PowerPoint Tips & Tutorials

Use transparency gradients

You can create some great effects with gradient fills that have variable transparency.

Let's say that you have a side bar image but you want a softer edge. In this slide, the edge of the cookies is sharp.

Here I've added a white rectangle with a gradient whose transparency changes from 0% to 100% as you look from left to right.

This effect is a nice transition to the text and gives the impression of light beaming on the cookies. Yum!

This effect is simple to create:

1. Insert a rectangle and size it as appropriate.
2. Double-click it to open the Format AutoShape dialog box.
3. In the Line section, choose No Line from the Color drop-down list.
4. In the Fill section, choose Fill Effects from the Color drop-down list.
5. On the Gradient tab, choose One Color and choose white as the color. (You could experiment with other colors, too.) As far as I can tell, the Dark-Light slider has no effect, but if you have the slider box in the middle, you won't know which variant to choose.
6. Set the From transparency to 100% and the To transparency to 0%.
7. Set the shading style to vertical and pick the variant with the darker shade on the left. You may have to experiment with these settings to get the results you want in your situation.

8. Click OK twice. Here you see the rectangle, selected, on a blue background.
9. Place the rectangle over the image and nudge it exactly into place. If necessary, make sure that it's order is on top.

You can use this technique to create 3D effects. On the left, you see a cylinder, which is made up of two ovals and a rectangle. I've applied a simple gradient, but it still doesn't look 3-dimensional.

On the right, I've added a white AutoShape using the same type of transparency gradient I just described. It looks more realistic. (The top oval is still a simple gradient.) Note that I had to add a triangle at the bottom to cover the bototm oval.

Try adding a shadow for even more realism.

Finally, you can use transparency gradients for WordArt.

Only the shadow effect keeps the bottom visible. Here are the settings:

Try out your own ideas for transparency gradients.

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