Introduction
Shapes let you add rectangles, circles, arrows, stars, and more straight onto your slides. You can move, resize, rotate, and recolor them however you like. Use them to highlight content, build simple diagrams, or add a bold splash of color behind your text.
🔷 Note: Shapes are placed freely on your slide as a freeform block. Drag them anywhere and layer them with your other content without affecting your layout.
Adding a shape
Step 1: Open the insert menu
In the editor, open the insert menu by selecting “+ Add block” and choose Shapes.
Step 2: Pick your shape
Choose from the shape gallery. We’ve included basics like rectangles, circles, and triangles, and more fun shapes like stars, diamonds, chevrons, arrows, and chat bubbles. Click or drag the shape you want to your slide.
Step 3: Place and adjust
Drag the shape anywhere on your slide. Drag the corners to resize it, or rotate it to any angle.
💎 Pro Tip: Shapes keep their proportions as they grow. For example, a rounded rectangle keeps its rounded corners whether it's tiny or large.
Styling a shape
Select any shape to open its formatting menu in the top of the editor. From there you can:
Change the fill color.
Change the border color.
Adjust the border width.
New shapes default with a background color using your theme's accent color, so they stay on brand from the moment you add them.
💎 Pro Tip: Shapes keep their proportions as they grow. For example, a rounded rectangle keeps its rounded corners whether it's tiny or large.
Layering shapes with text
One of the best uses of shapes is as a slide background: place a large circle or rectangle behind a heading text to make it pop. Add your shape, size it up, and send it behind your text. Have fun by layering more content on top.
Shapes and PowerPoint
Shapes are built to travel well between Gamma and PowerPoint:
Importing: shapes in a PowerPoint file you import now come in as real, editable shapes, not flat images, so you can restyle and rearrange them in Gamma.
Exporting: shapes in your gamma export as native PowerPoint shapes, so anyone opening the file can keep editing them.
FAQs & Common Issues
Can I type text inside a shape?
Not yet. For now, place a text box on top of the shape, layering text over shapes works great and exports cleanly.
Why doesn't my imported shape change with my theme?
Shapes imported from PowerPoint keep their original colors, so your deck looks exactly like the file you uploaded.
Shapes you insert in Gamma follow your theme, and update automatically.
Can I connect shapes with lines that stay attached?
Not yet. Arrows and lines are regular shapes for now. If you want to move multiple shapes, drag to select, and group them by selecting the option with right-click.
Do shapes stay editable when I export?
Yes. Shapes export to PowerPoint as native, fully editable shapes.