Stretch and Dock Shapes

Use this feature to stretch shapes based on a reference shape.

Best practice

You can quickly stretch shapes to the opposite side of a reference shape by holding down the CTRL key. If you want to keep a gap between the shapes hold down any number key in addition to the CTRL key.

The Stretch and Dock Shapes functionality can be accessed via the smartRush ribbon in Powerpoint:

Stretch and Dock

The first line of buttons are for the Stretch funcitonality, the second row is for the Dock functionality.

Stretch

The Stretch functionality can be used to extend the dimensions of any shape based on a reference shape. To apply the stretch functionality select at least two shapes. Please be aware the shape selected first is always the reference shape, all other shapes are target shapes. This feature supports stretching multiple shapes at once. The following options are available:

  • Stretch up: The shape will be stretched up so that the top edge of the target shape matches the top edge of the reference shape. This operation will only affect the Y dimension of the shape, the X dimension will stay constant.
  • Stretch down: The shape will be stretched up so that the bottom edge of the target shape matches the bottom edge of the reference shape. This operation will only affect the Y dimension of the shape, the X dimension will stay constant.
  • Stretch left: The shape will be stretched to the left so that the left edge of the target shape matches the left edge of the reference shape. This operation will only affect the X dimension of the shape, the Y dimension will stay constant.
  • Stretch right: The shape will be stretched to the right so that the right edge of the target shape matches the right edge of the reference shape. This operation will only affect the X dimension of the shape, the Y dimension will stay constant.
Stretch shape to reference shape
Stretch to the opposite side

The shape can be stretched to the opposite side of the reference shape by pressing the CTRL key while clicking one of the stretch buttons. The following behaviour occur when pressing the CTRL key while clicking:

  • Stretch up: The top edge of the shape will be stretched to the bottom edge of the reference shape.
  • Stretch down: The bottom shape of the shape will be stretchend to the top edge of the reference shape.
  • Stretch left: The left edge of the shape will be stretched to the right edge of the reference shape.
  • Stretch right: The right edge of the shape will be stretched to the left edge of the reference shape.
Stretch shape to opposite side of reference shape

If you want to keep distance between the target shape and the reference shape you can press the CTRL key + any number from 1 to 9 during when clicking one of the stretch buttons. This will cause a gap between the opposite side of the reference shape and the target shape. The number indicates how large this gap should be. The number is the factor of Powerpoint default grid spacing setting. If you want to keep a single spacing between the shapes instead of pressing CTRL + 1 while clicking you can also press CTRL + SHIFT while clicking.

Stretch shape to opposite side of reference shape keeping a gap

Dock

The Dock functionality can be used to move any shape to the opposite side of a reference shape. To apply the dock functionality select at least two shapes. Please be aware the shape selected first is always the reference shape, all other shapes are target shapes. This feature supports docking multiple shapes at once. Docking does not change the size of the shapes. The following options are available:

  • Dock up: The shape will be moved vertically so that the top edge of the shape matches the bottom edge of the reference shape. This operation will only affect the vertical dimension of the shape, the X dimension will stay constant.
  • Dock down: The shape will be moved vertically so that the bottom edge of the shape matches the top edge of the reference shape. This operation will only affect the vertical dimension of the shape, the X dimension will stay constant.
  • Dock left: The shape will be moved horizontally so that the left edge of the shape matches the right edge of the reference shape. This operation will only affect the horizontal dimension of the shape, the Y dimension will stay constant.
  • Dock right: The shape will be moved horizontally so that the right edge of the shape matches the left edge of the reference shape. This operation will only affect the horizontal dimension of the shape, the Y dimension will stay constant.
Dock shape to reference shape

If you want to keep distance between the target shape and the reference shape you can press the CTRL key + any number from 1 to 9 when clicking one of the dock buttons. This will cause a gap between the reference shape and the shape. The number indicates how large this gap should be. The number is the factor of Powerpoint default grid spacing setting. If you want to keep a single spacing between the shapes instead of pressing CTRL + 1 while clicking you can also just press CTRL while clicking.

Dock shape to reference shape while pressing CTRL

Custom Shape Data

The positions and the sizes of up to four shapes can be saved to the Quick Format buttons in the ribbon. Saved settings can be quickly applied later by pressing a single button.

To save the position and the size of a shape to one of the Quick Format buttons in the ribbon simply select any single shape, press and hold the Right Alt key and click the button the settings should be saved to.

If you want to format shapes simply select at least one shape and hit the Quick Format button. This operation is capable of formatting multiple shapes at once. The following modifiers are possible when clicking the Quick Format button:

  • Just click: