Turn a dingbat character into editable shapes in PPT 2013

Often I need certain clipart that is not available in PPT. Or I need some picture that I can't draw myself because it is too difficult. My drawing talents are limited.

In that case we can use the Merge Shapes function to get what we want.

Say I want to insert an old-fashioned Red Cross ambulance in my presentation. Not so easy, so we will work around it by converting a dingbat from the Webdings font in PPT.

Here are the steps:

1. Insert a textbox and click Insert - Symbol - select the Webdings font - and add the ambulance character.
2. Increase the font size of the character so that it reaches the right size.
3. Draw a rectangle on top of the ambulance.
4. Put the rectangle in the background using the Send backward button on the Format tab of the Drawing tools.
5. Now select the rectangle and then the textbox. On the Format tab, in the Insert Shapes group click the Merge Shapes button and select Fragment.
6. Put the cursor on the edge of the shape and drag it away. All of the shapes are selectable.
7. Add an appropriate fill to the different shapes.

Second example, I want to insert an umbrella in my presentation.

Here are the steps:

1. Insert a textbox and click Insert - Symbol - select the Segoe El Emoji font - and add the umbrella character.
2. Increase the font size of the character so that it reaches the right size.
3. Draw a rectangle above the umbrella.
4. Put the rectangle in the background using the Send backward button on the Format tab of the Drawing tools.
5. Now select the rectangle and then the textbox. On the Format tab, in the Insert Shapes group click the Merge Shapes button and select Intersect.
6. Draw a white rectangle above the umbrella and put it in the background using the Send backward button.
7. Now select the rectangle and then the textbox. On the Format tab, in the Insert Shapes group click the Merge Shapes button and select Fragment.
8. Remove the white rectangle.
9. Put the cursor on the edge of the shape and drag it away. You are left with a simple umbrella, all of the shapes are editable.
10. Add an appropriate fill to the different shapes. Group if necessary.