Like this article? We recommend
Take baby steps
Like this article? We recommend
Like this article? We recommend
Like this article? We recommend
Take baby steps
Think in steps and layers. To create very complex shapes, you may need to combine shapes then recombine them with other shapes until you get the actual shape you want.
For example, to create the beveled windowpane shape you see in Figure 7, follow these steps:
- Draw a square
- Select the square and press Ctrl+D to duplicate it
- Press Shift and drag a corner to make it smaller
- Align the two shapes so that the smaller square is centered on top of the bigger square, as in Figure 6a
- Select the bigger square (the red square in Figure 6a), then press Shift and click the smaller, gray square to select it
- Choose Combine Shapes | Shape Subtract from the Quick Access Toolbar, giving you a cutout as shown in Figure 6b
- Duplicate the cutout square and align it to create a grid
- Select the cutout squares and choose Combine Shapes | Shape Combine
- Draw a large rectangle
- On the Home tab of the Ribbon, choose Arrange | Send to Back to place the large rectangle behind the combined cutout squares, as shown in Figure 6c
- Select the large gray rectangle, then press Shift and click the red cutout squares to select that shape
- Choose Combine Shapes | Shape Subtract from the Quick Access Toolbar, giving you a cutout as shown in Figure 6d
- Click the new shape to select it, and on the Drawing Tools Format tab of the Ribbon, choose Shape Effects | Bevel. Click the first bevel (Circle) to apply it and create the windowpane effect you see in Figure 7
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If you’d like to see more of these in action, you can! PowerPoint MVP Julie Terberg http://www.terbergdesign.com is creating sample slides for you to download from Office Online, and you can see Combine Shapes used to their full potential in a number of those. Just be sure to keep an eye on the PowerPoint Blog http://blogs.msdn.com/powerpoint/, where they’ll announce when those files are available,
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