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Formatting Lines for Shapes in PowerPoint 2007 for Windows

Make changes to the appearance of shape lines in PowerPoint 2007 for Windows. You can change line color, weight, dash type, arrow-ends, add gradients, and remove line attributes altogether.


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Product/Version: PowerPoint 2007 for Windows

OS: Microsoft Windows XP and higher



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What to do if we link to a slide and all animations are lost?



We have already covered fills in PowerPoint 2007 and later versions. In the next part of this series of tutorials, we are going to learn about the outlines in PowerPoint 2007. If you moved up to PowerPoint 2007 from an earlier version, you'll find it interesting to know that Microsoft decided to change some terms, a line is now an outline, and an AutoShape is a shape. Having said that, many interface areas of PowerPoint 2007 still use the term "line", so we'll use both line and outline interchangeably.

For all practical purposes, outline attributes in PowerPoint 2007 include outline color, outline weight, outline dash type and arrows. In this tutorial, we'll explore the basics, and provide links to other specific tutorials on this site for more advanced stuff.

An outline is either of these two:

  • The perimeter areas of closed shapes, such as rectangles, circles, etc.
  • The line itself, of regular line shapes, such as straight lines, curves, scribbles, or any other shape that is not closed.

Formatting of outline options doesn't require a closed area. Figure 1 shows a thick line around both a closed shape, and an open shape.

Samples of lines (outlines) in closed and open shapes
Figure 1: Samples of lines (outlines) around closed and open shapes

As far as formatting any outline is concerned, it really doesn't matter if the selected shape is open or closed, because the process to do that is the same. However, there's one exception to the rule: you cannot add arrowheads to outlines around closed shapes, because arrowheads only show in open shapes. We have covered arrowheads in our Formatting Arrows (Arrowheads) in PowerPoint 2007 tutorial.

Whenever a new shape is inserted in a PowerPoint slide, it is filled with a solid color and an outline by default. Follow these steps to format outline attributes, such as the color, weight, dash, etc.

  1. Select the shape that you want to change the line attributes for. Alternatively, if you just want to follow this tutorial step-by-step, launch PowerPoint. Most of the time, PowerPoint will open with a new slide in a presentation, PowerPoint 2007 users can change the slide layout to Blank by selecting Home tab | Layout | Blank.
  2. Under the Home or Insert tab of the Ribbon, choose the Shapes button to view the Shapes gallery that you can see in Figure 2. Select the Rectangle (or any other shape), and then either drag and draw, or click once on the blank slide to place an instance of the shape.
  3. Shapes gallery
    Figure 2: Shapes gallery
  4. Select the shape so that the Ribbon area now shows the Drawing Tools Format, as shown in Figure 3. Activate this Ribbon tab by clicking on it.
  5. Drawing Tools Format tab of the Ribbon
    Figure 3: Drawing Tools Format tab of the Ribbon
  6. Note: The Drawing Tools Format tab is a Contextual tab. These tabs are special tabs in the Ribbon that are not visible all the time, they only make an appearance when you are working with a particular slide object which can be edited using special options.
  7. Within the Drawing Tools Format tab, locate the Shape Styles group, then click the Shape Outline button to view the Shape Outline drop-down gallery that you can see in Figure 4.
  8. Shape Outline drop-down gallery
    Figure 4: Shape Outline drop-down gallery
  9. The options within Shape Outline gallery are explained below, as marked in Figure 4, you'll need to choose any one of these options for the outline:
  10. A. Theme Colors

  11. Here you can select any of the colors in 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.
  12. B. Standard Colors

  13. You can choose any of the ten standard colors available, 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 we'll show you in the next option, although it's a good design idea to use theme colors as far as possible.
  14. C. Recent Colors

  15. 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!
  16. D. No Outline

  17. Choose this option to remove the outline altogether from the selected shape. Learn more about No Shape Outline in PowerPoint 2007.
  18. E. More Outline Colors

  19. This is to summon the Colors dialog box as shown in Figure 5. This dialog box has two tabs: Standard and Custom, first select the Standard tab (again, refer to Figure 5).
  20. Standard tab of the Colors dialog box
    Figure 5: Standard tab of the Colors dialog box
  21. This 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 6.
  22. Custom tab of the Colors dialog box
    Figure 6: Custom tab of the Colors dialog box
  23. In this tab, you can chose 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!
  24. Again, you can even change the transparency value of the selected color in the Transparency slider below.
  25. Choose any color and click OK to apply the choice.
  26. F. Weight

  27. With this option you can change the thickness attribute of the outline from a hairline width to a chunky, thick line. Learn more about Formatting Outlines -- Weight and Dash Type in PowerPoint 2007.
  28. G. Dashes

  29. These are different dash types. Learn more about Formatting Outlines -- Weight and Dash Type in PowerPoint 2007.
  30. H. Arrows

  31. This option allows you to add arrowheads to one end or both ends of the outline. Learn more about Formatting Arrows (Arrowheads) in PowerPoint 2007.
  32. I. Gradients

  33. (this option does not show in Shape Outline gallery you saw in Figure 4): PowerPoint 2007 also allows you to add gradients to outlines. Learn more about Gradient Outlines in PowerPoint 2007.
  34. Once you apply the outline formatting to a selected shape or line, remember to save your presentation often.
  35. Related Link: My book Cutting Edge PowerPoint 2007 For Dummies covers many aspects of PowerPoint 2007. A free chapter excerpt PowerPointing with the Best of Them is available on this site.

See Also:

Shape Lines: Formatting Lines for Shapes (Glossary Page)

Formatting Lines for Shapes in PowerPoint 2016 for Windows
Formatting Lines for Shapes in PowerPoint 2016 for Mac
Formatting Lines for Shapes in PowerPoint 2013 for Windows
Formatting Lines for Shapes in PowerPoint 2011 for Mac
Formatting Lines for Shapes in PowerPoint 2010 for Windows
Formatting Lines for Shapes in PowerPoint 2003 and 2002 for Windows

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