Storyline 3: Formatting Shapes, Captions, and Text Boxes

Change Shape

Click this button and choose one of the shapes listed to switch to a different shape. (This applies only to shapes and captions.)

Shape Styles

The preset shape styles let you quickly change the appearance of an object. Click one of the thumbnails in the drop-down to apply it to the selected object.

Shape Fill

Use this drop-down to change the object's fill.

Click any color to apply it to the selected object. The available colors are controlled by your theme colors.

To remove the fill altogether, click No Fill.

To choose a custom color, click More Fill Colors.

To pick a color from anything visible on your screen, click Eyedropper, then click the color you want to match.

To fill the object with a picture, click Picture and browse to the image you want to use.

To fill the object with a gradient, scroll to Gradient, then choose a preset option or click More Gradients.

To fill the object with a texture, scroll to Texture, then choose a preset option or click More Textures.

Shape Outline

Use this drop-down to change the object's outline. See the guidelines below.

Click any color to apply it to the outline of the object. The available colors are controlled by your theme colors.

To remove the outline altogether, click No Outline.

To choose a custom color, click More Outline Colors.

To pick a color from anything visible on your screen, click Eyedropper, then click the color you want to match.

To change the outline's thickness, scroll to Weight, then choose a thickness or click More Lines.

To change the line style, scroll to Dashes, then choose a style or click More Lines.

Shape Effects

Click this option to add a shadow, reflection, glow, or soft edges to the selected object.

Shadow: Choose a preset shadow effect or click Shadow Options to add a custom shadow.

Reflection: Choose a preset reflection effect.

Glow: Choose a preset glow effect. The glow colors are controlled by your theme colors.

Soft Edges: Choose a size for the soft edges effect.

Bring Forward

Send Backward

Click these options to bring the object forward or send it backward one layer on your slide.

To send it to the very front or back of the slide, click the drop-down arrow next to either choice and select Bring to Front or Send to Back.

Tip: Another way to change the layer order of objects is to use the timeline. All the elements in the timeline are listed in the same order in which they're layered on the slide—in other words, the topmost item in the list is the closest to the front (or top) of the slide. To change the order, just select an item on the timeline and drag it up or down in the list.

Align

Use this drop-down to align objects with with the slide or with one another.

First, click Align and choose either Align to Slide or Align to Selected Objects.

Next, click Align again and choose one of the alignment options (left, center, right, top, middle, or bottom). To space multiple items evenly, choose Distribute Horizontally or Distribute Vertically.

Use View Gridlines and Grid Settings to help align objects on the slide. See this user guide to learn more about gridlines.

Group

Grouping is a handy way to move, resize, rotate, flip, or change other attributes of several objects all at the same time—as if they were a single object.

To group objects, Shift+click two or more objects, then choose Group to group them.

To ungroup objects, choose Ungroup.

To regroup items that were previously part of a group, choose Regroup.

Rotate

Use this option to rotate selected objects. Choose one of the rotation options or click More Rotation Options to enter a specific rotation value (shown below).

Height

Width

Use these fields to enter a specific height and width in pixels. (You can also resize an object by dragging its sizing handles.)