Section 5.2. Adding, Deleting, and Moving Slides

5.2. Adding, Deleting, and Moving Slides

The best way to begin creating a PowerPoint presentation is to start with an outline, either a hand-sketched one or one created in a word processor (such as Microsoft Word). That way your material is pretty much organized before you begin putting your slides together (Figure 5-3).

Figure 5-2. An expanded version of the Slides pane in Slide Sorter view lets you see and work with about 20 slides at once (or more if you zoom out). When you have more than that, scroll bars appear in Slide Sorter view so you can scroll around and see them all.

Figure 5-3. When you display your slideshow in Outline view, you see each slide's title and subtitle textperfect for double-checking overall content. You can cut or delete slides from Outline view just as easily as you can from the Slides pane or Slide Sorter view.

Nobody gets everything right the first time, though. Even if you follow this wise design practice, you'll find yourself adding, deleting, and moving the individual slides that make up your slideshow as you rehearse your presentation. After all, you want your slideshow to be tight and well organized so you can concentrate on your message without worrying about repeating yourself, leaping from one unrelated topic to another, or leaving out main points altogether.

5.2.1. Adding Blank Slides

You can easily add a blank slide to your slideshow. (You can also bring in a slide from another slideshow, as shown in Section 5.3.) When you create a new blank slide, PowerPoint lets you choose one of several popular layouts. For example, you can create a title slide or a slide containing two columns of text.

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Note: Each of the layout options that PowerPoint offers corresponds to a slide master , which serves as a template for creating predesigned slides.

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To add a slide to your slideshow:

1. In the Slides pane, click to select the slide after which you want to add a new slide .

   When you want to add a slide at the very beginning of your slideshow, add it after your first slide. Then move it to first position, as described in Section 5.2.3.

2. Go to Home Slides and click the down arrow next to New Slide .

   A layout gallery similar to the one in Figure 5-4 appears.

3. Click to choose one of the canned layouts. (You can always change the layout of the slide later if it's not exactly what you want.)

   PowerPoint creates a new blank slide based on your layout choice and displays the slide in your workspace, ready for you to edit.

Figure 5-4. The basic slide layouts PowerPoint lets you choose from look similar to the ones you see here, but the details (like the graphics and the positioning of the title text) depend on the slide masters attached to your presentation. You can learn all about slide masters in Section 5.4.

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Note: PowerPoint gives you two additional, super-quick ways to add a slide. You can either click Home Slides New Slide (instead of the down arrow next to New Slide), orin either the Normal views Slides pane or Slide Sorter viewyou can right-click a slide and then, from the context menu that appears, choose New Slide. These methods don't let you choose a new layout, though; both simply create a basic Title and Content slide. To change to a different layout, right-click the newly added slide and choose Layout.

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5.2.2. Deleting Slides

As you might expect, deleting a slide neatly excises it from your slideshow. After you delete a slide, it's gone; the only way to get it back is to click Undo, and that only works if you click Undo soon after you delete the slide. (PowerPoint only "undoes" so many actions per work session, as explained in Section 2.2.)

If you're sure you want to delete the slide, then in the Slides pane that appears in Normal view, click to select the slide and then either click Home Delete, or press the Delete key. Alternatively, in the Slides pane (or in Slide Sorter view), right-click the slide you want to delete and then choose Delete Slide from the shortcut menu that appears.

5.2.3. Moving Slides

Rearranging slides in PowerPoint has the same effect as rearranging transparenciesbut because you shuffle them using your mouse, you can't accidentally drop them all over the floor.

To move one or more slides from one position in your slideshow to another:

1. In Slide Sorter view, click to select the slide (or slides) you want to move .

   To select multiple contiguous slides, click the first slide, then Shift-click the last slide. When you do, PowerPoint automatically highlights all the slides in between. To select multiple noncontiguous slides, Ctrl-click each slide separately.

2. Drag your selection .

   As you move your mouse, PowerPoint displays a line between slides (see Figure 5-5) to let you know where it will place your selection when you let go of your mouse.

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   Tip: If you can't drag your selection, check to make sure you've let go of the Ctrl and Shift keys. If you forget and keep one of them pressed down, then PowerPoint won't let you drag your selection.

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3. When the line appears where you want to put your selection, let go of your mouse .

   PowerPoint removes your selection from its original position and inserts it into your slideshow at the point where you dropped it.

Figure 5-5. You can move slides in the Slides pane or Outline view, too, but it's easier in Slide Sorter view since you can see more slides. You can move slides before your first slide, after your last slide, or anywhere in between.

5.2.4. Duplicating Slides

If you do much work with PowerPoint, then you'll probably run into a situation eventually where you want to create two similar slides through duplicating. For example, maybe the last slide in your show reiterates what was on the first slide. Duplicating is also a handy way to experiment with the formatting or content of one slide and keep a good copy in case your editing efforts go haywire. In situations like these, you'll find it easier to duplicate a slide and then tweak the duplicate than to create two similar slides from scratch.

You can duplicate slides in the Slides pane, Outline view, or Slide Sorter view. To do so, select the slide (or slides) you want to duplicate, and then choose Home Slides New Slide Duplicate Selected Slides. You can also right-click your selection and then select Duplicate Slide from the shortcut menu. PowerPoint duplicates the selected slide (or slides) and places the duplicate immediately after the selection.

Another (slower) way to duplicate slides is to copy and paste them, as described next.

5.2.5. Cutting, Copying, and Pasting Slides

PowerPoint's cut, copy, and paste commands are an alternative way to move and duplicate slides. There's nothing new to memorize, since these commands work exactly the same way as the cut, copy, and paste commands in other programs. You may also prefer the precision of clicking-and-picking to dragging slides around using your mouse.

To cut slides:

1. In Normal, Outline, or Slide Sorter view, select the slide (or slides) you want to cut. Right-click the selection and then choose Cut from the shortcut menu (or click the selection and then press Ctrl+X) .

   The selection disappears. If you're in Slide Sorter view, a blinking vertical line appears in the spot where the selection used to be.

To copy slides:

1. In either Normal or Slide Sorter view, select the slide (or slides) you want to copy. Right-click the selection and then choose Copy from the shortcut menu (or click the selection and then press Ctrl+C) .

To paste slides that you've cut or copied :

1. Still in Normal or Slide Sorter view, click between the two slides where you want to paste your cut or copied slides .

   A blinking line appears where you click.

2. Press Ctrl+V or choose Home Paste .

   PowerPoint pastes in the most recently cut or copied slides and renumbers all of the slides in your slideshow.