Use Layout Tools

The Layout Tools contain an assortment of tools which align and format slide content.

Here, you have the possibility to define an element as a reference shape. This will set which element will serve as a reference point for all other elements.

To set an element as a reference shape and use it for a Layout Tools function, follow the following steps:

All features described in the section Arrange refer to PowerPoint built-in features with the exception of Swap Elements (Figure 5, “Section Arrange”).

If you select two elements you can click on the button Swap Elements to change each other’s position (Figure 6, “Button Swap Elements”).

The buttons Align Left, Align Right, Align Top and Align Bottom will align two elements in accordance to the selected option. If only a single element is selected, it will be aligned with the edges of the slide (Figure 7, “Buttons Align Left, Right, Top, Bottom”).

Distribute Horizontally and Distribute Vertically will place elements with reference to the outer elements of a selection. If only a single element is selected, the element will be aligned with the center of the slide (Figure 8, “Buttons Distribute Horizontally and Distribute Vertically”).

In the section Position, you are able to align a selected elements directly within the drawing area (Figure 9, “Section Position”).

Elements can be aligned to the left, right, top and bottom edge, as well as each corner of the drawing area while the button located in the middle moves all selected elements to the middle.

If you did not select any elements on the slide, all freely located elements (excluding placeholders) will automatically align with the selected location.

In the section Resize you can adjust the size of selected elements (Figure 10, “Section Resize”).

To do so, select two elements and then click on the button Same Width. The elements will now have the same width as the element last selected if no reference shape has been set (Figure 11, “Button Same Width”).

Click on the button multiple times to switch between the resizing in accordance to the different elements.

The buttons Same Height and Same Size work in a similar manner (Figure 12, “Buttons Same Height and Same Size”).

With Resize to Align Left, Resize to Align Right, Resize to Align Top and Resize to Align Bottom you can adapt the size of two or more elements to then be able to succinctly align them to the left, right, top or bottom (Figure 13, “Buttons Resize to Align Left, Right, Top, Bottom”).

In the section Select you can access PowerPoint built-in features to place elements on a slide (Figure 14, “Section Select”).

You can group elements as well as reverse a grouping. In addition, you can move elements to the foreground or background or move an element a level up or down.

The button to the bottom right will open the PowerPoint selection pane which displays all visible and hidden elements placed on the current slide.

To hide an element click on the eye symbol to the right of the element’s name (Figure 15, “Selection Element Overview Eye Symbol”).

The selection buttons to the right let you select multiple elements with a single click.

Select same objects will select all objects of the same type as the currently selected object, e.g. all rectangles, all textboxes, etc. (Figure 16, “Button Same objects”).

Select same color will select all elements that have the same color as the item currently selected (Figure 17, “Button Same color”).

In the section Stretch you can access multiple functions to adapt the size of elements (Figure 18, “Section Stretch”).

With the buttons Fit to Width, Fit to Height and Fit to Area let you adapt the size of a single or of multiple elements to the drawing area (Figure 19, “Buttons Fit to Width, Height, Area”).

If you select a single element on a slide, it will be resized with regard to width, height and size of the drawing area. If multiple elements are selected, these elements will be arranged in proportion to one another regarding their width, height and the space of the drawing area.

If no element is selected, all elements on the slide except the placeholder will be arranged in the drawing area. This way, you can distribute elements on a slide accurately with a single click, e.g. when conducting a slide conversion.

With a further function, you can arrange elements with the same vertical or horizontal distance between one another.

To do so, follow the following steps:

To create a matrix with any shape, follow the following steps:

In the section Dock you can access multiple functions to align two or more elements with one another (Figure 26, “Section Dock”).

With the button Dock Left you can dock selected elements to the left (Figure 27, “Button Dock Left”).

The buttons Dock Right, Dock Top and Dock Bottom all function analogously (Figure 28, “Buttons Dock Right, Top, Bottom”).

The two latter buttons place the elements in accordance to their top or bottom edge, while Dock Center and Dock Middle place selected elements to the middle of each other (Figure 29, “Buttons Dock Center and Dock Middle”).

In the section Angles you can mainly access PowerPoint built-in features to set angles to selected elements on a slide (Figure 30, “Section Angles”).

The buttons Rotate Left 90° and Rotate Right 90° allow you to rotate your selected elements accordingly (Figure 31, “Buttons Rotate Left 90° and Rotate Right 90°”).

You can also to flip an element vertically or horizontally along their axis with a click on the buttons Flip Horizontal or Flip Vertical (Figure 32, “Buttons Flip Horizontal and Flip Vertical”).

Select an element with rounded edges and click on the button Adjust Round Corner to adjust the corners to an angle set in the database (Figure 33, “Button Adjust Round Corner”).

This way you can set the angle of round edges and (kinked) arrows (group Shapes – Option Block Arrows) to a value defined in the database.

In the section Drawing you can mainly access PowerPoint built-in features to join shapes (Figure 34, “Section Drawing”)

Click on the button Union to join two selected shapes to a single element (Figure 35, “Button Union”).

The button Combine has a similar effect but overlapping sections are cut out of the shape (Figure 36, “Button Combine”).

With the button Fragment you can split selected shapes into multiple shapes that resulted due to overlapping, while the button Intersect leaves only the intersection area of the selected shapes (Figure 37, “Buttons Fragment and Intersect”).

With the button Subtract you can cut out the area of the last selected shape placed on another shape (Figure 38, “Button Subtract”).

In the section Shape you will find PowerPoint built-in tools to manipulate size and properties of text boxes and shapes (Figure 39, “Section Shape”).

Here you can view and set width and height of a selected element.

Tick the checkbox Lock Aspect Ratio to lock the aspect ratio of an element (Figure 40, “Checkbox Lock Aspect Ratio”).

Select the option Shrink Text to have the text adapt to the size of the element if it would otherwise protrude over its edges (Figure 41, “Button Shrink Text”).

Select the option Resize Shape to have the shape adapt to the size of its contained text (Figure 42, “Button Resize Shape”).

Select the option Autofit off to not have the shape adapt at all (Figure 43, “Button Autofit off”).

Tick the checkbox Wrap Text to enable automatic line breaks (Figure 44, “Checkbox Wrap Text”).

In the section Margins you can directly enter the value of the margins (Figure 45, “Section Margins”).

To transfer the set margins from one element to another follow the following steps:

Click on the button Remove to set all margins of a selected element to 0 cm (Figure 48, “Button Remove”).

Click on the button Default to set the margins of a shape to the default margins which are defined in the database (Figure 49, “Button Default”).

In the section Spacing you can access PowerPoint built-in features to set spacing (Figure 50, “Section Spacing”).

Enter a numeric value in the input fields Before and After to set the spacing before and after the line (Figure 51, “Input Fields Spacing”).

Expand the drop-down menu Line Spacing to select any of the line spacing options.

If you select the option Exactly, you can then enter the desired numeric value in the input field Spacing at (Figure 52, “Drop-Down Menu for Line Spacing and Input Field Spacing at”).