Adding AutoShapes

PowerPoint allows you to add many so-called “AutoShapes,” such as boxes, arrows, circles, and quote bubbles.  If you have the Drawing toolbar displayed, you already have the AutoShape menu in the bottom left-hand corner of your screen.  Otherwise, go to >Insert - Picture - AutoShapes.  The AutoShape menu looks something like this: 

From left to right, these buttons denote:  Lines, Connectors, Basic Shapes, Block Arrows, Flowcharts, Stars and Banners, Callouts, Action Buttons, and More AutoShapes.

Some of the more useful AutoShapes are:

To insert any AutoShape, click your mouse on its section of the menu, then click on the AutoShape you want.  You will get a special cursor like you did for text boxes.  You can then draw the shape anywhere you want on the slide.  With some shapes, like curves, you will have to double-click to finish the drawing.

Editing an AutoShape

After you have added the AutoShape, you can change it in several ways.  Use the circles around its edge to reshape, resize, or rotate it, like you would a text box or picture.  If you double-click on the AutoShape, you will get a menu which allows you to do things like change the fill colour or add an outline.  (Many of this menu’s options are also shortcuts on the Drawing toolbar).

Adding text to an AutoShape

You can write text inside any AutoShape.  Some of them, like the quote bubbles, give you a text cursor by default.  If you don’t see a cursor, select the AutoShape by clicking it, and click on any of the font formatting buttons at the top of your screen:

Sometimes it is tricky to get the text centred properly in the shape.  You can format this text like any other font (select it and >Format - Font).  You can also fix some margin and word-wrap settings by double-clicking the AutoShape and selecting the Text Box tab.  If all else fails, you can always draw your own text box on top of the AutoShape and write in that instead (see text section above).

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