- [Instructor] In this video,
we'll see how to add shapes to a document.
And here's the key to shapes.
In most cases, text boxes and shapes are pretty much
the same thing.
The formatting tools for them are the same
and they can be used interchangeably.
So let me start by going to a section of my document
where I want to add this shape.
Then I'll go to the insert ribbon
and I'm looking for this shapes option.
And there are a lot of options here.
Let's start with the arrow shape.
When you choose a shape like this,
you'll need to drag on your page to basically draw
where you want that shape to be.
Now just like with a picture or a text box,
you want to make sure that that shape is selected
then you'll see a special format ribbon
for it up at the top.
So I want to make sure to select that format ribbon.
Then just like a text box,
you can format the fill or the outline of that shape.
But I started with a basic arrow which does not have
the option for a fill.
That's because some of these shapes are pretty much
just line based objects.
So in that case, you don't have the option for the fill,
but you can adjust the outline.
So if I wanted this arrow to be bigger,
what I would do is change the weight of that line.
So I can change that like that.
And now it's much thicker and a little bit easier to see.
And with align based shape like this,
there is a starting point and an ending point.
So instead of resizing it, you can drag those end points
and then that will change the size or the angle
of that shape.
Okay, let's do another shape.
So once again, I'll go to the insert ribbon.
I'll go to shapes.
And this time I'm going to choose the rectangle
with rounded corners.
And then I can basically just drag to draw that shape
on my page.
Now for the moment,
this shows up as just a big shape on my document.
And you could use shapes like this for accents, dividers,
all sorts of things.
And you can format it just like a text box.
So you could select it and then you could grab one
of the corners and drag that to resize it.
To move it, you can place your mouse cursor
on one of the edges and then drag it around.
But also when it's selected,
you can go to that special formatting ribbon up at the top.
And you could change the fill or the outline.
For now I'm going to go to the outline menu.
You can choose whatever color or thickness you want
or you could just set it to no outline at all.
That's a pretty good option.
Let me go to the fill
and I'm going to choose a very light color for this here.
And of course, there's one big way a shape
can act like a text box.
I can just click on that shape
and I could type in some text.
Now my text here is pretty small,
so I might want to change the color of the text
and I can do that in this same format ribbon.
So I could select the text
and then I could change the color,
I could change the outline,
I could use one of these effects.
But I'm going to use one of these pre-made styles.
Now still the text is a little small.
And for that, I will need to go over to the home ribbon
where I can use any of the other text formatting options.
So let's make this a little bit bigger.
And I think that looks good there.
So I started with a simple shape,
but with a little manipulation,
I've turned it into a text box.
Because really text box and shapes
are basically the same thing.
And from here I could resize it a little bit.
I could move it around and I've basically made a banner
that I could position on my page.
And of course you should experiment with the other
formatting options that you have in that format ribbon.
But I'm going to leave you with one
that can be pretty useful.
Again, I want to make sure that shape is selected.
I'm here in that format ribbon.
And I'm going to change the text direction.
So I can set it like that.
And of course I need to resize that shape to accommodate it.
But now I've made a completely different type of banner
that I could use on my page.
That's not quite right for my document,
but it can be a very useful tool for creating special
layouts in other documents.
My big takeaway here is this,
I suggest you play around with other shapes.
But remember, most shapes can be turned into text boxes
if that's what you need.