I've been working with a local animal rescue and I think a PowerPoint
presentation is just what we need to showcase some information about their adoptable pets.
But how do we get from this...
to a presentation that look like this?
The key is understanding how slides, layouts, and placeholders work.
let's take a look at placeholders first.
When you start with a new slide it will usually contain one or more placeholders.
Placeholders can contain text pictures charts and all kinds of different objects.
To find out what you can do with the placeholder, just hover the icons here
or simply click and start typing to add text.
The arrangement of these placeholders is controlled by the Slide Layout.
This layout happens to include one placeholder for the title and two more for content.
You can choose your layout when you first insert a slide, or you can change it later
depending on the type of content you're working with.
To insert a new slide, go to the New Slide command on the Home tab.
You can use the top half to add a slide in the same layout as the one that's currently selected,
or use the bottom half to open the menu
and choose the exact layout you want.
You can even insert a blank slide and add your own text boxes and objects later.
Changing the current layout is just as easy.
All you have to do is click the Layout command and make a new selection from the menu.
This time we're going to choose the Section Header layout.
At this point, instead of inserting more placeholder slides, I'd like to try
copying and pasting some of the slides have already created.
This can really save you time when the sides you need are similar to the ones you already have.
Just select the side you want a copy then click the Copy command on the Home tab,
or press Ctrl+C on your keyboard.
Next , click between or below the side where you want the copy to appear,
then go back to the Home tab,
and click Paste.
Alternatively you could press Ctrl+V on your keyboard.
And you can paste as many copies as you need.
Nw that I had these copies to use as a sort of template I no longer need those
two layout slides that we started with so I'm going to delete each slide
by selecting it and then pressing Backspace or Delete on my keyboard.
I'm also going to move this section header so it appears a little later in the presentation.
To do this, click and hold the thumbnail, then just drag and drop it into place.
Now we're going to take a closer look at the slide itself,
along with some ways you can customize it.
The important thing to remember is that nothing is set in stone here.
You can always adjust your layout and change the look of your slides any way you want.
To delete a placeholder, for example, all you have to do is select it
then press Backspace or Delete on your keyboard.
Placeholders can also be moved using the drag and drop method
And resized using any of the sizing handles here.
And then let's just add some text here before we continue.
If course, if you want to add another text box, there's a way to do that too.
This can come in handy when you're working with a blank slide or with a
presentation that's been highly customized.
Just go to the Insert tab,
click the Textbox command,
and now you can click and drag to add a text box anywhere you want.
You'll want to be careful, though,
especially depending on your level of design experience.
If you stray too far from the built-in layouts, it can be difficult to get your
presentation looking consistent.
Sometimes it may be better to try different slide layouts instead.
In other words, something that already has the content arranged the way you want.
Or, you could choose a different theme using the options on the Design tab.
Here's how they work: All you have to do is hover over the thumbnails for a preview.
As you can see, each theme uses a slightly different layout, so you can easily try
out different designs and change the look of your slides without moving or
deleting any placeholders.
i think I'm going to go with this one.
Yeah, that looks really good!
There are still a couple more features of the Design tab that I'll let you customize your slides.
For example, over here on the right you can change your format your current slide background.
You can also adjust the size and dimensions of your presentation if
you're not using a widescreen monitor.
OK, now you know how to work with slides, placeholders, and layouts,
including a few simple tricks for changing your presentation's design.