Set vertical alignment of text

Do you sometimes find that text looks too high or low in its box?

too low?

You can change the vertical text placement. Choose Format>Text Box (or AutoShape). Click the Text Box tab and choose an option from the Text Alignment drop-down list. Here I chose Middle.

middle alignment

Do the same for tables — select the table and choose Format > Table.

At PowerPoint Live, the annual PowerPoint conference, I learned another reason to change the vertical text placement.

When you format title text in the slide master, you’ll see that by default, the vertical alignment is Middle, as you see here.

middle alignment by default for title text

The problem is that when you need to use a 2-line title, the text shifts to fit both lines of text in the placeholder. The result is that the title seems to move from one slide to another. Look at them side-by-side, and you can see the change.

middle alignment by default

two-line title

Instead, format your title placeholder in your slide master for Bottom alignment. Then, your title text seems to move less as you go from 1-line titles to 2-line titles. Here, I also used left justification, for even more consistency in placement.

on-line title bottom alignment and left justified

two-line title bottom alignment and left justified

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