Part 3: Create and animate objects on a slide — Patriotic Theme — Text

Part 3: Create and animate objects on a slide — Patriotic Theme — Text

This step-by-step series of tutorials will show you how to animate shapes and text to create a customizable patriotic slide with background music. This third tutorial focuses on drawing and animating the Text shown below.

Patriotic Theme Slide – Complete

Create text
Learn how to animate the Text in the above slide — but with a twist. This tutorial will show you how to create Text using the PowerPoint Fragment Shapes feature and how to animate each letter with the Expand Entrance Effect

1. On the Insert tab, click Text Box, and then place your cursor on the slide and click to draw the text box on the slide.
   

   Create text

2. Type the desired text (we’ve used Arial Black)
   

   Type the Words – Veterans Day

3. On the Insert tab, insert a Rectangle Shape to cover the length and height of the text (shown in red – note that the color doesn’t matter at this point) > Send Rectangle Shape to Back (Right click on rectangle > Send to Back > Send to Back
   

   Send to Back

4. Select the Rectangle Shape then with Shift Key held down, select the Text Box
   

   Select Text Box

5. Go to Drawing Tools > Format > Insert Shapes  Group > Merge Shapes ? > Fragment
   

   Use Fragment Tool

6. Delete the areas of the letters that need to be removed  (for example, the middles of the D, A, and R and the area of the shape surrounding the text. Leave the the remaining text.
   

   Delete Artifacts

7. Change the Shape Fill and Shape Outline colors as Desired
   

   Change Fill and Outline

8. Adjust letter spacing as desired (we’ve tightened it up so each letter touches the next)
   

   Tighten Text

9. Group all of the letters in “VETERANS DAY.” Select each letter while holding down the Shift Key. Then go to the Drawing Tools Tab > Format > Group ? > Group.
   

   Select Text

   

   Group Text

10. Resize Grouped Shapes as needed
11. Ungroup

To animate Text, follow these steps:

1. Holding the shift key, select each text shape (important, select each shape in the order of which you wish to animate – we’re starting with the “V” and ending with the “Y”.
   

   Hold Shift Key to Select Text

2. Go to the Animation Tab > Advance Animation Group > Add Animation > More Entrance Animations > Under Subtle, pick Expand
   

   Apply Expand Entrance Animation

3. Show the Animation Pane by going to the Animation Tab > Advanced Animation Group > Animation Pane
   

   Animation Pane

4. In the Animation Pane, with the animations effects still selected, go to Animation Tab > Timing  group> Start (More Arrow) > With Previous
   

   Text Animation Results

   Start: With Previous
   Set the Delay: Start each letter in 2 second increment (.20, .40, etc.)
   Set the Duration: .50

After creating and animating the Red Bars, White Stars and Text, your Animation Pane should look like the graphic below:

Steps so far

*REMINDER: We have labeled each object on the slide by identifying it in the Selection Pane (Home >  Editing group > Select > Selection Pane)

This tutorial is part of a 5 part series. To learn other drawing and animation techniques to create a slide like this, click any of the following links:

Draw and Animate the red bars

Draw and Animate the red stars

Create and Animate custom text (with Fragment Shapes Tool)

Draw and Animate the shooting stars

Insert Audio (music)

Download the PowerPoint file from here