{"id":7756,"date":"2017-07-12T16:43:47","date_gmt":"2017-07-12T14:43:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.presentationload.com\/?p=7756"},"modified":"2023-07-21T12:48:10","modified_gmt":"2023-07-21T10:48:10","slug":"combining-shapes-powerpoint","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.presentationload.com\/blog\/combining-shapes-powerpoint\/","title":{"rendered":"Combining Shapes in PowerPoint"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Shapes in PowerPoint can be used to create infographics with relatively little effort or know-how. By combining shapes, you can also create pictograms and icons. Here are a couple of examples.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With a little practice, you can easily combine shapes to create your own custom icons, pictograms and infographics. These provide you with new ways to visually communicate your information. PowerPoint makes this easy, saving you the need for external programs. Here are a few simple methods for creating custom shapes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Rectangular Speech Bubble<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Go to <strong>Insert <\/strong>&gt; <strong>Shapes <\/strong>and insert a rectangle and a triangle.<br><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-7757\" src=\"https:\/\/www.presentationload.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/combination_speechbubble1-450x253.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"253\" title=\"\"><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Click and drag the rotation handle at the top of the triangle to invert it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Drag the triangle under the rectangle so that the shapes fit together.<br><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-7758\" src=\"https:\/\/www.presentationload.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/combination_speechbubble2_en-450x253.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"253\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.presentationload.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/combination_speechbubble2_en-450x253.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.presentationload.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/combination_speechbubble2_en-768x433.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.presentationload.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/combination_speechbubble2_en.jpg 980w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Select the two shapes with Ctrl + left-click. Under the <strong>Format<\/strong> tab, click <strong>Merge Shapes<\/strong>. Select <strong>Combine<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Insert a rectangle as well as several circles and ellipses. Arrange the shapes to create the outline of a cloud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"450\" height=\"253\" src=\"https:\/\/www.presentationload.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/combination_speechbubble3-450x253.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7759\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.presentationload.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/combination_speechbubble3-450x253.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.presentationload.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/combination_speechbubble3-768x433.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.presentationload.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/combination_speechbubble3.jpg 980w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Create a Cloud<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Insert a rectangle as well as several circles and ellipses. Arrange the shapes to create the outline of a cloud.<br><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-7763\" src=\"https:\/\/www.presentationload.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/combination_cloud1_en-1-450x253.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"253\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.presentationload.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/combination_cloud1_en-1-450x253.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.presentationload.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/combination_cloud1_en-1-768x433.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.presentationload.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/combination_cloud1_en-1.jpg 980w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Hold down Ctrl and left-click each shape. Under the <strong>Format<\/strong> tab, click <strong>Merge Shapes<\/strong>. Select <strong>Union<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The shapes are now merged to create a cloud shape.<br><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-7761\" src=\"https:\/\/www.presentationload.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/combination_cloud2-450x253.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"253\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.presentationload.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/combination_cloud2-450x253.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.presentationload.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/combination_cloud2-768x433.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.presentationload.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/combination_cloud2.jpg 980w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Create a Crescent Moon<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Insert two circles.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Arrange the circles so that they overlap and form a shape similar to a sideways eight.<br><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-7764\" src=\"https:\/\/www.presentationload.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/combination_moon1_en-1-450x253.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"253\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.presentationload.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/combination_moon1_en-1-450x253.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.presentationload.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/combination_moon1_en-1-768x433.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.presentationload.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/combination_moon1_en-1.jpg 980w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Select the two shapes with Ctrl + left-click. Under the <strong>Format<\/strong> tab, click <strong>Merge Shapes<\/strong>. Select <strong>Subtract<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The top circle will be \u201ccut out\u201d and a crescent shape will remain. This can be used as an icon or graphic to represent a moon.<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-7765\" src=\"https:\/\/www.presentationload.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/combination_moon2-450x253.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"253\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.presentationload.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/combination_moon2-450x253.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.presentationload.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/combination_moon2-768x433.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.presentationload.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/combination_moon2.jpg 980w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Please note that these functions have been available since PowerPoint 2013 &#8211; Have fun combining shapes!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Shapes in PowerPoint can be used to create infographics with relatively little effort or know-how. By combining shapes, you can also create pictograms and icons. Here are a couple of examples. With a little practice, you can easily combine shapes to create your own custom icons, pictograms and infographics. These provide you with new ways&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":7766,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-c_powerpoint-design-ideas"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":56,"label":"Design Ideas"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/www.presentationload.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Header_form-combination_1000px.jpg",1000,600,false],"author_info":{"display_name":"Tom Becker","author_link":"https:\/\/www.presentationload.com\/blog\/author\/tom\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":56,"name":"Design Ideas","slug":"c_powerpoint-design-ideas","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":56,"taxonomy":"category","description":"<strong>Make yourself and your PowerPoint presentation stand out by scoring with PowerPoint design ideas on your slides. Take advantage of the variety of design options in PowerPoint from creating your layout or background to refining the design of individual slide elements. <\/strong>\r\n\r\nDeploy design elements skillfully to underscore what you're saying. Skillfully convey facts, figures, and content through the effective use of PowerPoint design ideas. Thoughtfully design your slides to remain memorable after your presentation and achieve your presentation goals.","parent":0,"count":49,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":56,"category_count":49,"category_description":"<strong>Make yourself and your PowerPoint presentation stand out by scoring with PowerPoint design ideas on your slides. Take advantage of the variety of design options in PowerPoint from creating your layout or background to refining the design of individual slide elements. <\/strong>\r\n\r\nDeploy design elements skillfully to underscore what you're saying. Skillfully convey facts, figures, and content through the effective use of PowerPoint design ideas. Thoughtfully design your slides to remain memorable after your presentation and achieve your presentation goals.","cat_name":"Design Ideas","category_nicename":"c_powerpoint-design-ideas","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.presentationload.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.presentationload.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.presentationload.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.presentationload.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.presentationload.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7756"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.presentationload.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7756\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.presentationload.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.presentationload.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.presentationload.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.presentationload.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}