Advanced Soft Edge Options in PowerPoint 2010 for Windows

As with shadow effects and reflection effects in PowerPoint 2010 for Windows, you get advanced option for Soft Edges too. In this tutorial, you will learn how you can make changes to the Soft Edges you have already applied to a shape.

Follow these steps to get started:

1. Select a shape you want to apply the Soft Edges to, or select a shape that already has the Soft Edges effect applied. Then double-click the 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).
2. 
   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.
2. This brings up the Shape Effects drop-down gallery, as shown in Figure 2. From the Shape Effects drop-down gallery, choose Soft Edges | Soft Edges Options (the last option in Figure 2).
3. 
   Figure 2: Soft Edges Options within the Soft Edges sub gallery
3. This opens the Glow and Soft Edges tab of the Format Shape dialog box, as shown in Figure 3. You can see that the Glow options have been faded out in Figure 3. This is because in this tutorial we are discussing only Soft Edges options. Options under Glow have already been discussed in our existing Glow Options In PowerPoint 2010 tutorial.
4. 
   Figure 3: Soft Edges options within Format Shape dialog box
5. The options in this dialog box are explained below:

A. Presets

6. Click the downward arrow next to the icon, which brings up the similar Soft Edges gallery that you can see in Figure 2 above. See the Apply Soft Edges to Shapes In PowerPoint 2010 tutorial for more information.

B. Size

7. Use the slider or enter the Soft Edges size value in the points to increase or decrease the size (spread) of the Soft Edge.
4. Click Close to apply the changes, and get back to the slide.
5. Remember to save your presentation often.