Adding text, graphics and objects

Hello students, welcome to Kwickprep. A slide with only plain text is boring to watch. Pictures, tables, charts and videos make it clear and interesting. Today we will learn to add text, graphics and other objects to a slide.

First, a new word. An object is any item you place on a slide. Text boxes, pictures, shapes, tables, charts and videos are all objects. Each object can be moved, resized and formatted on its own. Most objects are added from the Insert tab.

There are two ways to add text. The easy way is to click inside a placeholder and type. For text in any other place, go to the Insert tab, click Text Box, and drag on the slide. A text box is useful for labels and small notes. Inside a bulleted list, press Enter for a new point, and Tab to make a sub point.

Text is formatted from the Home tab, in the Font and Paragraph groups. Ctrl+B makes text bold, with thick letters. Ctrl+I makes it italic, or slanted. Ctrl+U underlines it. Ctrl, Shift and the greater than key make the font bigger. Ctrl+E centres the text in its box.

Now, fancy titles. WordArt is decorative text with ready made styles, like shadows and outlines. Go to the Insert tab, click WordArt and pick a style. A box appears, and you type your own words in it. Use WordArt for a short title, never for long paragraphs.

Graphics are pictures and drawings. To add a picture from your computer, go to the Insert tab, click Pictures, then This Device. Find the image file and click Insert. You can also search for images with Online Pictures or Stock Images. Always use images you have permission to use, because many web images are copyrighted.

Next, formatting pictures. When a picture is selected, the Picture Format tab appears. Drag a corner handle to resize, because corners keep the shape and do not stretch the picture. Crop cuts away the parts you do not want, like extra background. Picture Styles adds frames, shadows or rounded edges in one click.

Other graphics are also found on the Insert tab. Shapes include arrows, boxes and stars that you draw yourself. Icons are simple symbol pictures, like a phone or a book. SmartArt builds a neat diagram from your text. All three sit in the Illustrations group.

Numbers look better in a table or a chart. For a table, click Insert, Table, and choose the number of rows and columns. Type in the cells, and press Tab to move to the next cell. For a chart, click Insert, Chart, and pick a type like column or pie. A small worksheet opens, where you type your own numbers.

The Insert tab also adds media and other objects. Video, in the Media group, adds a clip like a science experiment. Audio adds sound, like background music. Link, in the Links group, adds a hyperlink to a website or another slide, and the shortcut is Ctrl+K. Symbol adds special signs like the rupee sign. Equation adds maths formulas, like the area of a circle.

Every object is handled in the same way. Click an object to select it, and drag it to move it. The white handles resize it, and the curved arrow on top rotates it. Bring Forward and Send Backward decide which object sits on top. Group joins several objects so they move together.

Pause and predict. You drag the side handle of a photo of a student. The photo becomes wider, but not taller. What happens to the face in the photo? It looks stretched, so always resize a photo with a corner handle.

Let us revise what we learned today. Add text with placeholders, text boxes and WordArt. Add pictures from Insert, Pictures, and resize them from the corners. Shapes, icons, SmartArt, tables and charts make ideas clear. Video, audio, links, symbols and equations are also on the Insert tab. Build one slide about your school using at least four kinds of objects.