Templates are a huge part of PowerPoint, allowing you to set up entire presentations in seconds. Did you know that you can also create your own, customized PowerPoint templates? In this article, we’ll be teaching you how.
There are many benefits to using templates instead of building a presentation from scratch. Perhaps you’re in a hurry or simply want to focus on the contents of your presentation rather than the design. All you have to do is pick a template and edit the contents — the design work is already done for you by the template’s creator.
However, you can also create templates yourself. These are incredibly useful if you’re trying to make a reusable template for future projects. You can also publish your template for free or as a paid resource and help others worldwide create their presentations.
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What are templates in PowerPoint?
Templates are the fastest way to get a PowerPoint presentation up and running. A blank project can be turned into a fully-fledged presentation with just one click. Customize the template with colors, messages, images or even video clips for the full effect!
This is especially helpful if you need a quick solution for a professional template or when you’re designing presentations in bulk. You only need to do work once in order to create something incredible instead of building many different iterations of your project from scratch with minimal changes.
You can also publish templates as free or paid resources online which benefits both parties. You’ll be able to help people out and maybe make some passive income, while others can find your beautiful templates and spread the word about your beautiful presentations.
How to create a custom template in PowerPoint
Many people think they need to be an expert in PowerPoint just to make their own template. It turns out it's not as difficult or expensive as you imagine. We summed up the process into 12 digestible steps for you to follow below. Give it a try!
- Launch your PowerPoint application. To demonstrate, we’ll be using PowerPoint for Mac. However, this guide works for all modern PowerPoint versions regardless of the platform.
- On older versions, such as PowerPoint 2013, some steps may vary.
- On older versions, such as PowerPoint 2013, some steps may vary.
- Create a blank presentation. A blank presentation is a completely white slide on the right side of the home page.
- On Mac, opening PowerPoint might immediately open a new blank presentation, depending on your settings.
- On Mac, opening PowerPoint might immediately open a new blank presentation, depending on your settings.
- Click on the View tab. Look in your ribbon interface (the header on top of the PowerPoint window) and switch to the View tab.
- Open the Slide Master. Inside the View tab, you should see a button that says Slide Master. Click on it to switch to a different view of PowerPoint. This is where we’ll be creating a template.
- Select the slide format to edit. Once in the Slide Master view, you’ll see a list of slide types displayed in the right-hand pane. These are all the slide types you can customize for your template, such as a title slide, basic content slide, and so on. Click on whichever type you want to edit.
- Click Insert Placeholder. Choose from the drop-down menu, which will appear with the following options:
- Content: Insert a written content outline.
- Text: Insert a text box.
- Picture: Insert a placeholder for a picture.
- Chart: Insert a placeholder for a chart.
- Table: Insert a placeholder for a table.
- Smart Art: Insert a placeholder for smart art items.
- Media: Insert a placeholder for a video.
- Online Image: Insert a placeholder to add an online image.
- Select the location of your placeholder. By clicking and dragging your mouse, you can select an area where your placeholder will appear. Later, once the content is added, this area will be used to display the content.
- Resize and reposition your placeholder. (Optional) If you’re unhappy with your placeholder selection, don’t worry! There’s no need to delete it and redo the entire process again. Simply select the placeholder by clicking on it once, and use the handles to resize and move it around.
- Change slide backgrounds. After placing all of your placeholders, it’s time to move on to designing your template. First, change the background of a slide by clicking on Background Styles and selecting your desired color.
- If you click on Format Background, you can modify colors, gradients, and brightness. Note that this background will only apply to the slide you’re currently viewing unless you select the first master slide.
- If you click on Format Background, you can modify colors, gradients, and brightness. Note that this background will only apply to the slide you’re currently viewing unless you select the first master slide.
- Select fonts for your template. You can choose from many pre-made font sets that transform your headers and contents by clicking on the Fonts drop-down menu. This applies to the entire presentation template.
- Save your finished template. After you’re done customizing all the slides, you can finally save your template:
- On Windows, click File → Save As, then select a location and enter a name for your template.
- Click Save as type → PowerPoint Template → Save. On Mac, click File → Save as Template. Enter a filename, and click Save.
- Use your template. When creating a new presentation, you can use your custom template as long as it’s on your computer or saved in your OneDrive.
Final thoughts
We believe this guide was able to help you learn how to create your own custom PowerPoint templates. If you have any more questions, our experts are ready to help you.
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