How to Customize Motion Paths in PowerPoint

1. Press “Start” at the bottom left hand corner of the screen if you're on Windows XP, or the Windows Vista icon if you're running Vista. You will see a list there that shows recently run programs. Then press “All Programs,” which then opens up a column. From that list, find a folder that reads “Microsoft Office.” After clicking it, find Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 or whichever version you have. Doing this should open up the program called PowerPoint.


2. Next, you will see “Animations” at the top in a row beginning with “Home.” When you click it, you should see a slight change in the toolbar. Near the very left of the toolbar is an icon with “Custom Animation” beside it. When you click that, a sidebar should pop up on the right.


3. Click the picture you want to make a motion path with. Then, click “Add Effect” from the sidebar on the right. A small list of four options with appear as a drop-down. The one you’ll want to click is Motion Paths. Then select the second last choice listed as “Draw Custom Path” and one last set of options will show up. Which one to use is entirely you choice. The first two – a line and curve are self explanatory. The line can only go straight while the curve allows you to make a smaller or wider loop. Freeform is used to draw shapes or just connect a series of straight lines. With this tool, however, you are also able to draw freely like the scribble option. To end the path, simply double click and the connection will end.


4. After drawing in the motion paths, you can preview how the picture will show up. It is possible to disable AutoPreview by un-checking the setting in the bottom right. If the path is not to your liking, you can delete it by clicking the “Remove” beside “Add Effect.” Also, if you wish to make the path slower, you can change it by selecting “Very Slow”, “Slow”, “Medium”, “Fast”, or “Very Fast”. To preview this change, click “Play” on the bottom left of the Custom Animation sidebar.


5. You are now done! If you want to remove the Custom Animation sidebar from your PowerPoint, press the x on the top right.