Grids and Guidelines on PowerPoint Slides

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This PowerPoint tutorial will show you how to use the PowerPoint Grids and Guidelines tool to help you position objects on your slide.

PowerPoint has several features that help you position objects on the slide. The Grid is like the lines on a piece of graph paper. They're faint and in the background, but visible enough that you can use them to line things up. Guides are lines that you can move around on your screen like rulers, that help you to place an object in an exact spot.

Turn On PowerPoint Grids and Guidelines

To turn on the PowerPoint Grids and Guidelines tool, click the View menu. From the drop-down menu, click on Grid and Guidelines

The Grid and Guides dialog box will appear.

Click the Display grid on screen checkbox option. You should have a little green check mark showing in the box.

Click the Display drawing guides on screen option. Click OK

The grid will appear as dotted lines. The dashed line guides intersect in the center of the slide. Click and drag an object to line it up with the grid. Click and drag on another object to line it up with the first one using the grid as a guide.

Click a guideline. Numbers that show its position of the guide appear showing the new intersection of the two guides. You can click and drag any object into a specific position on the slides at the intersection of the guides.

Snapping Objects to the Grid

You can use the Snap to Grid feature to make items snap to locations along the grid lines. Just like you can buy graph paper in 1/8", 1/4", 1/2" grids, you can also set the distance between grid lines in PowerPoint.

Setting the grid distance at 1/8" means that you can snap objects to the grid at 1/8" increments. Check the box, Snap Objects to grid. Set the spacing between grid lines from the drop-down menu.

PowerPoint Grids and Guidelines is a useful tool when moving objects around the slide.

Also see related tutorials:

Draw a Rectangle
Draw an Ellipse
Draw Freeform Lines
Draw Lines

See also the Non-Linear PowerPoint Tutorial for a way to make a great user centered presentation.

PowerPoint Tutorials: Microsoft PowerPoint 2003

Getting Acquainted The PowerPoint Workspace The Task Pane Working with the Taskpane The Slide Views Working with Toolbars Creating Slide Shows Creating a New Presentation Set Visual Rules Inserting New Slides Adding Text to Slides Using Grids and Guidelines Edit and Format Text Cut, Copy, and Paste Text Bulleted Lists Designing Slides Create Master Slides Adding New Masters Apply Design Templates Lines, Curves, & Shapes Draw and Format Lines Draw a Rectangle Draw an Ellipse Draw Bezier Curves Draw Freeform Lines Modify AutoShapes Using Multimedia Custom Animations Inserting Sound Transition Effects Add Action Buttons Embed Video Add Looped Audio Record Narrations Tips & Tricks Add Watermark Add Slide Numbers View Multiple Presentations Keyboard Shortcuts More PowerPoint Tutorials at GuidesandTutorials.net

Dreamweaver Tutorials
Non-Linear PowerPoint Podcasting Tutorials
RSS Tutorial

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PowerPoint Tutorials Getting Acquainted The PowerPoint Workspace The Task Pane Working with the Taskpane The Slide Views Working with Toolbars Creating Slide Shows Creating a New Presentation Set Visual Rules Inserting New Slides Adding Text to Slides Using Grids and Guidelines Edit and Format Text Cut, Copy, and Paste Text Bulleted Lists Designing Slides Create Master Slides Adding New Masters Apply Design Templates Lines, Curves, & Shapes Draw and Format Lines Draw a Rectangle Draw an Ellipse Draw Bezier Curves Draw Freeform Lines Modify AutoShapes Tips & Tricks Add Watermark Add Slide Numbers View Multiple Presentations Keyboard Shortcuts More PowerPoint Tutorials at GuidesandTutorials.net