One of the first questions I hear from new PowerPoint users is, "Can I make my own design templates?" The answer is, "Yes," but that's usually followed by, "But wait awhile, until you have a better grasp of PowerPoint before you try it." You've waited long enough. Let's try it. Downloading Design Templates from the InternetYou've used, overused, and gotten bored with the design templates that come with PowerPoint. But before you spend a lot of time creating something new, you should try finding already-made templates at the Microsoft Web site or elsewhere on the Internet. You just might find something that's fresh and also that fits the presentation you want to make. To locate and download a design template, make sure you have an active Internet connection and then try these steps:
Depending on your computer's setup, you might be asked to install download-assistance programs, to swear you'll use the download legally, or to answer other questions designed to confuse you. If you're not sure you want to let Microsoft install this software, answer no and skip this section. Otherwise, follow the prompts. Eventually, you see the template in your current PowerPoint slide show (see Figure 20.3). Figure 20.3. Downloaded templates work like any other design templates, but they initially apply only to the current slide show.
The downloaded template applies only to the current slide show, unless you save it as a template. To save the template for future use, follow these steps:
The template is now saved, and in the future when you access the Design Template task pane, the template also appears in alphabetical order in the Available for Use section. Note, however, that new templates do not appear in the task pane until you exit PowerPoint and start it again . Creating Design TemplatesYou really do want to create your own design or customize a template yourself, don't you? The steps for doing so are quite simple, although you need to bring to bear many of the skills you've learned in this book, such as how to create backgrounds, add graphic images, and so on. Each template is controlled by a slide master. Instead of customizing each individual slide, you customize the slide master, which then automatically modifies all slides in the slide show. Modifying a slide master also modifies other masters, such as the notes master. To modify a slide design template, follow these steps:
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The template you create is used only in the current slide show, but it can be applied to any or all slides. If you want to save the template for use with other new or existing slide shows, follow the steps outlined earlier in this chapter, at the end of the section "Downloading Design Templates from the Internet ." Slide masters also include placeholders for footers, page numbers, and dates. You modify their location, fonts, and so on in the Slide Master view. To activate and use these placeholders, follow these steps :
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Setting PowerPoint OptionsBeyond templates, there are scores of options you can change to make PowerPoint behave the way you want it to. However, I usually suggest that PowerPoint users, new or not, use PowerPoint with its default settings for a period of time before seeking to change those settings. That way, you learn how PowerPoint's designers thought features might best be implemented, and you gain enough knowledge to know whether something ought to be changed. If you still can't get used to something, and there's a way to change it, then by all means do so. Several PowerPoint options are scattered throughout PowerPoint's menus for example, the Set Up Show options found on the Slide Show menu. Many options, however, can be found in one place the Options dialog box which you access by choosing Tools, Options (see Figure 20.8). PowerPoint offers options for eight broad categories, each with its own tab. You're smart enough to figure out most of these options, so I don't want to bore you by going over everything. Instead, the following sections look at each category and talk about the options that might be most useful or that might not be clear. You'll also learn about the AutoCorrect options. Figure 20.8. The Options dialog box enables you to set option preferences in eight broad categories.
Setting View OptionsView options (refer to Figure 20.8) relate to the way PowerPoint is viewed onscreen. For example, if you don't like having the task pane start automatically, you can turn it off. If you use the ruler, you can choose to display the vertical ruler along with the horizontal one. When you select the Windows in Taskbar check box, each PowerPoint presentation you're working on displays as a separate icon on the Windows taskbar, making it easy for you to switch from one presentation to another. One slide show option that you might want to change is whether the menu buttons appear. If you're used to right-clicking and choosing from a pop-up menu, the onscreen buttons may be redundant and distracting. Another handy option is ending with a black slide, so you don't accidentally return to PowerPoint's editing screen at the end of a slide show. Finally, when you save a PowerPoint presentation, it normally opens again in the last-used view (for example, the Slide Sorter view). You can choose a specific view for slide shows that you open. Setting General OptionsGeneral options (see Figure 20.9) include the ability to link, rather than embed, large sound files. Video files link automatically, helping keep the size of a presentation small. Linking large sound files is also a good idea, although you have to remember to copy all linked sound files along with your presentation if you move it to a different computer or to the Web. Figure 20.9. You can use the General options tab to limit the size of embedded sound files.
Setting Edit OptionsEdit options (see Figure 20.10) affect the way you select text and how you cut and paste. An important option here is the ability to change the number of undos. Be careful, however. Undos disappear whenever you save your work. An unusually large number of undos might encourage you to save less frequently. Instead, you should use undo quickly and save more frequently. Figure 20.10. If you don't like PowerPoint's editing settings, you can change them on the Edit tab of the Options dialog box.
You can also disable some of PowerPoint's newer options. If you're collaborating with someone who doesn't have the latest version of PowerPoint, you might want to disable features that person can't use so that you don't accidentally use them yourself. Setting Print OptionsBy default, print options you select in the Print dialog box are sticky that is, they remain in effect the next time you access the Print dialog box, until you exit PowerPoint. If you don't like that, and you prefer that the default print options or settings you choose always appear, you can select Use the Following Print Settings on the Print tab of the Options dialog box and specify the options you want to keep, even after you exit and restart PowerPoint (see Figure 20.11). Figure 20.11. You can use the Print options tab to set print options that reset themselves each time you use the Print dialog box.
Setting Save OptionsTwo important save options (see Figure 20.12) are the format in which files are saved and where you save your presentations. By default, PowerPoint saves files in its native format, but you can also save in Web page format or in formats compatible with earlier versions of PowerPoint. This latter option disables features that are not compatible with earlier versions. Figure 20.12. The Save options tab enables you to specify where and in what format to save slide shows.
You can also change the default location where PowerPoint files are saved. To do so, type the entire path to the new default location (for example, c:\docs\pptfiles). Setting Security OptionsIf you want to protect a file from being opened or modified by others, you can add a password (see Figure 20.13). If you want others to be able to open, but not modify, a file, you can add a password to modify. PowerPoint users have requested this feature for a long time. PowerPoint users often make their files available to others via email or the Web, and this feature helps people protect the integrity of the presentations that bear their names. Figure 20.13. You can set passwords on the Security tab of the Options dialog box to prevent others from opening or editing a slide show.
Setting Spelling and Style OptionsSome people don't like the distraction of automatic spelling corrections. If you're one of them, you can turn off any of the listed features you don't like (see Figure 20.14). Figure 20.14. You can use the Spelling and Style tab of the Options dialog box to specify how PowerPoint assists or doesn't assist in correcting spelling and style problems.
PowerPoint's style checker is a powerful tool. If you have the Office Assistant turned on, it constantly checks to make sure your styles fall within certain predefined guidelines. For example, if you capitalize a title incorrectly, a light bulb appears onscreen. If you click the light bulb, the Office Assistant appears, giving you several options: change to the suggested style, ignore it this time, ignore it always, or go to the Style Options dialog box to change the style's settings. Click the Style Options button on the Spelling and Style tab to display the Style Options dialog box (see Figure 20.15). In this dialog box you can set the type of case and punctuation you use for text. On the Visual Clarity tab (see Figure 20.16), you learn some guidelines for good slides and have the option of overriding these guidelines. If you make a lot of changes and forget what you started with, you can click the Defaults button to restore PowerPoint's original style settings . Figure 20.15. Use the Style Options dialog box to establish a method for consistent case and punctuation.
Figure 20.16. The Visual Clarity tab of the Style Options dialog box offers excellent guidelines for good slide composition.
Setting AutoCorrect OptionsAutoCorrect is a feature whose options aren't found in the Options dialog box but are often asked about. Generally, this tool can be helpful in correcting typographical errors. The feature also automatically formats certain combinations, such as replacing a fraction with a fraction character (for example, 1/2 becomes ½). You access the AutoCorrect dialog box, shown in Figure 20.17, by choosing Tools, AutoCorrect Options. Figure 20.17. You can fine-tune or turn off AutoCorrect options in the AutoCorrect dialog box.
Besides being able to turn off corrections you don't want made, you can create exceptions. For example, if you type Joseph Smith, Jr., you don't want to capitalize the next word just because it follows a period. Also, some words should begin with two capital letters (for example, TVs). Finally, you can create your own AutoCorrect options; for example, you can have the shortcut ppt become PowerPoint. The AutoFormat As You Type tab provides several stylistic options. One that is especially useful is the ability not to change font size automatically if there's too much text in a title or text box. You sometimes don't even realize that PowerPoint has made the font smaller to accommodate the extra text. Turning off this feature forces you to reduce the amount of text instead of reducing the font size. The last tab in the AutoCorrect dialog box is Smart Tags. Smart tags enable PowerPoint to automatically insert and format such things as dates and names of people from your Outlook database, and so on. Most people find these annoying and are glad the default is not to use them. If you find a use for these, you can turn them on here . |