, which you can use to illustrate
many different types of ideas

To insert a SmartArt graphic

1. Select the slide where you want the SmartArt
graphic to appear.
2. From the Insert tab, select the SmartArt
command in the Illustrations group
3. A dialog box will appear. Select a category on
the left, choose the desired SmartArt graphic,
and click OK
4. The SmartArt graphic will appear on the
current slide

For internal use only

 To Convert Existing Text to SmartArt
PowerPoint makes it easy to transform traditional bullet points into an eye-catching SmartArt graphic. If you already have
text on a slide, you can convert it to SmartArt. In our example below, we'll change the bullet points into SmartArt to help
illustrate a process

1. Right-click the list or paragraph you want to

convert to SmartArt.
2. Hover the mouse over Convert to
SmartArt, then select the desired SmartArt
graphic.
3. The text will appear as a SmartArt graphic

You can also convert SmartArt back to text. From

the Design tab on the right side of the Ribbon, click
the Convert command, then select Convert to Text.

Note: every time we used smartArt remember to

convert it back to shapes or ungroup it. We can do
that by pressing
clrt + shift+ G

For internal use only

Merge shapes
Combine shapes to create a custom shape

Sometimes, the shape you want isn’t

included in the built-in or default
shapes. When that happens, you can
merge shapes to get a new shape. You
can also use Edit Points to change a
shape into the shape you want

Merge shapes
1. Select the shapes to merge.
2. On the Drawing Tools Format tab, click
Merge Shapes, and then pick the option
you want

For internal use only

Use Edit Points to Change Shape
1. Double-click the shape
to change
2. Under Drawing Tools
Format tab, click Insert
Shapes > Edit Shape > Edit
Points
3. Drag the black edit points to
change the shape. Use the
white square edit points to
change the curvature of the
line between two black edit
points
It’s easier to use edit points if the
shape doesn’t have any fill or
style. Add any color fill or effects
after you have finished

For internal use only

Formatting Lines, Border Lines, Arrows
Steps:
Select line/lines  Right click 
Format shape / Alt+H+O  Fill and
line  Solid Line

For internal use only

Formatting Lines, Border Lines, Arrows
Color Color of the line

Transparency Transparency of the line

Width Width of the line

Compound
Type of lines: Simple, Double, Thick Thin, Thin Thick, Triple
Type

Dash Type Line Style: Round dot, Square dot, Dash, Etc.

Cap Type Square, Round, Dot.

Join Type Round, Bevel, Mitre

Arrow Type

Arrow Size

For internal use only

Setting as default line
If you don't like the appearance of a line when you add it to your file, you can format
the shape or text box, and then designate it as the new default format for that open
file. After that, any new shapes or text boxes use that formatting.

Steps:
Select line  Format the shape as needed 
Right click  Set as default line

For internal use only

For internal use only