Here are two easy ways to copy an object such as a square, oval, rectangle or an AutoShape.

Click to select the object and press Ctrl+D. A duplicate copy of the object is placed on top of the original object.

Select the object and hold down the Ctrl key while you drag the object to another position on the page.

The drawing grid is an invisible network of lines that help you align drawing objects, such as AutoShapes. As you drag or draw an object or an AutoShape, Word & PowerPoint pull it into alignment with the nearest intersection of gridlines. By default, gridlines are not visible on the screen. The default spacing of gridlines is 0.13 inch.

To temporarily override the grid and position objects anywhere on the page hold down the Alt key while you drag the object.

Sometimes you want to move the drawing object a fraction and this can be difficult to do with the mouse. To "nudge" the object into position select the object and use the cursor arrow keys to move the object on the page. Press CTRL and the arrow keys to nudge it in 1-pixel increments

To draw a completely straight line, hold down the Shift key while you draw the line. The shift key will "constrain" any object into a perfect shape.

Holding down the Ctrl key while you draw, draws the object from the middle. You can combine both Shift and Ctrl.