Align and arrange objects on a slide
In the Presentation Editor, the added autoshapes, images, charts or text boxes can be aligned, grouped, ordered, distributed horizontally and vertically on the slide. To perform any of these actions, first select a separate object or several objects in the slide editing area. To select several objects, hold down the Ctrl key and left-click the necessary objects. To select a text box, click on its border, not the text within it. After that you can use either the icons on the Home tab of the top toolbar described below or the analogous options from the right-click menu.
Align objects
To align two or more selected objects,
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Click the Align shape icon on the Home tab of the top toolbar and select one of the following options:
- Align to Slide to align objects relative to the edges of the slide,
- Align Selected Objects (this option is selected by default) to align objects relative to each other,
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Click the Align shape icon once again and select the necessary alignment type from the list:
- Align Left - to line up the objects horizontally on the left side of the leftmost object/left edge of the slide,
- Align Center - to line up the objects horizontally in their centers/center of the slide,
- Align Right - to line up the objects horizontally on the right side of the rightmost object/right edge of the slide,
- Align Top - to line up the objects vertically to the top edge of the topmost object/top edge of the slide,
- Align Middle - to line up the objects vertically in their middles/middle of the slide,
- Align Bottom - to line up the objects vertically to the bottom edge of the bottommost object/bottom edge of the slide.
Alternatively, you can right-click the selected objects, choose the Align option from the contextual menu and then use one of the available alignment options.
If you want to align a single object, it can be aligned relative to the edges of the slide. The Align to Slide option is selected by default in this case.
Distribute objects
To distribute three or more selected objects horizontally or vertically so that the equal distance appears between them,
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Click the Align icon on the Home tab of the top toolbar and select one of the following options:
- Align to Slide to distribute objects between the edges of the slide,
- Align Selected Objects (this option is selected by default) to distribute objects between two outermost selected objects,
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Click the Align shape icon once again and select the necessary distribution type from the list:
- Distribute Horizontally - to distribute objects evenly between the leftmost and rightmost selected objects/left and right edges of the slide.
- Distribute Vertically - to distribute objects evenly between the topmost and bottommost selected objects/top and bottom edges of the slide.
Alternatively, you can right-click the selected objects, choose the Align option from the contextual menu and then use one of the available distribution options.
Note: the distribution options are disabled if you select less than three objects.
Group objects
To group two or more selected objects or ungroup them, click the Arrange shape icon on the Home tab of the top toolbar and select the necessary option from the list:
- Group - to combine several objects into a group so that they can be simultaneously rotated, moved, resized, aligned, arranged, copied, pasted, formatted like a single object.
- Ungroup - to ungroup the selected group of the previously combined objects.
Alternatively, you can right-click the selected objects, choose the Arrange option from the contextual menu and then use the Group or Ungroup option.
Note: the Group option is disabled if you select less than two objects. The Ungroup option is available only when a group of the previously joined objects is selected.
Arrange objects
To arrange the selected object(s) (i.e. to change their order when several objects overlap each other), click the Arrange shape icon on the Home tab of the top toolbar and select the necessary arrangement type from the list.
- Bring To Foreground - to move the object(s) in front of all other objects,
- Send To Background - to move the object(s) behind all other objects,
- Bring Forward - to move the selected object(s) one level forward as related to other objects.
- Send Backward - to move the selected object(s) one level backward as related to other objects.
Alternatively, you can right-click the selected object(s), choose the Arrange option from the contextual menu and then use one of the available arrangement options.
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