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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 itâs 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). Finallyâand most important when youâre in a time crunchâyouâll learn how to turn on PowerPointâs automatic formatting options. Changing Slide LayoutEach time you create a slideâby creating a new presentation (Section 1.1), or by adding a slide to an existing presentation (Section 1.4)âPowerPoint 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 youâve 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, youâre 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, youâll 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 youâve 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 â Page Setup â 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: Hereâs what a slide looks like in portrait orientation. You canât change the orientation of a single slide or group of slides; itâs 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 youâve got a bunch of objects (especially if theyâre overlapping), or if the text box you want to move is so completely filled with text you think youâll have trouble selecting its border to drag it, youâll 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 itselfâwhich you need to do to reposition the text boxâthe outline changes from dashed to solid. If youâre having trouble finding the right spot to click, look for the double-headed arrow cursor. When you see it, you know youâre 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, thereâs an easy way to revert to your original. Choosing Home â Slides â 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 youâre 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 youâll need a little help positioning your text boxes and other objectsâespecially if your eyesightâs not the best. PowerPoint offers that help in the form of the zoom, guides, and grid.
Changing Background ColorIn most cases, you wonât want to change the background color of your slides. Instead, youâll 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, thereâs an exception or two to every rule. In the case of background color, one exception to the donât-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 youâve 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 doesnât police you. If you apply a black background to a slide containing black text, your text becomes unreadableâand PowerPoint doesnât warn you in advance. If you donât 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 FontsItâs great having the freedom to apply your own custom colors, fonts, and effectsâuntil 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 PowerPointâs 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 youâve 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 youâve 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 youâve added to your presentation. To delete a background effect youâve applied to a slide, click Reset Background in the Format Background dialog box (Figure 4-11). Reapplying a Color SchemeProfessionally designed themesâincluding the ones that come with PowerPointâtypically 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 youâd like it to appear in different colors, or if youâve 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 â Themes â Fonts. Then, in the Fonts gallery, simply click to choose the font you want to reapply. Which feature in PowerPoint can you use to quickly change the background fonts and layout?In PowerPoint, Colors, Fonts, Effects, and Background Styles can be accessed by clicking on the More button in the Variant group in the design ribbon.
Which option in PowerPoint is used to change the background of the slide?On the Design tab, select Format Background. Select Solid Fill, and pick a color from the gallery. If you want to have all slides have this same background color, on the Design tab, select Format Background > Apply to All.
What is the name of the feature used to change the Design of a PowerPoint presentation?PowerPoint makes it easy to apply new theme effects, which can quickly change the appearance of shapes in your presentation. From the Design tab, click the drop-down arrow in the Variants group and select Effects. Select the desired theme effects. The presentation will update to show the new theme effects.
How can we change the background of a slide in a presentation?Change background image. On your computer, open a presentation in Google Slides.. Choose a slide.. At the top, click Slide Change background.. To the right of "Image," click Choose.. Choose an image, then click Select. To add the image to one slide, click Done. To add the image to the whole presentation, click Add to theme.. |