Add or Delete Points (Vertexes) for Shapes in PowerPoint 2003 for Windows

You have learned what the Edit Points option in PowerPoint is, and how it works. The Points you see and edit give you control over how you want a shape to look appearance-wise. Even then, sometimes you might find it difficult to edit a certain segment (a part of the line between two points) in a shape because there are no points available to manipulate -- or maybe there are far too many points! PowerPoint provides a simple solution for this problem -- you can add and delete points in a shape.

Add Points (Vertexes)

Follow these steps to add vertexes:

1. To add a vertex to a shape, select the shape and switch to Edit Point mode. Place the cursor above the outline of the shape where you want to add a new vertex (point) - the cursor will change to a rectangle with a plus sign, as shown in Figure 1.
   
   Figure 1: Place cursor above the outline
2. Now, right-click to bring up the contextual menu you can see in Figure 2. From this menu, choose the Add Point option.
   
   
   Figure 2: Add Point option
3. This will add a new point (vertex) to the shape, as can be seen in Figure 3. You can add as many points as you want.
   
   Figure 3: New point added to the shape

Delete Points (Vertexes)

Follow these steps to delete existing vertexes:

1. Make sure you are in Edit Points mode. Place the cursor above the point you want to delete -- the cursor will change to a small rectangle with four directional arrows around it, as shown in Figure 4.
   
   Figure 4: Cursor placed above the point
2. Right-click to bring up the contextual menu you can see in Figure 5. From this menu, choose the Delete Point option.
   
   Figure 5: Delete point option
3. This will delete the selected point of the shape (see Figure 6). Deleting a point may change the shape completely, as you can see in Figure 6 where a rectangle has been transformed into a triangle.
   
   Figure 6: Selected point deleted from the shape

See Also:

Add or Delete Points (Vertexes) for Shapes in PowerPoint 2016 for Windows
Add or Delete Points (Vertexes) for Shapes in PowerPoint 2013 for Windows
Add or Delete Points (Vertexes) for Shapes in PowerPoint 2011 for Mac
Add or Delete Points (Vertexes) for Shapes in PowerPoint 2010 for Windows
Add or Delete Points (Vertexes) for Shapes in PowerPoint 2007 for Windows