How-To

How to Use the Morph Transition in PowerPoint

By Adam Davidson

Updated October 3, 2023

The Morph transition allows you to create stunning slideshow animations in PowerPoint in just a few clicks. Learn how to use it in this guide.

When the video for Michael Jackson’s Black or White appeared in the early 90s, it ended with a selection of different people’s faces nodding along to the music, with each face melting and merging into the next. This was one of the first mainstream examples of what became known as morphing.

Morphing takes two images and distorts and warps the first until it creates the second. Despite being more than thirty years old, the effect is still impressive to this day.

If you’re creating a PowerPoint presentation, you can use morphing in your slides to create some incredibly impressive effects. It’s simple to use, too—you create the slides and PowerPoint does all the rest.

Here’s how to use the Morph transition in PowerPoint.

What is the Morph Transition?

The Morph transition is a slide transition that transforms the image from one slide into the image of the next by moving the positions of the objects from one slide to the next. This movement is done in the style of animation, so you can see the objects move smoothly from one position to the next.

The motion path for each object is created by the transition. You just need a slide with the start points and a slide with the end points—the motion in between is created by the transition.

The Morph transition allows you to create impressive effects such as having multiple objects move around the screen at the same time or zooming in and out on specific objects on your slide. The only real limit is your imagination.

How to Use a Morph Transition to Move an Object

You can use the morph transition to move objects around from one slide to the next. This gives the effect of a smooth animation. You can select multiple objects in each slide, and each will move on its own path. The overall effect can be very impressive and look as if it has been created in video animation software, but PowerPoint takes care of all the hard work for you.

Create one slide with the objects in their starting positions, and another with their final positions. Apply the Morph transition, and this will create a smooth motion between one position and the next.

To create a morph transition to move an object in PowerPoint:

1. Open PowerPoint and create a slide with all of the objects in the first position that you want them to appear.
   
2. To duplicate the slide, right-click on it in the slide preview pane to the left of the screen.
   
3. Select Duplicate Slide.
   
4. Edit your duplicated slide so that the objects that you want to move are in their final positions.
   
5. Select the second slide in the slide preview panel.
   
6. Click the Transitions menu.
   
7. Click the Morph icon.
   
8. You should see a preview of your morph effect, showing your object moving from its start position to its end position.
9. You can make any changes you wish to either slide to get the exact look that you are going for.
10. To view the morph transition again, select the second slide in the slide preview panel, and click the Preview icon.
    

How to Use a Morph Transition to Zoom in on an Object

Another very effective way to use the Morph transition is to zoom in on an object. If you have multiple objects on a slide, you can use this effect to bring each one into focus in turn. The slide will zoom in so that only one object is in view, then can zoom back out again to show all of the objects. You can then zoom in on the next object, and so on.

This technique is useful for objects with text attached to them, as the text may be too small to read when all objects are in view. By zooming in, the text for each specific object becomes visible.

To use the Morph transition to zoom in on an object:

1. Create your first slide that includes the content that you want to zoom in on.
2. Right-click on the slide in the slide preview pane.
3. Select Duplicate Slide.
   
4. Increase the size of the objects in the second slide by selecting them and then dragging one of the corners. Hold down Shift as you drag to maintain the correct aspect ratio.
5. Although your image may spill over the size of the slide, in the slide preview pane, you can see what the visible parts of the slide will look like.
   
6. When you’re happy with your new slide, click the Transitions menu.
   
7. Select Morph.
   
8. You’ll see a preview of the zoom effect you’ve just created. Whilst the transition is running, any content outside the area of the slide will no longer be visible.
9. You can see it again by clicking the Preview icon.
   
10. To zoom back out again, right-click on the original slide and select Duplicate Slide.
    
11. Click and hold on the newly created slide in the slide preview pane.
12. Drag it down so that it’s at the bottom.
    
13. Click Transitions > Morph to apply the Morph effect to this slide too.
    
14. You should see a preview of the slide zooming back out.
15. To see the full effect of zooming in and zooming out, under the Slide Show menu, click From Beginning.
    
16. Press Enter to move from one slide to the next and see your Morph zoom in action.

Make Your PowerPoint Presentations Stand Out

Learning how to use the Morph transition in PowerPoint can help to create some truly stunning presentations that look like they have taken some serious time and effort to create. However, you can make them quickly and easily using the Morph transition.

There are plenty of other ways to make your PowerPoint presentations stand out. You can learn how to insert an image into a shape to allow you to easily resize it or manipulate it. You can learn how to use the Slide Master in PowerPoint to give your entire presentation a unified look. And a great way to reveal important information only when you’re ready to is to learn how to hide text until it’s clicked.