Goodwill Community Foundation creating
opportunities for a better life
I've been working with a local animal
rescue and I think a PowerPoint
presentation is just what we need to
showcase some info about their adoptable
pets but how do we get from this to a
presentation that looks 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'll usually include
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 mouse over the icons here the way
these placeholders are arranged has to
do with the layout of your slide this
layout happens to include one 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 look
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 current one or
you can open the menu underneath the
command 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 slides for the rest of
the pets in the slideshow I'd like to
try copying and pasting instead this can
really save you time when the slides you
need are so similar to what you already
have
just select the slide you want to copy
then click the copy command on the Home
tab
next click in between or below the slide
where you want the copy to appear then
go back to the ribbon and click paste
you can paste as many copies as you need
now that I have these copies to use as
sort of a template I no longer need the
two content slides that we started with
that means I'm going to delete them by
pressing backspace or delete on my
keyboard and I'm also going to move this
section header so it's a little later in
the presentation
to do this click and hold the thumbnail
then just drag and drop it into place
there we go now everything is in order
next I'd like to take a closer look at
the slide itself and show you some ways
that you can customize it the important
thing to remember is that nothing is set
in stone 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 and resized using the
drag-and-drop method and the sizing
handles here let's just fill this
we continue of course if
add a textbox to your slide there's a
way to do that too this can come in
handy if you're working with a blank
slide or a presentation that's highly
customized just go to the insert tab
then click the text box command now you
can add a text box anywhere you want you
may not want to change things too much
though 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's better to try a different
layout instead in other words one that
has the arrangement you need or you can
choose a different theme using the
options on the design tab here's how
they work all you have to do is mouse
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 any
placeholders at all I think I like the
one with the large image the best there
is still a couple more features on the
design tab that'll let you customize
your slides for example over here on the
right you can change or format your
current background you can also adjust
the size and dimensions of your
presentation if you're not using a
widescreen monitor now you know how to
work with slides placeholders and
layouts including a few simple tricks
for changing your presentations design
you