HOW TO
Annotate PowerPoint with Apple Pencil
Microsoft PowerPoint
Design Slideshow Presentations
Looking to annotate your slides in Microsoft PowerPoint? Your Apple Pencil is the easiest way.
It’ll smooth the process whether you need to scribble on class notes, update a sales pitch or fix your boss’s spelling.
To try it out, connect your Apple Pencil to your compatible iPad or iPad Pro and tap on PowerPoint’s Draw tab. That’s where you’ll find tools to write, draw, edit, highlight and doodle. Of course, you can also use your Apple Pencil to select objects and text boxes.
Read on to learn three cool ways to use your Apple Pencil with PowerPoint. And if you don’t have an Apple Pencil, just pretend this entire article is talking about your finger.
Master the basics
‣ The Draw tab is home to a number of features that will probably look familiar, including a variety of markers, pencils and highlighters.
Tap one to select it, then tap again to reveal a menu that lets you adjust colour and thickness.
To undo a note or a sketch you made, just tap the eraser, which makes your last change go away.
Dramatically improve your handwriting
‣ If you were born in the post-cursive age, there’s a good chance your handwriting is a hot mess. But that’s OK! PowerPoint has your back.
Write directly on a slide using your Apple Pencil, then tap the Ink to Text button in the top right corner. Select your scribble using the Lasso Select tool and the app will automatically convert your writing to readable type (or suggest a few options for doing so).
Get in perfect shape
‣ If you believe in yourself, nothing in life is impossible. Except drawing a geometrically perfect circle freehand.
PowerPoint and Apple Pencil can help here too.
Draw something approximating a circle (or square, triangle or rhombus, theoretically, although we can’t imagine why you’d need a rhombus) and tap Ink to Shape in the top right corner.
Now select on your amorphous shape using the lasso tool and PowerPoint will convert it into a perfectly proportioned form that would make your geometry teacher weep with joy.