Need help creating hexagon shape with 6 equal sides.

[Daniel]

How in God's name do I creat a hexagon shape with 6 equal sides? All I need
to do is have all the sides of a hex the exact same legth, but it seems
impossible to do. The program starts the shape with all equal sides, but if
you try to stretch the image it goes crazy. Anyone know a certain way to do
this to get equal sides? Thanks you for your help.

[Lucy Thomson]

Hi Daniel

The simplest thing to do is make the height & the width the same and this
will give you 6 equal sides. How to check/change height & width depends on
your version...

Lucy
--
PowerPoint MVP
MOS Master Instructor
www.aneasiertomorrow.com.au

Post by Daniel
How in God's name do I creat a hexagon shape with 6 equal sides? All I need
to do is have all the sides of a hex the exact same legth, but it seems
impossible to do. The program starts the shape with all equal sides, but if
you try to stretch the image it goes crazy. Anyone know a certain way to do
this to get equal sides? Thanks you for your help.

[John Wilson]

Daniel

Try holding down shift while inserting and stretching see if that helps
--
Amazing PPT Hints, Tips and Tutorials

http://www.PPTAlchemy.co.uk
http://www.technologytrish.co.uk
email john AT technologytrish.co.uk

Post by Daniel
How in God's name do I creat a hexagon shape with 6 equal sides? All I need
to do is have all the sides of a hex the exact same legth, but it seems
impossible to do. The program starts the shape with all equal sides, but if
you try to stretch the image it goes crazy. Anyone know a certain way to do
this to get equal sides? Thanks you for your help.

[Lucy Thomson]

Hi John

I was going to suggest that then I got it into my head that that didn't give
you equal sides - I even got out my ruler & measured on screen (not very well
obviously). So I thought about how I used to make them with a compass (I say
'I' of course I mean Euclid) and decided a circle has a fixed diameter so
height & width should be equal, completely forgetting that the hexagon
doesn't reach the top of the circle if it reaches the sides ... <hangs head
in shame>

Daniel - completely ignore my first post. In my defence, I am blonde.

<goes to sit in corner with dunce cap on>
Lucy
--
PowerPoint MVP
MOS Master Instructor
www.aneasiertomorrow.com.au

Post by Lucy Thomson
Daniel
Try holding down shift while inserting and stretching see if that helps
--
Amazing PPT Hints, Tips and Tutorials
http://www.PPTAlchemy.co.uk
http://www.technologytrish.co.uk
email john AT technologytrish.co.uk

Post by Daniel
How in God's name do I creat a hexagon shape with 6 equal sides? All I need
to do is have all the sides of a hex the exact same legth, but it seems
impossible to do. The program starts the shape with all equal sides, but if
you try to stretch the image it goes crazy. Anyone know a certain way to do
this to get equal sides? Thanks you for your help.

[b***@cix.compulink.co.uk]

Draw an autoshape line horizontally to the length of one side. Copy and
paste. Rotate the second line, using Shift to constrain it to 15 degree
movement to achieve 60 degrees. Position it at the end of the first line.

Copy and paste the second line. Flip the copy vertically and position it
at the other end of the fist line.

Group the three lines. Flip the group horizontally and position with the
first group.

Group the whole thing.

Click and stretch as needed.

Worked for me!

Brian.

Post by Daniel
How in God's name do I creat a hexagon shape with 6 equal sides?
All I need to do is have all the sides of a hex the exact same
legth, but it seems impossible to do. The program starts the shape
with all equal sides, but if you try to stretch the image it goes
crazy. Anyone know a certain way to do this to get equal sides?
Thanks you for your help.

[John Wilson]

Wow = Now that's a complex way!
You
--
Amazing PPT Hints, Tips and Tutorials

http://www.PPTAlchemy.co.uk
http://www.technologytrish.co.uk
email john AT technologytrish.co.uk

Post by b***@cix.compulink.co.uk
Draw an autoshape line horizontally to the length of one side. Copy and
paste. Rotate the second line, using Shift to constrain it to 15 degree
movement to achieve 60 degrees. Position it at the end of the first line.
Copy and paste the second line. Flip the copy vertically and position it
at the other end of the fist line.
Group the three lines. Flip the group horizontally and position with the
first group.
Group the whole thing.
Click and stretch as needed.
Worked for me!
Brian.

Post by Daniel
How in God's name do I creat a hexagon shape with 6 equal sides?
All I need to do is have all the sides of a hex the exact same
legth, but it seems impossible to do. The program starts the shape
with all equal sides, but if you try to stretch the image it goes
crazy. Anyone know a certain way to do this to get equal sides?
Thanks you for your help.

[Daniel]

Thankyou everyone for your help. I ended up doing what Brian said and just
make it out of lines. Nothing else seemed to work correctly. Amazing how
with all the features of this program it can't make a perfect hexagon. I
needed perfect hexes so that they would fit together and not have a bunch of
gaps. Thanks again everyone.

Post by b***@cix.compulink.co.uk
Draw an autoshape line horizontally to the length of one side. Copy and
paste. Rotate the second line, using Shift to constrain it to 15 degree
movement to achieve 60 degrees. Position it at the end of the first line.
Copy and paste the second line. Flip the copy vertically and position it
at the other end of the fist line.
Group the three lines. Flip the group horizontally and position with the
first group.
Group the whole thing.
Click and stretch as needed.
Worked for me!
Brian.

Post by Daniel
How in God's name do I creat a hexagon shape with 6 equal sides?
All I need to do is have all the sides of a hex the exact same
legth, but it seems impossible to do. The program starts the shape
with all equal sides, but if you try to stretch the image it goes
crazy. Anyone know a certain way to do this to get equal sides?
Thanks you for your help.

[Martin Conradi]

Draw a pie chart with 6 equal sements, ungroup it, then use connectors to
join up the lines. Then all you have to do is delete the pie chart segments
to have a very quick and accurate hexagon.

Martin
--
Martin Conradi
www.showcase-online.co.uk

Post by Daniel
Thankyou everyone for your help. I ended up doing what Brian said and just
make it out of lines. Nothing else seemed to work correctly. Amazing how
with all the features of this program it can't make a perfect hexagon. I
needed perfect hexes so that they would fit together and not have a bunch of
gaps. Thanks again everyone.

Post by b***@cix.compulink.co.uk
Draw an autoshape line horizontally to the length of one side. Copy and
paste. Rotate the second line, using Shift to constrain it to 15 degree
movement to achieve 60 degrees. Position it at the end of the first line.
Copy and paste the second line. Flip the copy vertically and position it
at the other end of the fist line.
Group the three lines. Flip the group horizontally and position with the
first group.
Group the whole thing.
Click and stretch as needed.
Worked for me!
Brian.

Post by Daniel
How in God's name do I creat a hexagon shape with 6 equal sides?
All I need to do is have all the sides of a hex the exact same
legth, but it seems impossible to do. The program starts the shape
with all equal sides, but if you try to stretch the image it goes
crazy. Anyone know a certain way to do this to get equal sides?
Thanks you for your help.

[tohlz]

John's explanation on holding down the shift key while resizing the hexagon
works and is able to fit the hexes together. Have you tried it out?
--
Shawn Toh (tohlz)
Microsoft MVP PowerPoint

Site Updated: Jan 01, 2008
(Amazing PowerPoint animations, artworks, games here)
http://pptheaven.mvps.org
PowerPoint Heaven - The Power to Animate

Post by Daniel
Thankyou everyone for your help. I ended up doing what Brian said and just
make it out of lines. Nothing else seemed to work correctly. Amazing how
with all the features of this program it can't make a perfect hexagon. I
needed perfect hexes so that they would fit together and not have a bunch of
gaps. Thanks again everyone.

Post by b***@cix.compulink.co.uk
Draw an autoshape line horizontally to the length of one side. Copy and
paste. Rotate the second line, using Shift to constrain it to 15 degree
movement to achieve 60 degrees. Position it at the end of the first line.
Copy and paste the second line. Flip the copy vertically and position it
at the other end of the fist line.
Group the three lines. Flip the group horizontally and position with the
first group.
Group the whole thing.
Click and stretch as needed.
Worked for me!
Brian.

Post by Daniel
How in God's name do I creat a hexagon shape with 6 equal sides?
All I need to do is have all the sides of a hex the exact same
legth, but it seems impossible to do. The program starts the shape
with all equal sides, but if you try to stretch the image it goes
crazy. Anyone know a certain way to do this to get equal sides?
Thanks you for your help.

[b***@cix.compulink.co.uk]

After my complex method I can only say that using the autoshape hexagon,
in combination with the shift key for a perfect shape and sizing and the
Alt key for free movement was soooo much easier! (:-))

Brian.

*Date:* Tue, 8 Jan 2008 06:03:02 -0800
Thankyou everyone for your help. I ended up doing what Brian said
and just make it out of lines. Nothing else seemed to work
correctly. Amazing how with all the features of this program it
can't make a perfect hexagon. I needed perfect hexes so that they
would fit together and not have a bunch of gaps. Thanks again
everyone.

Post by b***@cix.compulink.co.uk
Draw an autoshape line horizontally to the length of one side.
Copy and paste. Rotate the second line, using Shift to constrain
it to 15 degree movement to achieve 60 degrees. Position it at
the end of the first line.
Copy and paste the second line. Flip the copy vertically and
position it at the other end of the fist line.
Group the three lines. Flip the group horizontally and position
with the first group.
Group the whole thing.
Click and stretch as needed.
Worked for me!
Brian.

Post by Daniel
How in God's name do I creat a hexagon shape with 6 equal

sides? > All I need to do is have all the sides of a hex the
exact same > legth, but it seems impossible to do. The program
starts the shape > with all equal sides, but if you try to
stretch the image it goes > crazy. Anyone know a certain way to
do this to get equal sides? > Thanks you for your help.

[Glen (TD DTP)]

I may be crazy, but you simply have to press 'Shift' while drawing the
Hexagon (Autoshade) and all sides will be exact... As per John's suggestion.

If fact you can also use 6 triagles if you want pieces, simply use the
'shift' key when you draw it and the 'shift' key whe you rotate the objects
into place. (recommend using the grid and snap to grid as well).

Martin - interesting out of the box thinking!
--
It''s cold up here in Toronto

Post by Daniel
How in God's name do I creat a hexagon shape with 6 equal sides? All I need
to do is have all the sides of a hex the exact same legth, but it seems
impossible to do. The program starts the shape with all equal sides, but if
you try to stretch the image it goes crazy. Anyone know a certain way to do
this to get equal sides? Thanks you for your help.

[John Wilson]

Maybe I'm going a little (more) crazy) but having carefully constructed a
regular hexagon the shift /shape doesn't seem to be exactly the same! Nearly
but not exactly.
--
Amazing PPT Hints, Tips and Tutorials

http://www.PPTAlchemy.co.uk
http://www.technologytrish.co.uk
email john AT technologytrish.co.uk

Post by Glen (TD DTP)
I may be crazy, but you simply have to press 'Shift' while drawing the
Hexagon (Autoshade) and all sides will be exact... As per John's suggestion.
If fact you can also use 6 triagles if you want pieces, simply use the
'shift' key when you draw it and the 'shift' key whe you rotate the objects
into place. (recommend using the grid and snap to grid as well).
Martin - interesting out of the box thinking!
--
It''s cold up here in Toronto

Post by Daniel
How in God's name do I creat a hexagon shape with 6 equal sides? All I need
to do is have all the sides of a hex the exact same legth, but it seems
impossible to do. The program starts the shape with all equal sides, but if
you try to stretch the image it goes crazy. Anyone know a certain way to do
this to get equal sides? Thanks you for your help.

[Austin Myers]

John,

It will never be exactly the same when stretched/rotated. The issue is that
our screens are not "square". Assuming you are running say 1024 x 768
resolution (4 x 3 ratio) and draw a shape that is 2" x 2" PowerPoint
(DirectX) draws it on the screen and there is some approximation on the
actual line lengths. Its all but impossible to find an exact width that
will give you an exact height unless you hit an exact 4 x 3 ratio. It will
always be off a pixel or two in one direction. This is especially true of
lines drawn at an angle on the screen. Toss dithering into the mix and you
begin to see how it can be off visually.

To see this in a more pronounced way, create a shape that is exactly 2" by
2". Now rotate the object 90 degrees. See the difference?


Austin Myers
MS PowerPoint MVP Team

Provider of PFCPro, PFCMedia and PFCExpress
www.playsforcertain.com

Post by John Wilson
Maybe I'm going a little (more) crazy) but having carefully constructed a
regular hexagon the shift /shape doesn't seem to be exactly the same! Nearly
but not exactly.
--
Amazing PPT Hints, Tips and Tutorials
http://www.PPTAlchemy.co.uk
http://www.technologytrish.co.uk
email john AT technologytrish.co.uk

Post by Glen (TD DTP)
I may be crazy, but you simply have to press 'Shift' while drawing the
Hexagon (Autoshade) and all sides will be exact... As per John's suggestion.
If fact you can also use 6 triagles if you want pieces, simply use the
'shift' key when you draw it and the 'shift' key whe you rotate the objects
into place. (recommend using the grid and snap to grid as well).
Martin - interesting out of the box thinking!
--
It''s cold up here in Toronto

Post by Daniel
How in God's name do I creat a hexagon shape with 6 equal sides? All I need
to do is have all the sides of a hex the exact same legth, but it seems
impossible to do. The program starts the shape with all equal sides, but if
you try to stretch the image it goes crazy. Anyone know a certain way to do
this to get equal sides? Thanks you for your help.

[Steve Rindsberg]

Post by Austin Myers
To see this in a more pronounced way, create a shape that is exactly 2" by
2". Now rotate the object 90 degrees. See the difference?

No ... what am I looking for?

[John Wilson]

No.. me neither!

The hexagon is quite a way off. I made six cloned lines and rotated them
exactly 60 /120/240 etc and then joined them up. The shifted / hexagon is
quite different!
--
Amazing PPT Hints, Tips and Tutorials

http://www.PPTAlchemy.co.uk
http://www.technologytrish.co.uk
email john AT technologytrish.co.uk

Post by Steve Rindsberg

Post by Austin Myers
To see this in a more pronounced way, create a shape that is exactly 2" by
2". Now rotate the object 90 degrees. See the difference?

No ... what am I looking for?

[John Wilson]

Following Austin's trick try rotating a "regular" hexagon 60 deg and see the
problem!
--
Amazing PPT Hints, Tips and Tutorials

http://www.PPTAlchemy.co.uk
http://www.technologytrish.co.uk
email john AT technologytrish.co.uk

Post by John Wilson
No.. me neither!
The hexagon is quite a way off. I made six cloned lines and rotated them
exactly 60 /120/240 etc and then joined them up. The shifted / hexagon is
quite different!
--
Amazing PPT Hints, Tips and Tutorials
http://www.PPTAlchemy.co.uk
http://www.technologytrish.co.uk
email john AT technologytrish.co.uk

Post by Steve Rindsberg

Post by Austin Myers
To see this in a more pronounced way, create a shape that is exactly 2" by
2". Now rotate the object 90 degrees. See the difference?

No ... what am I looking for?

[Steve Rindsberg]

Post by John Wilson
Following Austin's trick try rotating a "regular" hexagon 60 deg and see the
problem!

I meant the square shape but yep, hexies are certainly hexed.

Draw a "regular" hexagon with shift held down and PPT gives you a shape whose
height and width are not equal. The one I'm playing with right now is 4.33 by
5".

If you make height and width equal, say 5" each, it distorts the hexagon.

OTOH, if I leave the height and width as-is after drawing the shape with shift
held down, I can copy and rotate them by 60 degree increments and they nest
nicely to one another.

So what does 'regular' mean in MSpeak, d'ya think?



-----------------------------------------
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================

[Glen (TD DTP)]

OK OK we are all crazy....

A true hexagon (equal sides and ofcourse angles) never has equal Height and
Width as a shade.

The ratio of a hexagon is 1:0.866 (and Yes a circle should touch every
corner of a hexagon)

PowerPoint however draws a hexagons at a ratio of 1:0.865
(ie a hexagon with the long side of 10cm will equal 8.65cm, not 8.66cm as it
should. Powerpoint draws in 'points' and I suspect a rounding issue is
involved here.

Solution (Please test this on your machines and see if is solves the
probelm, it works on mine):
1. Draw a hexagon using autoshape
2. resize hexagon, turn off lock aspect ratio, set width (or longest
bounding box edge) to 10cm and height (or shortest bounding box edge) to
8.66cm.
3. Resize object again, turn lock aspect ratio on.
4. Resize as required.

This is as close as you will get.

There is a problem with the 60 degree ration solution, as because it have to
move from point to point, it will never actually rotate to exactly 60
degrees.

Ok.... I am over hexagons...... goodnight
--
It''s cold up here in Toronto

Post by Steve Rindsberg

Post by John Wilson
Following Austin's trick try rotating a "regular" hexagon 60 deg and see the
problem!

I meant the square shape but yep, hexies are certainly hexed.
Draw a "regular" hexagon with shift held down and PPT gives you a shape whose
height and width are not equal. The one I'm playing with right now is 4.33 by
5".
If you make height and width equal, say 5" each, it distorts the hexagon.
OTOH, if I leave the height and width as-is after drawing the shape with shift
held down, I can copy and rotate them by 60 degree increments and they nest
nicely to one another.
So what does 'regular' mean in MSpeak, d'ya think?
-----------------------------------------
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================

[Jeff Groom]

The hexagon in powerpoint is terrible. This should have nothing to do with screen resolution. 4:3 is an aspect ratio and should NOT be linked to the measurements of lines. A pixel IS square and should not be related to aspect ratio.

The following works:
create 6 lines
Apply one of the following rotations to each of the lines:
0,60,120,180,240,300
Connect them and group it.

OR

Create a pie chart with 6 equal amounts.

Then draw a freeform shape to connect each point. This will result in a perfect hexagon that can also shape coloring and shading easily set in Office 2010.

Post by Daniel
How in God's name do I creat a hexagon shape with 6 equal sides? All I need
to do is have all the sides of a hex the exact same legth, but it seems
impossible to do. The program starts the shape with all equal sides, but if
you try to stretch the image it goes crazy. Anyone know a certain way to do
this to get equal sides? Thanks you for your help.

Post by Lucy Thomson
Hi Daniel
The simplest thing to do is make the height & the width the same and this
will give you 6 equal sides. How to check/change height & width depends on
your version...
Lucy
--
PowerPoint MVP
MOS Master Instructor
www.aneasiertomorrow.com.au

Post by Lucy Thomson
Daniel
Try holding down shift while inserting and stretching see if that helps
--
Amazing PPT Hints, Tips and Tutorials
http://www.PPTAlchemy.co.uk
http://www.technologytrish.co.uk
email john AT technologytrish.co.uk

Post by Lucy Thomson
Hi John
I was going to suggest that then I got it into my head that that didn't give
you equal sides - I even got out my ruler & measured on screen (not very well
obviously). So I thought about how I used to make them with a compass (I say
'I' of course I mean Euclid) and decided a circle has a fixed diameter so
height & width should be equal, completely forgetting that the hexagon
doesn't reach the top of the circle if it reaches the sides ... <hangs head
in shame>
Daniel - completely ignore my first post. In my defence, I am blonde.
<goes to sit in corner with dunce cap on>
Lucy
--
PowerPoint MVP
MOS Master Instructor
www.aneasiertomorrow.com.au

Post by b***@cix.compulink.co.uk
Draw an autoshape line horizontally to the length of one side. Copy and
paste. Rotate the second line, using Shift to constrain it to 15 degree
movement to achieve 60 degrees. Position it at the end of the first line.
Copy and paste the second line. Flip the copy vertically and position it
at the other end of the fist line.
Group the three lines. Flip the group horizontally and position with the
first group.
Group the whole thing.
Click and stretch as needed.
Worked for me!
Brian.

Wow = Now that is a complex way!
You
--
Amazing PPT Hints, Tips and Tutorials
http://www.PPTAlchemy.co.uk
http://www.technologytrish.co.uk
email john AT technologytrish.co.uk

Post by Daniel
Thankyou everyone for your help. I ended up doing what Brian said and just
make it out of lines. Nothing else seemed to work correctly. Amazing how
with all the features of this program it can't make a perfect hexagon. I
needed perfect hexes so that they would fit together and not have a bunch of
gaps. Thanks again everyone.

Post by Martin Conradi
Draw a pie chart with 6 equal sements, ungroup it, then use connectors to
join up the lines. Then all you have to do is delete the pie chart segments
to have a very quick and accurate hexagon.
Martin
--
Martin Conradi
www.showcase-online.co.uk

Post by tohlz
John's explanation on holding down the shift key while resizing the hexagon
works and is able to fit the hexes together. Have you tried it out?
--
Shawn Toh (tohlz)
Microsoft MVP PowerPoint
Site Updated: Jan 01, 2008
(Amazing PowerPoint animations, artworks, games here)
http://pptheaven.mvps.org
PowerPoint Heaven - The Power to Animate

Post by Glen (TD DTP)
I may be crazy, but you simply have to press 'Shift' while drawing the
Hexagon (Autoshade) and all sides will be exact... As per John's suggestion.
If fact you can also use 6 triagles if you want pieces, simply use the
'shift' key when you draw it and the 'shift' key whe you rotate the objects
into place. (recommend using the grid and snap to grid as well).
Martin - interesting out of the box thinking!
--
It''s cold up here in Toronto

Post by John Wilson
Maybe I'm going a little (more) crazy) but having carefully constructed a
regular hexagon the shift /shape doesn't seem to be exactly the same! Nearly
but not exactly.
--
Amazing PPT Hints, Tips and Tutorials
http://www.PPTAlchemy.co.uk
http://www.technologytrish.co.uk
email john AT technologytrish.co.uk

Post by Austin Myers
John,
It will never be exactly the same when stretched/rotated. The issue is that
our screens are not "square". Assuming you are running say 1024 x 768
resolution (4 x 3 ratio) and draw a shape that is 2" x 2" PowerPoint
(DirectX) draws it on the screen and there is some approximation on the
actual line lengths. Its all but impossible to find an exact width that
will give you an exact height unless you hit an exact 4 x 3 ratio. It will
always be off a pixel or two in one direction. This is especially true of
lines drawn at an angle on the screen. Toss dithering into the mix and you
begin to see how it can be off visually.
To see this in a more pronounced way, create a shape that is exactly 2" by
2". Now rotate the object 90 degrees. See the difference?
Austin Myers
MS PowerPoint MVP Team
Provider of PFCPro, PFCMedia and PFCExpress
www.playsforcertain.com

Post by Steve Rindsberg
No ... what am I looking for?

Post by John Wilson
No.. me neither!
The hexagon is quite a way off. I made six cloned lines and rotated them
exactly 60 /120/240 etc and then joined them up. The shifted / hexagon is
quite different!
--
Amazing PPT Hints, Tips and Tutorials
http://www.PPTAlchemy.co.uk
http://www.technologytrish.co.uk
email john AT technologytrish.co.uk

Post by John Wilson
Following Austin's trick try rotating a "regular" hexagon 60 deg and see the
problem!
--
Amazing PPT Hints, Tips and Tutorials
http://www.PPTAlchemy.co.uk
http://www.technologytrish.co.uk
email john AT technologytrish.co.uk

Post by Glen (TD DTP)
OK OK we are all crazy....
A true hexagon (equal sides and ofcourse angles) never has equal Height and
Width as a shade.
The ratio of a hexagon is 1:0.866 (and Yes a circle should touch every
corner of a hexagon)
PowerPoint however draws a hexagons at a ratio of 1:0.865
(ie a hexagon with the long side of 10cm will equal 8.65cm, not 8.66cm as it
should. Powerpoint draws in 'points' and I suspect a rounding issue is
involved here.
Solution (Please test this on your machines and see if is solves the
1. Draw a hexagon using autoshape
2. resize hexagon, turn off lock aspect ratio, set width (or longest
bounding box edge) to 10cm and height (or shortest bounding box edge) to
8.66cm.
3. Resize object again, turn lock aspect ratio on.
4. Resize as required.
This is as close as you will get.
There is a problem with the 60 degree ration solution, as because it have to
move from point to point, it will never actually rotate to exactly 60
degrees.
Ok.... I am over hexagons...... goodnight
--
It''s cold up here in Toronto

Post by Steve Rindsberg
I meant the square shape but yep, hexies are certainly hexed.
Draw a "regular" hexagon with shift held down and PPT gives you a shape whose
height and width are not equal. The one I'm playing with right now is 4.33 by
5".
If you make height and width equal, say 5" each, it distorts the hexagon.
OTOH, if I leave the height and width as-is after drawing the shape with shift
held down, I can copy and rotate them by 60 degree increments and they nest
nicely to one another.
So what does 'regular' mean in MSpeak, d'ya think?
-----------------------------------------
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================

[j***@ymail.com]

To create a perfect hexagon the ratio of Width and Height must be 1.154701:1

So if your hexagon is 7 Inches tall, multiply 7*1.154701 to get the perfect height of 8.082907

This works because a perfect HEX is a group of 6 perfect TRIs and a perfect TRI also has 3 equal sides, when cut in half to get a right triangle the measurement can be obtained as a ratio of a^2+b^2=c^2

HEX width 8
perfect TRI 4
cut right triangle has a base of 2 and a hypotenuse of 4
4^2+h^2=8^2
16+h^2=64
h^2=48
h=6.928203230275509
8 : 6.9282 :: 1.1547 : 1

[j***@ymail.com]

To create a perfect hexagon the ratio of Width and Height must be 1.154701:1

So if your hexagon is 7 Inches tall, multiply 7*1.154701 to get the perfect height of 8.082907

This works because a perfect HEX is a group of 6 perfect TRIs and a perfect TRI also has 3 equal sides, when cut in half to get a right triangle the measurement can be obtained as a ratio of a^2+b^2=c^2

HEX width 8
perfect TRI 4
cut right triangle has a base of 2 and a hypotenuse of 4
2^2+h^2=4^2
4+h^2=16
h^2=12
h=3.4641

now, you CAN NOT stop here. this is NOT the correct ratio to 8, because this is not for the Hexagon. This ratio is for the Triangle. Technically the hexagon was 8 wide, so the one section of perfect tri has a height of 3.4641, but we would have to double that to get the height of the HEX

so the ratio of the HEX is actually 8:6.928203230275509
you can divide to get the simplified ratio (divide both sides by 8 or divide both sides by 6.92820320275509 -- I divided by both, and my best 4 decimal round was the latter as we get a nice 1.154700538379252, and those 2 "zeros" are a nice rounding location)

1:1.1547

[j***@ymail.com]

Post by Daniel
How in God's name do I creat a hexagon shape with 6 equal sides? All I need
to do is have all the sides of a hex the exact same legth, but it seems
impossible to do. The program starts the shape with all equal sides, but if
you try to stretch the image it goes crazy. Anyone know a certain way to do
this to get equal sides? Thanks you for your help.

[b***@gmail.com]

Post by Daniel
How in God's name do I creat a hexagon shape with 6 equal sides? All I need
to do is have all the sides of a hex the exact same legth, but it seems
impossible to do. The program starts the shape with all equal sides, but if
you try to stretch the image it goes crazy. Anyone know a certain way to do
this to get equal sides? Thanks you for your help.

Just to add something quick to the discussion - you will have to find a manual way to do this because the hexagon shape created by Excel is not a regular hexagon. The interior angles are not 120 degrees, so there is no amount of stretching/shaping you can do to get it right. I'd suggest like others to just create 6 lines of equal length, rotate them all 60 degrees relative to its neighbor and join them together.

[v***@gmail.com]

Post by Daniel
How in God's name do I creat a hexagon shape with 6 equal sides? All I need
to do is have all the sides of a hex the exact same legth, but it seems
impossible to do. The program starts the shape with all equal sides, but if
you try to stretch the image it goes crazy. Anyone know a certain way to do
this to get equal sides? Thanks you for your help.