Microsoft PowerPoint 2003/2004

Customizing Slide Elements

You can change the look of one or more slides in your presentation without changing the Slide Master. You can make small changes such as changing the color of an AutoShape or the font used for specific text. You can also make more comprehensive changes such as changing the color scheme or bullet style. By customizing the slides in your presentation, you can add a unique look that reflects your personal style.

WARNING: You can change a slide to differ from the Slide Master, but you cannot apply a template to an individual slide. Whenever you apply a template, the entire presentation is affected, and any background items you have added and any changes you have made to the master title or master text will be lost.

If you would like to alter the master slides, refer to Customizing a Master Slide. If you would like to change templates, refer to Changing to a Different Template.

This document contains information on the following topics:

Customizing Fonts
Customizing Bullets
Customizing Backgrounds
Omitting Background Images
Changing the Color of Objects
Changing the Slide Color Scheme

Customizing Fonts

You can change the color, size, and style of your font. This can add special emphasis to specific text or set your style apart from the rest. If you want the changes you make to apply to all slides, make these changes to the Slide Master (refer to Customizing a Master Slide).

Select the text to be changed
From the Format menu, select Font...
The Font dialog box appears.
Make the desired changes to Font, Color, Size, Font style, and Effects
NOTES:
If you do not see the desired color, from the Color pull-down list, select More Colors...
To create a custom color, refer to Using the Colors Dialog Box: Selecting Custom Colors
Click OK

Customizing Bullets

You can change the color, style, and size of your bullets in the Bullet dialog box. Using the Bullets and Numbering dialog box, you can apply a new bullet style to a single bulleted list, or you can set the bullet styles for an entire presentation using the Slide Master. For complete instructions on customizing bullets, refer to Changing the Format of Bullets and Numbers.

Select the bulleted list you want to customize
From the Format menu, select Bullets and Numbering...
The Bullets and Numbering dialog box appears.
Select the desired bullet style
HINT: You can use images for bullets by clicking PICTURE. PowerPoint has standard bullet images to choose from or you can use your own image file.
To change the size of the bullets, use the Size nudge buttons to select the desired size
To change the color of the bullets, from the Color pull-down list, select the desired color
NOTE: For more color options, click More Colors...
Click OK

Customizing Backgrounds

You can change the background color of your slides. You can also add shading, texture, or patterns. If you want the changes you make to apply to all slides, make these changes to the Slide Master. For more information, refer to Customizing a Master Slide.

Display the slide you want to customize
Windows: From the Format menu, select Background...
Macintosh: From the Format menu, select Slide Background...
The Background dialog box appears.
From the Background fill pull-down list, select the desired color
HINT: For instructions on how to use the More Colors or Fill Effects option, refer to Customizing Slides: Using Color.
To apply the changes only to the current slide, click APPLY
To apply the changes to all slides, click APPLY TO ALL

Omitting Background Images

For some slides in your presentation, background images may be distracting or may not fit with the content of a particular slide. You can remove the background images that are part of the master or template on one or more of your slides. When removing background images, PowerPoint removes all images included in the background; you cannot select certain images to omit.

Display the slide from which you want to remove background images
Windows: From the Format menu, select Background...
Macintosh: From the Format menu, select Slide Background...
The Background dialog box appears.
Select Omit background graphics from master
To remove the background images only from the current slide, click APPLY
To remove the background images from all slides, click APPLY TO ALL

Deleting Other Images

Display the slide from which you want to remove an image
Select the image
White sizing handles appear around the image.
Press [Delete]
The image is deleted.

Changing the Color of Objects

Changing the Colors of AutoShapes

You can change the color of AutoShapes on your slides using the FILL COLOR button on the Drawing toolbar. For complete instructions, refer to Coloring Objects.

Changing the Colors of Clip Art

NOTE: You can recolor only clip art from the Microsoft PowerPoint collection.

Select the clip art you want to recolor
From the Format menu, select Picture...
OR
On the Picture toolbar, click FORMAT PICTUREor
The Format Picture dialog box appears.
Select the Picture tab
At the bottom of the dialog box, click RECOLOR...
The Recolor Picture dialog box appears.
In the Original column, select the color you want to change
In the New column, using the pull-down list, select a new color
HINT: For more color choices, select More Colors...
For instructions on how to use the More Colors option, refer to Customizing Slides: Using Color.
Repeat steps 5 and 6 as necessary
To preview your changes, click PREVIEW
When you are finished adjusting the color, click OK
To return to your slides, click OK

Changing the Slide Color Scheme

Selecting a Different Slide Color Scheme

You can change the color of all slide components by changing the color scheme.

Windows:

From the Format menu, select Slide Design...
The Slide Design task pane appears.
From the Slide Design task pane, click COLOR SCHEMES
To change the color scheme of the current slide, right click the desired color scheme » click APPLY TO SELECTED SLIDES
To change the color scheme of all slides, right click the desired color scheme » click APPLY TO ALL SLIDES

Macintosh:

From the Format menu, select Slide Color Scheme...
The Color Scheme dialog box appears.
Under Standard Color Schemes, select the desired color scheme
To change the color scheme of the current slide, click APPLY
To change the color scheme of all slides, click APPLY TO ALL

Customizing the Slide Color Scheme

You may customize the color of each of the components of your slide's color scheme (e.g., background, title text, fills).

Windows:

From the Other Task Panes pull-down list, select Slide Design - Color Schemes
The Slide Design task pane appears.
Click EDIT COLOR SCHEMES...
The Edit Color Scheme dialog box appears.
Select the Custom tab
Under Scheme colors, select the component you want to customize
Click CHANGE COLOR...
The Color dialog box appears.
Select the desired color
HINT: For instruction on how to use the Color dialog box, refer to Customizing Slides: Using Color.
To accept the changes, click OK
To preview your changes, click PREVIEW
To change additional components, repeat steps 4-8 as necessary
OPTIONAL: To save your custom color scheme for other presentations, click ADD AS STANDARD SCHEME
To accept the changes, click APPLY

Macintosh:

From the Format menu, select Slide Color Scheme...
The Color Scheme dialog box appears.
Under Standard Color Schemes, select the desired color scheme
Select the Custom tab
Select the component you want to customize
Click CHANGE COLOR...
The Colors dialog box appears.
Select the desired color
HINT: For instruction on how to use the Color dialog box, refer to Customizing Slides: Using Color.
To accept the changes, click OK
To change additional components, repeat steps 4-7 as necessary
OPTIONAL: To save your custom color scheme for other presentations, click ADD AS STANDARD SCHEME
To apply the changes to the current slide, click APPLY
To apply the changes to all of the slides, click APPLY TO ALL