You don't have to be a design expert to be able to create creative and unique PowerPoint presentations. It is only enough to know how to handle the program very well, as well as to know some specific functions to add particular elements.
It does not matter the sector for which a presentation is directed, since you can always create slides professionals making use of custom options within Powerpoint.
In this sense, if you want to learn about How to edit a slide to create a professional presentation in PowerPoint?, we invite you to read this step-by-step guide carefully. We will teach you many features that perhaps you did not know.
Learn step by step how to edit a slide of a PowerPoint presentation
As we mentioned earlier, Editing a slide is very easy once you get familiar with PowerPoint. However, it does not matter if you really know how to do it or not, because we will show you step by step how to do it in a very simple way. Before starting, keep in mind that it doesn't matter what version of Office you have installed or the operating system from which you access, since the procedure is practically the same in all cases.
Let's see below:
Create new presentation
The first step is create a new presentation.
To achieve this you must:
- Open PowerPoint.
- Select one of the following options:
- Tap on Blank presentation if you want to make a design from scratch.
- Choose a template if what you want is to have a base from which to work.
- Tap on Take an introductory walk and later in Create to view tips on using PowerPoint.
In case you want to make the presentation yourself from scratch, you need to insert a slide. So after tapping on Blank presentation, go to Home / New slide and in the option of Design, choose the one you prefer.
Insert text box
The text boxes they are a very good option to add text to any part of the file. For example, you can take advantage of them whenever you want create quotes or sidebars that draw attention to important information within a presentation.
In newer versions of PowerPoint, the way to insert a text box is as follows:
- Go to group Text, inside the tab Insert. Press on Text box.
- Tap on the presentation and then drag to draw the text box according to the size you want.
- To add text, you simply have to click inside the box and type or paste any text.
You may at some point want to copy a text box and to do so you just have to:
- Click the border of the text box you want to copy. Make sure you are on the edge, because if you do it with the pointer inside the box, only the text will be copied.
- Press Ctrl + C.
- Select the location and press Ctrl + V so that the text box is pasted.
Finally, you may need to delete an item of this type. Delete a text box it's very simple, you just have to click edge of it and touch Suppress.
Format the text
Any type of text that you introduce within a presentation can be personalized and given the format you want. To achieve this, follow the steps below:
- Put the cursor in the place you want and write the text.
- Select what you wrote and in the tab Start you will find different alternatives for customize text such as: Font, Font size, Italic, Bold, Underline, etc.
- If you want create bulleted or numbered lists, select the text and go to Numeration or Bullets.
Insert image
The procedure for insert an image, also applies to those scenarios in which you want add a shape or graphic.
The step by step is as follows:
- Go to Insert.
- If you want to add an image:
- Choose the picture.
- Look for the picture you want to use and tap Insert.
- If you want to add a shape, image, or graphic:
- Go to Shapes, Icons, SmartArt or Graphic.
- Choose the one you want.
Edit background
All PowerPoint themes have a background included. They can be white or have a solid color, gradient, textured, pattern, or image fill. When themes are changed, the background is replaced.
This means that the background colors are defined by those of the theme, so if you change the theme color scheme, PowerPoint automatically updates the background to reflect the new colors. If you like the combination of colors and fonts for a particular theme, but want to edit the background, you can easily do so on one or all of the slides.
To edit the background on all the slides you have to:
- Go to the tab Design, in Personalize, and click on Background format.
- Choose one of the fill options– Solid, Gradient, Texture, or Image or Hatch Fill to create the style you want.
- Tap on Apply to all.
It is also possible apply a custom background to one or more specific slides.
The step by step in these cases is:
- Go to menu View, click on Normal and, within the navigation pane, click on the slides you want to change.
- Inside the tab Design, specifically in Personalize, tap on Background format.
- Select option Filling and, subsequently, in one of the available options: Solid, Gradient, Image or Texture or Pattern.
- Choose the fillings background you want.
Finally, an important configuration that you should know is that of remove backgrounds from all slides.
It is a very simple process in which you have to follow the steps indicated below:
- Go to the tab Design, within Personalize, and click on Background format.
- Tap on Solid fill.
- Then click Color and then select the white background of Theme colors.
- Tap on Apply to all.
Format the background
With the help of the background format settings, you can customize the background of your slide much more. It is very useful when for example you want insert a background image on a slide.
To do this you have to:
- Right-click on the slide you want, and then select Format the background.
- Within that panel, select Image or texture fill (in case you want to insert an image) or just choose any of the other options available.
- In Insert image from, choose where you want to get the image from:
- Archive: insert an image that you have on your computer or from a network drive.
- Clipboard: insert a copied image (this option will not be available if you have not copied an image).
- Online: search for an image on the internet.
- If you want adjust the relative brightness of the image, you must slide the transparency bar to the right.
- To apply a background image to all slides of your presentation, go to Apply to all. Otherwise, you just have to close the dashboard Background format.
Add animation
A very attractive feature of the presentations of Powerpoint, is that you can add animation to the different elements present in the slideshow, whether to images, shapes, tables, texts and much more. With the help of effects, you can make an object appear or disappear, make it move and much more. You can also modify the size or color of that object.
To add an animation in the latest versions of Office you have to:
- Select the object or the text that you are going to animate.
- Tap on Animations and select the one you prefer.
- Click on Effects options and choose an effect.
For manage animations and effects, you should know that there are several different ways of start the animations in your presentation.
These are:
- By clicking: means that animation starts when a slide is clicked.
- Start with previous: plays an animation at the same time as the previous animation in the sequence.
- Start after previous: starts the animation immediately after the previous one ends.
- Duration: increases or shortens an effect.
- Delay: as the name implies, it adds time before an effect runs.
To add more effects to a specific animation:
- Select the object or text that has an animation.
- Click on Add animation and select the one you prefer.
To change the order of the animations:
- Choose a marker of animation.
- Select the option you prefer:
- Move before: makes an animation appear earlier in the sequence.
- Move after: makes an animation appear later in the sequence.
Finally, to add an animation to grouped objects you have to:
- Press the Ctrl key and choose the objects you want.
- Go to Format / Group / Group to group the objects.
- Choose Animations and choose the one you want.
Choose slide layout
In case you want adapt the design of a slide according to your tastes or preferences, you can go to choose the design of a slide. There are different ways to do it depending on the team from which you enter. We explain how to do it in each case.
To choose a slide layout in Windows:
- Select the slide to which you want to change the design.
- Go to Home / Design.
- Choose the design what you want. Keep in mind that each layout contains placeholders for text, images, graphics, shapes, background, etc. In addition, they also have the format of those objects such as the fonts, effects and colors of the theme.
If you made a change that you did not like and want to restore itgo to Home / Reset. The content you added will not be removed, as will only be restored according to the previous design.
To choose a standard slide layout in macOS you have to:
- Go to view Normal inside the tab Start.
- Click on Design.
- Choose the design that fits the content of the slide.
On the other hand, if you prefer to have the design of a personalized slide, the procedure to follow is as follows:
- Inside the tab See, select in Slide master.
- The layouts will appear as thumbnails in the left panel below the slide master.
- Do any of the following:
- Click on the design you want and customize it. You can add or remove placeholders, resize them or go to the Home tab to make corresponding modifications to the fonts, colors, and other elements of the design.
- Go to Insert design to add a new slide and format it.
- Select in Close pattern if you want to stop editing the designs.
In this way, you can insert the slide design you have modified as a new slide in any section of the presentation.
PowerPoint tricks to create more original slides
There is another series of very effective tricks that you can apply to make your PowerPoint presentations not only more original, but also visually more attractive.
Here we share 5 tricks that maybe you did not know:
Set your own color palette
To give visual harmony and a touch of originality to your presentation, an excellent idea is set your own color palette. The positive is that Powerpoint allows the user to quickly adjust the color palette of the theme they are using. If you want to create a totally custom palette, go to Format / Theme Colors and you can see that you have a window where you can choose the shades of texts, backgrounds, hyperlinks and much more.
Insert audios
Using resources that are not only visual, but also auditory, can considerably enrich your presentation. Other than that it helps maintain public interest in the information you are sharing. This resource you can use it for example if you want create photo slideshows or add a player to a slide to show a Audio in a timely manner.
If you want to use it you must first go to the menu Insert / Audio / Audio from file and select the file what you want. You will see a player on the slide and a tab where you can adjust the audio format. Right here, you can choose the icon to be displayed. For its part, in Audio options You have the possibility to indicate when the playback will start or if you want it to be heard throughout the presentation.
Add animated graphics
To make your presentation much more interactive, add animated graphics in Powerpoint. It is a very effective way to capture the attention of the public and to illustrate the information in a better way. The procedure for inserting an animated graphic is very simple. First enter it on the slide from the tab Insert / Chart.
Later, go to the tab Animations and select the effect you want. Finally, click Effects options and adjusts all the animation characteristics at the top, as well as the sequence at the bottom. With the help of the sequence settings, you can treat the chart as a single object or divide the animation by series or categories.
Add a video
Before add a video to a presentation, first we recommend download it and save it on your computer. In this way, you will not need to have Internet when making your presentation. Then, to insert the video go to the menu Insert / Video / Movie from file and select the file. Then, place the player where you want, adjust its size and use the Video Styles, Colors or Brightness and Contrast tools to fully customize the element.
Align objects
If you want all the elements of the slide to look more organized, we recommend align objects. You can do it in a few simple and quick steps. In this sense, you must select the different elements and go to the tab Format which is located at the top. Then you have to tap on Organize and after that, in To line up. Specifically in this section, you can choose if you want to align the elements horizontally, vertically or distribute them both among themselves and on the slide.