How to create a logo in PowerPoint

Would you like to create your own logo, product image, or course symbol in PowerPoint in a few minutes — following some easy steps?

If so, you’re in luck, just read on. I’m going to show you how to create this logo — and you can customize it in any way you want.

A logo or product image like this will:

• Add interest to a sales page or training announcement
• Strengthen your branding
• Create a compelling message

 

So let’s get started!

1. Find an image

Find an image that you want to use. I found this one on Pixabay.com by searching for photos and the keyword “unity.” Look for a striking image that you could crop to a square shape (1:1 aspect ratio). Download it.

2. Insert the image on a slide

Open PowerPoint with the default blank theme. Right-click just off the first slide and choose Layout, Blank to get rid of the placeholders.

Choose Insert, Pictures and navigate to the image you downloaded to insert it.

3. Crop the image

You want the image to be a square. Select it, click the Picture Format tab, and then click the Crop down arrow – not the Crop button itself but the arrow below the button.

Choose Aspect Ratio, 1:1. If necessary, drag the image inside the crop marks so that you get the part of the image you want. In this case, the center of the image was fine.

Click outside the image to finish the crop.

4. Insert the circle

I used a circle as the boundary for my image, but you could use a rounded rectangle (square) or a square.

If the image is big, drag it from one of the corners to make it smaller and move it to one side of the slide.

On the Home tab, in the Drawing group, click the Oval shape. On the slide, press the Shift key and drag on the slide to make a perfect circle. The size isn’t so important now because you can resize the logo later but make it big enough to work with easily.

With the circle selected, click the Shape Format tab and choose Shape Fill and pick the white color.

Choose Shape Outline and choose a color for the outline. I chose a dark green.

Choose Shape Outline again, then Weight, and choose a thicker weight. I chose 6 pts. but you can choose whatever you want. A thinner weight will look more delicate.

5. Fill the circle with the image

To fill the circle with the image, follow these steps:

1. Copy the image to the clipboard.
2. Right-click the circle and choose Format Shape. Make sure the Fill & Line icon in the Format Shape pane is selected.
3. Under the Fill section, choose Picture or Texture Fill and in the Picture Source section, choose Clipboard.

Presto! The image is inside the circle.

It already looks good but we’re going to add some text.

6. Add the text

On the Home tab in the Drawing section, click the Text Box item and drag on the slide above the circle. Type the text for the top of the circle. In my case, I typed, “PARTNERING MAKES”. You don’t need to make the text all caps, but I decided to. Don’t worry about the text size, font, or color right now.

With the text box selected, on the Home tab, in the Paragraph section, click the Center icon to center the text in the text box. Center the text box itself over the circle by dragging on its boundary. You should see alignment guides when the text box is perfectly centered over the center of the circle.

Duplicate the text box, press and hold Shift, and drag the copy to the bottom of the circle. (Pressing Shift makes sure that the copy moves perfectly vertically.) Replace the text with your bottom text. I typed “YOU STRONGER”.

Try to get the 2 text boxes the same distance from the circle. You’ll see equidistant guides when they are. It doesn’t have to be perfect right now.

7. Curve the text around the circle

Now comes the magic.

Select the top text box. On the Shape Format tab, choose Text Effects, then Transform, then the Arch option, as you see here. You don’t see much of a difference at first.

Now, drag the bottom-center handle of the text box down, almost to the bottom of the circle. You’ll be able to adjust it later but start with that.

You should see the text arch around the circle with approximately the same curve. Note: You won’t see the effect until you finish the drag process.

At this point, make the following slight adjustments:

1. Change the text size, color, and font.
2. Drag the text box up or down just a little so the distance from the circle appeals to you.
3. Drag the bottom-center handle of the text box so that the curve of the text box more accurately matches that of the circle. This is a trial-and-error process so just keep making those little adjustments.

Here is my end result for the top text box.

We’re almost there!

Repeat the process for the bottom text box, but using the Arch Down text transformation and dragging the top-center handle upward. When you do this, the two text boxes will overlap, so as you make adjustments, take care to select the one you want to work with.

8. Turn it into an image

Select all 3 objects. Right-click and choose Save as Picture. Save the image wherever you want. You can now insert it in a sales page, announcement, slide, blog post,  social media post — anywhere you insert pictures.

Next step

Create your own logo or product image!

Click the “Read later — Download this post as a PDF — Click Here” button on this page to get this post as a PDF — that will help you follow the steps. Then leave a comment when you’ve done this!

Use the comments to ask questions, too.