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PowerPoint provides four line drawing tools: line, curve, freeform, and scribble. You have already explored the Line and Curve tools, and in this tutorial you will learn how you can use the Freeform tool to create lines that can be drawn with more creative freedom -- in fact the Freeform tool lets you draw anything almost like drawing with a pencil on a piece of paper. In addition, you can create straight lines as well.

What's very important for you to know though is that the Freeform tool takes a while getting used to -- practice alone will make your attempts perfect.

Now follow these steps to draw with the Freeform line tool in PowerPoint 2010:

1. Launch PowerPoint 2010. Most of the time, PowerPoint will open with a new slide in a presentation -- PowerPoint 2010 users can change the slide layout to Blank by selecting Home tab | Layout | Blank.
   
   
2. Within the Home or Insert tab of the Ribbon, click the Shapes button to view the Shapes gallery that you can see in Figure 1. Select the Freeform line.
   
   
   Figure 1: Freeform line selected
   
   
3. As soon as the Freeform line tool is selected, the cursor changes to a cross hair (see Figure 2).
   
   
   Figure 2: Cross hair cursor
   
   
4. Click anywhere on the slide to establish the starting point, without releasing the mouse button draw a straight line, as you can see in Figure 3.
   
   
   Figure 3: Straight line created with freeform
   
   
5. To draw a freeform line as a continuation of the same straight line you have started with, click and hold down the left mouse button and draw (like pencil on paper), as shown in Figure 4 -- notice that a freeform line continues after the straight line.
   
   
   Figure 4: Freeform line continued on straight line
   
   
6. You can alternate between straight and freeform lines within the same line shape that you draw.
   
   To create a closed shape, click on the starting point of your drawing.
   
   To finish your drawing as an open shape, just double-click with the mouse (or press the ESC key). At this point of time, your drawing is surrounded by eight handles indicating that it is selected.
   
   
7. Click anywhere on the slide to deselect the drawing.
   

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