Locked lesson.
About this lesson
Shapes add interest to a publication by adding text and color.
Lesson versions
Multiple versions of this lesson are available, choose the appropriate version for you:
2016, 2019/365.
Quick reference
Shapes
Insert a shape and review the “Drawing Tools” available on the new ribbon.
When to use
There are many creative options available for shapes. Use these features often.
Instructions:
- Click the Insert Ribbon
and click the Shapes button 
- Click the Oval shape and click into the blank publication and a perfect circle appears:
For an Oval, click and drag the Oval shape onto your page: 
- Notice the Drawing Tools Ribbon at the top of the screen:
By practicing with the tools available, you can change the shape dramatically:
Fill Color 
- To alter the shape, use the Top circle handle to tip or tilt the shape:
- Resize a shape with the corner handle, or press Ctrl and resize will expand all sides at once:
- Arrange the layers of stacked shapes with the Bring Forward or Send Backward buttons:
Computer Tip:
To quickly zoom into your shape, hold Ctrl and scroll the mouse wheel up or down. Or use the Zoom control in the bottom right corner of the screen.
Design Tip:
Use the Format Painter button 
on the Home Ribbon (or on your Quick Access Bar) to duplicate the format from one object onto another.
Login to download
- 00:05 When you're adding shapes to a flyer, it adds a nice geometric design and
- 00:09 calls the attention of the viewer to that shape.
- 00:13 Go ahead and click on the insert ribbon,
- 00:14 right over here we have the shapes button, when you hit the drop down arrow you have
- 00:18 quite a variety of shapes you can choose from.
- 00:20 But I'm going to go ahead and click the oval right here.
- 00:24 When I activate that nothing happens on my screen
- 00:26 until I move my mouse down into the screen, you can see a a black crossbar.
- 00:30 I'm just going to click my mouse just once and let go and
- 00:33 a perfect circle drops on my screen already formatted to a certain color.
- 00:38 And a brand new tool bar call the drawing tools comes up right here.
- 00:42 I can actually change the shape, edit the shape, change it again edit text..
- 00:47 Yes I can actually add text into a shape that easily.
- 00:52 And I can change the shape outline and
- 00:54 the shape internal color to whatever you'd like and I can change the fill color,
- 01:01 no fill at all, more fill colors, tints, I can put a picture in here.
- 01:05 At a gradient, which there already is a gradient,
- 01:07 but maybe I'd like to change it to something else.
- 01:10 You can get very creative.
- 01:12 You can even add an interesting shadow effect to your shape.
- 01:16 Notice as I choose these, the shadow is moving around in the background,
- 01:19 that adds depth.
- 01:20 It makes it look like a little LifeSaver tablet sitting on top of the paper.
- 01:25 So, all right, let's go ahead and put in another shape.
- 01:28 I will hit insert.
- 01:29 Instead of the perfect circle this time, I'm actually going to add an oval.
- 01:33 So I click the oval again, but instead of clicking and letting go I click and
- 01:37 drag and when I let go,there we go.
- 01:40 It comes in with a default color or
- 01:42 maybe I don't like that default color so I'm gonna click on this particular one.
- 01:47 And I have a format painter button right up here on my home ribbon.
- 01:51 This little paint brush, saves you a lot of work.
- 01:53 I'm going to copy the paint, or
- 01:55 the format, of this one and actually click it onto this one.
- 01:59 Now, watch what happens.
- 02:00 Click.
- 02:01 Now, it changed the format but not the shape.
- 02:03 See it just brought all the formatting that I applied here and put it right here.
- 02:07 That's the beauty of that paint format button.
- 02:09 And it happens to be one of my favorite tools.
- 02:12 Alright let's go get another shape.
- 02:13 I'll click on insert, I'll go back to shapes, and I'll click on triangle.
- 02:18 Now I'll go ahead and click and just drop a triangle right on the screen.
- 02:21 And then I'm gonna control mouse, mouse wheel up to zoom in, control zoom in.
- 02:25 Now, I want to show you some aspects here.
- 02:28 Notice this yellow diamond,
- 02:30 the yellow diamond will change the shape of your triangle to whatever you prefer.
- 02:36 And the circle will actually tilt the triangle.
- 02:39 Now the left edge and the right edge have a square.
- 02:43 Now that's just to resize one side of this.
- 02:46 Or if I hold down control, I could resize both sides or all three sides at once.
- 02:51 Same with the corners, that's just to resize one edge, but
- 02:54 control will resize all the edges at the same time.
- 02:58 Now if I hit Edit Text and go ahead and type a word.
- 03:02 Notice that the text is left at the same tilt that the shape is left at.
- 03:08 So, it won't come across horizontally.
- 03:10 It's horizontal to the shape before it was tilted.
- 03:14 Now there's one other feature and this is a layering feature.
- 03:17 So I'm going to go ahead and pile these shapes on top of each other.
- 03:20 Now notice I didn't have to decide which one came in first, second and third.
- 03:24 The computer knew that but I want to change it.
- 03:27 I want this one to be on top of the others.
- 03:29 So I'm gonna click on the round one in the background,
- 03:32 I'm gonna come right up here to my drawing tools format and
- 03:36 I have known range section that says bring forward, send backward or align.
- 03:40 So the bring forward will bring it one layer at a time.
- 03:44 But to bring to front will absolutely bring it to the front of everything and
- 03:48 it will be right on top.
- 03:49 Now I want to send that one all the way to the back, to the bottom.
- 03:52 I could even send backward a couple times or hit the drop down and send it back.
- 03:57 All right you can get very creative but
- 03:59 stay with me in the next lesson, I want to show you pictures inside of shapes.
Lesson notes are only available for subscribers.