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Building PowerPoint Templates Step by Step with the Experts

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Building PowerPoint Templates Step by Step with the Experts

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  • Copyright 2013
  • Edition: 1st
  • Book
  • ISBN-10: 0-7897-4955-6
  • ISBN-13: 978-0-7897-4955-0

Building PowerPointTemplates

Supercharge your PowerPoint® presentations

with custom templates and themes!

Want to create presentations that are more consistent and cost-effective? Presentations that fully reflect your branding? Then don’t settle for Microsoft’s “out-of-the-box” templates and themes: create your own! In this easy, hands-on guide, two PowerPoint MVPs teach you every skill and technique you’ll need to build the perfect template–from planning and design, through theme building, custom layouts, colors, and deployment.

Echo Swinford and Julie Terberg have distilled their immense PowerPoint knowledge into simple, step-by-step techniques you can use right now, whether you’re using PowerPoint 2010 or 2007 for Windows, or PowerPoint 2011 for Mac. Well-built templates are the backbone of great presentations—whether building them for your own use or designing for thousands of users, this book will guide you through the process of creating the most effective templates.

Important Note: Upgrading from older versions of PowerPoint, such as PowerPoint 2003? Your old templates may no longer work. This book will help you make the transition painlessly!

• Plan new templates and themes to maximize their business value for years to come

• Understand the differences between templates and themes, and how they work together

• Make better choices about color, fonts, and slide layouts

• Create efficient templates for individual users, teams, and large organizations

• Incorporate Notes and Handout Masters into your presentation templates

• Provide example slides and default settings that lead to better presentations

• Use Microsoft’s little-known Theme Builder to create effects and background styles

• Work around hidden quirks in PowerPoint’s advanced template and theme features

Echo Swinford, a Microsoft PowerPoint MVP since 2000, has been a featured speaker at the Presentatio Summit (formerly PowerPoint Live) since its inception. She is the expert voice and instructor behind PowerPoint 2010 LiveLessons (Video Training), the author of Fixing PowerPoint Annoyances and co-author of The PowerPoint 2007 Complete Makeover Kit.

Julie Terberg is a Microsoft PowerPoint MVP and featured speaker at the Presentation Summit. She is the owner of Terberg Design and has been designing presentations since the mid-1980s. She is co-author of Perfect Medical Presentations. As contributing author for Presentations Magazine, she won awards for her Creative Techniques columns.

Sample Content

Online Sample Chapter

Getting Started with PowerPoint: Set Up a Theme

Table of Contents

1 Setting the Stage....................................................................................................................1

What This Book Is About.....................................................................................................2

How Templates Have Changed.......................................................................................................2

Problems with PowerPoint Templates.................................................................................6

Who Should Use This Book?.............................................................................................7

How to Use This Book.........................................................................................................7

2 Introducing Templates and Themes.......................................................................9

Themes Versus Templates.............................................................................................10

Parts of a Theme.....................................................................................................12

    Theme Colors..........................................................................................................12

    Theme Fonts...............................................................................................................17

    Theme Effects.............................................................................................................18

Parts of a PowerPoint Template............................................................................................18

    Slide Master................................................................................................19

    Slide Layouts............................................................................................................20

    Placeholders..................................................................................................................20

    Handout Master........................................................................................22

    Notes Master................................................................................................................22

3 Getting Started: Set Up a Theme......................................................................23

Understanding Theme Colors.....................................................................................24

    Text/Background Colors.........................................................................................24

    Accent Colors...............................................................................................................27

    Hyperlink and Followed Hyperlink Colors.............................................................31

    Applying Built-In Theme Colors................................................................................33

    Defining Custom Theme Colors.................................................................................34

Defining Theme Fonts.................................................................................................38

    Selecting from Built-In Theme Fonts.................................................................................38

    Creating Custom Theme Fonts..................................................................................40

    Choosing the Right Fonts................................................................................................42

    Purchased Fonts and Embedding...........................................................................................46

Understanding Theme Effects..............................................................................................48

4 Formatting the Slide Master.....................................................................................55

Begin with a New, Blank Presentation........................................................................................56

Define the Page Setup...........................................................................................................57

Select Theme Colors, Fonts, and Effects...........................................................................59

Apply a Background Style................................................................................................61

    Create a Custom, Gradient Fill Background..............................................................63

    Format a Picture Fill Background.................................................................................64

    Use Different Background Styles in a Template.........................................................66

    Format the Background in the Tutorial Template..................................................................66

Set Up Guides..........................................................................................................................67

Add Shapes, Logos, or Pictures............................................................................................69

Format the Title Placeholder..........................................................................................................72

Format the Body Placeholder..................................................................................................76

Format the Footer Placeholders................................................................................................85

Rename and Preserve the Slide Master.............................................................................86

Working with Multiple Slide Masters..............................................................................87

5 Formatting the Default Slide Layouts........................................................................89

Overview of Slide Layouts........................................................................................................91

Title Slide Layout......................................................................................................92

Title and Content Layout....................................................................................................95

Section Header Layout...............................................................................................................96

Two Content Layout...................................................................................................................97

Comparison Layout...................................................................................................................99

Title Only Layout....................................................................................................................100

Blank Layout.....................................................................................................................................101

Content with Caption Layout................................................................................................101

Picture with Caption Layout........................................................................................................103

Title and Vertical Text Layout.....................................................................................................108

Vertical Title and Text Layout.....................................................................................................109

6 Creating Custom Slide Layouts............................................................................................113

When to Include Custom Layouts....................................................................................................114

Custom Slide Layout Examples.............................................................................................116

Creating a Custom Slide Layout..........................................................................................................120

Renaming Slide Layouts.....................................................................................................................121

Reordering Slide Layouts.......................................................................................................................121

When to Use Multiple Slide Masters..................................................................................122

Creating Multiple Slide Masters.......................................................................................................123

7 Formatting Notes and Handout Masters......................................................................125

Applying Theme Colors, Fonts, and Effects.......................................................................126

Adjusting the Notes Master.........................................................................................................126

    Formatting the Placeholders......................................................................................................127

    Adding More Graphics....................................................................................................................128

Adjusting the Handout Master............................................................................................................129

Formatting the Background............................................................................................................130

Changing Orientation....................................................................................................................130

Templates Versus Themes................................................................................................................132

8 Creating Example Slides and Setting Defaults..........................................................133

Including Instructional Text on Sample Slides..................................................................134

Implementing Off-Slide Instructional Text..........................................................................135

Creating Example Chart Slides....................................................................................................137

Creating Example Table Slides..........................................................................................137

Other Sample Slides to Consider.......................................................................................139

Setting Default Shapes.................................................................................................................140

A Final Word.........................................................................................................................142

9 Finalizing Your Template........................................................................................143

Review Slides and Slide Masters.................................................................................................144

    Create Test Slides..................................................................................................................144

    Slide Masters and Layouts .........................................................................................................144

    Theme Colors, Fonts, and Effects...................................................................................144

    Check Shape Defaults...............................................................................................................145

View in Slide Show Mode..................................................................................................................146

    Transitions.......................................................................................................................146

    Animations......................................................................................................................................147

    Legibility and Visibility................................................................................................................147

    Hidden Slides.................................................................................................................................147

Optimize File Size...............................................................................................................................147

    Fix Oversized Images..............................................................................................................148

    Get Rid of Extra Fonts.................................................................................................................148

Test Print.........................................................................................................................................149

    Create PDFs...........................................................................................................................................149

    Specify Black and White Settings....................................................................................................149

Setting Up to Save...........................................................................................................................151

Verify Administrivia...............................................................................................................................152

    Spell-Check and Proofread..........................................................................................................152

    Inspect Document...................................................................................................................152

    Check Accessibility...............................................................................................................152

    Save as Template (.POTX)...........................................................................................154

10 Designing a Template......................................................................................................................155

Evaluate the User Base.............................................................................................................................156

Review Common Slide Types...................................................................................................................156

Determine Presentation Delivery Methods................................................................................157

Review Brand Guidelines and Collateral Materials.......................................................................158

    Corporate Fonts..................................................................................................................................158

    Corporate Colors.................................................................................................................................158

    Corporate Logos................................................................................................................................159

    Designing Without Formal Guidelines...................................................................................160

Sketch Basic Design Concepts................................................................................................................161

Assemble Digital Assets..............................................................................................................162

    Logo(s)..................................................................................................................................................162

    Backgrounds, Pictures, and Graphics....................................................................................162

    RGB Values..............................................................................................................................................163

Develop Designs in PowerPoint..............................................................................................................165

Project to Test......................................................................................................................................165

Present Template Designs for Final Approval........................................................................165

11Understanding Charts and Chart Templates.......................................................167

About Default Chart Settings..............................................................................................................168

    Theme Matrix for Default Charts............................................................................................169

    Don’t Forget Line Charts.....................................................................................................175

Chart Templates to the Rescue...................................................................................................177

    Creating a Chart Template...........................................................................................................178

    Avoiding Chart Template Gotchas......................................................................................178

    Using Chart Templates...............................................................................................183

Distributing Chart Templates...................................................................................184

12 Using the Theme Builder Utility to Customize Your Theme.................................185

Downloading and Installing the Theme Builder Utility................................................186

    .NET Framework 3.0......................................................................................................................186

    Primary Interop Assemblies...................................................................................................186

    Theme Builder Utility.........................................................................................................186

Getting Started with the Theme Builder.............................................................................187

    Creating an Office Theme to Use as a Study Guide...................................................189

    The Process to Build a New Theme..........................................................................................190

    The Process to Customize a Theme.......................................................................................190

Using the Theme Builder Utility to Customize a Theme..................................................191

    Using the Colors and Fonts Tab of the Theme Builder..............................................192

Parts of the Theme Effects Styles...................................................................................................195

    Modifying Line Styles in the Theme Builder........................................................................198

    Defining Colors in the Theme Builder...........................................................................200

    Modifying Fill Styles in the Theme Builder.......................................................................201

    Adding Effect Styles in the Theme Builder..........................................................................208

    Editing Background Styles in the Theme Builder...........................................................211

Finishing the Theme........................................................................................................................213

    Testing in PowerPoint.............................................................................................................213

    Creating the Theme and Template Files..........................................................................214

    A Final Note........................................................................................................................215

13 Editing PowerPoint and Theme File XML.................................................................217

What Is XML?..........................................................................................................................................218

Before You Begin Editing.....................................................................................................219

    Install Visual Studio LightSwitch........................................................................................219

    Install the Open XML Package Editor Add-in...........................................................220

    Download the XML Editing Tutorial Template..................................................................220

    Examining the Guts of an XML Package.................................................................220

Removing the Most Recently Used Colors.............................................................................222

Adding Custom Colors to Color Galleries...........................................................................224

Poking Around in the XML.................................................................................................................229

    Changing a Background Fill Style.....................................................................................229

    Identifying Effects Styles............................................................................................................230

XML Editing Software.........................................................................................................................233

    Windows, Notepad, and Internet Explorer............................................................................233

    7-Zip.......................................................................................................................................234

    XML Notepad..........................................................................................................234

    Notepad++.......................................................................................................................234

    Altova XML Spy............................................................................................................................235

    Visual Studio......................................................................................................................235

    Visual Studio LightSwitch.......................................................................................................235

    Open XML Package Editor..........................................................................................................235

Hooked on XML?......................................................................................................................................235

14 Deploying Your Template or Theme.......................................................................237

Theme Versus Template..........................................................................................................................238

The Themes Galleries...................................................................................................................238

    Putting Templates into the Document Themes Folder......................................................239

    Built-In Themes...................................................................................................................................239

Colors, Fonts, and Effects XML Files................................................................................................240

Where to Place PowerPoint Template (.POTX) Files..........................................................242

Workgroup Templates............................................................................................................................244

Other Types of Templates...........................................................................................................................245

Templates and Themes on the Mac................................................................................................245

    Colors, Fonts, and Effects..................................................................................................................245

    Creating a Default Theme for Macintosh Users...................................................................246

15 Creating Themes and Templates on a Mac...................................................................247

Which Version of PowerPoint Should I Use?.................................................................................248

Fonts...............................................................................................................................................248

Theme Effects on the Mac............................................................................................................251

Where Is the Blank Template?.........................................................................................................251

Test, Test, Test..............................................................................................................................253

A Key Steps to Building a Template....................................................................................255

Apply Settings to a New, Blank File.................................................................................256

Format the Slide Master......................................................................................................................256

Format the Default Slide Layouts............................................................................................257

    Format the Title Slide Layout.......................................................................................257

    Format the Title and Content Layout............................................................................257

    Format the Section Header Layout...................................................................................257

    Format the Two Content Layout.........................................................................................258

    Format the Comparison Layout............................................................................................258

    Format the Title Only Layout...............................................................................................258

    Format the Blank Layout......................................................................................................258

    Format the Content with Caption Layout...........................................................................259

    Format the Picture with Caption Layout........................................................................259

    Format the Title and Vertical Text Layout.......................................................................259

    Format the Vertical Title and Text Layout.........................................................................259

Create and Format Custom Slide Layouts*.......................................................................260

Format Notes and Handout Masters............................................................................................260

Test Every Slide Layout....................................................................................................................260

Create Example Slides.........................................................................................................260

Finalize the Template.......................................................................................................261

Save Final Template............................................................................................................262

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