Creating Custom Bullets

Bullets are a little different than other images in Keynote. Because Keynote does not let you paste bullet images into the Custom Image box in the Text Inspector ( Figure 14.5 ), all custom bullets must be created outside of the program and imported, not pasted, into Keynote.

Figure 14.5. You add your custom bullet images by choosing Custom Image from the pop-up menu in the Text Inspector.

Here are some suggestions as to which programs are best for creating custom bullets:

• If you use a vector-based program such as OmniGraffle or Adobe Illustrator to make your bullets, they will be fully scalable and won't lose quality if you decide to make them bigger.

• You can also create photographic or bitmapped bullets in Photoshop ( Figure 14.6 ) or Fireworks. Just make sure you leave the bullet on its own layer and create your file with a transparent background or your bullet will end up with a white rectangle behind it.

  Figure 14.6. You can use Photoshop or a similar photo editor to create photographic bullets. Just make sure your background is transparent before saving. The checkerboard pattern indicates transparency.

  

  
  

Tips

• If you've included a shadow in your bullet and now want to add a shadow to your bulleted text in Keynote 2, simply highlight the actual text with your cursor before applying a shadow to it using the Graphic Inspector. If you select the entire text box Keynote will also add a shadow to your bullet, which would give you a double shadow.

• Don't be afraid to create unique bullets such as those with transparent areas in them. For example, even a simple ring instead of a solid circle can add a nice subtle effect to your bulleted list.

Using OmniGraffle for Bullets

If your Mac came with a free copy of OmniGraffle (PowerBooks and G4 and G5 towers do), put it to good use. OmniGraffle is one of the easiest programs you can use to create custom bullets. Just create an object, then select it and choose File > Export. Make sure you use the PDF format, and turn on the Transparent Background option ( Figure 14.7 ).

Figure 14.7. OmniGraffle is a great tool to use when creating custom bullets. When you save the bullet in OmniGraffle, be sure to save the file as a PDF with a transparent background.