Have you ever seen a presentation that had special effects between slides?
If so, you've probably seen transitions in action.
A transition can be as simple as fading from one side to the next
or it can be a lot more flashy, like this animation of a bird.
You can create all kinds of effects using the options on the Transitions tab.
Start by selecting one of your slides
then click the arrow here to view all of your choices at once.
Transitions are divided into three categories depending on the type of effect they use
The first category is Subtle,
followed by Exciting where you'll find more complex animations,
and finally there's Dynamic content which will affect only the content on your slides.
This might include text and images for example but not necessarily the background.
Generally speaking, we wouldn't recommend using too many transitions from the Exciting category.
Sure, they look a lot more interesting than the Subtle or Dynamic ones,
but adding too many can make your presentation look
unprofessional and, frankly, a little silly. Used in moderation however they
can add a nice touch between important slides. Let's change this transition back
to a Subtle option. How about Push?
To play a transition, all you have to do is click the Preview command on the ribbon
or the tiny star that appears next to the side.
If you change your mind, you can easily remove the transition by going back to the menu
and choosing None in the top left corner.
I do like this transition so I'm going to leave it applied.
I would like to play with the timing, though, and some of the other options over here on the right.
For example you can quickly customize the look of a transition by customizing its effects.
Click the Effect Options command and choose the one you want from the menu.
These options will vary depending on how the transition works, but in this
example we'll select From Left
and now the slide appears from the left side instead of the bottom.
The Duration field allows you decide how long the transition will take,
so if we change the length from one second to a half-second (or 0.5)
it'll cut the time in half and the transition will happen a lot faster.
You can even add a sound to a transition using the drop-down menu here.
Just click the one you want and you'll hear what it sounds like the next time
you play through your presentation.
Again we recommend a more subtle approach here. Adding a sound between
every slide could easily become overwhelming or even annoying for your
audience when presenting the slideshow.
Like complicated transitions, sounds are really best used in moderation.
I'd also like to show you the options under Advance Slide.
Here you can set your slides to advance automatically without having to click your mouse.
This is primarily used for presentations that are going to be left unattended.
For example in the background at a special event, or at a trade show booth or kiosk.
To set the current slide to advance automatically, uncheck the box next to
On Mouse Click, then check the box next to After.
In the After field, type the amount of time you want the side to be displayed.
In this example we'll send it to advance automatically after one minute and fifteen seconds.
At this point you can select another side and repeat the process until all
the slides you have the transition as you want.
Or you can use the Apply to All command if you want your presentation to be completely uniform
This will take all the settings you see here, including the timings and the
transition effects, and apply them to every side in the presentation.
Let's go back to the previous slide
and see how this transition looks in full presentation view.
OK, great!
I think I'll add the same effect as some of my other slides later on.
The best way to learn about transitions is just to practice,
so try using some with your own presentations!