MS Office. Course Module 28 Formatting Slides

  Lesson 28: Formatting Slides

Step-by-Step Method: Using Themes

When designing a presentation, themes are essential for creating a visually appealing, consistent, and professional look. This lesson focuses on exploring, applying, and customizing themes to align your slides with branding or a specific style.

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Accessing Themes

Open your presentation software (e.g., Microsoft PowerPoint, Google Slides).

Navigate to the Design tab in the toolbar.

Explore the themes gallery, which provides pre-designed templates with coordinated color schemes, fonts, and backgrounds.

Exercise:

Open a blank presentation and locate the themes library.

Scroll through the available options and observe how each theme adjusts the layout and style of your slides.

2. Applying a Theme

Select a theme by clicking on it.

Observe how the selected theme applies to all slides, providing uniformity.

Switch between themes to compare their impact on your content.

Exercise:

Apply at least three different themes to the same slide deck.

Write down observations about how each theme influences readability, visual appeal, and overall tone.

3. Customizing Themes

Once a theme is applied, you can customize it to suit your branding or personal preferences:

Adjusting Fonts:

In the Design tab, find the Fonts dropdown menu.

Select a predefined font combination or create a custom one that matches your brand.

Changing Colors:

In the Design tab, choose Colors.

Select a color palette or create a custom palette using your brand's color codes (e.g., HEX, RGB).

Background Customization:

Use the Format Background option to add textures, gradients, or images that align with your theme.

Exercise:

Apply a theme to your slides and then customize it:

Change the primary font to one that reflects a professional tone (e.g., Helvetica).

Adjust the colors to include your organization’s primary and secondary branding colors.

Add a background gradient that complements your new color palette.

4. Saving and Reusing Customized Themes

After customizing a theme, save it as a new theme/template to ensure consistency in future presentations.

Go to the Design tab > Themes > Save Current Theme.

Exercise:

Create and save a customized theme. Share it with a teammate and test its compatibility on another computer.

Practical Example

Scenario: You are tasked with creating a presentation for your company’s annual meeting. The brand guidelines specify the use of dark blue and white as primary colors, with Arial as the font.

Steps:

Apply a professional-looking theme from the Design tab.

Customize the colors to dark blue and white.

Adjust the font to Arial using the Fonts menu.

Save the theme as “Company Annual Meeting Theme.”

Result:

A visually consistent presentation that reflects the company’s branding, ready for use across teams.

Key Takeaways

Themes simplify the design process and ensure visual consistency.

Customizing themes allows for brand alignment and creative flexibility.

Saving customized themes ensures efficiency for future projects.

By mastering themes, you will save time and ensure professional, cohesive slide designs for any presentation.