Presentations Glossary

Connectors: Creating Anchor Points for Connectors in PowerPoint

While PowerPoint lets you attach a connector to any slide object, these connectors can only be attached to wherever you see an anchor point on the slide object. The good news is that you can add new anchor points for shapes and text boxes. For text placeholders though, you cannot add new anchor points. If you need more anchor points for pictures, it is suggested that you use any shape as a container for a picture fill, and add anchor points as required for the container shape. We have now established that you can add new anchor points for shapes (and text boxes) so that your connectors can be linked to exactly where you want them to be!

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Filed Under: C
Tagged as: Connectors, PowerPoint Tutorials, Shapes

Shape Lines: Gradient Lines for Shapes in PowerPoint

PowerPoint provides plenty of options to format Shape Lines, and this tutorial explores an attribute that’s rarely associated with shape lines but can provide a surprisingly different look, especially when applied to lines that are thicker in weight. This attribute, Gradient Lines is not accessible from the Shape Line gallery in the Ribbon but directly from the Format Shape Task Pane.

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Filed Under: S
Tagged as: 08-02, Fills Lines and Effects, PowerPoint Tutorials, Shape Lines

WordArt (incl. Text Fills, Lines, and Effects): Gradient Fills for Text in PowerPoint

By default, all text that you add within PowerPoint may be filled up with a solid color. And while that’s predictable and good, there are some other options that you may want to explore, especially for title text or anything that uses text in a larger point size. One alternative is text filled with a gradient—this can look contemporary and classic, or even ghastly and gaudy!

To learn more, choose your version of PowerPoint. If we do not have a tutorial for your version of PowerPoint, explore the version closest to the one you use.

Microsoft Windows

Gradient Fill for Text in PowerPoint 2013

Gradient Fill for Text in PowerPoint 2010

Apple Mac

Gradient Fill for Text in PowerPoint 2011

Tutorial Code: 05 07 05
Previous: 05 07 04 Text Characters with Picture Fills in PowerPoint
Next: 05 07 06 Texture Fills for Text in PowerPoint

Filed Under: W
Tagged as: 05-07, PowerPoint Tutorials, Text and Fonts, WordArt (incl Text Fills; Lines; and Effects)

Advanced Shape Techniques: Drawing Arcs in PowerPoint

There are so many shapes in PowerPoint, from the basic Rectangle and Oval to the fancy Pie and Smiley Face! You can use these shapes as they are, or you can use the Merge Shape commands to create your own unique shapes. However, even if you do not create new shapes, there are some existing shapes that can be used in myriad ways. One of these is the Arc shape, that we will explore today. The Arc shape is quite easy to use, and in fact, you’ll find so much similarity between how the Arc and the Pie shapes appear and work—and some difference too.

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Filed Under: A
Tagged as: Advanced Shape Techniques, PowerPoint Tutorials, Shapes

Text Formatting: Character Spacing for Text in PowerPoint

Font size does make a difference for the aesthetics of your slide, but what do you do if the text itself uses more or less space than you may want? Sometimes, you may want the text to take just a wee bit lesser space so that all content can fit within two lines rather than three. If you would like to alter the spacing between text characters, you can do so by using PowerPoint’s Character Spacing option, which affects the appearance and readability of both title and body text. Essentially Character Spacing is the amount of space in-between individual letters. You can easily adjust this spacing for a cleaner look or to make more or less text fit within any text container.

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Filed Under: T
Tagged as: 05-06, PowerPoint Tutorials, Text and Fonts, Text Formatting