PowerPoint offers several tools for controlling where you place objects on the slide. One tool is the grid , an invisible matrix of lines. When the Snap Objects To Grid option is on, an object snaps , or aligns, to the nearest point on the grid. You can also use alignment guides ”horizontal and vertical lines superimposed on the slide to help manually align objects. When an object is close to a guide, its edge or center, whichever is closer, snaps to the guide. PowerPoint also lets you distribute objects evenly horizontally and vertically across the slide. If multiple objects overlap, the most recently created drawing is placed on top of older drawings. You can change the order of this stack of objects. Display the Grid and Guides -
| Click the Draw button on the Drawing toolbar, and then click Grids And Guides. | -
| Select or clear the Snap Objects To Grid check box. | -
| Select or clear the Display Grid On Screen check box. | TIMESAVER Click the Show/Hide Grid button on the Standard toolbar. -
| Select or clear the Display Drawing Guides On Screen check box. | -
| Click OK. | Align an Object to a Guide -
| Display the Guides. | -
| Position the pointer over a guide, and then drag to change its position. | -
| Drag the object's center or edge near the guide. PowerPoint aligns the center or edge to the guide. | Align or Distribute Objects -
| Select the objects you want to align or distribute. | -
| Click the Draw button on the Drawing toolbar, point to Align Or Distribute, and then click the command you want: | -
Click Align Left, Align Center, Align Right, Align Top, Align Middle, or Align Bottom. -
Click Distribute Horizontally or Distribute Vertically. -
Select Relative To Slide if you want the objects to align relative to the slide, or deselect it if you want the objects to align relative to each other. Arrange a Stack of Objects -
| Select the objects you want to arrange. | -
| Click the Draw button on the Drawing toolbar, point to Order, and then click the command you want: | -
Click Bring To Front or Bring Forward to move a drawing to the top of the stack or up one location in the stack. -
Click Send To Back or Send Backward to move a drawing to the bottom of the stack or back one location in the stack. |