Layered Objects on a crowded slide
 |
| Layered Objects |
You can move all the other objects out of the way so that they can see the one they want. Then they make a few changes and then move them all back again in to, hopefully, their original positions.
Alternatively, use the keyboard shortcuts Tab and Shift+Tab to cycle forward and backward through the stack of objects until you see the selection handles are around the one you want.
Selection and Visibility Pane
There’s a control to turn this on and off on the Home tab but it’s easily missed. The Selection and Visibility Pane lists all the objects on your slide and you use it to identify and work on any object. Just click the Hide All button and then start clicking the eyes to the right to show selected objects, you’ll soon find the one you want. Make your changes, click the Show All button and you’re done. It’s so easy when you can see what you’re doing.
 |
| Selection and Visibility Pane ALT+F10 |
Ruler, Gridlines and Guides
Are you still moving objects by hand on your slides to line them up? PowerPoint’s Smart Guides pop up when you are aligning objects and are a great help to arrange your objects with precision. You’ll find them on the View tab or you can press the shortcut keys:
 |
| Rulers, Gridlines and Guides |
Press Shift+F9 to show or hide the gridlines. Press Alt+F9 to show or hide guides. Press Alt+Shift+F9 to show or hide the ruler. The ruler appears around the top and left of the slide and is ideal for sizing and positioning, the grid is a design grid used to precisely align objects in relation to each other and the guides give you your centre lines.
Moving, Resizing, Rotating and Nudging Objects
You can use your mouse to move objects around but for fine control you should use the arrow keys on your keyboard. Click the object and then press any of the keys to move left, right, up or down. Hold down the Ctrl key while you press the arrow keys to nudge—move the shape in smaller increments.
Shortcuts for Resizing and Rotating
Press Shift+Right Arrow or Shift+Left Arrow to enlarge or reduce the selected shape horizontally.
Press Shift+Up Arrow or Shift+Down Arrow to enlarge or reduce the selected shape vertically.
Press Alt+Right Arrow to rotate the selected shape to the right.
Press Alt+ Left Arrow to rotate the selected shape to the left.
Formatting Text in Text Boxes
Are you formatting all the text in the text box or only a particular word or phrase in the text? If you are formatting all the text then there’s no need to drag across the text. Just click on the box and apply your formatting. Only select the text inside the box when you want to format just a part of it.
 |
| Text in the text box selected and the text box itself selected |
Colour Matching with the Eyedropper
 |
| Colour matching |
One of the best ways to create an impressive presentation is to use consistent colours. PowerPoint 2013 and beyond features the Eyedropper which makes colour matching a breeze. You can match colours not only in your presentation but to any other colours on your screen.
 |
| The Eyedropper control |
 |
| Eyedropper cursor and RGB values |
As you move your pointer around the screen a live preview of the colour appears. Hover or pause on a colour to see its RGB (Red Green Blue) colour coordinates. Click on the colour you want. To cancel without picking a colour, press Esc.
Matching the colours of PowerPoint objects on your slide to something outside of PowerPoint is just as easy. Once again, select the object that you want to colour match and, holding down your mouse’s primary button, drag to move the Eyedropper cursor outside of the PowerPoint window. You can now match any colour that you see on your screen, release the mouse to apply the desired colour.
No comments:
Post a Comment