You can get exact coordinates of your slide objects using the positioning options in PowerPoint. But most of the
time, you just need an approximate idea of where your objects are placed, and this can be easily obtained by using the
Rulers available option in PowerPoint. By default, the Rulers may not visible, but when made visible they are located on
the top and left parts of the active slide, as shown highlighted in red within
Figure 1.
Figure 1: Rulers in PowerPoint 2013
Rulers are not only useful for placing slide objects, but they make other PowerPoint features like the
grid and
guides more useable. In this tutorial, you will
learn how to show / hide Rulers in PowerPoint 2013. You will also explore some of the settings that influence the
measurement units in the rulers, as explained in the following steps:
- Launch PowerPoint 2013, and open a
Blank Presentation as shown in Figure 2. Note that there are no Rulers visible by
default.
Figure 2: Default PowerPoint interface with no Rulers visible
- To make the Rulers visible, select the View tab of the
Ribbon, and make sure you select the
Ruler check-box, as shown highlighted in red within
Figure 3.
Figure 3: Ruler check-box selected within View tab
Tip: To turn on the visibility of the rulers, you can use the keyboard shortcut
Alt + Shift + F9. Use the same shortcut key to toggle it away. Want more keyboard shortcuts? Get a copy
of our
PowerPoint Keyboard Shortcuts Ebook.
- This will bring up the rulers placed horizontally and vertically within the
Slide Area, as shown in
Figure 4. If you want to hide them again, just deselect the Ruler check-box (refer to
Figure 3).
Figure 4: Rulers made visible
- If you see only the Horizontal Ruler, and no Vertical Ruler, as shown in Figure 5, you need to
make sure that the Vertical Ruler's visibility has not been turned off.
Figure 5: PowerPoint interface with only Horizontal Ruler visible
- To check these preferences, access the File menu and choose Options (highlighted
in blue within Figure 6).
Figure 6: Options within File menu
- This opens the PowerPoint Options dialog box that you can see in Figure 7. Make
sure you choose the Advanced option within the sidebar. This shows the relevant options on the right
side of the dialog box (see Figure 7 again).
Figure 7: PowerPoint Options Dialog box
- Now, locate the Display group within the PowerPoint Options dialog box, and select
the Show vertical ruler check-box that you can see highlighted in red
within Figure 8. Conversely, you can also deselect this check-box to turn off the vertical ruler.
Figure 8: Show vertical ruler check-box selected
Now you will be able to see both the Vertical and Horizontal rulers, as shown in Figure 4, earlier on
this page.
Tip: Does your ruler show inches or centimeters or points? If you want to know how to change the
measurement unit from one to another in PowerPoint 2013, look at the
Change the Unit of Measurement in
Windows 8 and
Windows 7 tutorials.
See Also:
Rulers in PowerPoint 2016 for Windows
Rulers in PowerPoint 2016 for Windows
Rulers in PowerPoint 2011 for Mac
Rulers in PowerPoint 2010 for Windows
