Show
Sets with similar termsFlickr Creative Commons ImagesSome images used in this set are licensed under the Creative Commons through Flickr.com. Chapter 4. Formatting and Laying Out Your SlidesIn the previous chapter, you learned how to massage text into perfectly indented paragraphs, columns, and lists. Now it’s time for the big picture. This chapter shows you how to format slide using layouts, and how to reapply a theme (see Section 1.2) or color scheme (a list of coordinating font colors). Finally—and most important when you’re in a time crunch—you’ll learn how to turn on PowerPoint’s automatic formatting options. Changing Slide LayoutEach time you create a slide—by creating a new presentation (Section 1.1), or by adding a slide to an existing presentation (Section 1.4)—PowerPoint gives that slide a layout such as the Title Slide layout, with one title text placeholder near the top and one subtitle text placeholder near the middle of the slide. But you can change the layout of your slide at any time, either before you’ve added content to it or after. PowerPoint gives you several options for changing slide layout:
Applying a Canned LayoutPowerPoint offers nine canned layouts you can use. Most of the time, you’re going to want to apply these layouts before you add text to your slides, but you can apply them after, as well. NoteIf you have a very specific, custom layout in mind, you’ll probably find it easier and more efficient to create a layout master, as described on Section 5.5. To apply a canned layout to your slide:
NoteBecause custom templates typically come with additional (or different-looking) layouts, if you’ve applied a custom template to your slideshow, the layouts you see in the layout gallery may look a bit different from the ones described above. Switching Orientation from Landscape to Portrait (and Back)
Unless you tell it otherwise, PowerPoint assumes you want your presentation to appear in landscape form; that is, with slides that appear wider than they are tall. But you can change this orientation to portrait if you like. For example, if you intend to print your presentation, staple the pages, and hand it out to your audience, then you may want to switch to portrait so your audience can flip through the pages more easily. To choose an orientation, go to Design → Page Setup → Slide Orientation and choose either Portrait or Landscape. Figure 4-3 shows you an example of each. Figure 4-3. Left: Here, you see a slide in landscape orientation, which is the standard orientation for PowerPoint slides. Right: Here’s what a slide looks like in portrait orientation. You can’t change the orientation of a single slide or group of slides; it’s all the slides in a presentation, or none. Repositioning Text BoxesPowerPoint gives you different ways to reposition the text boxes (and other objects) on your slides. You can either drag objects where you want them, or use the Size and Position dialog box. Dragging typically works best when you have only a few objects on your slide. If you’ve got a bunch of objects (especially if they’re overlapping), or if the text box you want to move is so completely filled with text you think you’ll have trouble selecting its border to drag it, you’ll want to use the Size and Position dialog box and save yourself some aggravation. To reposition a text box by dragging:
TipFor finer control over the position of your text box: As soon as you see both the double-headed arrow cursor shown in Figure 4-4 and a solid text box outline, click the arrow keys on your keyboard to move the text box up, down, left, or right. To move the text box in even tinier increments, hold down Ctrl while you click the arrow keys. Figure 4-4. When you click in a text box, the text box outline appears dashed. When you click the outline itself—which you need to do to reposition the text box—the outline changes from dashed to solid. If you’re having trouble finding the right spot to click, look for the double-headed arrow cursor. When you see it, you know you’re in the right spot to drag. TipIf you drag a bunch of stuff around on a slide and then change your mind and want to put it back the way it was, there’s an easy way to revert to your original. Choosing Home → Slides → Reset tells PowerPoint to change your slide back to its original layout. To reposition a text box using the Size and Position dialog box:
Figure 4-5. The Position tab of the Size and Position dialog box lets you specify precisely how you want to position your text boxes and other elements, which is especially useful if you’re using PowerPoint to create a program interface mock-up. If you like, you can tell PowerPoint to calculate the Horizontal and Vertical amounts you specify based on the center of your slide (instead of the top-left corner). Help for Positioning Text Boxes: Zoom, Guides, and GridWhether you prefer dragging or using the Size and Position dialog box, there are times you’ll need a little help positioning your text boxes and other objects—especially if your eyesight’s not the best. PowerPoint offers that help in the form of the zoom, guides, and grid.
Changing Background ColorIn most cases, you won’t want to change the background color of your slides. Instead, you’ll rely on the professionally designed themes that ship with PowerPoint (and that you can find for free or purchase on the Web), which coordinate text and background color and effects into an aesthetically pleasing package. Of course, there’s an exception or two to every rule. In the case of background color, one exception to the don’t-change-it rule is when you need to match your presentation to a specific (non-PowerPoint) corporate or organizational palette, such as the one your Marketing department uses for brochures and four-color ads. Another exception is if you’ve monkeyed with your font color as described on Section 3.2.4. Because the human eye sees color in a relative context, black text (for example) appears different depending on whether you set it against a white background, a pink background, or a dark blue background. So when you change the color of your text, you may want to adjust the background color of your slide, too, until you find a combination that looks good to you. To change the background color of one, some, or all of the slides in a presentation:
NotePowerPoint doesn’t police you. If you apply a black background to a slide containing black text, your text becomes unreadable—and PowerPoint doesn’t warn you in advance. If you don’t see a color option you like in the gallery, you can choose from a broader selection:
Adding a Gradient EffectA solid colored background, like the ones you learned to apply in the previous section, sometimes do the trick. But some folks think a gradient effect (Figure 4-10) looks a bit more sophisticated. Instead of a single color, gradients blend multiple bands of color for mild to wild effects. All of the basic background options that PowerPoint suggests (Figure 4-8) include gradients, but you can apply your own custom gradient effect quickly and easily. Figure 4-10. No doubt about it: Whether on a big-screen projector or decent-sized computer monitor, gradient backgrounds look more sophisticated than solid-color backgrounds. Subtle colors and a hint of transparency tone down the gradient so your audience can focus on your content. To apply a gradient effect to your background:
Reapplying Themes, Colors, and FontsIt’s great having the freedom to apply your own custom colors, fonts, and effects—until you make so many changes that your presentation looks like something your three-year-old might have created. Luckily, if that happens, you can reapply PowerPoint’s professionally designed themes (Section 1.2), color schemes or fonts to your presentation, which clears most of your changes and lets you start over from scratch. Reapplying themes is also a great way to try out new looks. WarningBecause many themes feature different fonts, your text may appear misaligned after you reapply a theme or font. To avoid having to flip through slides and fix misaligned text, apply the theme you want before you’ve filled all 600 of your intricately laid-out slides with text. Reapplying a ThemeThemes contain information that tells PowerPoint what fonts, colors, images, and layouts to apply to your presentation. You can reapply a theme after you’ve added content to your slides, but be aware that depending on the theme you choose to reapply, you may have to go back through your slides and eyeball them to make sure they look okay. (Different fonts and sizes can make a presentation that looked great in one theme look terrible in another.) To reapply a theme:
WarningA reapplied theme does not always overwrite the custom background you’ve added to your presentation. To delete a background effect you’ve applied to a slide, click Reset Background in the Format Background dialog box (Figure 4-11). Reapplying a Color SchemeProfessionally designed themes—including the ones that come with PowerPoint—typically come with multiple color combinations, or schemes. These color schemes tell PowerPoint which colors to use for heading text, regular text, hyperlinks, slide backgrounds, and more. All of these colors were chosen by the theme designers to look good together, so choosing one of the theme-sanctioned color schemes ensures you of a reasonably attractive result. If you decide halfway through creating a presentation that you’d like it to appear in different colors, or if you’ve experimented with changing font colors (Section 3.2.4) and want to put your presentation back to the way it was, then you can do so by reapplying a color scheme. To reapply a color scheme:
Reapplying a FontThere are two reasons you may want to reapply a font to your presentation:
To reapply a font to all of the text in your slideshow, go to Design → Themes → Fonts. Then, in the Fonts gallery, simply click to choose the font you want to reapply. How would you save your layouts colors fonts effects for others to use?Create and save a custom theme
Select Colors, Fonts, Effects, or Background Styles and choose from built-in options or customize your own. When you're done customizing styles, select the down arrow in the Themes group, and then select Save Current Theme. Give your theme a name, and select Save.
How would you save your layouts colors fonts effects for others to use with their presentation Linkedin?How would you save your layouts, colors, fonts, effects, background styles and content for others to use with their presentations? Export the file as a template. Save the file as a PDF. Save the file as a POTX.
How do I save a layout in PowerPoint?To save your template, click the File tab, and then click Save As. In the File name box, type a file name, or do nothing to accept the suggested file name. In the Save as type list, click PowerPoint Template (. potx).
How can you add more layouts to the layout gallery?Add a new slide layout to the slide master. On the View menu, point to Master, and then click Slide Master.. In the navigation pane, click the slide master. ... . Click the Slide Master tab, and then under Slide Master, click New Layout. ... . Make any additional modifications to the new slide layout.. |