Shape Formats

Instead of using objects "as is", as we have done so far, you can enhance their looks by modifying the colors or even their original shape. Among the available options, you can paint an object with a different color or fill it with a special pattern.

To change the shape of an object, first select it. Then, on the Drawing toolbar, click Draw -> Change AutoShape, position the mouse on a category. Once you see the type of new shape you want, you can click it.

1. Start Microsoft PowerPoint and open the Structure of the Human Body4 on which you were working in the previous lesson. If you don't have it, open the Human Body Structure4 presentation.
   If necessary, in the lower-left side of the screen, click the Normal View button
   If the Drawing toolbar is not visible, on the main menu, click View -> Toolbars -> Drawing
2. Navigate to slide9: The Reproductive System 
3. Click the (green) Cross shape
4. On the Drawing toolbar, click Draw -> Change AutoShape -> Basic Shapes -> Change Shape to Parallelogram
5. Again, on the Drawing toolbar, click Draw -> Order -> Send To Back
6. Save the presentation

By default, when you add an object to a slide, the object's body is painted with a white color. This is also referred to as its background color. To change the background color of an object, first select it. Then, on the Drawing toolbar, locate the Fill Color button. If it is already displaying the desired color, you can click it. If not, you can click the arrow of the Fill Color button. It displays a list of preset colors. You can click one of these. If none of the colors is to your liking, you can click the More Fill Colors option. This would open the Colors dialog box that allows you to compose a color of your choice from over 16 million possible combinations. After creating the color, you can click OK.

Practical Learning: Changing the Background Color of a Shape

1. In the Outline view of the left frame, click anywhere on the second slide
2. On the Drawing Toolbar, click the Rectangle button
3. On the slide, draw a rectangle that completely covers the bottom text (Support ...)
4. While the rectangle is still selected, on the Drawing toolbar, click the arrow of the Fill Color button and click the orange color (6th button)
5. On the slide, right-click the new rectangle, position the mouse on Order and click Send To Back
    
   
6. Scroll down to Slide 8: The Reproductive System
7. Click the parallelogram shape
8. On the Drawing toolbar, click the arrow of the Fill Color button and click More Fill Colors
9. In the Colors dialog box, click the Custom property page. Change the color values to Red=160, Green=210, and Blue=255
10. Click OK
11. Save the presentation

Besides the color that covers its body, a shape is also characterized by its border which is represented with a line either around the shape or on all sides. By default, a shape is drawn with a continuous but transparent color. You can change many characteristics of a line such as its color or its style.

Practical Learning: Formatting the Line of a Shape

1. Still in Slide 8: The Reproductive system, click the parallelogram shape if necessary. In the Drawing toolbar, click the arrow of the Line Color button and select More Line Colors...
2. In the Colors dialog box, click a dark blue color and click OK
    
   
3. Now you can move the text box and position it inside the parallelogram:
    
   
4. Save the presentation

A picture is an external graphical object you add to a slide to illustrate a point. Microsoft PowerPoint is very flexible with the types of pictures it allows on slides. To support pictures, there are two main ways you can get them to a slide. In a presentation, some slides provide a place holder for a picture. 

Microsoft Office ships with various pictures grouped in a collection called the Microsoft Clip Gallery. To use one of those pictures, you can double-click the picture of a slide. If you don't have a placeholder for a picture, you can still click Insert -> Picture -> Clip Art... Either way, this would open the Insert ClipArt window that allows you to select a picture from a categorized collection.

Practical Learning: Using a ClipArt

1. With the Structure of the Human Body4 presentation still opened, navigate to slide 2
2. Right-click in the slide and click Slide Layout
3. In the Apply Slide Layout window, click the Title, Clip Art and Text button
4. Double-click the placeholder above Double Click To Add Clip Art
5. In the list, click a picture
    
   
6. Click OK and resize the picture if necessary
    

   If you don't have enough clip arts, access the Microsoft web site (http://www.microsoft.com/office) and look for the section that has clip arts to download them).

7. Save the presentation

You may realize that the pictures provided in the Microsoft Clip Gallery are somewhat limited. Besides the pictures that ship with Microsoft PowerPoint or Microsoft Office, you can use any of the regular pictures on a slide. To do this, from any slide, on the main menu, you can click Insert -> Picture -> From File... Locate the picture and click Insert. After the picture has been added to a slide, you can move it and even resize it until you are satisfied with its location and its size

1. Navigate to slide 4 (The Respiratory System)
2. Right-click in the slide and click Slide Layout
3. In the Apply Slide Layout window, click the Title, Text and Clip Art button
4. On the main menu, click Insert -> Picture -> From File...
5. From the exercises made for these lessons, click respiratory1 and click Insert
6. Reposition the picture to cover the right area
    
   
7. Save the presentation

A word art is a letter or a group of letters with a preset design. Microsoft Office ships with WordArt, which is a series of pre-designed formats in which you can type anything such as a title or name and insert it to a slide.

To use WordArt, on the Drawing toolbar, you can click the Insert WordArt button . Alternatively, on the main menu, you can click Insert -> Picture -> WordArt... This would bring the WordArt Gallery window. You can then click a design and click OK. In the Edit WordArt Text dialog box, type the text of your choice. You can also change the font name, size, and style before clicking OK. Like the shapes and pictures we have reviewed so far, you can move and resize a WordArt to your liking. If you find out that you selected the wrong design, to change it, you can right-click the WordArt on the slide and click Format WordArt.

When the WordArt is selected on the slide, it displays the WordArt toolbar. This provides a series of buttons that allow you to add a new WordArt by clicking Insert WordArt, to change the text by clicking Edit Text..., to change the design by clicking WordArt Gallery, etc.

Practical Learning: Using WordArt

1. Navigate to slide 2: Introduction and Overview
2. On the Drawing toolbar, click the Insert WordArt button
3. In the WordArt Gallery window, click the design in 4th column - 2nd row and click OK
4. Type Human Body and click OK
5. Move the WordArt object to the lower-right section of the slide
6. To change its text, while it is still selected, on the WordArt toolbar, click the Edit Text... button
7. Change the Font to Garamond
8. Change the font Size to 32 and click the Bold button
9. Select the text and type Pat Knight to replace it
    
   
10. Click OK
11. To change the design, while the WordArt is still selected, on the WordArt toolbar, click the WordArt Gallery button
12. Click the WordArt on 5th column, 2nd row
     
    
13. Click OK
14. Position the WordArt to the lower-right side of the picture
     
    
15. Save the presentation
16. Close Microsoft PowerPoint

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