Text Transforms in PowerPoint 2011 for Mac

Twisted or turned text? Is that real? Or is that even something that you would want in your PowerPoint slides? For the benefit of all purists here, we agree that such "arty" text has no place in real world slides. However there may still be scenarios in which you wished you could twist or turn your text! Most of the times, text is not decorated beyond applying some fills, or outlines, or some readymade WordArt Styles (Quick Styles). However, there are occasions when you want to create a quick logo, or even an attention grabbing text graphic. Then you will find PowerPoint's Transform effects for text very apt. Look at Figure 1 below to explore some quick text effects possible within PowerPoint.

Figure 1: Examples of Transforms text effect for text

Transform is a special stylizing option available in PowerPoint only for text. Follow these steps to explore more in PowerPoint 2011 for Mac:

1. Select the text to which you want to apply a Transform text effect. Alternatively, if you just want to follow this tutorial step-by-step, insert a text box on a blank slide and type some text in it as shown in Figure 2. Select the text, or the entire text box as required to bring up the Format tab on the Ribbon as shown highlighted in red within Figure 2. Click this Ribbon tab to bring up the text format options that you can see in Figure 2.
2. 
   Figure 2: Effects button within the Text Styles group
Note: The Format tab is a Contextual tab. Contextual tabs are special tabs in the Ribbon that are not visible all the time. They make an appearance only when you are working with a particular slide object which can be edited using the options within these tabs.



2. Within the Format tab, click the Effects button that you can see highlighted in blue within Figure 2, above. This opens the Effects gallery for your text, as shown in Figure 3. Select the Transform option (shown highlighted in red within Figure 3).
3. 
   Figure 3: Transform option within the Effects gallery
3. This opens the Transform sub-gallery as shown in Figure 4.
4. 
   Figure 4: Transform sub-gallery
4. Let us explore various effects within Transform sub-gallery, as marked in Figure 4:

A. Follow Path

5. Make text to flow in a certain path like a circle, an arc, etc.

B. Warp

6. Twist and turn your text in various directions, and also make them wavy.

C. No Transform

7. Removes any transform effects already applied to selected text.
5. Click on any effect to apply it to the selected text. In Figure 5 you can see the selected text applied with the Inflate effect.
6. 
   Figure 5: Transform Effect applied to the text
6. Do you notice the pink handle on the left of the text box in Figure 5, above (highlighted in red)? You can use this handle to tweak your applied text transform. We explain this option further in our Advanced Text Transforms in PowerPoint 2011 for Mac tutorial.
7. Remember to save your presentation often.