How to Add a Border in Google Slides: Step-by-Step Guide

Introduction and Importance of Borders

Adding a border in Google Slides is a simple yet effective way to enhance your presentation’s visual appeal. Borders help highlight and separate information, making content more organized and easier to digest for the audience. They can frame a slide elegantly, draw attention to crucial elements, and even add a touch of professionalism to your entire slide deck. Moreover, borders can reflect the theme or branding of your presentation, contributing to a cohesive and aesthetically pleasing look. Whether you’re creating a corporate presentation or a creative project, learning how to incorporate borders can elevate your overall presentation design.

Adding a Basic Border to a Slide

To start adding a border to your Google Slides, follow these straightforward steps:

1. Open your presentation: Begin by launching Google Slides and opening the presentation to which you want to add a border.
2. Select the slide: Navigate to the individual slide where you wish to add the border.
3. Insert a shape: Click on the “Insert” menu, select “Shape,” and choose a rectangular shape. This shape will function as your border.
4. Draw the shape: Click and drag the cursor across the slide to draw the rectangle. Position it so that it lines the edges of the slide.
5. Format the border: With the shape selected, click on the “Border color” tool in the toolbar and choose the color for your border. Adjust the thickness of the border by selecting the “Border weight” tool and picking the desired line width.
6. Customize the lines: If you want a more distinctive look, access the “Border dash” tool to apply different line styles, such as dots or dashes, to your border.

This simple process allows you to add a basic border that highlights the content of a specific slide, making your presentation more visually engaging.

Adding Borders to All Slides and Objects

If you want to maintain consistency and enhance the overall structure of your presentation, consider adding borders to all slides and objects within your Google Slides project. Unlike adding individual borders to specific slides, applying them uniformly across your entire presentation ensures a seamless and professional look. Here’s how you can do it:

1. Access the Slide Master: Open your presentation in Google Slides and navigate to the “Slide” menu located at the top. From the dropdown, select “Edit Master.” This view allows you to modify the layout and design elements that apply to all slides.
2. Select the Master Slide: Within Slide Master view, choose the topmost master slide. Any changes applied here will automatically affect all the slides in your presentation.
3. Draw a border shape: Similar to adding a basic border, insert a rectangular shape by clicking on “Insert,” selecting “Shape,” and choosing a rectangle. Draw this rectangle to cover the edges of the master slide.
4. Set the border properties: With the rectangle selected, customize your border by using the “Border color” and “Border weight” tools. Opt for colors and line weights that align with your presentation’s theme.
5. Apply to other elements: Besides slides, consider using borders around text boxes, images, or other objects. Select an object, click “Format options,” and then “Border & lines” to add and customize a border specifically for that object.

By following these steps, you can efficiently incorporate borders that will be reflected across all slides and select objects, giving your presentation a polished and uniform appeal.

Customizing and Enhancing Borders

Once you have established basic borders in your Google Slides, you have the opportunity to take them a step further by customizing and enhancing them to better suit your presentation’s aesthetics and message. Customization opens a wide array of options to ensure your slides not only stand out but also align with your overall presentation theme. Here are some ways to do that:

1. Explore additional shapes and styles: Instead of sticking with a simple rectangle, explore various shapes and border styles available in Google Slides. Options such as rounded rectangles, ovals, or even custom-drawn shapes can add uniqueness. You can modify the corner radius of rectangles for softer edges, providing a polished and modern look.
2. Incorporate colors strategically: Select border colors that complement the rest of your slide elements, such as images, text, and backgrounds. Consider using your brand’s color palette or shades that are synonymous with the subject of your presentation to ensure harmony. To establish a vibrant and dynamic appearance, you can use gradient colors or even alternating hues.
3. Utilize images as borders: For an innovative twist, consider using an image as your border. This method involves inserting an image, resizing it to fit the slide edges, and then sending it to the back layer behind all your primary content. Opt for textures, patterns, or thematic imagery that enhance the message or tone of your presentation.
4. Implement shadow and glow effects: Enhance the borders by adding shadow or glow effects to create depth and emphasis. This can be done through the “Format options” pane, where you can adjust the transparency, angle, distance, and blur radius for a shadow, or choose the glow’s color and size.
5. Use animation for impact: Animation can make borders appear dynamically and captivate your audience. By applying “Animation” through the “Insert” menu, you can set up entrance effects for borders, making them fade or slide in as you introduce the corresponding content on your slides.

These customization techniques allow you to transform standard borders into creative design elements that elevate your presentation’s overall aesthetics and effectiveness. By thoughtfully enhancing borders, you reinforce your key messages and engage your audience more effectively.