Line turns into shape?

[Ben]

I'm having a good time learning about Powerpoint as I create animations
for a physics class I teach.

I have found a couple of times that a line that I drawn is being treated
as a shape when I come back to it. It still plays in the animation all
right, but I can't edit points if I want to tweak its shape or
something.

Is there some rule or reason for this or is this just something my
system is doing to me?

Thanks,

Ben



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[Echo S]

If you use the Freeform line tool to draw your lines, you'll be able to use
edit points, but they won't work on a "regular" line in PPT 97 - 2003. (They
do work on "regular" lines in PPT 2007, though.)

The Freeform line tool is on the drawing toolbar. Click Autoshapes, then
Lines. You can even grab the top of that little flyout menu and drag it to
your workspace so it's handy. Double-click to make the tool "sticky" so you
can draw a bunch of lines in succession, and click it again or hit Esc to
quit it.

 

[ben]

I am very much self taught, but my experience is different. I find I
can "Edit Points" with any line - straight, curve, scribble, freeform
in PPT 2003.

My situation is that I have drawn a long curved line which wipes in and
I have drawn some stick figures which spin or move. I am able to "Edit
Points" to shape them as I want. After some time I have come back to
tweak them and these lines are being treated as shapes. I can resize
them vertically or horizontally. The "Edit Points" is not available. I
found something on the web about "Paste Special... > paste as enhanced
metafile". This worked once and made it back into a line, but not other
times. Maybe my experience is unique to me and my machine. I haven't
seen anything else about it anywhere.

If you use the Freeform line tool to draw your lines, you'll be able to use
edit points, but they won't work on a "regular" line in PPT 97 - 2003. (They
do work on "regular" lines in PPT 2007, though.)

The Freeform line tool is on the drawing toolbar. Click Autoshapes, then
Lines. You can even grab the top of that little flyout menu and drag it to
your workspace so it's handy. Double-click to make the tool "sticky" so you
can draw a bunch of lines in succession, and click it again or hit Esc to
quit it.

--
Echo [MS PPT MVP] http://www.echosvoice.com
What's new in PPT 2007? http://www.echosvoice.com/2007.htm
Fixing PowerPoint Annoyances http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/powerpointannoy/

I'm having a good time learning about Powerpoint as I create animations
for a physics class I teach.

I have found a couple of times that a line that I drawn is being treated
as a shape when I come back to it. It still plays in the animation all
right, but I can't edit points if I want to tweak its shape or
something.

Is there some rule or reason for this or is this just something my
system is doing to me?

Thanks,

Ben



................................................................
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[Echo S]

Sorry, I should have said, if you use the freeform (or scribble or curve)
tool to draw your shapes -- because you are indeed correct, you can edit
points with straight lines. What I was trying to say is that you can't use
edit points with *autoshapes* in 2003 and earlier. (But we can now in 2007!
yay!)

Anyway, since you've drawn lines / shapes (with the various line tools) and
used edit points but then come back and can't, well, only thing I can think
is that the lines have been grouped with another line or object on the
slide. If you right-click one of the uneditable lines, do you have a
"Grouping" option on the menu? Try choosing Ungroup from there, then select
the individual line and see if you can get to Edit Points again.

--
Echo [MS PPT MVP] http://www.echosvoice.com
What's new in PPT 2007? http://www.echosvoice.com/2007.htm
Fixing PowerPoint Annoyances http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/powerpointannoy/

I am very much self taught, but my experience is different. I find I
can "Edit Points" with any line - straight, curve, scribble, freeform
in PPT 2003.

My situation is that I have drawn a long curved line which wipes in and
I have drawn some stick figures which spin or move. I am able to "Edit
Points" to shape them as I want. After some time I have come back to
tweak them and these lines are being treated as shapes. I can resize
them vertically or horizontally. The "Edit Points" is not available. I
found something on the web about "Paste Special... > paste as enhanced
metafile". This worked once and made it back into a line, but not other
times. Maybe my experience is unique to me and my machine. I haven't
seen anything else about it anywhere.

If you use the Freeform line tool to draw your lines, you'll be able to
use
edit points, but they won't work on a "regular" line in PPT 97 - 2003.
(They
do work on "regular" lines in PPT 2007, though.)

The Freeform line tool is on the drawing toolbar. Click Autoshapes, then
Lines. You can even grab the top of that little flyout menu and drag it
to
your workspace so it's handy. Double-click to make the tool "sticky" so
you
can draw a bunch of lines in succession, and click it again or hit Esc to
quit it.

--
Echo [MS PPT MVP] http://www.echosvoice.com
What's new in PPT 2007? http://www.echosvoice.com/2007.htm
Fixing PowerPoint Annoyances
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/powerpointannoy/

I'm having a good time learning about Powerpoint as I create animations
for a physics class I teach.

I have found a couple of times that a line that I drawn is being
treated
as a shape when I come back to it. It still plays in the animation all
right, but I can't edit points if I want to tweak its shape or
something.

Is there some rule or reason for this or is this just something my
system is doing to me?

Thanks,

Ben



................................................................
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