The Reflection effects that PowerPoint provides can be applied with a single click, and can indeed do wonders for your
shapes. However, if you get too carried away by the swanky looking Reflections, you may end up distracting your audiences. Most of
PowerPoint's Reflection presets that you learned to apply in our
Reflection Effects for Shapes in
PowerPoint 2016 tutorial are attractive, yet somewhat distracting. Still, you can tone down the effect a little. Or if you want, you
can let your creativity work and enhance the Reflection effect! Whatever your scenario may be, you can edit the Reflection properties to
suit your creative freedom. For instance, you can change the transparency or distance of the Reflection to end up with results similar to
what you can see in Figure 1, below.
Figure 1: Enhance your Reflection effects
Follow these steps to edit a Reflection effect applied to a shape in
PowerPoint 2016:
-
Select a shape that has a
Reflection, that you want to edit.
The Ribbon will show the Drawing Tools Format
tab, as shown highlighted in blue within Figure 2. Activate this Ribbon tab
by clicking on it. Within the Drawing Tools Format tab, click the Shape Effects button (highlighted in
red 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 Reflection, and then choose Reflection Options
from the sub-gallery, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 3.
Figure 3: Reflection Options within the Reflection sub-gallery
- This opens the Format Shape Task Pane
with the Effects tab active (highlighted in red within Figure 4). Within the
Format Shape Task Pane you'll find all the option for Reflection under Reflection section (highlighted in
blue within Figure 4).
Figure 4: Reflection Options within Format Shape Task Pane
Reflection options within the Format Shape Task Pane are explained below, as marked in Figure 4, above:
A. Presets:
Click the downward arrow next to the icon, which brings up the similar Reflection gallery that you can see in
Figure 3 above. See our
Apply Reflection Effects to Shapes In PowerPoint 2016 tutorial for more information.
B. Transparency:
Allows you to alter the transparency of the Reflection. You can use the slider, or type the Reflection
transparency value in percentages.
C. Size:
Use the slider or enter the Reflection size value in percentages to increase or decrease the size (spread) of the
Reflection.
D. Blur:
This option makes the edges of the Reflection more feathered (merged with the background). Again you can use the slider,
or enter the blur value in points.
E. Distance:
Allows you to format the distance between the shape and the Reflection in relation to the position of the shape.
You can use the slider or type the distance value in points.
-
Play around with the Reflection editing options untill you get the perfect shadow effect. In Figure 5, you can see the
changes we made to various Reflection editing options within the Format Shape Task Pane, and towards right, you can also
see the Live Preview of the chagnes on the selected
Star shape. Once you are happy with the result, close the Format Shape Task Pane and get back to the
slide.
Figure 6: Reflection edited
-
Remember to save your presentation often.
See Also:
Advanced Reflection Options in PowerPoint 2013 for Windows
Advanced Reflection Effect Options in PowerPoint 2011 for Mac
Advanced Reflection Options in PowerPoint 2010 for
Windows
