How to add shape that displaces body text?

[New Daddy]

If this feature was indeed missing in Powerpoint, I think it's a serious shortcoming.

When you add a shape (or text box), it's either in front of the body text or behind the body text. Can you place it on the same place as the body text so as to make it DISPLACE the body text? (By analogy, you can easily do this in Word.)

Sometimes you want to freely move a shape around in a slide without having to worry about its effect on the body text. You can't do it unless you can place the shape on the same plane as the body text and make it "fluid".

Suggestions?

[HansV]

There is not really such a thing as body text in PowerPoint. ALL text is inside a text box - the slide title is a text box, the main text is a text box, etc.
These text boxes act independently of each other - you cannot make the text in one text box flow around the text in another one.

[New Daddy]

There is not really such a thing as body text in PowerPoint. ALL text is inside a text box - the slide title is a text box, the main text is a text box, etc.
These text boxes act independently of each other - you cannot make the text in one text box flow around the text in another one.

Oh... I see...

Then, let me rephrase the question: Is there any way to insert a non-text in a text box and treat it as a character? (which is possible in Word.)

[Rudi]

Hi,

Is there any way to insert a non-text in a text box and treat it as a character? (which is possible in Word.)

Unfortunately that is not possible.

Images and shapes cannot be added to (or inserted into) a text box in order to force text to wrap around the item. Even if one inserted a star shape into the slide, the text you enter into that shape will not wrap within that shapes borders. You need to use a third party app to do this.

All items added to a slide are "floating" objects. The only way you can attempt to wrap text around an image is to place the textboxes around the edges of the image (as in the illustration attached). Of course, if you reshaped your image into a star shape, this would become a much harder task.

1.jpg

[PJ_in_FL]

... or use Publisher and export the pages into your ppt slides?