This month we are focusing on typography and how small design choices like text animations can make a big impact in PowerPoint. One tool to explore with text in mind is the Morph animation…err transition…we mean the Morph Effect! Morph is the easiest way in PowerPoint to create smooth, visually engaging movement between slides without needing complex animations. For example, let’s start with 2 slides. Slide 1 is a typical, left-aligned bullet list. Slide 2 is the same list, but center aligned with different colors, font sizing, and bolding applied.
No animations have been added to either slide, just a Morph transition has been added to slide 2. FYI, applying a Morph transition to slide 1 does nothing – the transition to slide 1 looks like a Fade transition (tip: the Morph transition is applied to the “end result” slide).
Morph transitions have 3 variations: Objects, Words, Characters.
Let’s demonstrate each variation using text only slides. The above example is the Morph transition set to its default “Object” option. The Object mode moves and animates everything as single entities.
What makes Morph especially useful is its flexibility. Beyond the default “Object” option, it offers more granular options for the transition effects. You can choose to animate “by word” or even “by character,” giving you more control and variety over how the content appears and animates.
By updating Morph to use the “Words” option, the text is moved by each word, not as a single block or object. So, our three words on slide one move independent of each other, on their own path to the slide 2 end position.
And the final option, “Characters,” can create complex and interesting motion effects. Every letter is now morphed independently to the slide 2 end position. Any letters on the first slide not on the second slide fade out (no motion), and letters on the second slide not on the first slide fade in (again, no motion). One of the interesting frustrations is that the association of letters from one slide to the next cannot be controlled. As example, the first letter in “One” on the first slide, connects to the first letter of “Once” on the second slide. Looks great, which is good, because there is no option to tell Morph we want the letter “O” on the first slide to associate with the “o” in “upon” or “options”.
Note that it can take some tinkering to get the desired effect, but with some clever thinking and experimentation, you can create some visually stunning effects with text in PowerPoint!
-The TLC Creative Design Team