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Learn how to apply patterns to lines in PowerPoint 2003 and 2002 for Windows.
In a previous tutorial, we showed you how you can format line attributes (outlines) in PowerPoint 2003 or earlier. In this tutorial you will learn more about the cool Patterned Lines option.
Related Link: We already have a page on Patterned Lines in our Cool Stuff section, this page has been rewritten using similar content to be suitable for the Learning section.
To see a Patterned Lines sample presentation, scroll down to the bottom of this page.
Follow these step to apply a Patterned Line to any AutoShape, remember, all lines in PowerPoint are also AutoShapes!
Select the AutoShape that you want to format with a Patterned Line. 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, users can change the slide layout to Blank by selecting Format | Slide Layout, and then choose the Blank layout in the resultant Task Pane.
You will find the rectangle AutoShape option in the Drawing toolbar located below the PowerPoint interface. Select this option, and click once on the blank slide to place a rectangle AutoShape.
Select the AutoShape, and from PowerPoint's Drawing toolbar, choose Line color option as shown in Figure 1.
This opens the Line Color flyout menu (see Figure 2), choose the Patterned Lines option.
This opens the Patterned Lines dialog box, as you can see in Figure 3.
Choose any pattern style from 48 pattern styles available. Figure 3 shows that we have selected the second pattern, this one is named 50%, probably because the lines in this pattern comprise 50% of the total pattern area. Similarly, there are patterns all the way from 5% to 90%! Other pattern names are more intuitive than these ones, they are called Sphere, Wave, etc.
Whichever pattern you choose, you can then choose the Foreground and Background colors for the pattern, both of these have downward arrows next to them that work in the same way as you would choose a color for line, as shown in a previous tutorial. If you don't want to change the foreground and background colors, and accept the default color values that PowerPoint uses, that's OK too.
Click OK to apply and get back to AutoShape.
Note: Patterned lines work best when the line weight is thick, at least 10 pt. thick is good to start with, but you can make your lines even more thicker!
Related Link: Learn how to do more with AutoShapes in this free excerpt from my book: Cutting Edge PowerPoint For Dummies, read a free chapter called AutoShape Magic here.
You get 8 shape types plus lines as part of this Organic Shapes collection. Each of these 8 shape types have 10 variants. So you end up with 80 hand-drawn shape options! Again each of these 80 shapes have 12 brush stroke styles! Plus you get the lines and arrows in 12 brush stroke styles too. Combine all variations to end up with more than 3000 possibilities.
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