When a shape is inserted within PowerPoint, its default
appearance is related to the points that it contains, and you can thus change the actual shape to anything you want. PowerPoint's
native Edit Points tool makes it almost a drawing program that provides you the option to play with vertexes
(points), handles, etc. This is very similar to what you would do in Adobe Illustrator or CorelDRAW. By using the Edit Points tool, you
can change a rectangle to a rhombus, or even edit a curved or freeform line differently.
The Edit Points option basically works on individual vertexes. Vertexes are points within the outline of any shape
that can be dragged or edited to change the appearance of the shape. You can see these vertexes as small black squares (in
Figure 1, below you can see four such black squares). Notice that when you select a vertex, one or two blue
handles appear, these handles end with transparent squares. These transparent squares have black outlines and can be dragged to reorient the structure of the selected shape. You will learn more about how to get to this Edit Points interface later in this
tutorial.
Also in PowerPoint, the terms vertex and point are often used interchangeably.
Figure 1: Vertexes (small black squares)
Follow these steps to get to the Edit Points mode for any shape (rectangle, line, drawn shape, etc.) in
PowerPoint 2013:
- Select the drawing so that the
Ribbon area now shows the Drawing Tools Format
tab, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 2. Activate this Ribbon tab by clicking on
it.
Figure 2: Drawing Tools Format tab of the Ribbon
Note: The
Drawing Tools 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.
- Within the Drawing Tools Format tab, click the Edit Shape button (highlighted in
blue within Figure 2, above) to view a drop-down menu that you can see in
Figure 3. And, within Edit Shape drop-down menu, choose the Edit Points option (refer
to Figure 3 again).
Figure 3: Edit Points option selected
Alternatively, you can also right-click any shape, and then choose the Edit Points option from the resultant menu, as
show in Figure 4, below.
Figure 4: The right-click menu also provides the Edit Points option
Tip: Is the Edit Points option grayed out? Some shapes, especially a straight point-to-point line will
not allow you to choose the Edit Points.
- Either way, a number of small black squared points will appear on the outline of the shape, as shown in Figure 5.
These points are known as Vertexes, which mark any point in your shape that denotes an extremity of a curve or line
segment, or even the start and end point of an open shape.
Figure 5: Vertexes appearing on the drawing
- Place the cursor on any of the vertexes. The cursor will change to a small rectangle with four-directional arrows around it, as
shown highlighted in red within Figure 6.
Figure 6: Cursor with a rectangle and four-directional arrows
- Now click on the vertex to select it, and reposition the vertex by dragging it to a new position. A black dashed line appears showing
the changes to the shape that you are making, as shown in Figure 7.
Figure 7: Editing vertexes
- You can also change how the shape looks without repositioning the vertex. A selected vertex shows one or two blue handles (lines
emanating from the vertex), as shown in Figure 8. To alter the degree of the curve or line on either sides of the vertex in relation to the next vertex along the line, just click on one of the handles and drag them to reorient the line's structure (refer to
Figure 8 again).
Figure 8: Editing with handles
- Once you have repositioned the vertex or reoriented the structure of the line as required, release the mouse button. You will see
your changed shape, as shown in Figure 9, below.
Figure 9: Editing vertexes changes the structure of the selected shape
- Save your presentation.
See Also:
Edit Points for Shapes in PowerPoint 2016 for
Windows
Edit Points for Shapes in PowerPoint 2011
for Mac
Edit Points for Shapes in PowerPoint 2010
for Windows
Edit Points for Shapes in PowerPoint 2007
for Windows
Edit Points for Shapes in PowerPoint 2003
for Windows
