Using the Shapes Gallery

PowerPoint contains a Shapes gallery which includes lines, basic shapes, arrows, equation shapes, stars and banners, and more. Shapes can be formatted like other graphic elements. They can call attention to important parts of our slide, add visual interest, and even hold text.

Inserting a Shape

Let's add a shape to slide 6.

Step 1. To move to slide 6, in the slide thumbnail list,

Click slide 6

Step 2. To move to the Insert tab, on the Ribbon,

Click the Insert tab

Step 3. To begin to add a shape, in the Illustrations group,

Click

The Shapes gallery opens.

At the very bottom of the Shapes gallery, there is a section called Action Buttons. Included in this section are buttons that can be added to one or more slides in your presentation. Each Action button has an action associated with it. For example, there is a Forward button which will take the viewer to the next slide in the presentation when clicked, and a Backward button which will take the viewer to the previous slide in a presentation when clicked.

NOTE: You may have to scroll down the gallery to see all of the options, depending on the screen height and resolution settings.

Step 4. To select a shape to add to slide 6,

Click the second icon in the Callouts section (Rounded Rectangular Callout)

When we move our cursor over the slide in the Slide pane, it turns into a crosshair cursor: .

We will use this cursor to draw the shape on the slide.

Step 5. To draw the shape on the slide,

Press & Drag across and down on the slide

When you release the mouse button, the shape is placed on the slide.

Step 6. To resize the shape,

Press & Drag the sizing handles

Step 7. To begin to reposition the shape on the slide,

Point to the frame around the shape

A four-sided arrow appears.

Step 8. To reposition the shape,

Press & Drag the shape to the right of the text

We can also modify the color and outline of the shape. Let's do that now.

Step 9. Verify that the shape is still selected.

Notice that there is a new Format tab on the Ribbon under Drawing Tools. The tools to format our shape are on this tab.

NOTE for MacOS Users: The tab is labeled Shape Format.

Step 10. To change the fill color of the shape, in the Shape Styles group on the Format tab,

Click , Click any color

We can also change the outline color of the shape, apply shape effects such as bevels or soft edges, and apply a predefined style to the shape, but we will not do this today. We will, however, adjust the callout so that the tail points toward the bullet that talks about callouts.

Step 11. To adjust the callout so the tail points to the third bullet,

Press & Drag
until it points to the third bullet

Callouts are automatically configured to hold text, so it isn't necessary to add a text box first.

Step 12. To add text, type:

Use a callout to let viewers know that something is important.

Now that our shape is complete, we can add alternative text.

Adding Alternative Text to a Shape

Like other graphic elements, shapes added to PowerPoint should be given alternative text that can be read by a screen reader. Earlier we added an Alt Text button to the Quick Access Toolbar. Let's use it now.

Step 1. To select the shape, if necessary,

Click the shape

NOTE for MacOS Users: We were not able to add the button to the Quick Access Toolbar. To open the correct pane, Control key+Click the shape, Click Format Shape..., Click .

Step 2. To see the Alt Text options, on the Quick Access Toolbar

Click

The Format Shape pane opens.

Step 3. To display the Alt Text fields, if necessary,

Click

Step 4. To add a description, in the Description box, type:

Speech bubble with the text, "Use a callout to let viewers know that something is important."

NOTE: It is important to note that screen readers may not recognize a shape or the alternative text associated with the shape. When using these graphics, take care that you don't place essential information in the shape as it may be missed by screen readers. If a shape must be used, consider using text boxes to hold the text. Text boxes should have no trouble being read by screen readers.

Step 5. To close the Format Picture pane,

Click

Step 6. Save the presentation Creating_a_Presentation.pptx.

We are finished working with our shape. Let's move on to adding hyperlinks to our presentation.