The Master slide controls the overall design of your presentation such as the background color, font style, and size. Before you get started with your slides, you can customize the layouts in the Master View. This will ensure consistency, and the formatting will not change when you work on the decks.
Slide layouts work a bit differently. Changes made to the layout will only apply to the decks following it in the presentation.
The Apply To All option in the Master View will allow you to display any changes you made on all the slides.
Add a new placeholder
Placeholders are boxes with dotted borders that contain the content on the slide. A placeholder often contains formatting specific to the slide layout (for example, a larger font size for the title). You can add additional placeholders to contain a text, picture, or shape in the slide layouts. Note that you cannot add a new placeholder in the Master slide.
To add a new placeholder in the Master View:
- Go to the FORMAT mode, then click Edit Master Slide at the bottom of the pane. This will open the Master View.
- Open the desired slide layout in the Master View to add a placeholder.
- Click the Plus icon at the top-right corner of the FORMAT panel and choose the type of placeholder you want to insert. You can add the following placeholders in Master View:
- Title
- Content
- Text
- Image
The desired placeholder will appear on slides that follow the layout. You can move, resize, and rearrange the placeholder as you wish.
You can also add multiple placeholders in the layout. Once you are done with adding placeholders, click the Close Master button to return to the Normal View.
Using the Master View, you can have the slide number, footer message, and date appear either in specific slides or on the entire presentation. Further, you can move the location of footer placeholders anywhere within the slide. Moving the footer placeholder to the top of the slide will make it the header for your slide. You can now use the placeholder to perform different tasks such as inserting logos and typing names.
To add a header or footer placeholder in the Master View,
- Go to the FORMAT mode, then click Edit Master Slide at the bottom of the pane. This will open the Master View.
- Choose the Master or a slide layout to add header and footer elements.
- Enable any of the options, such as Show Slide Number, Footer Message, and Date in the right panel. Once you are done with adding header and footer elements, click Close Master button to return to the Normal View.
The Update Automatically checkbox under Date will update the slide with the current date, while the Fixed Date option will display the slide with a specific date. This is the current date by default. However, you can enter a different date in the text box.
You can remove the footer elements anytime from slides. Simply disable the Footer Message checkbox in the Master View.
Rearrange, resize, or move a placeholder
Move and edit placeholders in the Master slide or specific layouts to give a more uniform and neat appearance to your elements in slides. Rearrange these placeholders, move them to a new location, or resize them to fit your content, picture, or shape. You can also delete unwanted placeholders in the Master View anytime.
To rearrange, resize, and move a placeholder in the Master View:
- Go to the FORMAT mode, then click Edit Master Slide at the bottom of the pane. This will open the Master View.
- Choose the Master or a slide layout to modify placeholders.
- Select the placeholder, then perform any of the following operations:
- Align using any of the options under the Arrange panel
- Drag its points inwards or outwards to resize accordingly
- Drag along its borders to move it to a new location in the slide
Once you are done with resizing placeholders, click the Close Master button to return to the Normal View.
Apply a background style
You can apply background fills to the Master or individual layouts in the Master View. This way, you can ensure uniform fill effects throughout the presentation, or just on specific slides.
You can apply a background, such as a plain color or picture, throughout your presentation, or for specific slides using the Master slide and its layouts.
To apply a background fill in the Master View:
- Go to the FORMAT mode, then click Edit Master Slide at the bottom of the panel. This will open the Master View.
- Choose the Master slide or a layout to apply the background style.
- Click the Fill dropdown to choose a background effect. There are four types of background fills:
- Solid Color applies a single color uniformly within the whole shape
- Gradient Colors applies a continuous blend of two or more different colors
- Image applies a picture as the slide background. You can also add your own picture as background using the Image icon at the top of the window
- Pattern applies a vibrant texture as slide background
Once you are done with applying background, click the Close Master button to return to the Normal View.
The Hide Background Graphics option below the Fill menu will allow you to hide the background fills in slides. The option is available in layouts individually to help you hide background graphics in specific slides. The applied background will however remain a part of the presentation and you can retrieve it anytime using the Show Background Graphics.
Easily modify and customize the properties of pictures, shapes, tables, and other objects using the Master slide or layouts, instead of changing them on every slide in the presentation.
Editing and formatting these objects in the Master View will apply the styles uniformly on all the slides at once or on required slides alone. This saves time and provides consistency in your presentation.
To format slide objects (picture shape, table, etc) in the Master View:
- Go to the FORMAT mode, then click Edit Master Slide at the bottom of the panel. This will open the Master View.
- Choose the Master slide or a layout, then select the object you want to format. Apply the required formatting style such as stroke effects and shadow effects using the right panel.
Once you are done formatting objects in slide, click the Close Master button to return to the Normal View.
Format text properties
Customize text properties in the Master slide, such as font, size, color, and alignment. For example, you can change the font style and make it look bold for every title placeholder in your deck. The changes will be reflected in the entire presentation. You can also modify them in specific slides using their corresponding layout in the Master View.
To format text properties in the Master View:
- Go to the FORMAT mode, then click Edit Master Slide at the bottom of the panel. This will open the Master View.
- Choose the Master slide or a layout, then select the text to format. You can choose the text contained within title, subtitle, or body placeholders in the slide. This will open the Format panel with various text formatting options on the right side. You can now change the text style, size, color, alignment, and other font properties.
Once you are done with formatting text properties, click the Close Master button to return to the Normal View.
Align, position, or rotate slide objects
When multiple objects in your slide are not properly aligned, they can seem to overlap with each other, giving a distorted look. You can quickly align, rearrange, and position them using the Arrange panel in Master View. Align, position, rotate, or resize objects on all slides or specific decks using the Master or slide layouts, respectively.
To align, position, or rotate objects in the Master View:
- Go to the FORMAT mode, then click Edit Master Slide at the bottom of the panel. This will open the Master View.
- Choose the Master or a layout, then select the objects you want to align. This will open the Format mode. Align and arrange elements in the layout using the right panel.
Once you are done with aligning objects in slide, click the Close Master button to return to the Normal View.