Reflections can look so cool, and since they show the same fill and outline attributes of what they reflect, they can end up being so distracting
for your audiences! However, most of PowerPoint's reflection presets that you learned to apply in our
Reflection Effects for Shapes in
PowerPoint 2011 are a little too attractive. The good news is that you can tone down the
effect a little, or if you want you can also get more adventurous and have your slides bounce off their projected screens! 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, as you will learn in this tutorial:
- Select the shape you want to enhance the reflection
effects for, assuming this shape already has a
reflection effect applied.
Then, double click the shape to activate the Format tab of the
Ribbon (highlighted in red within
Figure 1). Within this tab, locate the Shape Styles group and click the Effects button that you
can see in Figure 1 (highlighted in blue).
Figure 1: Format tab of the Ribbon
Note: Format tab is a
Contextual tab. Contextual 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 Effects drop-down gallery as shown in Figure 2. Within the Effects drop-down gallery,
choose Reflection | Reflection Options (the last option in Figure 2).
Figure 2: Reflection options within the Effects gallery
- This opens the Format Shape dialog box with Reflection option active in the sidebar, as shown in
Figure 3.
Figure 3: Reflection options within the Format Shape dialog box
The options in this dialog box are explained below, as marked in Figure 3:
A. Reflection
When this check box is selected, this indicates that the shape has a reflection effect applied. Unchecking this check-box is a
great way to remove any reflection effect.
B. Transparency
Use the transparency slider or enter value of transparency percentage to adjust the see-through.
C. Size
Use the size slider or enter the reflection size value in percentages to increase or decrease the size (spread) of the reflection.
D. Distance
Allows you to edit the distance between the shape and the reflection in relation to the position of the shape. You can use the
distance slider or type the distance value in points.
E. Rotate reflection with shape
Selecting this check-box will make the reflection to rotate accordingly, when the shape is rotated.
Note: When you are making changes to the shape attributes within Format Shape dialog box, you
can see the Live Preview of the changes in the selected shape. So, always place the Format Shape dialog box on the slide such that
it won't hide the selected shape.
- Click OK to apply the reflection changes to the selected shape, and get back to the slide.
- Remember to save your presentation often.
See Also:
Advanced Reflection Options in PowerPoint 2016 for Windows
Advanced Reflection Options in PowerPoint 2013 for Windows
Advanced Reflection Options in PowerPoint 2010 for Windows
