Text Box Outline - Easy to See

[Rajah]

When creating a new slide, the new slide layout options have objects that are
outlined in display mode, but are not visible when viewed.

Can I turn on this outline feature for new text boxes or other objects?

 

[Sonia]

Does the "outline" you refer to only appear when the text is selected? That's
called the text box and doesn't show up in Slide Show mode. If you want to
place text on a rectangle, you can draw the rectangle and position it over the
text. Then while it is still selected, go to Draw > Order > Send to Back. If
you want to apply a hyperlink to the box and see it in the Viewer, be sure to
give it a transparent fill before you "send it to back".

 

[Rajah]

The outline shows up whether text is selected, or not:

I run PowerPoint, and there... in Presentation1 is one slide, with two
boxes, outlined in dotted line; first box says "Click to add title," the
2nd, "Click to add subtitle"

Are these really text boxes? if so, how do they differ (are visible when
not selected, sample text goes away when clicked) from text boxes I insert?

R.

 

[Sonia]

Those are Placeholders that are provided to you based on the Slide Layout that
you select (Format > Slide Layout). Once you type some text in them, they
become text boxes for all intents and purposes. To give your text an outline,
place your cursor within the text and then press Escape. That will cause the
text box to be selected. Then click on the Line Color tool at the bottom of the
screen (on the Draw toolbar) and change the line color from "No line" to a color
of your choice.

If you want your text boxes to have an outline, place the cursor within the
text, press Escape (that selects the text box) and

 

[Rajah]

So the answer is "No."

I see that, after I type some text in the box, the dotted line goes away.

Thanks for replying.

 

[Sonia]

You cannot add Placeholders. If you want your text to have a permanent outline
similar to what a placeholder has, you can give them "patterned lines". I guess
I'm not clear on what you want to do.

 

[Rajah]

I want to be able to see the objects I've created, even if they're empty, or
have spaces in them, or blend into the background.

Access has a good feature - at least, in one of the versions of Access I've
used. You can look at a dropdown of the objects on a form or report, and
select it from that dropdown. It then becomes apparent where that object
lies.

I don't think Powerpoint does what I'm imagining it could.

Thanks again for your input and time.

 

[Sonia]

If you click somewhere off the slide and then press the Tab key repeatedly, each
object on your slide will be selected and will have "handles" around it.

You can also add a new tool icon that might be helpful. Go to View > Toolbars >
Optimize. I the dialog locate "Drawing" on the left side and select it. On the
right side look for "Select Multiple Objects". Click, hold, and drag the icon
to the toolbar at the bottom of your window. You can drop it in between any of
the existing icons when the cursor turns into an I shaped vertical bar. Once
it's there, click on it to open the tool dialog. You'll see a list of all
objects on your slide. Check a box and click OK. The object is selected.
Click several boxes and the associated objects will be selected.

 

[Rajah]

That's a big help - Thanks!

If you click somewhere off the slide and then press the Tab key repeatedly, each
object on your slide will be selected and will have "handles" around it.

You can also add a new tool icon that might be helpful. Go to View > Toolbars >
Optimize. I the dialog locate "Drawing" on the left side and select it. On the
right side look for "Select Multiple Objects". Click, hold, and drag the icon
to the toolbar at the bottom of your window. You can drop it in between any of
the existing icons when the cursor turns into an I shaped vertical bar. Once
it's there, click on it to open the tool dialog. You'll see a list of all
objects on your slide. Check a box and click OK. The object is selected.
Click several boxes and the associated objects will be selected.