Change Connector Color in PowerPoint 2013 for Windows

There's more to connectors than just drawing them to link shapes in PowerPoint 2013 for Windows. You can format their line thickness, dash attributes, etc. In many ways, connectors are just like conventional lines in PowerPoint, especially where their formatting options are concerned. So, changing the color attributes of a connector is almost like changing the color of any line, as you will learn in the following steps:

1. Select the connector that you want to change the color for. Make sure that you do not inadvertently move the connector. From the Drawing Tools Format contextual tab of the Ribbon, click the Shape Outline button to view the Shape Outline drop-down gallery that you can see in Figure 1.
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   Figure 1: Shape Outline drop-down gallery
2. The options within the Shape Outline drop-down gallery are explained below, as marked in Figure 1, above. You'll need to choose any one of these options for the outline:
1. Theme Colors: Here you can select any of the colors which are from the active Theme of the presentation. You can also select any of the 5 tints or shades for any Theme color. Learn more about Themes here.
2. Standard Colors: Here you can choose from any of the ten standard colors. These ten standard colors are just choices of colors that PowerPoint believes to be widely used. You don't have to limit yourself to either the Theme colors or Standard colors, as you'll learn in the next options, although it's a good design idea to use Theme colors as far as possible.
3. Recent Colors: Here you can find the colors most recently used. If you have just launched PowerPoint and created a new presentation, the Recent Colors option may be entirely absent since you haven't selected any color recently!
4. No Outline: Selecting this option will cause the selected connector to disappear.
5. More Outline Colors: This option is to summon the Colors dialog box as shown in Figure 2. This dialog box has two tabs: Standard and Custom—first select the Standard tab (again, refer to Figure 2).
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   Figure 2: Standard tab within the Colors dialog box
7. The Standard tab offers 127 colors in a honeycomb style palette, 14 gray shades, black and white. You can even change the transparency value of the selected color in the Transparency slider below. If you want more color choices, then select the Custom tab of the same dialog box, as shown in Figure 3.
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   Figure 3: Custom tab within the Colors dialog box
9. Within the Custom tab, you can choose any color from the spectrum and later adjust the selected color's luminosity with the slider on the right. You can even enter specific values of RGB and HSL to create a specific color. All these combinations provide 16 million color choices!
10. Again, you can even change the transparency value of the selected color in the Transparency slider below.
11. Choose any color and click the OK button to apply it.
6. Eyedropper: This is the new option in PowerPoint 2013 for Windows, the Eyedropper option enables you to pick an exact color from anywhere, sometimes even from somewhere outside PowerPoint.
7. Weight: With this option, you can change the thickness attribute of the connector from a hairline width to a chunky, thick line. Learn more in our Formatting Outlines Weight for Shapes in PowerPoint 2013 tutorial.
8. Dashes: These are different dash types. Learn more in our Formatting Outlines (Dashes) for Shapes in PowerPoint 2013 tutorial.
9. Arrows: This option allows you to add arrowheads to one end or both ends of the shape outline. Learn more in our Formatting Arrows (Arrowheads) in PowerPoint 2013 tutorial.
Gradients: While Gradients do not show as an option within the Shape Outline gallery shown in Figure 1, PowerPoint 2013 for Windows does allow you to add gradients to lines (and connectors). Learn more in our Gradient Outlines in PowerPoint 2013 for Windows tutorial.
3. Once you apply the connector formatting and make any other changes, do save your presentation!