Creating Custom Shapes in PowerPoint 2010

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AppId is over the quota

(Note: Creating and combining custom shapes is a tool introduced in PowerPoint 2010 that lots of presenters find useful. We first published this post in February 2010 and ever since then people have been looking it up so here it is again.)

PowerPoint has a lot of great preset shapes, but sometimes what you really need is a custom shape tailored-made for your presentation. If you’re looking to go beyond the Freeform Tool to create more complex custom shapes, we’ve created a new feature in PowerPoint 2010 called Combine Shapes to help you do just that! Using the principles of Boolean Geometry, the Combine Shapes tool allows you to create new shapes by combining multiple shapes in one of four ways: Union, Combine, Subtract, or Intersect.  


This is a relatively advanced feature, so it doesn’t appear by default on the Ribbon. To enable Combine Shapes, add it to your Ribbon via the PowerPoint Options dialog: PowerPoint Options > Customize Ribbon > Commands Not in the Ribbon  > Combine Shapes. (For more information on how to add items and customize your Ribbon and QAT, see this post).

In just a few clicks, you can quickly and easily create intricate and unique geometries by combining simple shapes in various ways. Here’s an example where we create a key shape using only ovals, rectangles, and triangles.
Step 1: Draw the silhouette of a key using several basic shapes, and merge them using “Shape Union” to create the body of the key:

Step 2: Draw shapes to represent the negative areas (i.e. the “holes” in the key). Select the body of the key first, then select the “holes”, and use “Shape Subtract” to cut them out:

Want even more control over the shape’s geometry? Custom shapes created using the Combine Shapes tool are freeforms, so you can take advantage of the Edit Points feature to further fine-tune your shape:

Add a gradient fill and some 3D effects to turn your custom shape into an eye-popping graphic!

     

With PowerPoint 2010, you no longer have to worry about not being able to find the perfect shape or Clip Art… if you can’t find one, create one yourself! Here are a few more examples of custom graphics created by PowerPoint’s Product Planner, Tal Krzypow, using the Combine Shapes tool:

Download the Office 2010 Beta today and try your hand at creating your own custom shapes. We’d love to hear what you think!

Chris Doan
Program Manager, Office Graphics

Updated (Feb 2): Changed the instructions to reflect the location of this feature in the PowerPoint 2010 Beta. Originally we posted instructions on how to find this feature in the released version.

View the original article here

Create shapes with tables inside (video)

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AppId is over the quota

This is the twelfth in a series of quick video tips for business managers using PowerPoint by guest blogger Bruce Gabrielle, author of Speaking PowerPoint.

Using SmartArt graphics, you can create a pyramid with text rows. But what if you want an upside down triangle, or a circle, or a hexagon instead? Here are a couple of neat tricks for creating your own custom shapes with table rows inside.

Looking for more info about using tables and SmartArt graphics in PowerPoint? Try these links:

-- Bruce Gabrielle

View the original article here

Create shapes with tables inside (video)

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

This is the twelfth in a series of quick video tips for business managers using PowerPoint by guest blogger Bruce Gabrielle, author of Speaking PowerPoint.

Using SmartArt graphics, you can create a pyramid with text rows. But what if you want an upside down triangle, or a circle, or a hexagon instead? Here are a couple of neat tricks for creating your own custom shapes with table rows inside.

Looking for more info about using tables and SmartArt graphics in PowerPoint? Try these links:

-- Bruce Gabrielle

View the original article here

Saving Custom Shapes

Saving Custom Shapes « Julieanne Kost's Blog function clearSearch() {document.search_form.s.value = "";} Julieanne Kost's Blog / Saving Custom ShapesADDITIONAL INFORMATIONBio, Contact and Artists StatementLightroom Video TutorialsPhotoshop Video TutorialsSchedule of EventsAdditional ResourcesPortfoliowww.jkost.comby Julieanne KostCustom Shapes (1)Define Custom Shape (1)Path (2)Pen Tool (1)Shapes (1)  

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Set text wrap around images and shapes in PowerPoint? Avoid it!

We see a lot of questions about flow as you text in PowerPoint around a picture or shape. And it is not easy (although we article have PowerPoint 2010 and PowerPoint 2007 , which explain, admittedly complicated workarounds to get the wrapping effect).

As difficult and awkward to do it, we would like to see more comments from people who are unhappy as people who say, they find it useful.

But PowerPoint works best if it has less text. Some keywords. Not enough to wrap. This is a problem, the we here on the PowerPoint blog passionate than feel.

If you want to communicate many words, Word is a better bet. Publisher is. You can can create files, read the people at will.

You want to create a presentation, especially when you present the person, less words work so much harder for you especially if you add a picture to.

You need not put everything on a slide, because people who read film be and is not for you to hear. (If you want all available information, when you book the deck or then send it in e-Mail, add it to you. the notes section)

Less on a film set and employs to keep changing films, which often helps the audience. With one or two keywords and a compelling image, the audience gets magic-they find out how these elements want to relate. They hear you. In a presentation, which is a good thing.

I know that nobody likes as you are told with their software. But after a few simple policy-as the entertaining illustrated by Doug Thomas in his Office casual to create better presentationsor Microsoft MVP Stephanie Krieger 12 Tips for creating better presentations - skills to create compelling presentations without ever wrap text in PowerPoint again.

--Erik Jensen

View the original article here