Think of the Z axis sticking out of your computer monitor straight toward you. The Z boxes rotate the shape clockwise and counterclockwise.Enter a rotation or click the Up or Down boxes repeatedly until you get the rotation you want. This is a vertical rotation because the Y axis is the vertical axis. The Y boxes rotate the shape up and down.Enter a rotation or click the Left or Right boxes repeatedly until you get the rotation you want. This is a horizontal rotation because the X-axis is the horizontal axis. The X boxes rotate the shape to the left or right.You might find what you’re looking for in a lot less time. Before fiddling with the X, Y and Z controls, try out some of the presets from the Presets drop-down list.Click the 3-D Rotation category in the Format Shape dialog box.PowerPoint adds the depth to the back of the object. I created a rounded rectangle with a depth of 72 points, or 1 inch. Note that PowerPoint measures depth in points. Choose the 3-D Format category and enter a depth in the Depth section.Move the Format Shape dialog box away from your shape so you can see both at the same time. With the shape selected, right-click it and choose Format Shape.To create a shape with depth and rotate it, follow these steps in PowerPoint 20: Even PowerPoint 2003 lets you rotate objects in 3D, although the controls are not as precise. Many people are unaware of the 3D features of PowerPoint, but they’ve been around for a long time. That’s what 3D rotation does–it shows you an object from an angle. These 2 objects (above) are the same, but only the right one shows the depth, because you’re looking at it from an angle. That’s because you can’t see the depth until you rotate the object. The second 3D technique I want to cover is bevels, which I’ve already explored in greater detail in this post, “Create professional-looking 3D effects with bevels.”īevels often work hand-in-hand with 3D rotation, especially when you specify a depth in the 3-D Format section of the Format Shape dialog box. In Part I of this series, on shadows, I showed you how to use shadows for both subtle and dramatic 3D effects.

How to text shadow on powerpoint