Text Wrapping in PowerPoint

When designing a presentation, you’ll most likely need to add some text to your slides. For example, you might want to explain a picture or you might want to describe the steps of a process. 

Understanding Text Wrapping

Do you know the concept of text wrapping? It allows you to give “shape” to the text, so that it is displayed on the screen the way you want it. Although PowerPoint doesn’t have a dedicated option for this feature, there’s a workaround that can achieve similar results.

Text wrapping is a technique that makes your text wrap around other elements present in the slide, primarily images. This approach can save you time by eliminating the need to manually adjust spacing and text boxes, ultimately resulting in a cleaner and more visually appealing layout. Furthermore, effective text wrapping can enhance readability and create a certain visual effect, which is particularly useful for posters or ads.

Steps to Wrap Text Around an Image in PowerPoint

To utilize text wrapping in PowerPoint, we will leverage Microsoft Word as a companion tool. Follow these steps to wrap text effectively:

1. Open Microsoft Word: Start by entering the text you want to display. For this example, let’s write a few lines about six planets of the solar system.

2. Insert an Image: Navigate to the Insert tab, select Pictures, and then choose “This Device.” Find and insert the desired image.

   

3. Apply Text Wrapping in Word: Right-click the image and select “Wrap Text.” You’ll see various text wrapping layouts; choose the one that fits your needs best.

   

4. Transition to PowerPoint: Leave Microsoft Word open and switch to PowerPoint. Open your presentation and navigate to the slide where you want to insert the content from Word.

5. Insert a Word Object: In PowerPoint, go to the Insert tab and click on Object in the Text group.

   

6. Select Microsoft Word Document: In the window that appears, choose “Microsoft Word Document” and click OK. This action creates an editable object that mimics a Word document within your PowerPoint slide.

   

7. Copy and Paste: Now, you can copy the text and the image from your Word document into this PowerPoint object. All Word formatting options will be available for you!

   

8. Adjust Text Wrapping: Right-click on the image within the “Word-inside-PowerPoint” object. You’ll find the Wrap Text option here, allowing you to select a different wrapping layout if desired.

   

9. Edit Wrap Points: If you choose the “Edit Wrap Points” option, you can adjust the outline of the text wrapping around the image by dragging the points that appear around the image.

   

10. Finalize Your Design: Feel free to modify the text properties such as size, color, and font. Once satisfied, click outside the object box to return to the slide. To edit the wrapping or text again, simply double-click the object.

Now it’s your chance to put this method into practice! You can download one of our PowerPoint templates and incorporate your own images and text. Make sure to use consistent fonts to maintain a cohesive look throughout your presentation.