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In this video, we will briefly discuss placeholders and how they differ from text boxes. We will
also briefly discuss sizing and adjustment handles.
When I open PowerPoint, it displays a default document that contains two placeholders. Clicking
on the new slide button allows me to select a number of different layouts. When I select
a layout, some of these placeholders have to add tables, charts, smart art graphics,
video clips, clip art, or images. We will discuss these in more depth in a later
video. I may, as we will discuss also in a later video, create my own layouts and control
how I wish the placeholders to appear on those layouts.
For a beginning PowerPoint user, a placeholder allows us to quickly add objects and text
to our slide, but we do not have use placeholders, and most PowerPoint users do not.
You can very easily select the placeholders that appear on a slide. I click and then drag
with my mouse, holding down the mouse button, drawing a square around the objects I wish
to select. I can press the delete key on the keyboard and they are deleted from my presentation.
If I want to add a text box, I can click on the insert ribbon and then click on Text box.
This causes my mouse cursor to change into an insertion cursor. Where ever I click on
the screen, it will create a text box at that location.
I begin typing text; the text box will expand to accommodate the text that I type.
If I wish to move this text box around the screen, I move my mouse cursor over it; wait
for my mouse cursor to change into a movement cursor, which is an arrow pointer over top
of four arrows. I can then click and hold the mouse button down, dragging the text box
to where I want it to appear on the screen. If I want to resize my text box, I can use
one of the adjustment handles and click and drag, changing the size of my text box. This
will automatically cause the text within the text box to wrap. The adjustment handles have
different functions depending on their position. The adjustment handles in the corner allow
the textbox to be sized diagonally. This is indicated by the change of the cursor into
a diagonal double headed arrow. The adjustment handles in the middle sides
allow the text box to be adjusted horizontally. The adjustment handles at the top and bottom
of the text box allow the text box to be adjusted vertically.
Notice as I move my cursor around the screen, the cursor changes to reflect that action
that will be taken. If I see four arrows, like this, it allows me to move the text box.
If I see a vertical I-beam, it allows me to edit the text within the text box.
I can then go back to selecting the text box when I see the four arrows and click.
Another adjustment handle is the rotation handle. It is a green circle above the text
box that allows me to click and rotate my text.
If I hold down the shift key while rotating, I can rotate at set increments, allowing me
to snap back to a perfectly flat horizontal position.