A theme is a coordinated set of fonts, colors, and visual effects. In one click, you can apply one of the dozens of built-in themes to any PowerPoint
presentation. In a few more clicks, you can customize the theme, then save it and reuse it over and over. Take this tutorial to learn how.
What you'll learn
After completing this tutorial, you'll be able to:
Apply a built-in theme to a presentation.
Identify the elements of a theme.
Apply different theme fonts and colors.
Save and reuse a modified theme.
Requirements
PowerPoint for Mac 2011
Basic PowerPoint
skills, including how to open a presentation, insert slides, and add content to a slide.
Office
comes with dozens of professionally designed themes. When you apply a theme, all text and objects take on the fonts, colors, and effects that are defined in the theme.
Note In PowerPoint, themes replace the former "design templates." Themes are most useful when you need a consistent design for your presentation, but don't need to include slide content, such as placeholder text and images.
Let's apply a theme to a presentation.
Open the practice file, which is located at the beginning of this tutorial.
In the left pane, click through each slide, and notice how the text and objects appear.
Tip If you don't see the left pane, click View > Normal.
On the Themes tab, under Themes, click Black Tie.
Tip To see all themes, point to a theme, and then click .
Notice that the theme arranges and formats the text and objects on all slides.
Tip You can apply a different theme at any time while working on a presentation.
Hints
To apply a theme to specific slides, hold down
⌘, and in the left pane, click the slides that you want to apply the theme to. Then, click the theme that you want.
Before you move on
Make sure that you can do the following:
Apply a theme to a presentation.
2. Explore the elements of a theme
A theme defines the overall visual design for a document. Each theme includes a coordinated selection of fonts, colors, backgrounds, and visual effects that give your document a consistent look.
Let's look at how the theme elements appear on slide 4.
Theme heading font: The font and color for heading text. For example, in the Black Tie theme, the heading text is formatted as a gray, 18 point, Garamond font. You can change both the font and color of the theme heading font.
Theme body font: The font and color for body text. For example, in the Black Tie theme, the body text is formatted as a white, 20 point, Garamond font. You can change both the font and color of the theme body font.
Theme colors: The coordinated set of colors for text, background, hyperlinks, and accent shading. You can define custom colors for any theme.
Theme image effects: The set of effects, such as shadows and frames, for all slide images and objects.
Background design: The color and graphical elements of the slide background.
Hints
All Office
documents have a theme. If you don't apply one, the default is the Office
Theme.
In PowerPoint, each theme includes a slide background design. In other Office
applications, themes do not include a background design.
Before you move on
Make sure that you can do the following:
Identify the basic design elements of the applied theme.
3. Choose a different color, font, and background
Each theme has a preset color scheme, font scheme, and background design. If any of these design elements don't work for you, you can choose different ones.
Let's select a new color scheme, font scheme, and background for the theme that we applied to the presentation.
In the left pane, click slide 2.
On the Themes tab, under Theme Options, click Colors, and then click Capital.
Click Fonts, and then click Breeze.
Click Background, and then click Style 11.
Notice that PowerPoint
applies the new colors and fonts to all slides.
Hints
To create your own theme colors, click Format > Theme Colors.
If you apply any font styles manually to your presentation, applying a theme will not change these font styles.
Before you move on
Make sure that you can do the following:
Select a different font scheme, color scheme, and background for the current theme.
4. Save your theme
To reuse the new combination of fonts and colors, you need to save them as part of a new theme. After you save your theme, it will appear on the Themes tab with the other Office
themes.
Let's save the custom theme.
On the Themes tab, under Themes, click Save Theme.
On the Where pop-up menu, make sure that My Themes appears.
Tip By saving your theme in the default My Themes folder, located at /Users/username/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Office/User Templates/My Themes, you ensure that it is available in the themes gallery and the PowerPoint Presentation Gallery.
In the Save As box, type My New Theme, and then click Save.
On the Themes tab, under Themes, point to any theme, and then click the arrow that appears.
Notice that your theme appears under Custom.
Hints
All Office
theme files have a .thmx extension.
To share a theme with others, send them the theme file (for example, MyCustomTheme.thmx) as an e-mail attachment, and have them copy the file to their My Themes folder, located at /Users/username/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Office/User Templates/My Themes. The theme will then appear in their PowerPoint Presentation Gallery.
To make the current theme the default theme for future presentations, on the Themes tab, under Themes, click the arrow next to Save Theme, and then click Set Current Theme as Default.
Before you move on
Make sure that you can do the following:
Save a custom theme.
Find your theme on the Themes tab.
5. Create a presentation that uses your theme
After you save your theme, you can apply it to any open presentation the same way you apply other Office
themes. Or, you can create a new presentation that uses your theme.
Let's create a new presentation that uses your theme.
Click File > New from Template.
In the left pane, click My Themes.
Click My New Theme, and then click Choose.
Notice that a new presentation appears with your custom theme applied.
Tip Each new slide that you add to the presentation will use the theme.
Hints
If your theme doesn't appear on the Themes tab or in the PowerPoint Presentation Gallery, make sure that your theme file is in the default My Themes folder, located at
/Users/username/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Office/User Templates/My Themes.
All theme (.thmx) files can be shared between Office
for Windows and Office
for Mac.
Before you move on
Make sure that you can do the following:
Create a new presentation that uses your custom theme.
Quick Reference Card
To
Do this
Apply a built-in theme to the current presentation
On the Themes tab, under Themes, click the style that you want to apply. You can apply a different theme at any time.
Apply a theme to specific slides
Hold down
⌘, and in the left pane, click the slides that you want to apply the theme to. Then apply the theme that you want.
Change the default fonts for a theme
One the Themes tab, under Theme Options, click Fonts, and then select the fonts that you want.
Create custom theme colors
Click Format > Theme Colors.
Make the current theme the default theme for future presentations
On the Themes tab, under Theme Options, click the arrow next to Save Theme, and then click Set Current Theme as Default.
Create a new presentation that uses your custom theme
Click File > New From Template. Under My Themes, click the theme that you want, and then click Choose.
Share a theme
Send the theme file (for example, MyCustomTheme.thmx) to the person who you want to share with. Then have them copy the file to their My Themes folder (/Users/username/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Office/User Templates/My Themes). The theme will then appear in their PowerPoint Presentation Gallery.
More Hints
In PowerPoint, themes replace the former "design templates." Themes are most useful when you need a consistent design for your presentation, but don't need to include slide content, such as placeholder text and images.
A theme defines heading and body fonts, colors, effects, and in PowerPoint
presentations, the background design and color.
All Office
documents have a theme. If you don't apply one, the default is the Office
Theme.
You can distinguish a theme file from other Office
files by its .thmx file extension (for example, MyCustomTheme.thmx).
For a custom theme to appear on the Themes tab, you must save it to your My Themes folder, located at /Users/username/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Office/User Templates/My Themes.
Theme (.thmx) files are compatible in both Office for Mac
and Office
for Windows.
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