3-D Rotation Options for Shapes in PowerPoint 2011 for Mac

The 3-D options to rotate or bevel shapes in PowerPoint 2011 for Mac are surprisingly powerful. In fact, they are good enough to be compared to a basic 3-D program! As part of this series of tutorials, you have already learned how you can use most of the Shape Effects available in PowerPoint 2011. This tutorial builds upon the options explained in the Apply 3-D Rotation to a Shape tutorial:

1. Select the shape that already has 3-D Rotation effect applied. Double-click the selected shape to activate the Format tab (highlighted in red in Figure 1) of the Ribbon. Within this tab, click the Effects button shown in Figure 1 (highlighted in blue).
2. 
   Figure 1: Effects button within the Format tab of the Ribbon
Note: The Format tab is a contextual tab. These tabs are special tabs in the Ribbon that are not visible all the time. They only make an appearance when you are working with a particular slide object which can be edited using special options.
2. This brings up the Effects drop-down gallery shown in Figure 2. From the this gallery, choose 3-D Rotation | 3-D Rotation Options (the last option in this gallery).
3. 
   Figure 2: 3-D Rotation Options within the 3-D Rotation gallery
3. This opens the Format Shape dialog box, with 3-D Rotation selected in the sidebar, as shown in Figure 3. Here you'll find options to control and edit the 3-D Rotation attributes.
4. 
   Figure 3: 3-D Rotation options within Format Shape dialog box
5. The options in the 3-D Rotation tab of the Format Shape dialog box are explained below:

A. Type

6. Select the Type spin box to bring up a 3-D Rotation gallery that you see in Figure 4. Note that the options are similar to the ones you see in Figure 2, shown previously on this page. See the Apply 3-D Rotation Effects to Shapes in PowerPoint 2011 for Mac tutorial for more information.
7. 
   Figure 4: 3-D Rotation types within Format Shape dialog box

B. Rotation Axes

8. (X, Y and Z): Here you can choose the three axes in 3-D space: X (width), Y (height), and Z (depth) to rotate the selected shape in 3-D space. You can either use the arrow buttons or enter the angle values. The selected shape will reflect each change you make, so, do place the Format Shape dialog box away from the shape so that you can see the effects on the shape and make further changes accordingly.

C. Perspective

9. Enter the Perspective values from 0 to 120 degrees or use the arrows buttons to narrow or widen the field of view. The Perspective option will be grayed out if you have chosen any preset style other than the Perspective preset styles (highlighted in blue in Figure 4 above).

D. Distance from center

10. Here you can alter the distance from the base level of the shape. Doing so might influence different shapes in dissimilar ways.

E. Keep text flat

11. This check-box allows you to keep the text flat even after you apply 3-D rotation effect to a shape.
Note: Click the Remove 3-D button to convert a 3-D formatted shape back to a 2-D shape.
4. After applying the required 3-D rotation options to the shape, click OK to apply the changes and get back to the slide.
5. Remember to save your presentation often.