What Is Powerpoint

What is PowerPoint

PowerPoint is an electronic slide show application that is used to create multimedia presentations. It allows you to create overhead slides, speaker notes, handouts and outlines in one file.

To Start PowerPoint

1. Click the Start button.

2. Then choose Programs.

3. Click Microsoft PowerPoint.

The PowerPoint Window

PowerPoint offers several views for you to use when creating a presentation. PowerPoint will open up in the Normal view. The Normal view consists of three panes: the Slide pane, the Outline pane, and the Notes pane.

§ The Outline pane on the left gives you a broad overview of your file in an outline form.

§ The Notes pane on the bottom is used to add reminders to the presenter.

§ The Slide pane in the center is used to add and format text on individual slides.

Sometimes you may see a Task pane on the right with a list of available tasks.

Create a New Presentation

When PowerPoint first opens, you will see a pane on the right with a list of options. In the New section of the pane, you can make your new presentation from a Blank Presentation, from a Design Template, or from the AutoContent wizard.

§ The Blank Presentation allows you to customize your own color and styles for text, graphics, and backgrounds.

§ The Design Template provides a predefined format and color scheme that can be applied to another presentation.

§ The AutoContent Wizard guides you though a number of formatting selections that will help you develop a clear, professional style for your presentation.

§ An Existing Presentation is a slide or presentation that you created earlier.

Create Using AutoContent Wizard

1. From the File menu, choose New.

2. In the Task pane click From AutoContent Wizard.

3. Choose the defaults by clicking Next three times.

4. Enter a title in the Presentation Title box.

5. Click Next.

6. Click Finish.

Navigate in the Slide Pane

You can use the Scroll bar and the buttons on the scroll bar to move from one slide to the next.

Save and Close a Presentation

1. From the File menu choose Save.

2. Locate the proper folder.

3. Type a name in the File Name box.

4. Click the Save button.

5. Click the Close box.

Use Save As if you want to save the current presentation under a new name or store it in a different folder or disk while keeping the original version.

To Open a Saved Presentation

1. From the File Menu, select Open.

2. Click the down arrow next to the Look in: field.

3. Click to select the desired drive.

This will open a list of files on the drive or disk.

4. Click on the desired presentation.

5. Click the Open button.

Create Using Blank Template

1. From the File menu, choose New.

2. In the Task pane click Blank Presentation.

3. Click in the Title placeholder box and type a title.

4. Click in the Subtitle placeholder box and type a subtitle if desired.

To Add a Slide and Select Its Layout:

From the Insert menu, click New Slide or click the New Slide button.

Then PowerPoint provides several slide layouts in the Task Pane on the right. A layout is a blank slide with specific placeholders already in it. Look through them and choose one.

You click on a layout to apply it to that slide or hold the down-arrow to choose one of the other options.

Now click and type your text into the appropriate placeholders on the newly inserted slide.

Format Text

A font is a set of all characters available in one typeface and size, including uppercase letters, lowercase letters, punctuation, and numerals. To change the appearance of text, you may change the font as well as the font attributes (bold, italic, underline). Be sure to choose a font that is legible and practical.

1. Highlight the text that is to be modified.

2. From the Format menu, select Font.

3. Click to select the desired font, font style, size, and color. Click OK.

4. Or from the Formatting toolbar hold the down-arrow next to font style or font size to choose a different one.

5. Also on the Formatting toolbar click the Bold, Italics, Underline or Shadow button .

To see the preview, you may need to move the Font window. To move the Font window: click, hold, and drag its blue title bar to another area.

Align Text

1. Highlight the text that is to be modified.

2. Click the desired alignment button:

Align Right
/ With right alignment, the right side of the paragraph is aligned with the right margin or indent.
Align Left
/ With left alignment, the left side of the paragraph is aligned with the left margin or indent.
Center
/ With center alignment, each line of a paragraph is centered between the left and right margins or indents.

How to Access Help

1. From the Help menu, select Microsoft Office PowerPoint Help.

2. Type your question in the box and click Search.

3. When the bulleted list of suggestions appears, click on the blue button next to the desired help topic that closest matches what you are looking for.

After reading the help suggestion and you are finished with using Help, close the on-line help by clicking the Close button in the top right corner of the Help window.

Insert Slides with Bulleted Text

1. Click New Slide button on the toolbar.

2. Choose the Bulleted List AutoLayout

3. Click to insert your own text in the title and bulleted text area.

Create Indent Levels

Use the Promote button to shift the selected text up one level in an outline or use the Demote button to shift selected text down one level in an outline structure.

Create PPT Table

You can create a table in PowerPoint. It can be a simple table with little formatting, or one with complex formatting. You can also include fills and border colors.

1. From the Insert menu, select Table.

2. Enter the number of columns.

3. Enter the number of rows.

4. Click OK.

5. Now click in the first cell in the first row and enter your data. Tab or use the arrow keys to move to other cells and enter data.

Add Clip Art

Clip Art is a collection of professionally designed graphical images that can be inserted into a document.

1. From the Insert menu, select Picture and select Clip Art.

2. A task pane will now appear to the right and you can enter the type of clip in the “Search For” section in the “Search Text” box. Click Go.

3. Use the scroll bar to scroll through the results and simply click on the desired clipart image.

You may also click the Insert Clip Art button in the drawing toolbar (at the bottom of the screen).

Modify Clip Art

You can reposition and resize any clip art once it is inserted on the slide.

1. Click the image and a border appears around it with size handles in each corner and the middle of each side.

2. Click-and-drag the image to the desired location on the slide.

3. Click-and-drag a size handle to resize the image.

Add Drawing Objects

The Drawing toolbar at the bottom of the screen has drawing tools and other options for use to create, color, or format drawing objects.

1. On the Drawing toolbar, click one of the drawing tools.

2. Click-and-drag the mouse on the slide until the shape is the desired size.

Modify Drawing Objects

You can move and resize a drawing object just like you do a clip art.

1. Click the drawing and a border appears around it with size handles in each corner and the middle of each side.

2. Click-and-drag the drawing to the desired location on the slide.

3. Click-and-drag a size handle to resize the drawing.

Change Drawing Object Colors

You can change the fill color and the line color of a drawing object.

1. First click the drawing object to select it.

2. Hold the down-arrow next to the Fill Color button on the drawing toolbar

3. Click More Fill Colors and choose a new fill color.

4. Hold the down-arrow next to the Line Color button on the drawing toolbar

5. Click More Line Colors and choose a new line color.

Re-Arrange Shapes

Sometimes you may have two or more drawings or graphic objects overlapping on a slide. You may then need to re-arrange the order of the art objects so that the one you want most visible is on the top.

1. Click the art object on the top that you want moved behind another art object.

2. Click the Draw button on the Drawing toolbar. Select Order.

3. Then click Send Backward if there are two art objects and Send to Back if there are more than two art objects.

Apply a Design Template

A design template is a visual blueprint for a presentation. It sets the format and color scheme of the presentation.

You may select a different design template at any time during the creation of your slide presentation.

1. From the Format menu, click Apply Design Template or click Slide Design button.

2. In the Apply Design Template pane, click to select the desired template.

Slide Masters

If you need to make change to an individual slide, then you make those changes in the Normal view. When it comes to changing those elements that are the same on all slides, you make these changes from the Master view. PowerPoint has a Title and Slide Master. From the View menu, choose Master, then Slide Master.

The masters will vary depending on the Design Template that was chosen. However, all of them will have an area for: the Title, Text, Date, Footer, and Slide Number.

Move/Resize Placeholders in the Master

1. From the View menu, choose Master, and then click Slide Master.

2. To move a placeholder, just click-and-drag the placeholder to the desired location.

3. To resize a placeholder, click the box to select it. Then click-and-drag the desired size handle.

Modify Placeholders in the Master

1. To add the Date, first click <Date/Time in the Date placeholder. From the Insert menu, click Date and Time. Choose a date style. Click OK.

2. To add the Slide Number, first click the Slide Number placeholder. From the Insert menu, click Slide Number. Check Slide Number. Click Apply to All.

3. To add a Footer first click the <Footer> in the Footer placeholder. From the View menu click Header and Footer.

4. Check Footer. Then enter the text in the footer box. Click Apply to All.

Different Slide Views

Click the Slide Sorter View button (at the bottom of the screen) to view your overall slide presentation as small snapshots.

Click the Slide Show button to run your presentation. To proceed through the presentation, click the mouse button, click the right arrow or press the Enter key.

Click Normal View button to return to the Normal View which consists of the Outline Pane, Slide Pane, and Notes Pane.

NORMAL VIEW

Normal view is the main editing view, which you use to write and design your presentation.The view has three working areas: Outline, Slide, and Notes pane.

Duplicate a Slide

1. In Normal View or Slide Sorter View click to select the slide that you want to duplicate.

2. From the Edit menu, select Duplicate Slide.

Delete a Slide

1. In Normal View or Slide Sorter View, click to select the slide that you want to delete.

2. From the Edit menu, select Delete Slide.

OUTLINE PANE

The Outline Pane of the Normal View gives a broad overview of the structure of your file. It shows the slides in the form of an outline. No graphics or drawing objects are displayed in the Outline Pane, just text and titles.

Rearrange Slides in the Outline

In the Outline Pane you can rearrange slides. Click on the icon next to the title of the desired slide. This selects the entire slide. Then drag the slide where you want it and release.

Promote and Demote in the Outline

Use the Promote button to shift the selected text up one level in an outline (to the left).

Use the Demote button to shift selected text down one level in an outline structure (to the right).

SLIDE SORTER VIEW

In the Slide Sorter view your overall slide presentation is seen as small snapshots. You can not edit the slides in this view. You can however duplicate, delete and rearrange slides.

Rearrange Slides in Slide Sorter

In the Slide Sorter View you may also rearrange slides by clicking-and-dragging the slide to a new position.

Apply a Transition in Slide Sorter

Transitions are special effects that are applied to a slide. They are activated in the Slide Show