Making Your Presentation Look Consistent

PP07S-1.2.1

Each PowerPoint presentation comes with a set of masters: slide, notes, and handout. A master controls the properties of each corresponding slide or page in a presentation. For example, when you make a change on a slide master, the change affects every slide. If you place your company logo, other artwork, the date and time, or slide number on the slide master, the element will appear on every slide.

Each master contains placeholders and a theme (New!) to help you create a consistent looking presentation. A placeholder provides a consistent place on a slide or page to store text and information. A theme provides a consistent look, which incorporates a color theme, effects, fonts, and slide background style. Placeholders appear on the layouts associated with the master. The notes and handout masters use one layout while the slide master uses multiple layouts. Each master includes a different set of placeholders, which you can show or hide at any time. For example, the slide master includes master title and text placeholders, which control the text format for every slide in a presentation, while the handout master includes header, footer, date, page number, and body placeholders. You can modify and arrange placeholders on all of the master views to include the information and design you want.

You can also view and make changes to a mastereither slide, notes, or handoutin one of the master views, which you can access using the View tab. When you view a master, the Ribbon adds a Program tab that correspond to the master (New!). For example, when you switch to Slide Master view, the Slide Master tab appears. The Ribbon on each master view also includes a Close Master View button, which returns you to the view you were in before you opened the master.

The Ribbon for each master view also includes commands specific to the type of master. For example, the Slide Master tab contains several buttons to insert, delete, rename, duplicate, and preserve slide masters. You can insert one or more slide masters into a presentation, which is useful for creating separate sections within the same presentation. When you preserve a slide master, you protect it from being deleted. As you work with slide masters in Slide Master view, you can create custom slide layouts and insert placeholders.