137. Add Slide Animation Effects

Another way to add special effects to your presentation slides is to take advantage of animation effects. These effects can be assigned to a particular object on a slide such as a text box or graphic.

There are "regular" effects that are used to control the entry of an object (or objects) onto the slide (such as a dissolve), and there are also text effects. A text effect can be used to animate the text in a text box such as a bulleted list. For example, assigning the Fly in from Left text effect to a text box causes each item in the list to fly in from the left (separately) when you click the mouse (a mouse click is required for each item in the list).

Before You Begin

135 Insert Graphics and Other Objects

Select Object

Select an object on the current slide (or select multiple objects by using the mouse to drag a selection frame around those objects).

Open Animation Effects Dialog

Select Slide Show, Effects from the menu. The Animation Effects dialog box opens. Select the Preview button in the Animation Effects dialog box so that you can view a preview of any effects you apply to the selected object or objects.

Select Object Effect

If you want to apply an animation effect to an object (any object), select the effect category in the Effects drop-down list (such as Favorites, Cross-fading, and so on). Then select an effect in the effect box.

To change the speed of the effect, select the Speed drop-down list and select Slow, Medium, or Fast. To apply the effect and view a preview (in the Preview window), select the Assign button (check mark).

Tip

You can also select a sound to accompany your animation effects. After selecting an effect, select the Extras button. On the Extras screen select the Sound button and select a sound to accompany the effect. You can also select Fade Object to Color on the Extras screen and select a color to be used for the fade.

Tip

You can configure the order that objects appear on the slide when you have set effects for multiple objects. In the Animation Effects dialog box, select the Order button. The Order list appears for the slide, listing all the objects on the slide. Drag objects in the list to select the order entry for the various items. Remember to select Assign after making any changes to the animation effect settings.

Select Text Effect

If you want to apply a text effect rather than an object effect (as discussed in step 3), select the Text Effects button in the Animation Effects dialog box. Select the Text Effects drop-down list and select an effect from the list (such as Cross-fading, Fly In, and so on). Then select one of the effects shown in the Effect box.

After selecting the effect, select the Assign button to apply the effect to the text box. A preview of the effect will appear in the Preview window.

After you have finished applying your object or text effects, close the Animation Effects dialog box and then the Preview window.