Patterned Lines

by Geetesh Bajaj, September 4th 2004

Talk about patterned lines and nine of ten PowerPoint users will have a confused look on their faces. What is a patterned line in PowerPoint parlance? Every element in PowerPoint has a fill and line attribute — patterned lines are just another line attribute.

Here are some samples of patterned lines:

1. Create a new presentation (Ctrl + N) and insert a blank slide (Ctrl + M). Or insert a blank slide in an existing presentation. Mac users can substitute the Ctrl key with the "Apple" key.
   
   
2. Draw a rectangle on the slide and choose Format AutoShape. This will present you with the Format AutoShape tabbed dialog box. By default the "Colors and Lines" tab will be active.
   
   
3. Click the Line Color dropdown box and choose the "Patterned Lines" option (see screenshot).
   
   
   
   
4. In the resultant Patterned Lines dialog box, you'll find 48 patterns to choose from. I selected the "Dark Horizontal" pattern. Since patterns are created using two colors, choose colors that provide a nice contrast. Click OK when done.
   
   
   
   
5. This will bring you back to the Format AutoShape dialog box. Choose a thick line weight - I normally choose anything between 15 and 40 points depending upon the size of the shape.
   
   
   
   
6. Click OK

Patterned lines and fills can help persons with color vision deficiency differentiate between objects.

PowerPoint Cool Stuff: Countdown Timers | Image in a Star | Media Playlists in PowerPoint 2003| Patterned Lines | Trigger Animations | Create a ZIP EXE from a PowerPoint presentation | Recolor Clip Art | Recolor Images | Transparent Montages | Swing a Pendulum | Snow Effect | Open Book.