If none of the preset
Motion
Paths suit your needs, or if you cannot easily edit them to the way you want, you can easily create
your own motion paths. In this tutorial you will learn how to use PowerPoint's Custom Path option to
create your own motion path. To access this option, and to create your own motion path, follow these
steps:
- Select the slide object that you want to animate. You can select any object on a slide although
animation works best on text and shapes.
Alternatively, if you just want to follow this tutorial step-by-step, launch
PowerPoint 2013. Within the
Presentation Gallery,
select the Blank Presentation option. PowerPoint will open a new presentation with a Title
slide. PowerPoint 2013 users can change the
slide layout to Blank by selecting the Home tab | Layout |
Blank option. Then,
insert a shape and
select it.
- With the slide object still selected, access the Animations tab of the
Ribbon. Within the
Advanced Animation group, click the Add Animation button to bring up the
Add Animation gallery, as shown in Figure 1. Make sure you scroll down to
the bottom of the Add Animation gallery to get the Motion Paths
section.
Figure 1: Custom Path option within the Add Animation gallery
- Now, choose the Custom Path option (highlighted in red
within Figure 1). This changes the cursor to a cross hair, indicating that the drawing
mode is active as shown highlighted in red within Figure 2.
Figure 2: Cross hair cursor indicates that drawing mode is active
Here are some guidelines that will help you in drawing a custom motion path:
• To draw a straight line, click to establish the starting point of the line (motion path), and move your
cursor (do not drag) to decide the length of your motion path. Then double click to establish the end point.
• To draw a pointed curve, click anywhere on the slide to create the starting point. Then move the cursor a little
afar (do not drag) and click again to establish a new point. At this point, a curve will be created, keep creating
points like this wherever you want to define a curve. Double-click when you are finished.
• To draw a freeform path, click for each anchor point that you want; straight lines will appear between
the anchor points. You can also click and drag to create non-straight lines. Double-click when you are
finished.
• For a scribble, click on the slide and without releasing the mouse button start dragging the mouse. Draw on the
slide with the mouse button held down. Double-click when you are finished.
Whichever path you are drawing, make sure you establish the starting point of the custom motion path exactly
at the position of your slide object. Remember the start point will have a green arrow, and the end point will
have a red arrow.
- As soon as you finish drawing the motion path, your selected slide object will animate along the path.
Once the animation preview stops, you can see your drawn motion path. Figure 3 shows one
such custom motion path.
Figure 3: Custom Motion Path drawn
- Save your presentation.
See Also:
Drawing Custom Paths for Motion
Path Animations in PowerPoint 2016 for Windows
Drawing Custom Paths for Motion
Path Animations in PowerPoint 2011 for Mac
Drawing Custom Paths for Motion Path
Animations in PowerPoint 2010 for Windows
Drawing Custom Paths for Motion Path Animations in
PowerPoint 2007, 2003 and 2002 for Windows