The opening crawl text sequence in Star Wars is one of the most iconic parts of the beloved sci-fi franchise. With a starry space backdrop and yellow text scrolling off into the distance, those introductory paragraphs pull viewers into the Star Wars universe.
Recreating this special effect in your own PowerPoint presentations is surprisingly easy with just a few simple steps. This guide will walk you through making a Star Wars-style scrolling text box using tools already built into PowerPoint.
Step 1: Add a Starry Background Image
First, you’ll need a starry image to use as the background for your PowerPoint slide. Search online for a high-quality photo of space or the night sky. Alternatively, if you have a good camera, you can try taking the picture yourself on a clear night.
Once you’ve found or taken a suitable starry background image, insert it into your PowerPoint presentation to fill the entire slide. This galactic backdrop sets the stage for our Star Wars text effect.
Starry night sky background
Step 2: Insert a Text Box
With your background slide ready, go to the “Insert” tab and click the “Text Box” button to add a text box. Stretch this text box wide so that it spans the entire width of the slide.
You’ll be typing your introductory text into this box in the next step.
Step 3: Type Your Intro Text
With the text box inserted and sized, go ahead and type out the introductory text you want to use for your Star Wars effect. You can write anything you want here, just like the iconic opening crawls seen in the movies.
Format the text to match the Star Wars style. Use a font like Franklin Gothic, increase the size to around 60 points, center align the text, and format it as yellow.
Step 4: Animate the Text Box
Here’s where the magic happens! With your text typed out and formatted, it’s time to add animation so that it scrolls upwards like in Star Wars.
On the “Animations” tab in PowerPoint, select “Add Animation” > “Entrance” > “Credits”. This applies the credits animation that will make our text box scroll up from the bottom of the slide.
Applying the Credits animation
Step 5: Adjust the Animation Settings
With the entrance animation applied, click on it in the animation pane and adjust the start time to “On Click”. This makes the scrolling text start when you click your mouse, allowing you to control when the effect begins.
Under “Effect Options”, change the direction to scroll title up and set a fast scroll speed around 25 seconds for the full effect.
Step 6: Position the End Point Off Screen
The last important animation tweak is to grab the red endpoint in the animation pane and drag it upward so it sits above the top edge of the slide. This will make the text scroll not just upwards, but also off the visible slide area, completing the illusion.
Step 7: Add Perspective
If you want an extra dimension of depth to your Star Wars text, add some perspective to the text box. Under “Format Shape” you can tweak the 3D rotation and perspective angle.
Try settings like:
- Y Rotation: 320°
- Perspective: 80°
The perspective will make the scrolling text appear to recede into the distance, adding to the Star Wars intro feel.
Step 8: Make Text Fade In
For bonus points, you can make your scrolling title fade in at the start for added dramatic flair.
Copy your text box, fill the duplicate with a black rectangle, and send that behind the text. Add an opacity fade in over 2-3 seconds. Then copy and reverse that animation to create a fade out when scrolling finishes.
This creates a “reveal” effect as if the text is emerging from space!
Step 9: Present and Be Amazed!
With all the animations configured, play your slideshow from the beginning. Click to activate the scrolling text and watch as your title crawls upwards, off into space just like Star Wars!
Add your own flair by tweaking speeds, colors, rotation angles and more. With just built-in PowerPoint tools you can easily recreate one of sci-fi’s most iconic effects to make your presentations out of this world.
Final Star Wars text effect animation
Now go wow your audiences with a show-stopping Star Wars intro sequence before diving into the real meat of your presentation!
