Applying a Design Template

A design template contains the color scheme, attributes, and format for the titles, main text, other text, and background in the presentation.  Open the Task Pane by clicking View on the menu bar, and then clicking Task Pane.  Display the Slide Design tasks in the Task Pane by clicking the Slide Design button Slide template image on the Formatting toolbar.  Scroll through the design template thumbnails until you see one you'd like to apply, and then click it to immediately apply the design to all the slides in the presentation.

For this presentation, scroll down until you find Textured toward the bottom of the pane. The design templates appear in the Task Pane in alphabetical order.

Slide template image

If you click on it, it is applied to all the slides. Click on it to apply the Textured template to both slides.  Notice there is a drop-down menu that gives you the options to Apply to All Slides, Apply to Selected Slides, or Show Large Preview.  If you just wanted to apply this template to one slide you would choose the second option after selecting that slide.

Slide template image

Try that now. Select the second slide and apply the Digital Dots template to it (see below).

Slide template image

You could also use one of PowerPoint’s built-in color schemes (a set of matching colors that makes up the background, fonts, and other elements of the presentation).

Color Schemes

Practice: Creating a Color Scheme

  1. Insert a new slide.
  2. Click the Slide Design button Slide template image on the Formatting toolbar to display the Slide Design Task Pane and then click Color Schemes in the Task Pane.
  3. Click the Color Scheme thumbnail with the bright blue background and title text and then choose to Apply to Selected Slides so that it won’t be applied to all the slides in your presentation.

    4. Slide template image

  4. Click Edit Color Schemes at the bottom of the Task Pane to open the Edit Color Scheme dialog box to see color tiles of each of the major elements of the slide—the background, the text and lines, the shadows, etc.

    5. Slide template image

  5. Click the Title text tile in the Edit Color Scheme dialog box, click the Change Color button to open the Title Text Color dialog box, and then click the Standard tab as shown below:

    6. Slide template image

  6. Click the aqua tile indicated and then click the OK button. The Title text color changes from white to aqua.
  7. Click the Apply button to apply the new color scheme to your presentation. As you can see in Slide 3, the title is now aqua. 
  8. You can use the same method to change any or all of the color tiles in the color scheme.  Click the Undo button Slide template image to undo the application of the color scheme.

Gradient Fills

Another option for formatting your slides is to create a custom background such as using a gradient fill, a type of shading in which one color blends into another.

Practice: Creating a Background with a Gradient Fill

  1. Click Format on the menu bar and then click Background as shown below.

    2. Slide template image

    This opens the Background dialog box as shown below. Click the Background fill list arrow (to the right of the blue bar showing the current background color), and then click Fill Effects.

    Slide template image

    The Fill Effects dialog box opens.

    Slide template image

  2. On the Gradient tab, click the Two colors option button. PowerPoint automatically sets the two colors to dark blue and medium blue. You can change one or both of these colors, but a dark gradient fill works well with light text colors.  To change the color, click the Color 1 or Color 2 list arrow, and then select the desired color.
    3. PowerPoint gives you a variety of different shading styles (horizontal, vertical, diagonal up, diagonal down, from corner, and from title), and then four variants of each of these styles.  The horizontal style is the default, and works well for most presentations.
  3. Click the variant in the lower-left corner of the Variants section with the dark blue at the top and bottom, and the lighter blue in the middle, and then click the OK button.
  4. Click the Apply to All button in the Background dialog box, so that the background gradient fill and variant will be applied to all the slides.
  5. As you can see from the Slide Pane and the Slides tab, the slides now have a background with a gradient fill.  Click the Undo button three times to undo the changes to the background and color scheme as well as to undo the creation of a new slide.
  6. Save your work as NCS.ppt and go on to the next section on Adding a Background Image on the slide and title masters.

Return to Course Topics or Creating a New Presentation Topics.