Grouping, Order, and Fill Effects to Create Your Own Graphic

Using grouping and order gives you a great deal of power when dealing with pictures. For this Activity, you will create a 1st place award ribbon in PowerPoint just using AutoShapes. An example of an award ribbon is shown below:

• The first AutoShape used was a 24 point star. Click AutoShape on the Drawing toolbar, select Stars and Banners, then click the 24-Point Star shown below:

• Now you will need to add the fill pattern. Save the fill pattern below to your folder.

• To apply the fill pattern, select the star by clicking on it, click the fill button on the Drawing toolbar, then select fill effects to open the Fill Effects dialog box.

• Click the Picture tab, then click Select Picture.
• Navigate to your folder and select the blue satin fill you saved above.
• Click OK.
• Next I added a circle on top of the star to give it a little depth. Click the oval button on the Drawing toolbar, then while holding down the left mouse drag the oval out on the canvas. Drag it on top of the star and resize it to your liking.
• While the oval is still selected, click the format AutoShape button on the Picture toolbar to open the Format AutoShape dialog box:

• With the Lines and Color tab selected, I choose a dashed line with a width of 3.25:

• With the oval still selected, open the Fill Effects dialog box as described above. Fill the blue pattern fill in the circle.
• Click OK to close the Fill Effects dialog box.
• Next I added two WordArt objects on top of the oval. Click on the WordArt button on the Drawing toolbar to open the WordArt Gallery:

• Select the arched format for the top text number 1 above. Resize and drag the text where you want it to appear on the award ribbon.
• Select the number 2 text for the second text box. Resize and drag the text out till you have it the way you want it.
• To add the two ribbons below the star and oval, simply click the AutoShape button to open the AutoShape drop-down list.
• Select Block Arrow, then select the outlined below:

• Drag the shape on the canvas, rotate it, then fill it with the same blue satin fill.
• Notice as you drag the ribbon to the star, it goes on top, not under it. You will need to change the order of the AutoShape.
• With the ribbon still selected, click the Draw button on the Drawing toolbar, then select Order>Send to back.

• The ribbon should now be behind the star.
• Copy the ribbon and paste it to create the other ribbon.
• Rotate it until you get it the way you want it.
• When you have the Award Ribbon the way you want it, it is a good practice to group all the pieces together to make one solid object.
• While holding down the Shift key, left mouse click all the separate parts of the Award Ribbon.
• On the Drawing toolbar, click Draw>Group to group the object together.