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Discover the power of Align and Distribute functions in PowerPoint to create professional diagrams with ease. Here are 3 interesting ways in which this feature can be used to create business diagrams.
Why Alignment is important:
Take a look at this slide from a business presentation. What thoughts cross your mind when you see the slide?
You get the feeling that the slide is put together in a hurry. The shapes are not aligned and distributed properly. So, you sense a lack of professional touch which is so vital in a business presentation.
Take a look at this improved version:
The same slide looks so much better. The simple difference is in the alignment of elements. In this case, the alignment is not done manually. We used ‘Align’ function in PowerPoint to get the results.
In this article, we will explore the power of this useful, yet rarely used feature of PowerPoint.
A habit worth developing:
Whenever you use multiple elements on your slide, it is always helpful to align them properly to give your slide a professional feel. Remember a disorganized slide is a distraction for the audience.
So, make it a habit to use the PowerPoint Align function’ to arrange multiple objects on your slide. This will remarkably improve the quality of your slides.
To use this feature:
All you need, is to select the relevant objects Go to Format > Align and Align Left/ Right/ Top etc. as per your specific requirements.
This step takes just a few seconds to perform, but makes your slide look organized.
Now, we wish to explore some more interesting ways to use ‘Align’ function. Here they are…
Interesting way 1: Draw a Grid in seconds:
Open a new slide. Draw a horizontal line. Make copies of the line by pressing ‘Ctrl +D’ multiple times.
Now, move the last line to a point where you want the grid to end:
Select all the lines. Go to Arrange-> Align -> Align left and Distribute vertically.
You will get the following result:
If you follow the same procedure of PowerPoint Align with vertical lines you will get an elegant grid:
There are multiple uses for this grid. For example, you can use the grid as an element of your info graphic:
You can use it as a background for your graphs and charts:
Multiple Lines Comparison | PowerPoint Scatter Plot
Source: PowerPoint Pie Charts from 750+ Charts & Diagrams CEO Pack
Interesting way 2: Create a Shape Fill
Once you create the grid and align it, you can save the grid as a picture (Right Click on shape and Save as Picture) and use it to fill shapes.
If you were to draw this grid manually, you may have to spend a lot of time, and still not be sure of the end result.
In the same way as the grid, you can use replications of multiple shapes. Here is a Frame Shape from PowerPoint Autoshapes used for a creative fill.
We filled a PowerPoint Cross shape with this frame design we just created.
To do this by Right Click > Format Shape > Fill > Picture or Texture Fill > Select the saved rectangle image > Tick the Tile Picture as Texture Box and set the scale on X and Y Axis to 10%.
This is the result is this…
You can create interesting fills by using PowerPoint Align and then Filling shapes like this:
Source: PowerPoint Wall from Goals Section of CEO Pack
Interesting Way 3: Draw concentric circles in seconds:
Open a new slide. Draw a small circle. Remove the shape fill.
Make a copy of the circle using ‘Ctrl +D’.
Right click on the circle and go to ‘Size and Position’, select the ‘Lock Aspect Ratio’ option. Increase the height to 120%.
Make a copy of this larger circle. Increase the size of the copy by 20%. Keep repeating the procedure till you get the number of circles you want in your concentric circles diagram.
Now, select all the circles and use with PowerPoint Align feature by using -> Arrange -> Align centre and Align Middle. Your concentric circles are ready.
Related: Create ripple effect diagram with concentric circles
You can use the idea to create Maze diagram:
Source: Target Diagrams from CEO Pack
Or to create a Target diagram:
Source: Target from 750+ PowerPoint Charts & Diargams CEO Pack
There are tons of uses for ‘Align’ function and it is a necessary tool in your armory if you want to create professional diagrams.
Inspiration for more diagrams:
If you want to see the full power of ‘Align’ function, we suggest you take a look at our ‘750 + PowerPoint Charts and Diagrams templates pack for CEOs’. You can see how we align multiple objects on any diagram template to create a professional feel like this Calendar below.
All the examples mentioned in the above article are from the same pack.
Here are more related tutorials for you to explore…
Related: Create 3D PowerPoint Target diagram
Related: See 5 uses of PowerPoint Paste Special Function