Graphical Objects
Objects and their handles
Graphical objects include pictures, shapes, icons, SmartArt, tables, audio and video. Know how to insert them, resize using handles, rotate, crop, and restore proportions. Shift-drag a corner handle keeps aspect ratio; cropping hides pixels without changing the file’s stored image dimensions; compressing pictures reduces file size. Use shape fill, outline and effects, picture styles, and Alt Text for accessibility. Arrange objects with Bring Forward, Send Backward, Align and Distribute, and Group when several objects must move as one. SmartArt converts bullet lists into diagrams and has its own text pane.
Traps
Crop is not resize. Grouping prevents editing a single object until you ungroup. Order matters: an object can be behind the background if sent too far back. Holding Shift while drawing constrains a shape to a square or circle. Alt text is not visible on the slide. A linked video may fail on another computer; embedded media travels with the file but increases size.
Worked example
To place four icons evenly across a slide, select all four, use Shape Format > Align > Align Middle, then Distribute Horizontally. Group them only after alignment, so later edits remain possible.