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How to create your very own cool shapes with the Custom Shapes tools: Part IV-Combine

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This is the final installment of a 4-part series on the Custom Shapes tools. If you haven’t read those posts, I recommend reading them first.

  1. Part I: Union (This part tells you how to find the tools, which are hidden by default.)
  2. Part II: Subtract
  3. Part III: Intersect

Combining shapes

You might think that Union and Combine would do the same thing and the difference between them isn’t obvious from their name. In fact, Combine Shapes is the opposite of the Intersect feature. And it has similarities to the Subtract too, because it creates cutouts.

When you combine overlapping shapes, the overlapping section is removed. (When you use Intersect, the overlapping section is retained and everything else is removed.) The order of selecting the objects does not matter and you can select more than 2 shapes. Just select the overlapping shapes and choose Shape Combine.

Here are some patterns I created using the Combine Shapes feature.

PowerPoint tips: Combine shapes

Can you think of useful ways to use Combine Shapes? Send me a sample and I’ll add it to the post if I feel it would be valuable to other readers.

 

 

How to create your very own cool shapes with the Custom Shapes tools: Part III-Intersect

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In Part I of this series, I explained the Union tool and how to get all the Custom Shapes tools on your Quick Access toolbar. In Part II, I covered the Subtract tool.

The 3rd tool is the Intersect tool and it results in a shape that is the intersection of the selected shapes. Any part of the shapes that aren’t overlapping are removed. (The tools doesn’t work if you have text in the shapes.)

Here’s an example of a slide that I created using Intersect:

I created the gold-colored shape in the middle using Intersect.

In order to accomplish this, because the shapes have text, I created duplicates of each circle without text. I placed them exactly on top of the original circles.

By the way, I originally created the circles using SmartArt and then ungrouped it twice so I had individual objects.

To create the intersect shapes, just select the shapes and click the Intersect button. When I did that, the duplicate circles were deleted and I ended up with just the overlap in the center. I recolored that shape to make it stand out. Then I added an Appear animation to the intersect shape.

How to create your very own cool shapes with the Custom Shapes tools: Part II-Subtract

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This is Part II of a series on custom shapes in PowerPoint 2010. Part I, on Union is here. In that post I explain how to find the custom shapes feature.

The Subtract command subtracts one shape from another. It’s great for cutouts and holes. Let’s say I want a bucket with a hole in it.

Here are the steps to create this shape:

  1. Insert the Trapezoid shape. It’s in the Basic Shapes section.
  2. Since it’s upside down from the shape we want, select it and drag the top handle below the bottom handle. Tip: This is a shortcut to flip an object.

  1. Format the trapezoid however you want. I filled it with a gray gradient to make it look like a bucket.
  2. Insert a circle and place it over the trapezoid, where you want the hole to be.

  1. Click the bucket to select it, press and hold the Shift key, then click the hole. You must select the shape that you want to keep first. Then press the Shift key and select the shape that you want to subtract.
  2. Click the Subtract button. There’s a hole in the bucket!

How will you use the Subtract feature? Leave a comment!

The next post in this series will cover the Intersect feature.

How to create your very own cool shapes with the Custom Shapes tools: Part I-Union

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PowerPoint 2010 has a new feature that’s very hard to find, but people are praising it over and over. It’s called Custom Shapes, and it’s a set of 4 tools that you can use to create your very own shapes–the sky’s the limit!

Why do you need Custom Shapes?

  • To make your slides unique!
  • For the flexibility to communicate your message in the way that works best for you and your audience
  • For a professional, designer (custom-made) look

I’ll be covering the Custom Shapes tools in several posts, because there’s a lot to cover.

Why are they hard to find?

Usually, Microsoft highlights new features, but the Custom Shapes tools aren’t even on the ribbon! As a result, many people don’t know about them. First, I’ll tell you how to add them to your Quick Access toolbar, which is at the top-left corner of your PowerPoint window.

At the right of the Quick Access toolbar, click the down arrow and choose More Commands.

PowerPoint 2010 Custom ShapesIn the PowerPoint Options dialog box, you’ll see a Choose Commands From drop-down list at the top. Choose Commands Not in the Ribbon to make the Custom Shape commands easier to find.

Scroll down the list of commands until you get to “Shapes.” You’ll see 4  commands–Shape Combine, Shape Intersect, Shape Subtract, and Shape Union. Select Shape Combine and click Add. Do the same with the other 3 commands that start with “Shape.”

Adding Custom Shapes commands to the Quick Access toolbarClick OK to close the PowerPoint Options dialog box. The commands are now on the Quick Access toolbar.

Start creating your very own cool shapes

What can you do with these tools? Almost anything! Here’s a quick summary:

  1. Union adds two shapes together
  2. Subtract subtracts them; select the one you want to keep first
  3. Intersect keeps just the intersection between the two if they overlap
  4. Combine cuts out the intersection between multiple shapes but also makes the result a freeform so you can edit points

In this post, I’ll show you a simple example using the Shape Union command.

How to use Union to create a simple custom shape

Let’s say that you want to create a SmartArt diagram, but can’t find the shape you want. You want a space for a small, circular photo at the left, some text in the middle, and an arrow at the right. Here’s what you sketched on a napkin:

PowerPoint 2010 Shape Union

Here are the steps to create this shape:

  1. Insert a circle. (Remember, you can press Shift as you drag the circle on the slide to make sure it’s a perfect circle, not an oval.)
  2. Insert a rectangle to the right of the circle. Resize and move it so that it looks like the above image. You’ll see the outline around each shape, but don’t worry about that now.
  3. Insert an isosceles triangle. To get the shape you want, you need to rotate it to the right. Press Shift and drag the little green rotation circle to the right. Then resize and move the triangle so that it matches up to the right side of the rectangle.

PowerPoint 2010 Shape UnionYour shapes should look like this:

  1. PowerPoint 2010 Shape UnionSelect all 3 shapes and click Shape Union on the Quick Access toolbar. (The command button isn’t active unless you select at least 2 shapes.)

Your new, custom shape looks like this:

PowerPoint 2010 Shape UnionGo ahead and add a photo (I added another circle on top and filled it with the photo) and text. You can add text to it, just like any shape that comes with PowerPoint! Here’s the final result:

PowerPoint 2010 Shape Union

Now go forth and create your own custom shapes! Let me know the results by leaving a comment.

In Part II, I’ll show you how to use the Shape Subtract feature.

 

Learn easy principles and techniques that designers use. “Slide Design for Non-Designers” shows you, step-by-step, how to easily get the results you want. Plus bonus theme, template,  sample slides, and 5 short video tutorials to make implementing the principles easy.Updated for PowerPoint 2016/365. Learn more at http://ellenfinkelstein.com/pptblog/slide-design-for-non-designers/