Creating and Using Templates in Microsoft PowerPoint

This tutorial will teach you how to use pre-existing templates in Microsoft PowerPoint XP 2003, how to change the colors of an existing template, and how to create a new template from scratch.

How to Use an Existing Template

1. To create a new presentation, open Microsoft PowerPoint. From the File menu at the top of the screen, choose New....

   

2. The New Presentation pane will appear on the right side of the screen. Click the From design template link to choose a template to use in your presentation.

   

3. The Slide Design pane will appear on the right side of the screen. In the Apply a design template: box, click on the template design you wish to use. The chosen design will be implemented automatically.
4. To choose the layout for your first slide, click the Slide Design title bar to reveal a drop-down menu. Choose Slide Layout to display a list of slide previews.

   

5. From the Apply slide layout:, choose the layout that would best suit the slide you are adding. If you are designing the first slide in your presentation, choosing Title Slide would be best in most cases. The layout will be applied automatically.
6. The main editing window will display the text and image fields that need to be edited to add content to your presentation. Click each field to add text or other content. Press the [Esc] on your keyboard to stop editing that field, and start editing another.

   

7. To add a new slide to the presentation, choose New Slide from the Insert menu.

   

8. A new slide will appear in the main editing window, and the Slide Layout pane will re-appear. Choose a slide layout from the Apply slide layout: box by clicking on it, and click on each field that you wish to edit in the main window.
9. Repeat these steps until you have added all the necessary slides. Save your presentation by choosing Save from the File menu.

Changing the Color Scheme of an Existing Template

1. Click the title bar at the top of the help pain on the right side of the PowerPoint window to reveal a drop-down menu. Choose Slide Design - Color Schemes from that drop-down menu.

   

2. To apply a new color scheme to every slide in the presentation, click on the desired scheme in the Apply a color scheme: box.
3. If you would like to create your own color scheme, click the Edit Color Schemes... link at the bottom of the Slide Design pane to open the Edit Color Schemes dialog box.

   

4. Under the Scheme colors heading in the Edit Color Scheme box, eight different color types will be listed. Click on the color box that you wish to change to highlight it, and click the Change Color... button.

   

5. The Background Color dialog box will appear. Click anywhere inside the color gradient to choose a new color for that portion of the layout, and click inside the thin bar to the right of the gradient to change its intensity. A preview of the color change is visible in the lower-right corner of the window, with New displaying the new color you have chosen and Current displaying the previous color. Once you have chosen the correct color, click the OK button.

   

6. Once you have edited all the necessary colors, click the Add as Standard Scheme button to make it available as a color scheme in future PowerPoint presentations you create with that slide design. Click Apply to convert your presentation to the color scheme that you have created. The changes will be visible immediately.

   

Removing Background Images from a Slide

1. Right-click anywhere on the background of a slide, and choose Background from the drop-down menu that appears.

   

2. Click the Omit background graphics from master check box.

   

3. To remove the background graphics from all the slides your entire presentation, click the Apply to All button. To remove the background graphics from only the current slide, click the Apply button.

Changing the Presentation Template

1. Right-click anywhere on the background of a slide, and choose Slide Design... from the drop-down menu that appears.

   

2. The Slide Design pane will appear on the right side of the screen. In the Apply a design template: box, click on the new template design you wish to use. The chosen design will be implemented automatically.

Creating a New Template

Microsoft PowerPoint gives you the ability to create your own design template. You are able to change the master layout for the different portions of a presentation by editing four main master layouts:

• Slide Master - the master layout for each slide type, not including the title slide
• Title Master - the master layout for the title slide
• Handout Master - the master layout for the printed presentation
• Notes Master - the master layout for the printed presentation with notes

The Slide Master and Title Master are the two most important layouts to edit in a PowerPoint presentation. After editing these two designs, the result can be saved as a new PowerPoint template.

1. Open Microsoft PowerPoint. From the File menu at the top of the screen, choose New....

   

2. The New Presentation pane will appear on the right side of the screen. Click the Blank presentation link to create a new presentation.

   

3. To view the Slide Master, under the View menu, choose Master and then Slide Master.

   

4. The Slide Master layout will be displayed on the screen. From here, you can edit the various default slide appearance.

   

   • To change the style of a particular text-type, highlight the text on the master layout, and use the Formatting toolbar to adjust the font to your liking. You may also use the Font... option under the Format menu.
   • To change the color scheme of the presentation, follow the same steps as you would if the presentation were made with an included template.
   • To add clip art and other graphics to the basic slide design, use the Picture option under the Insert menu to add it to the layout. From there, it may be resized and positioned by dragging it with the mouse.
   • To reposition a text field, click on it with the mouse, and drag the field to a new location. To resize a field, drag the various edges and corners of the field with your mouse.

   

5. To view the Title Master, under the Insert menu, choose New Title Master. You may have to click the Expand (↓) button at the bottom of the menu to display all options.

   

6. The Title Master layout will be displayed on screen, reflecting the changes to the default layout that you have already made. Edit it further using the same methods that you used for the Slide Master.

   

7. Close the Title Master layout by choosing Normal from the View menu.

   

8. Under the File menu, choose Save As.... The Save As dialog box will appear.

   

9. From the Save as type: drop-down menu, choose Design Template (*.pot). Type a descriptive file name in the File name: text box, and click the Save button to save the template.

   

The template you have just created will be available by choosing On my computer... under the Templates heading in the New Presentation pane when creating a PowerPoint presentation from scratch.