Apply Glow Effects to Shapes
Author: Geetesh Bajaj
Product/Version: Microsoft PowerPoint 2007
OS: Microsoft Windows XP / Vista
Date Created: March 16th 2009
Last Updated: March 16th 2009
Excerpt/Capsule: Glow adds a hazed color perimeter outside the shape area. PowerPoint provides several glow variations, and in this tutorial I'll show you how to apply glow effects to a shape.
In previous tutorials, I have showed you how you can add preset, shadow, and reflection effects to shapes in PowerPoint 2007. Now I move on to the next effect: Glow. Glow adds a hazed color perimeter outside the shape area. PowerPoint provides several glow variations, and in this tutorial I'll show you how to apply glow effects to a shape.
To see a sample presentation containing Glow effects in PowerPoint 2007, scroll down to the bottom of this page.
Follow these steps to apply glow effects to a shape:
- Select the shape you want to apply the effect to. Selecting a shape activates the Drawing Tools Format tab in the Ribbon -- activate this tab and locate the Shape Effects button that you can see in Figure 1 (highlighted in yellow at the bottom right of the Figure).
Figure 1: Shape Effects
- This brings up the Shape Effects dropdown gallery, as you can see in Figure 2. From the Shape Effects dropdown gallery, choose the Glow option.
Figure 2: Glow
- This opens the Glow sub-gallery (refer to Figure 2 above) that provides the following options:
- No Glow: Use this option to remove the glow effect from a selected shape. You can use this option only if the shape has a glow applied.
- Glow Variations: This option provides several glow variations based on color and spread.
Color: The six color variations are based on the six accent colors of the active Theme -- learn more about Themes here...
Spread: There are four glow thickness (spread) variation available.
- More Glow Colors: Opens color swatches so that you can choose more colors for glow. Learn More...
- No Glow: Use this option to remove the glow effect from a selected shape. You can use this option only if the shape has a glow applied.
- Mouse over any of the effects within the Glow gallery to see a live preview of the effect. Click on an effect to apply it to the selected shape.
- Remember to save your presentation often.
Related Link: My book Cutting Edge PowerPoint 2007 For Dummies covers many aspects of PowerPoint 2007. A free chapter excerpt PowerPointing with the Best of Them is available on this site.
Sample Presentation
Click above to view on Slideboom
Carmine Gallo is a communications coach for the world’s most admired brands. His client list includes Intel, Chase, Barclays, IBM, Nokia, and many others. 
