PowerPoint is a useful program to help you create presentation slides and even turn them into videos. It is well-aged and still one of the most popular options for educators, home business presentations, and home theater applications.
You can add graphics, text, and media to enhance the look and feel of your presentations. The list of multimedia materials, including music and videos, continues to grow.
Along with these functions, the variety of templates is constantly expanding. However, not every template has everything you need or need. Some editing is still required from time to time. The good news is that these templates, whether purchased or free, can usually be modified and edited by you.
Edit or Modify PowerPoint Template
When it comes to Powerpoint Templates, you can:
- Start from scratch with a blank presentation and use it as a one-off, or create your own template.
- Use one of the themes provided by the program or downloaded for free.
- Purchase templates from various sources.
Learning how to edit a presentation is a valuable tool to have in your kit. Many tutorials suggest using the Slide Master view. However, Slide Master provides blank layouts. This is not a way to edit an existing template.
Let’s say you just purchased a set of templates because they look impressive and you want to use them in your business. However, the templates are niche oriented and your business provides online services like website designs.
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For example, you like the layout and inline animation of the real estate PowerPoint template. Does this mean that you cannot use it? No, you can customize it for your business by replacing the images with ones that are more relevant to your industry.
There are many ways to edit your Powerpoint presentation. As part of this tutorial, we’re going to outline the steps to turn a real estate template into a template for a website design company.
Start with the cover slide
Below is the first slide of a PowerPoint presentation on the property purchased.
The first thing you need to do is replace the house image with the website image. This can be done in two different ways.
Right-click on the image to change it
Some templates allow you to replace an image simply by right-clicking it and choosing Change Image. Then select the source of your new image (file, online sources, icons, clipboard).
I prefer to use image sites that I know are free and not subject to any copyright laws. As you can see in the image below, when you select From Online Source, you are taken to a screen where you can select images under the Creative Commons license.
However, there is a disclaimer at the bottom of the pop-up that says: You are responsible for respecting the rights of others, including copyrights.
For more legal security, use the From File option and select an image from a free photo website.
Use the selection panel to change images
Templates with more complex animations and transitions will require a different method for modifying images.
Make sure you are on the Home tab on the top navigation bar.
Now you want to find and click the Select dropdown menu on the right slide of the top navigation bar. Select the marquee.
This will open a new tab that will show you all the elements on the slide and give you the option to “show†or “hide†them.
Your goal in this step is to isolate the image from any other elements on the slide so you can change it.
Click Hide All to see a blank white screen. The number of items you see in the selection bar will depend on the complexity of the slide.
In this example, it is easy to tell which element is an image since there is only one image. If you have a lot of photos on your slide, you will need to click the dash (-) next to the name of each image element to find the one you want to change.
Turn them on and off until you find the one you want.
Make sure that once you find the image you want, a single item is displayed. By hiding other elements, you can isolate the image to change it.
At this point you can follow the same instructions as above by right-clicking the image and choosing Change Image.
Change font and shape colors
You can also change the font colors and type, as well as the transparency and color of the shapes.
If you choose an image that uses the same color scheme as the template, you will probably only need to make minimal changes, if any. But if you find an image that doesn’t match the color scheme, don’t worry. This is easy to change.
The image below shows the title slide with a website image replacing the house image.
From a color point of view, this looks out of place. So let’s change the colors to match our new image, to make it look more harmonious.
Change the color of shapes
Right-click the background shape that contains the title and choose Format Shape.
This process will open the side panel, where you can see that the bottom panel is filled with a solid color with 30% transparency. You can also see the color used.
Let’s pick a color that matches our new image better. Click the drop-down arrow next to Color and select the Eyedropper option. You can also choose any theme, standard or custom colors. But if you want the colors in the image to match the colors, an eyedropper is best.
Move the cursor to any part of the image with the color you want to use and press the return button. Now you will see that the bottom bar is the color you selected with the eyedropper.
Now remember that the original slide had a transparency effect of 30%. This is removed when the color changes. If you want to use this with a new color, right-click the bottom panel, select Format and set the opacity back to 30%.
Follow the same procedures as above to change the color of the right column to the same color. You will notice that there is now an additional section called “Recent Colors†to make it even easier for you to use the same color you used before.
Edit Text
You can change the color, font, size and position of any text in the template. Start by highlighting the text and looking at the top navigation section for what you can do with the text.
Once the text is highlighted, you can make several changes, including:
- Type
- Size
- Color
- Style (bold , italic, underlined, shaded)
If you’re not sure what any of the options mean, hover over it to see a description. Of course, you will want to replace what the text says to suit your business.
To move the text, move the mouse cursor over one of the dots in the selected section until the cursor turns into a vertical arrow.
Then use the arrows on your keyboard to move the text up, down, right, or left.
In this example, white text works well with the image and color scheme. However, some changes could be made to the layout and style.
Check out the new slide below and how we converted it from the original slide by customizing it while maintaining the same basic design, animations and transitions as in the template.
The advantage of editing and customizing pre-made templates is that you can benefit from the design, animation and transition skills of professional Powerpoint creators.
There is no need to avoid a template targeting someone else’s industry or niche. By following the instructions above, you can get the best of both worlds.
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