Applications Session 8 - Advanced Powerpoint

Is there such a thing?

Powerpoint is really such an easy application to use, that even at the "Advanced" end, it is still nice and easy. From one end of the spectrum to the other!

I am assuming that you all know a bit about PowerPoint and how to create a presentation and apply a theme to make a plain presentation look really swish, so today I will show you how to create your own theme.

Creating a Template/Theme

Start by loading PowerPoint using a Blank Presentation.

To be able to create or change a Theme, you need to change the view to Slide Master. You can access this from the View tab.

Your presentation area will now contain the "Master" versions of all of your slides.

Once you are in Master Slide View, you can customise and create your own Template. Many organisations will have their own template for presentations - this allows a consistent look and feel within the organisation. Chisholm has one that staff can download from our Intranet and use for any Chisholm Presentations.

This is what the Slide Master View ribbon looks like. It gives you access to a range of tools that can be used to create/modify Slidemaster templates, slide layout, colours, and more.

Start by deciding which elements you want on each slide - things like date and slide number

You can  then play with the Slide Layouts and placeholders.

To create a nice background, you can add an image, shapes, gradient, or solid colour. Make sure you are at the top of the tree in the slide navigation pane.

You can start by changing the background colour. Use the various tools within the Background section of the ribbon. You can have a solid colour, a gradient, or even an image as a background. With images, you can control the transparency to allow for a nice subtle background.

Make sure that you are on the top slide if you want all of the slides to have the same stuff on it.

In this sample, I used a solid background and placed some shapes on it to give it a bit of interest. To make sure that the shapes are behind any text, you can use the send backwards option.

To see what your new theme looks like, just close the SlideMaster view

Saving your Template/Theme

You have two options when it comes to saving your new Master Template.You can save it as a PowerPoint Template, or you can save it as a Theme. Both options are OK, but will have two different ways of using your design.

To save as a PowerPoint Template, go to File / Save As and Choose PowerPoint Template as the file type (.potx)

To use the template, you can double click the file to open it or you start PowerPoint and select the template from your custom templates.

Alternatively, you can save your design as a Theme.

To save as a Theme, Select Save Current Theme (.thmx)

The main difference is how you use the design for a presentation. A template is a file that is opened and you see the theme straight away. A theme is applied to a blank presentation.

Useful Formatting Tools

When you are creating your theme, remember some of  the tools that will help you!!

Transparent Colour in Images

Remove Background

Grouping Shapes

Bringing Forward or sending Backwards

This will change the order of the items in a stack.

The following example has a starburst behind a shape. See what happens when it gets moved forward.

Here is a sample template for Mysty River Regional Library Corporation.

ASSESSMENT TASK

Create your own PowerPoint Theme for a fictitious library or if you don't have one, for Mysty River Regional Library Services.

Create a template/Theme that is suitable for your organisation

If you would like to see the full Assessment Guidelines, please click here