Applying a Glow effect adds a nice halo
around a selected shape or most other slide objects. You may find that the Glow effect defaults just do not work for you all the time. Especially
since the default glow options are limited only to Theme Colors, so if you want to make some
changes, you have to step outside these defaults and
change the glow color, alter the spread or transparency, etc. In Figure 1, below you can see how changes made to the Glow effect's spread and transparency can help you end up with some
cool, surreal results.
Figure 1: Do more with Glow effects
In this tutorial, you'll learn to access the advanced Glow Options in
PowerPoint 2013, which makes all these changes doable:
-
Select the shape so that the Ribbon area shows
the Drawing Tools Format tab, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 2.
Activate this Ribbon tab by clicking on it. Within the Drawing Tools Format tab, click the
Shape Effects button (highlighted in blue within Figure 2).
Figure 2: Drawing Tools Format tab of the Ribbon
Note: The
Drawing Tools Format tab is a
contextual tab.
These tabs are special tabs in the
Ribbon that are not visible all the
time, they only make an appearance when you are working with a particular slide object which can be edited using special options.
- This brings up the Shape Effects drop-down gallery, as you can see in Figure 3. Within the
Shape Effects drop-down gallery choose Glow, and then choose Glow Options from the
sub-gallery, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 3.
Figure 3: Glow Options within the Glow sub-gallery
- This opens the Format Shape
Task Pane with the
Effects tab selected (highlighted in red within Figure 4). Within the
Format Shape Task Pane you'll find all the options you need within the Glow section (highlighted in
blue within Figure 4).
Figure 4: Glow Options within Format Shape Task Pane
Glow options within the Format Shape Task Pane are explained below, as marked in Figure 4, above:
A. Presets:
Click the down-arrow next to the icon, which brings up a gallery similar to what you see in Figure 3 above.
To learn more see our
Apply Glow Effects to Shapes in PowerPoint 2013
tutorial.
B. Color:
Allows you to change the glow color. Click the Color button to access a fly out menu (see
Figure 5). Here you can choose any color for the glow. If you want some more explanation about options under
Color menu, you can go to the
More Glow Colors in PowerPoint 2013 tutorial.
Figure 5: Glow color options
C. Size:
Use the slider or enter the glow size value in percentages to increase or decrease the size (spread) of the glow.
D. Transparency:
Allows you to alter the transparency of the glow. You can use the slider, or type the glow transparency in percentage
values.
- You can see a live preview of the effect as you make changes.
Play around with the glow options to achieve the glow effect you want. Figure 6 shows our preselected shape (refer to
Figure 2) with the changed glow effect.
Figure 6: Rectangle shape with edited Glow effect
- Remember to save your presentation often.
See Also:
Advanced Glow Options in PowerPoint 2016 for Windows
Advanced Glow Effect Options in PowerPoint 2011
for Mac
Advanced Glow Options in PowerPoint 2010 for Windows
