Copying and Moving Slides from One Presentation to Another

Using the Slide Sorter view, you can copy or move slides from one presentation to another. To do this, open both the source and destination presentations in Slide Sorter view. Choose Window, Arrange All. PowerPoint displays both presentations in different window panes in Slide Sorter view, shown in Figure 6.4.

Figure 6.4. By splitting panes between two presentations, you can copy or move slides between them.

To copy a slide, select it and then drag it to the desired location in the other presentation. PowerPoint places the slide in the destination presentation, but it also remains in the source as shown in Figure 6.5.

Figure 6.5. Copying a slide is easier than creating it again.

To move a slide, select it, click the Cut button on the Standard toolbar, position the mouse in the new destination location, and click the Paste button. The slide is removed from the source presentation and inserted in the destination presentation. To move or copy more than one slide at a time, press Ctrl as you drag slides from the source presentation.

If each presentation uses a different design template, the slide changes to the template of the new presentation and the Paste Options button appears. If you want to retain the design template of the source presentation, click the down arrow to the right of the Paste Options button and choose Keep Source Formatting. To go back to the design template of the target presentation, choose Use Design Template Formatting.

CAUTION

Although you can combine multiple design templates in a single presentation, think carefully before doing so. Combining design templates can make your presentation confusing.

Problems with multiple design templates ? See the " Troubleshooting " section at the end of this chapter.

To remove the dual window view, click the Close button in the upper-right corner of the presentation you no longer want to view and then the Maximize button in the upper-right corner of the presentation you want to keep active.

If arranging both presentations in one window is too distracting, you can put them in separate windows :

1. Open the presentation from which you want to copy or move slides.

2. Click the Slide Sorter View button at the lower-left side of the screen to display the presentation in this view.

3. Select the slides you want to copy or move. To select multiple noncontiguous slides, press the Ctrl key and then choose slides.

4. Press Ctrl+C to copy the slides; press Ctrl+X to cut the slides if you would rather move them.

5. Open the presentation in which you want to place the selected slides.

6. Click where you want to insert the slides and press Ctrl+V to paste them.

NOTE

If more than one presentation is open at a time and each is in a maximized window, you can press Ctrl+F6 to cycle through each one. This helps when you want the full-screen view and want to copy/move from one presentation to the next without having to use the Window menu.

Lost slides when you copied from one presentation to another ? See the " Troubleshooting " section at the end of this chapter.