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Microsoft PowerPoint XP/X

Customizing Templates

Using PowerPoint templates for your presentations can be very convenient. There may be times, however, that a template would better suit your needs if you could change a few aspects. This document shows you how to make those changes by covering the following topics:

return to topCustomizing Templates

After deciding on a design template for your presentation, there might be a few aspects you want to change. Customizing a template is similar to customizing a master slide. When you customize a master slide, those changes occur on every slide. In order to customize a template, you must make the changes from a master slide to have the changes appear throughout every slide in your presentation. When you customize a template, you can format fonts, images, background, placeholders, and color to make your presentation meet your creative needs. For instructions on how to customize templates, follow the instructions for customizing master slides in Customizing a Master Slide.

return to topChanging to a Different Template

If you have created a presentation and decide that the template you initially selected no longer meets your needs, you can select another template at any time. This can be especially helpful if you are ready to present and you discover the current template does not display well with the equipment you are using or in the room in which you are presenting.

WARNING: Templates apply to the entire presentation, so you cannot change a template for a single section of the presentation.

To change your template:

Windows:

  1. From the Format menu, select Slide Design.
         OR
    From the Other Task Panes pull-down list, select Slide Design - Design Templates
    Other task panes pull-down list
    The Slide Design - Design Templates task pane appears.

  2. Select the template you would like
    The design template is applied to your presentation.

  3. Click the down arrow that appears on the template when you place your cursor over it

  4. Select Apply to Master to apply the template to the master slide
    OR
    Select Apply to All Slides to apply the template to the whole presentation
    OR
    Select Apply to Selected Slides to apply the template only to selected slides
    The design template will now be applied to what you selected in step 4.

Macintosh:

  1. From the Format menu, select Slide Design...

  2. Select the template you would like to apply

  3. Select Apply to all slides to apply the template to the whole presentation
    OR
    Select Apply to current slide to apply the template only to the slide you are working on

  4. Click APPLY
    The design template will now be applied according to your selection in step 3.

return to topBuilding a Custom Template

If none of the template designs offered by PowerPoint appeal to you, or if you have special design considerations for your presentation, you may want to build your own template. When building your own template, you have the freedom of creating your own fonts, colors, background, placeholders and images. 

  1. Macintosh: From the File menu, select New Presentation
    Windows: From the File menu, select New...
    OR
    From the Other Task Panes pull-down list, select New Presentation
    The New Presentation task pane appears.

  2. Windows only: Under New, select Blank Presentation
    The Slide Layout task pane appears.

  3. Windows: From the Slide Layout task pane, select a slide layout
    Macintosh: In the Formatting Palette, in the Current Slide section, from the Layout pull-down menu, select the appropriate slide

  4. OPTIONAL: To have the custom look you build apply to all slides in your presentation, work on the Slide Master

    1. From the View menu, select Master » Slide Master

  5. To customize the color, background, images, and fonts, refer to Customizing Slide Elements

  6. When you have completed customizing your template, from the View menu, select Normal

  7. OPTIONAL: To save your template for creating future presentations, refer to Saving a Custom Template

  8. Proceed with entering the text and other elements to your slide(s)

Saving a Custom Template

You may use your custom template for creating just your current presentation. In that case, you will save it as you would any presentation. However, you also have the option of saving it as a template and using it to create future presentations, in which case you will save it as a template.To save your custom template as a template:

Windows:

  1. From the File menu, select Save As...
    The Save As dialog box appears.

  2. In the File name text box, type a name for your template

  3. Using the Save in pull-down list, navigate to the desired save location

  4. From the Save as type pull-down list, select Design Template (*.pot)

  5. Click SAVE

Macintosh:

  1. From the File menu, select Save As...
    The Save As dialog box appears

  2. In the Save As text box, type a name for your template

  1. From the Format pull-down list, select Design Template (*.pot)

  2. Using the Where pull-down list, navigate to the desired save location

  3. Click SAVE

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