PowerPoint Morph Slide Transitions

Slide transitions in PowerPoint provide a creative platform to make presentations more exciting and interactive. The PowerPoint Morph effect is a great tool for this. Read on to learn more.

PowerPoint Morph: What Is It?

In biology, metamorphosis describes the process of transformation or a change of form. In PowerPoint, morphing can be described as the transformation or smooth transition from one slide to the next. All modern versions of PowerPoint have the Morph feature. PowerPoint is able to recognize objects, their movements, and changes on both slides, creating a seamless transition.

This results in animation effects that are dynamic and engaging. When utilized effectively, Morph can create the illusion of a continuous camera shot that makes a presentation appear more alive and modern. Although this may seem complex, using PowerPoint Morph is surprisingly straightforward. All you need is a starting and target state for your objects, which you can easily design in advance.

With PowerPoint Morph, you can create animations with just a click and use them as slide transitions. Animations are an excellent way to visually support content, and the right animation can even help to reinforce key messages.

PowerPoint Morph Requirements

PowerPoint Morph is still a relatively new feature in Microsoft’s presentation software. There are specific technical requirements to create and play back Morph effects. Early versions of PowerPoint can play back Morph effects to a limited extent but can’t create them. The earliest versions aren’t capable of rendering the information in a Morph effect and will replace it with a Fade effect in the presentation. Below, we’ve detailed the PowerPoint versions that support Morph and those that do not.

Note: To play back Morph effects with PowerPoint 2016, you need specific Office updates. Creating Morph transitions in mobile apps is only possible with a Microsoft 365 subscription.

PowerPoint Morph Effect: Here’s How

To use the Morph effect as a transition, you’ll need two consecutive slides. When you change slides, objects on the first slide will transform smoothly into “new” objects on the second slide. To achieve a complete Morph transition, the selected objects need a starting state (on the first slide) and a target state (on the second slide). The Morphed objects on the second slide are modified duplicates of the original objects from the first slide.

While this may sound complicated, it’s actually quite simple. Here’s a step-by-step tutorial where a rectangle morphs and changes color.

1. Insert an Object: Go to Insert > Shapes. We’ve selected a rectangle and placed it on the slide.

   

2. Choose a Color: The Shape Format tab will now open in the top ribbon. Here you can select, among other things, the (starting) color of your object. You can further design the (starting) object any way you like.

   

3. Duplicate Your Slide: Click the first slide in the thumbnail pane on the left by pressing CTRL + D or right-clicking it and selecting Duplicate Slide. Now you have the starting and target slides for your Morph effect.

   

4. Design Your Target Slide: The second slide of the morph transition represents the final stage of your animation. Use the mouse to distort the shape of the rectangle, change its position, or recolor it as you like (right-click > Format Shape).

   

5. Add the Morph Effect: Now go to the Transitions tab and make sure that the second or target slide is selected. Click Morph in the selection pane.

   

PowerPoint will now render your custom Morph animation. Go back to Transitions and click on Preview to ensure that the transition is working properly.

Once you understand the principle behind PowerPoint Morph, you’ll have an almost limitless array of ways to create exciting animations and slide transitions. Get creative with shapes, images, and text to craft your own personal, interactive presentation using the PowerPoint Morph effect!

Morphing Text in PowerPoint

To enable the Morph effect on text or individual letters, you need to activate an additional setting in your PowerPoint project. First, follow our 5-step tutorial on how to create a PowerPoint Morph effect. However, instead of a rectangle, insert text on your initial slide. You can then design the duplicated text field on the second or target slide. Feel free to change the font, color, size, and position in addition to the text content.

After you’ve selected Transitions > Morph in the fifth step, click on Effect Options found to the right of the Transitions selection pane. Select Characters or Words. This provides PowerPoint with the additional information necessary for a flawless Morph effect.

Add a Zoom Effect to Images Using PowerPoint Morph

The Morph effect offers another exciting way to make graphics and photos in your presentation more interactive. Here, the slide transition is used to zoom in on a portion of the image. This is a great method to use a new storytelling effect that makes your next presentation engaging and dynamic.

First, upload any photo or graphic to a new, empty slide in your PowerPoint project. Next, duplicate the entire slide using the CTRL + D command or by right-clicking on the slide thumbnail and selecting Duplicate Slide.

Now that you have the starting and target slide for your PowerPoint Morph effect, define the section you want to zoom in on. To do this, you need to crop the photo on the second slide. Select the image and open the Picture Format tab at the top of the screen. Click on Crop.

Drag your mouse while holding down the CTRL key to frame the desired section of the image without distorting proportions.

Unclick Crop and drag the edges of the cropped image until it completely fills the slide. Again, using the CTRL key while dragging the mouse can help maintain the proportions of the image intact.

The next step is where the PowerPoint Morph transition comes into play:

Make sure you have selected the target slide. Go to Transitions > Morph. Now you can test the Morph animation by clicking on the Preview button.

In the Timing group, you can adjust the duration of the transition and even add short sound effects!

Conclusion: Rely on the PowerPoint Morph Transition to Give Your Slides a Surprising Effect!

PowerPoint Morph allows you to create high-quality animations. This modern transition effect livens up presentations, enhancing creativity and dynamism in your presentation. It can focus the audience’s attention on specific details through targeted use.

For those already proficient in PowerPoint, the Morph feature can be used to create almost autonomously running presentations. The Morph function is fully available to users of newer PowerPoint versions, such as PowerPoint 2019 and PowerPoint Web. Subscribers to Office 365 can also enjoy this feature. Morphing is not always backwards compatible (see table: “Requirements for PowerPoint Morph”).