How do you shape in Google Slides?

To add and customize shapes in Google Slides, you'll first insert a shape from the toolbar and then use various formatting options to modify its appearance and functionality.

How to Add and Customize Shapes in Google Slides

Shapes are fundamental elements in Google Slides for creating diagrams, flowcharts, infographics, and enhancing visual appeal. Mastering their addition and customization can significantly elevate your presentations.

Adding a Shape to Your Slide

The process of inserting a shape is straightforward and forms the basis for any further customization.

Click Insert: At the top of your Google Slides interface, locate and click the Insert menu.
Select Shape: From the dropdown menu, choose Shape.
Choose Your Shape Category: A submenu will appear, offering various categories:
- Shapes: Basic geometric forms like rectangles, circles, triangles, stars, and hearts.
- Arrows: A variety of directional arrows.
- Callouts: Speech and thought bubbles.
- Equation: Common mathematical symbols such as plus, minus, multiply, and divide signs.
Select a Specific Shape: Click on the specific shape you wish to add.
Draw the Shape: Your cursor will change to a crosshair. Click and drag on your slide to draw the shape to your desired size and proportion. Release the mouse button to place the shape.

The object will get added to the slide, and you can arrange or format it however you want immediately after insertion.

Customizing and Formatting Shapes

Once a shape is on your slide, Google Slides provides a robust set of tools to modify its appearance, making it suitable for your presentation's design and purpose.

Basic Manipulations

Resizing: Click and drag any of the blue square handles on the shape's border. Hold Shift while dragging a corner handle to maintain the aspect ratio.
Moving: Click and drag the shape to a new location on the slide.
Rotating: Click the small circular handle connected to the top of the shape and drag it clockwise or counter-clockwise.
Deleting: Select the shape and press Delete or Backspace.

Styling Options from the Toolbar

With the shape selected, the toolbar at the top of the screen will display several formatting options:

Fill Color:
- Click the Fill color bucket icon (often depicted as a paint bucket).
- Choose a solid color, a custom color, or a gradient fill.
- Select "Transparent" for no fill color.
Border Color:
- Click the Border color icon (a pencil or line icon).
- Choose a color for the shape's outline.
- Select "Transparent" for no border.
Border Weight:
- Click the Border weight icon (a series of increasing line thicknesses).
- Select a pixel value (e.g., 1px, 2px, 4px) to adjust the thickness of the border.
Border Dash:
- Click the Border dash icon (a dotted or dashed line).
- Choose a dashed or dotted line style for the border.

Adding and Formatting Text within Shapes

Most shapes can contain text, making them useful for labels, callouts, or simple text blocks.

Double-click the Shape: Double-click inside the shape to activate the text cursor.
Type Your Text: Enter your desired text.
Format Text: Use the standard text formatting options in the toolbar (font, size, bold, italic, underline, text color, alignment) to customize the appearance of the text within the shape.

Advanced Formatting Options (Format Options Sidebar)

For more detailed control, select the shape and then click Format options in the toolbar or right-click the shape and choose "Format options." This opens a sidebar with advanced settings:

Size & Rotation: Fine-tune exact dimensions and rotation angles.
Position: Set precise X and Y coordinates on the slide.
Text Fitting: Adjust padding and text wrapping within the shape.
Drop Shadow:
- Add a shadow effect to the shape.
- Customize its color, transparency, angle, distance, and blur radius.
Reflection:
- Add a reflective effect below the shape.
- Adjust its transparency, size, and distance.

Practical Tips for Shape Manipulation

Grouping Shapes: Select multiple shapes (hold Shift and click each one), then right-click and choose Group. This allows you to move, resize, or rotate them as a single object.
Arranging Order: Right-click a shape, go to Order, and choose options like "Bring to front," "Send to back," "Bring forward," or "Send backward" to manage how shapes overlap.
Aligning Shapes: Select multiple shapes, then click Arrange > Align in the top menu to align them precisely to the left, center, right, top, middle, or bottom. You can also use Distribute to space them evenly.
Using Connector Lines: For flowcharts and diagrams, combine shapes with lines that automatically connect to anchor points on the shapes. Go to Insert > Line and choose "Elbow Connector" or "Curved Connector."

Common Shape Tools Summary

Tool	Icon	Function
Insert		Menu for adding shapes, images, text boxes, etc.
Fill Color		Changes the inner color of the shape.
Border Color		Changes the color of the shape's outline.
Border Weight		Adjusts the thickness of the border.
Border Dash		Sets the border to a dashed or dotted line.
Format Options		Opens sidebar for advanced styling options.

For more detailed guidance, refer to the Google Slides Help Center.