Templates and Slide Masters in PowerPoint 2003

Introduction

The layout of any PowerPoint presentation is set by the template used. Every presentation is based on a template; if a specific one is not chosen then the Blank Presentation template is used by default.

The design of each template is set up on the Slide Master. On this, the layout and the format of text within placeholders is defined, together with any additional images and header/footer information. The Slide Master in turn uses a Colour Scheme which determines the background colour, font colours and fill colours used in charts etc. For further information about colour schemes see the document Colour Palettes and Schemes in PowerPoint 2003.

PowerPoint files make use of two Masters (a linked pair) - a Slide Master for ordinary slides and a special Title Master for slides using a Title AutoLayout. If a particular presentation requires more masters than this, then individual slides can be customised to use a different master pair.

Built-in Templates

PowerPoint provides you with a wide selection of built-in layouts or templates. You usually select the template required when you first start up a new presentation:

1. Load PowerPoint to start a new presentation - or, if you already have PowerPoint running, press <Ctrl n> or open the File menu and select New...

2. In the Task Pane on the right, click on the list arrow and choose New Presentation

3. Under Templates choose On my computer... 4. On the Design Templates tab you will see the following dialog box:

5. A sample slide of each template is shown in the Preview screen 6. Use the <arrow keys>, move between the templates - or click on one to

select it 7. Explore what's available then choose Fireworks and press <Enter> for

[OK] to start the presentation 8. Press <Ctrl m> or click on the [New Slide] button to create a second slide

If you compare the two slides, you will see that there are major differences in the layout of the placeholders and image. This is because one is a Title Slide which has its own Title Master. You will learn more about this later.

If you decide you don't like the current choice of template, it's easy to choose another:

9. Click on the [Design] button - the built-in templates appear in the Task Pane

10. Choose a different template - eg Training.pot

Note that both slides are using the new template. Again, the layout is slightly different - the most noticeable change is the position of the light blue stripe

Built-in Presentations

The templates provided on the Design Templates tab are not the only ones built into PowerPoint. Sample presentations are also provided, which not only use different templates but which have sample slides already prepared. They are designed to give you ideas for a talk on a particular theme. Most themes, however, are business-orientated.

To see what's available:

1. Open the File menu and select New..., then click on On my computer... in the Task Pane, as before

2. Click on the Presentations tab to see the following dialog box:

3. A sample slide of each presentation is again shown in the Preview screen 4. Use the <arrow> keys to move between the templates - or click on one to

select it 5. Explore what's available then choose Training and press <Enter> for

[OK] to load the presentation 6. Run the show (press <F5>) or just explore the sample slides which you

might or might not want to include in a Training presentation 7. Click on the [Close Window] button or use Close from the File menu -

take care to close only this presentation

The built-in presentations may or may not be attractive to you. Some may still be of use, however, for their template.

The Slide Master and Title Master

The characteristics of each template are set out on the Slide Master. To see this:

1. Open the View menu, choose Master then Slide Master

The Slide Master appears with one or two Slide Miniatures on the left. Every Slide Master contains the following components:

• The Title Area for AutoLayouts containing the style used for the Master title

• The Object Area for AutoLayouts containing five Master text styles • The Date Area, which is generally used for storing dates and times • The Footer Area, which can be used as a convenient text box to add your

name, for example, or copyright information • The Number Area, which is usually used to display the slide number

In addition, a Master might include:

• A special Background - either coloured or a picture • Images such as a company logo (here, the lighter blue streak on the right) • Extra Text Boxes such as a name or the title of the presentation • A Watermark - a faint image or piece of text which merges into the

background

Note in particular the different settings for the Master text styles. The First level is pre-defined to have bullet points. This can make it very annoying when you want to type some ordinary text as an introductory paragraph. You will see how to change this setting later.

A presentation can also have a Title Master. This is what is used when you select a Title Slide AutoLayout. To view this:

3. Click on the lower slide miniature on the left hand side

The components here are largely the same as before except the Objects Area is now called the Subtitle Area and this controls just the Master subtitle style. Note the slightly different arrangement of the components and the subtly different blue band on the right.

To return to your presentation:

4. Click on the [Close Master View] button on the floating Master Toolbar

Modifying the Slide Master

Whenever you create a new presentation, you should start by setting up the Slide Master. If you select one of the built-in templates, this is all set up for you (as you have seen). If you start with a Blank Presentation, however, you should adapt the Slide Master to your requirements before you start preparing any slides. Once you have done this you can, if you want, save the empty presentation as your own new template, which you could then use for other presentations.

Start with a new presentation:

1. Click on the [New] button (or use the File menu then New...) 2. Open the View menu, choose Master then Slide Master

Note that you currently only have the one Master - you will add a Title Master later.

The Title Area

To modify the current Title Area and Master title style:

1. Click on the words Click to edit Master title style - there is no need to select them

2. Make any changes required - eg click on the [Bold] button to make the words bold; set the font and font size using the list arrows attached to the [Font] and [Font Size] buttons; change the justification to [Align Left]

Tip: You can change the colour of the letters by clicking on the [Font Color] button on the Drawing Toolbar but it's better to leave the automatic setting and then make any changes required via the Colour Scheme (see the document Colour Palettes and Schemes in PowerPoint 2003).

3. Press <Esc> to select the Title Area placeholder 4. Open the Format menu and choose Placeholder... to set up the options

for the Title Area 5. Explore the various settings - if you do make any changes to the Fill or

Line Color then it's a good idea to select Automatic (see the Tip about colour schemes above)

6. [Preview] the result then click on [OK] to save any changes 7. Using the handle in the middle of the placeholder box on the right, reduce

the width of the box by about 15% - you will be adding an image to the top right corner in a minute

The Object Area

To modify the current Object Area and Master text styles:

1. Click on the words Click to edit Master text styles - again, there is no need to select them

2. Make sure the Ruler is displayed - if not, open the View menu and select Ruler

Note the groups of symbols on the ruler - these indicate the First Line Indent, the Hanging Indent and the Left Indent for each of the five style levels. The one ruler is used for the entire placeholder, not individual styles. In this next exercise, you will be making the top level into an ordinary paragraph (ie no bullet point) and using the other levels for bullets:

3. Move the mouse cursor to the first Hanging Indent (the lower triangle at the 1cm mark), hold down the mouse button and drag the marker to 0cm - note that the Left Indent (the square beneath) moves too

4. Point the mouse cursor to the second Left Indent (the square at the 2cm mark) and drag that as far to the left as possible - both the other Indent triangles should move too

5. Repeat step 4 for the remaining three Left Indent markers

Your Ruler should now look like this:

6. For the First level style, click on the [Bullets] button to turn off bullets 7. Make any changes required to the font, font size etc, as you did previously

with the Master title style 8. Press <down arrow> to move to the Second level style 9. Again make any changes to the font - eg click on the [Increase Font Size]

button to enlarge the text to 32 point 10. Open the Format menu and choose Bullets and Numbering... and set

the required bullet style - press <Enter> for [OK] to accept the changes 11. Repeat steps 8 to 10 for the other styles, as appropriate 12. Press <Esc> to select the Object Area placeholder and Format the

Placeholder... if necessary (click on [OK] to enforce any changes)

The Footer, Date and Number Areas

To add a Footer:

1. Click on the <footer> code in the Footer Area placeholder 2. Type in an appropriate footer - eg © (<Alt 184> on the numeric keypad,

with <Num Lock> on) your_own_name

A date/time or slide number can be placed in the appropriate placeholders by using the Header and Footer... command from the View menu. Alternatively:

1. Click on the <date/time> code in the Date Area placeholder 2. Open the Insert menu and choose Date and Time... 3. Choose the date and/or time format required - if you want the information

to Update automatically, click on the check box provided 4. Press <Enter> for [OK] to add the date/time stamp to your slides

Note: Even if you have chosen the Update automatically option, the date/time value is fixed for a particular show (to the date/time when the presentation is started). If you do not choose this option, however, the date/time stored is fixed

to the moment you added it to the Slide Master. The same applies if you choose to add a date/time to a particular slide rather than to the Slide Master.

If you try to repeat the above instructions to add a slide number, you will find they do not work. This is because the Number Area placeholder is, by default, inactive. You must use the Header and Footer... command to activate it:

1. Open the View menu and select Header and Footer...

The following dialog box appears:

Note that you can set the Date and time here and that there is an option for the Header and Footer not to appear on the Title Slide.

2. Click on the Slide number check box to activate the placeholder on the slide

3. Press <Enter> for [Apply to all] to add the slide numbers to your slides

To customise your slide numbering:

4. Click on the <#> code in the Number Area placeholder 5. Press the <Home> key to move the typing position before the slide

number 6. Type the word Slide then press the <End> key

7. Continue with the words of XX where xx is replaced by the total number of slides

Note: Sadly there doesn't appear to be a code which you can enter which counts up the number of slides automatically. Unlike the date/time stamp, however, the slide number code does change as you run through the show. If you want a slide show to begin at a number other than 1 then you set this value on Page Setup in the File menu.

The Background

To set a background to the Slide Master:

1. Right click on the background (outside any placeholder) and choose Background... from the pop-up menu - or use Background... from the Format menu

Currently, the colour is set up automatically to use the one defined by the Colour Scheme. In many respects it's a good idea to leave this setting unchanged (and then modify the colour via the scheme). To set a fixed colour, however:

2. Click on the list arrow attached to the Background fill [Color] box 3. Click on More Colors... and select the colour required - press <Enter> for

[OK] 4. [Preview] the result 5. Click on the list arrow again and this time choose Fill Effects... 6. Choose a fill effect, if required, then press <Enter> for [OK] 7. [Preview] the result

Note: If you want to use an image for a background, go to the Picture tab in the Fill Effects dialog box and then [Select Picture...].

8. When you are happy with the background, click on [Apply to all]

Adding an Image

To add an image to the Slide Master:

1. Open the Insert menu and choose Picture then Clip Art...

If you had an image saved in a file then you would have selected the From File... option here.

2. In the Insert Clip Art Task Pane, type the required type of clip in the Search text: box (eg Training) then press <Enter> for [Go]

3. Click on the clip you would like to add to your slide 4. Close the Clip Art Task Pane by clicking on the [Close Window] button 5. Move the image to the top right corner of the Slide Master either by

dragging it or using the <arrow> keys 6. Resize the image, if necessary, using one of the corner handles

Adding a Watermark

A watermark is a very faint pattern on the background of a slide. You can use either an image or a piece of text for the watermark. To turn an image into a watermark:

1. Click on the image you have just added to the Slide Master to select it 2. Next, click on the [Color] button on the Picture toolbar and choose

Washout 3. Enlarge the picture by dragging out a corner handle 4. Finally, move the watermark behind any text - open the Draw menu on the

Drawing Toolbar and select Order then Send to Back

To use text for a watermark:

1. Click on the [Text Box] button on the Drawing toolbar 2. Click towards the bottom left corner of the Slide Master 3. Type in the text for the watermark - eg your initials 4. Press <Esc> to select the Text Box placeholder then click on the [Font

Size] button 5. Type in a very large size - eg 400 and press <Enter> 6. Using the <arrow> keys, move the text box to place it centrally on the

Slide Master

7. Click on the list arrow attached to the [Font Color] button on the Drawing Toolbar and choose the (Custom) colour used for the Background

8. Click on the [Font Color] button again but this time select [More Colours...]

9. Move to the Custom tab and, using the scale on the right, select a colour which is just slightly lighter or darker - to get a good effect you need a single-colour background

10. Click on [Preview] to view the result and then on [OK] once you are happy with the effect

11. Finally, move the watermark behind the text - open the Draw menu on the Drawing Toolbar and select Order then Send to Back

12. Click on the background to release the placeholder selection

Modifying the Title Master

PowerPoint 2003 allows you to employ more than one set of Masters in a presentation (previously you were limited to one pair). Each set comprises a Slide Master (for most slide layout) and a Title Master (for slides with the Title Slide AutoLayout). Though this second layout is frequently only used for the first slide in a presentation, it can be used anywhere to give a different appearance - eg to introduce a new section or topic.

To create a Title Master:

1. Make sure you are viewing the Slide Master 2. Click on the [Insert New Title Master] button on the Slide Master toolbar

(or open the Insert menu and choose New Title Master)

You now have a slightly different layout, with placeholders for the Title Area and Subtitle Area. You can alter the default layout in any way you want. You can also change any of the current settings - ie styles (font, size and justification), background, images and watermark.

For example, make the following changes to your Title Master:

1. Remove the watermark by clicking on the background away from the placeholders to enter the Text Box, press <Esc> to select it and then <Delete>

2. Click on Click to edit Master title style then [Center] the main title

3. Change the background colour by right clicking on the background and choosing Background... (or get this command from the Format menu) - use the list arrow and choose either More Colors... or Fill Effects as appropriate

4. [Preview] the result and click on [Apply] when all is okay - take care not to [Apply to all] or you will change the Slide Master background too (if you do make this mistake then [Undo] resets all but the Title Master)

IMPORTANT: Always set up your Title Master after your Slide Master. If you were to now make changes to any of the styles on the Slide Master, the styles on the Title Master would also change.

To compare the new Title Master with the original Slide Master:

5. Click on the top slide master miniature in the left hand panel

Note: There are also Masters for Handouts and Notes (use the View menu to see these). These work in much the same way as the Slide and Title Masters - explore them yourself, if you are creating Notes and Handouts.

Creating Further Masters

You can have further Masters pairs (for both ordinary and title slides), if you want. To create a new Slide Master:

1. Click on the [Insert New Slide Master] button or press <Ctrl m> 2. Set up the Slide Master as required 3. Complete the Master pair by adding a new Title Master, if required - click

on the [Insert Title Master] button

Knowing which pair of Masters to use for which slides can be confusing. To help with this you can give the Masters sensible names. To do this:

1. Click on the miniature of the Master you wish to name 2. Click on the [Rename Master] button on the Slide Master toolbar 3. Type in the name for the Master then press <Enter> for [Rename]

Saving a Template

If you want to use your new layouts as a template for other presentations:

1. Once you are happy with both Masters, click on the [Close] button on the floating Master Toolbar

2. Move to [Slide Sorter View] then press <Ctrl a> and <Delete> the existing slides

3. Return to [Normal View] then open the File menu and choose Save As... 4. In the File name: box, type an appropriate filename (eg MyTemplate) 5. Using the list arrow attached to the Save as type: box, choose Design

Template (*.pot) 6. Note how Save in: has automatically changed to a special folder (DO NOT

CHANGE THIS) - press <Enter> for [Save] 7. Close the file by clicking on the [Close Window] button or use Close from

the File menu

Tip: It's quite a good idea to save a standard Blank Presentation as a personal template. This will then be added to the list of available templates when you choose the command Apply Design Template when you want to change a presentation layout.

To create a new presentation using the customised template:

1. Open the File menu and select New... - the Task appears 2. Under Templates select On my computer... 3. On the General tab and select MyTemplate.pot - press <Enter> for [OK] 4. Try inserting some new slides and note the difference when you insert a

new Title Slide AutoLayout 5. On a slide using a bulleted list, click on Click to add text then type a short

paragraph - note how there are no bullet points at the First level style 6. Press <Enter> then click on the [Increase Indent] button to get a bullet

point (Second level style) and type a couple of words 7. Repeat step 6 for a second bullet point - this time you can use <Tab> to

move to a Third level style (rather than [Increase Indent]) 8. When you have finished writing your presentation, save it in the usual way