Apply Glow Effects to Shapes in PowerPoint 2010 for Windows
Learn how to apply glow effects to shapes in PowerPoint 2010 for Windows.
Author:Geetesh Bajaj
Product/Version: PowerPoint 2010 for Windows
OS: Windows XP and higher
In this series of tutorials on Shape Effects, you have
already explored how you can apply preset,
shadow, and
reflection effects to selected shapes in
PowerPoint 2010. In this tutorial you will learn how to apply the
Glow effect, which adds a hazed color perimeter outside the shape area.
To see a sample presentation containing Glow effects in PowerPoint 2010, scroll down to the bottom of this page.
Follow these steps to apply Glow effects to a shape:
Select the shape you want to apply the Glow effect
to (if there's no shape on your slide, learn to insert a new shape).
Double click the selected shape to activate the Drawing Tools Format tab in the
Ribbon (see Figure 1). Within this tab locate the
Shape Styles group and click the Shape Effects button that you can see in Figure 1(highlighted in
red).
Figure 1: 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 2. From the
Shape Effects drop-down gallery, select the Glow option.
Figure 2: Glow sub-gallery within the Shape Effects gallery
This opens the Glow sub-gallery (refer to Figure 2 above) that provides the following options:
A. No Glow
Use this option to remove the Glow effect from a selected shape. You can use this option if the shape has a glow applied
which you want to remove.
B. Glow Variations
This option provides several glow variations based on color and spread.
Color: The six color variations are based on the six accent colors of the active Theme, learn more about
Themes here.
Spread: There are four glow width (spread) variation available.
C. More Glow Colors
Opens color swatches so that you can choose more colors for glow. If you want more information on this option, look at
the More Glow Colors in PowerPoint 2010 tutorial.
D. Glow Options
If you want to make changes to the color or the spread of the glow, choose this option. We discuss this in detail
in our Advanced Glow Options in PowerPoint 2010 tutorial.
Move the cursor over any of the effects within the Glow gallery to see a
Live Preview of the effect. Click on the effect of your choice to apply it
to the selected shape. Figure 3 shows a Glow effect applied to a Rectangle shape.
Figure 3: Glow effect applied to a Rectangle
Tip: Place your shape in the area that is not covered by the Shape Styles drop-down gallery as shown in
Figure 3, so that you can see the Live Preview.
Here are 10 jigsaw graphics containing different shapes. These graphics are available in both black and white and are contained within separate sample presentations that you download. Additionally, these jigsaw graphics are vector shapes, so you can easily edit them within your Microsoft Office program by changing fills, lines, and effects or even applying Shape Styles.
