Working with shapes: IU Only: Files: Google Slides: The Basics Part 2: All Training Topics: UITS IT Training Content Library: Indiana University

Google Slides offers a large selection of various kinds of shapes to add to your presentation. These can be used to add emphasis or decorate your slide. You can also add text to shapes. All shapes can have text written inside of them although some shapes are better suited for this than others. The skills we learned in our previous lessons will also be used in this lesson when we are formatting a shape.

Copying the practice presentation

If you are beginning this course at this point, you will need to copy the presentation to your Google Drive.

NOTE: If you have been working through the course, your file should be up to date and you will not need to copy the practice presentation. You can move ahead to Inserting a shape.

To begin copying the practice presentation in a new browser window,

Right-click Copy practice presentation, Click Open link in new window

The file begins to open in a new window of the web browser. Before the presentation will open and can be edited, we need to make a copy of it.

Move to the new browser window.
To copy the presentation file, in the browser window,

Click

A copy of the file is now open and, by default, is saved in your Google Drive. The filename now has the words "Copy of" at the beginning.

Inserting a shape

Let's begin by adding a shape to the third slide.

To move to the third slide, in the Slides panel,
Click Slide 3

To open the Insert Shape options, in the menubar,
Click Insert, Point Shape

To see the arrow options,
Point to Arrows
To select the Right Arrow shape, in the Arrows menu,
Click

The cursor changes slightly to a large crosshair (). This can be used to draw the arrow shape.

To draw the arrow shape,
Press & Drag the cursor until you are happy with the size of the arrow shape

Formatting a shape

Your arrow should look something like this:

Image of a grey arrow with a blue border and sizing handles.

By default, shapes are filled with a color associated with the chosen theme. This example uses the Material theme. Dark gray is one of the accent colors within this theme. This color can easily be changed.

Let's change the color of this arrow. When formatting a shape, the shape must be selected. You can tell if the arrow is selected because it will have a border and sizing handles.

To select the arrow, if necessary,
Click the arrow
To open the Fill color options, in the toolbar,
Click

The Fill color options appear:

fill color options

To choose a Theme color, in the Themes group,
Click a color swatch

The arrow changes color. However, there is still a dark border around the shape. This border can also be modified. We can change the color or weight of the line.

To open the Border color options, in the toolbar,
Click

To change the border color, in the Themes group,
Click a different color

The border has changed.

NOTE: If you don't want a visible border on your shape, you could make the border transparent.

It is also possible to utilize a border, but make the inside of a shape transparent. This is a good way to use a shape to circle items on your slide.

image of a slide with a red circle around the words "google drive"

Adding text to a shape

While the arrow shape alone will draw attention to an important part of our slide, adding text to a shape may have even more impact. Text within a shape can be easily modified. We can change the font type, size, style, and color.

To select the shape for editing,
Double-click the shape

The shape is selected and there is a blinking cursor inside of it. Before we add the text, let's make sure that the font fits the theme of our presentation.

To change the font type, in the toolbar,
Click , Click Oswald

To change the font size, in the toolbar,
Click Click 18

To change the font style, in the toolbar,
Click

To change the font color, in the toolbar,
Click , Click a theme color

Now that the font attributes have been set, it's time to add the text to your arrow. The arrow should still be selected and the cursor should be flashing.

To add text to the shape, type:
IU Trident

Rotating a shape

Now that the shape is correctly formatted, we can adjust the placement and rotation so that the arrow is pointing at the IU Trident.

To select the arrow, if necessary,
Click the arrow

To rotate the arrow,
Press & Drag to the right

To adjust the position of the arrow,
Press & Drag the arrow until it is to the left and slightly above the IU Trident

The arrow should now be pointing to the IU Trident, as seen in the following image:

image of an arrow labeled IU Trident pointing to the image of the IU Trident

To deselect the arrow,

Click in a blank area of the slide

Working with shapes

Copying the practice presentation

Step 1: Copy the practice presentation.

Inserting a shape

Step 1. Move to the third slide.

Step 2. Open the Insert Shape options.

Step 3. Select the Right Arrow shape.

Step 4. Draw the arrow shape.

Formatting a shape

Step 1. Open the Fill color options.

Step 2. Choose a Theme color.

Step 3. Open the Border color options.

Step 4. Change the border color.

Adding text to a shape

Step 1. Select the shape for text editing.

Step 2. Change the font type to Oswald.

Step 3. Change the font size to 18 points.

Step 4. Change the font style to Bold.

Step 5. Change the font color.

Step 6. Add text to the shape.

Rotating a shape

Step 1. Select the arrow.

Step 2. Rotate the arrow to point at the image of the IU Trident.

Step 3. Adjust the position of the arrow.

Step 4. Deselect the arrow.