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Microsoft PowerPoint XP

Customizing a Master Slide

Making changes to slide masters can be an efficient way of applying formatting and design elements consistently to every slide in your presentation. The following topics will show you how to customize your master slides:

return to topWorking with Master Slides

Master slides are special slides that allow you to format basic information and apply it to every slide in a presentation. By using the master slides, you can add consistency to a presentation, therefore making it easier to understand. Masters let you format the title, background, color, date, time, and page number.

In PowerPoint XP, there are two Masters. The Slide Master controls formatting for all slides except the title slide(s). The Title Master controls formatting only for the title slide(s). To create a slide master or title master, see Working with a Slide Master.

return to topModifying Master Slides

To make changes that will effect all of a presentation's slides, use the Slide Master.

  1. From the View menu, select Master » Slide Master
    The Slide Master and Slide Master View toolbar appear.

  2. To make changes to your slides, in the Slides area, select the Slide Master (slide 1)
    OR
    To make changes to your title slide(s), in the Slides area, select the Title Master (slide 2)
    HINT: You can work on the master slide just as you would a regular slide.

  3. Make the appropriate changes to the master slide
    For instructions on how to change the background, fonts, bullets, or removing images, see Customizing Slide Elements.

  4. When you have finished making your changes, from the View menu, select Normal
    OR
    From the Slide Master View toolbar, click CLOSE MASTER VIEW
    The changes will appear on all the slides.

return to topCustomizing Basic Slide Elements

You can change the color, size and style of fonts and bullets. You can also change the background color or give it a shading effect or texture. Instructions for customizing the font, background, and bullets can be found in the Customizing Slide Elements document. 

return to topWorking with Placeholders

Placeholders are boxes with dotted outlines that appear when you create a new slide. These boxes act as specified areas where you can add text or objects. Just click within a placeholder to add text or double click to add an object. Placeholders can be moved, resized, and reformatted  on the master slide by clicking and dragging them. When you format the placeholders on a master slide, the placeholders throughout the slides appear in that format. 
Placeholder

To shrink or stretch a placeholder:

  1. Select the placeholder you want to format by clicking the mouse within that placeholder

  2. Place the mouse pointer over any of the handles (squares) that appear around the outside of a selected placeholder
    The mouse appears as a double arrow. Arrow to shrink or stretch placeholder
    HINT: Select a corner handle to maintain the aspect ratio when resizing.

  3. Click and hold the mouse

  4. Move the mouse away or towards the placeholder until the placeholder is the appropriate size

To move the placeholder:

  1. Select the placeholder you want to move by clicking the mouse within that placeholder

  2. Place mouse over the shaded border of the selected placeholder until the mouse turns into a four-sided arrow Four-sided curser

  3. Click and hold the mouse

  4. Drag the placeholder to where you want it located

return to topInserting Date, Time, and Page Numbers

Anytime during your creation process, you can go to the Slide Master to add the time, date, and page/slide numbers. The time, date, and page numbers are shown on slide shows, printed slides, handouts, and the notes pages. The time, date, and page numbers are also shown throughout every view (e.g., Normal, Slide Sorter, Slide Show, Notes Page, and the Slides and Outline tabs).

NOTE: Date and time symbols are generally used to keep track of draft versions as the presentation is developed. You might want to omit date and time symbols from the final printed versions.

  1. Open appropriate slide master

  2. From the View menu, select Header and Footer...
    The Header and Footer dialog box appears.
    Header and Footer dialog box

  3. From the Header and Footer dialog box, select the Slide tab

  4. Under Include on slide, fill out the options you want:

    1. If you would like the date, time, and slide number to appear on your slide, check the box next to those options.
    2. If you would like the date and time to update each time you open the presentation, select Update automatically

    3. If you would like a footer to appear, select Footer and enter the footer message

  5. To apply changes to all slides (including the masters), click  APPLY TO ALL
    NOTE: If you are changing the header and footer from a master slide, you will not be able to apply the changes to only one slide. You will be automatically making the changes to all the slides that follow that master slide.

return to topResetting the Page Numbers

If you do not want the numbers on your PowerPoint slides to appear in a sequential order starting from the number one, you can change this in the Page Setup dialog box. The Page Setup dialog box allows you to type in the number you wish to start numbering the slides from.

  1. From the File menu, select Page Setup...
    The Page Setup dialog box appears.

  2. In the Number slides from text box, type the number from which to start numbering slides
    This number determines the numbering in Normal, Slide Sorter, Slides and Outline views.

  3. Click OK

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