How to Draw Straight Lines on PowerPoint 2007 Slides

PowerPoint provides a Line button so you can draw straight lines on your slides. With your PowerPoint slide open, choose a location for your line, then follow these steps:

1

Click the Line button in the Shapes group on the Insert tab.

The button’s icon looks just like you’d think it would — a straight line.

2

Point the cursor to where you want the line to start.

This is the beginning point for your line.

3

Click and drag the cursor to where you want the line to end.

This is the end point for your line.

4

Release the mouse button when you reach your destination.

After you’ve drawn the shape, the Ribbon displays the Drawing Tools tab.

After you’ve drawn a line, you can adjust it by clicking it and then dragging the handles that appear on each end of the line.

Remember that you can force a line to be perfectly horizontal or vertical by holding down the Shift key while you draw. If you hold the Shift key and drag diagonally while you draw the line, the line will be constrained to perfect 45-degree angles.

Comments (8)

  1. Posted by ann
    This didn't work. in the old version of PPT, you held down the shift key while clicking to make a freeform polygon shape and PPT 2007 doesn't work that way. very frustrating!
  2. Posted by aron
    Yes, holding down shift does not allow you to draw a perfectly horizontal line in ppt 2007. ANOTHER annoyance. I hope to God I can find out how to change the default line colors to black, non-shadowed lines. Why toss out 10 years of familiarity and compatibility Microsoft? The fact that you cannot customize the ribbon tabs is positively absurd. I love that I have to right click on every line I draw, once I can get it straight, format object, and change the style and weight. STUPID.
  3. Posted by tg
    you can make a straight line by holding SHIFT BEFORE you start drawing the line. Afterwards, who knows how to make it straight if it's not already...
  4. Posted by Brian
    I just found this hotfix, it may be helpful... http://support.microsoft.com/kb/941658/en-us "In Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007, when you try to resize a horizontal line or a vertical line by pressing the SHIFT key, the line incorrectly extends to the maximum allowed size."
  5. Posted by Mark
    MS has managed to turn something as simple as drawing a straight line into a teeth gnashing experience in PPT2007. Way to go, guys. Brian, thanks for the fix. I'm going to try it now.
  6. Posted by Joyce
    ah HA! finally figured it out...it is possible to draw a perfectly straight-edged polygon...click the polygon tool/click and RELEASE at starting point/move to next point/click and release to end the segment and start the next...phew.
  7. Posted by ibuprofen pills difference tramadol pills
    gWBndR Great work, webmaster, nice design!
  8. Posted by buy phentermine no prescriptions
    GVXOTx Very interesting site. Hope it will always be alive!

Leave a Reply


Post Comment

Connect with For Dummies

Sign Up for RSS Feeds

Computers & Software

Inside Dummies.com