PowerPoint Slides: Layout, Placeholders and Navigation

• A PowerPoint presentation is a series of slides used to create a slideshow.
• Basics of working with slides include:
  • Inserting a new slide
  • Changing the layout of a slide
  • Arranging existing slides
  • Changing the slide view
  • Adding notes to a slide

Understanding Slides and Slide Layout

• When inserting a new slide, placeholders show where content can be placed.
• Different slide layouts exist for placeholders depending on the type of information.

Placeholders

• Placeholders can contain text, images, and videos.
• Slides vary in layout, offering placeholders for titles and content such as text, images, and videos.

Inserting a New Slide

• Go to the home tab and click the pulldown menus of the new slide command.
• Choose the desired slide from the menu.
• The new slide will appear.
• Click any placeholder and begin typing to add text.

Organizing Slides

• PowerPoint presentations can contain many slides.
• The slide Navigation pane organizes slides, making it easy to duplicate, rearrange, and delete slides.

Duplicate Slides

• To quickly copy and paste a slide, duplicate it.
• Select the slide you want to duplicate from the navigation pane.
• Right-click the mouse, and choose "duplicate slide" from the menu.

Move Slides

• Changing the order of slides is easy.
• Click and drag the desired slide to the desired position in the navigation.

Delete Slides

• To remove a slide, just delete it.
• Select the slide, then press the delete or backspace key.

Copy and Paste

• PowerPoint allows several slides with the same layout to be created.
• It is easier to copy and paste a slide you have already created instead of starting from scratch.

How to Copy and Paste

• Select the slide to copy in the navigation pane.
• Click copy command on the home tab (Ctrl+c).
• Choose the paste location in the Navigation pane.
• Click paste command on the home tab (Ctrl+c).
• The slide will appear in the selected location.

Customizing Slide Layout

• PowerPoint enables slide layouts to be adjusted.

Adjusting Placeholder

• To adjust a placeholder, first select it.
• Hover the mouse over the edge of the placeholder and click.
• Selected placeholder will have a solid line instead of a dotted line.
• To move a placeholder, select it, then click and drag it to the desired location.
• To resize a placeholder:
  • Select the placeholder.
  • Click and drag the sizing handles until the placeholder is at the desired size.
• Corner sizing handles can change the placeholder's height and width at the same time.
• Deleting a placeholder involves selecting it and pressing delete or backspace.
• Text can be inserted into both placeholders and text boxes.
• Inserting text boxes allows you to add to the slide layout
• Text boxes always stay in the same place, even if you change the theme.
• Adding a text box involves selecting the text box command, located under the insert tab.

Using Blank Slides

1. From the home bottom select new slide.
2. Then choose blank from the menu that appears.

To Play the Presentation

• Once slides are arranged, a presentation can be played.

1. Select "Start from Beginning" on the quick access toolbar, or press F5.
2. The presentation will appear in full-screen mode.
3. It's possible to advance slides by clicking the mouse or pressing the spacebar.

• Use the arrow keys to move forward or backward.

4. Press the Esc key to exit presentation mode.

Changing the Slide Size

• Go to the design tab, then click the slide size command.
• The slide size options from the menu, including custom sizes.

Formatting the Slide Background

• By default, slides use a white background, but this can be changed.
• Backgrounds can have solid colors, gradients, patterns, or pictures.
• From the design tab, the format background command can be selected.
• The format background pane will appear on the right, with the desired fill options.
• Set the background style of the currently selected slide.
• To apply the same background to all slides, click "apply to all."

Applying Themes

• Themes are predefined combinations of colors, fonts, and effects.
• Themes can change the look and feel of an entire slideshow.
• Themes use different slide layouts and change the arrangement of existing placeholders.
• From the design tab, click the dropdown arrow to see available themes.
• The selected theme will then be applied to the presentation.