Bulleted lists are the most common type of text slides in a presentation. To create a bulleted list, choose Bulleted List from Page Layout dialog box when adding a new slide.

See example of Page Layout - Bulleted List.

To add text to the bullet list, simply click in the To Add...box and type your bullets. Pressing enter at the end of the line of text automatically creates the next bulleted line. Each design template has a bullet designs for the bulleted list. Some designs come with circles, lines, squares or something else and they may be different sizes or colors.

To change bullets on a line of text, first highlight the lines of text that you want to change the bullet on. If it is only a single line that you want to change the bullet on, you just have to click the mouse on that line to position the cursor on the line.

Click on the menu command, Format - Bullets and Numbering. The Bullets and Number dialog box will appear. This dialog box has two tabs, Bulleted and Numbered. These show the choices of the pre-designed or numbered bullet options.

See example of Bullets and Numbering dialog box.

In the Bulleted tab, you can select NONE for no bullets, or one of the other seven choices. If you want a different look than these seven, click on the Picture or Character buttons.

The Picture button shows a variety of GIF images that you can use as bullets. See example of Picture Bullet buttons.

The Character tab shows other possible bullet choices. Those in the Character tab are actually Fonts. In the box labeled Bullets From you can choose a font and then pick from the display which one you want to use as your bullet. See example of Character bullets.

To change the size of the bullet, adjust the number in the Size box. This number is a percentage of the font size and appears in both tabs of this dialog box. Bullets should be sized so they are easy to see but not so big they overwhelm the text.

You can also change the color of the bullet. Click on the box next to the word Color and pick the color for your bullet.

There are 5 levels of indent possible in Bulleted lists. In the Standard toolbar, there are left and right arrow icons. These icons will promote (left arrow) or demote (right arrow) your level of indent for the line of text you have the cursor positioned on. You can also position the cursor at the beginning of the line of text and then press the Tab key to get to the next level of indent.

Adjusting Indent Positions

Indent Markers (see example) are only seen when a bulleted text box is selected and the Rulers are on. With bullet text selected you should see white or gray markers at the left end of the top ruler - arrow pointing up, arrow pointing down and a rectangle (they are small triangles and rectangular shapes on the top ruler). These are your indent markers. They indicate the positions of the bullets and the text in the selected text box. The triangle arrow pointing down controls where the right edge of the bullet will go, the triangle arrow pointing up controls where the left edge of the text will go.

To alter the space between the bullets and their corresponding line of text, drag either arrow. To change the where the whole indent goes (text and bullet) drag the rectangle.

These commands are particularly useful if your bullet needs more space around it in order to avoid touching the text or needs to be closer to the text. By adjusting the top marker from the bottom marker, you can add or leave more space for the bullet.

To move both markers but maintain their relative distance from each other, click on and drag the small rectangle beneath the bottom indent marker. Both markers will move together, preserving the space between them. Using this command, you can arrange how the indented lines of text will be spaced.

The tab selection box is above the vertical ruler in the top left of the work area. See example.

Tabs align text in your document. This is useful for creating columns and tables.

There are four tab options: left, right, center and decimal. Select the tab you want by clicking on the tab selection box until the tab type you want appears.

PowerPoint Lessons Table of Contents

Last updated January 2002. These courses are copyrighted by the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Communications and Information Technology. Contact Lana Johnson at ljohnson1@unl.edu