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In previous versions of Microsoft Office PowerPoint, to add a background to your presentation, you added a design template (design template: A file that contains the styles in a presentation, including the type and size of bullets and fonts; placeholder sizes and positions; background design and fill color schemes; and a slide master and optional title master.) from the Slide Design pane. In Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007, to add a color background to your presentation, you add a background style. You can also use a picture or a texture for a slide background.

This article discusses adding backgrounds to an Office PowerPoint 2007 presentation. For more information about using theme templates for other color schemes and backgrounds, see Using PowerPoint 2007 themes and background styles.

• Overview of background styles

• Add a background style to your presentation

• Customize a solid color background for your presentation

• Customize a gradient background for your presentation

• Use a picture as a slide background

• Add a texture background

• Delete a background

Overview of background styles

Background styles are background fill variations derived from combinations of the theme colors (theme colors: A set of colors that is used in a file. Theme colors, theme fonts, and theme effects compose a theme.) and background intensities in the current document theme (theme: A combination of theme colors, theme fonts, and theme effects. A theme may be applied to a file as a single selection.). When you change document themes, the background styles are updated to reflect the new theme colors and backgrounds. If you want to change only the background of your presentation, you should choose a different background style. When you change document themes, you change much more than the background — you also change the set of colors, heading and body text fonts, line and fill styles, and theme effects (theme effects: A set of visual attributes that is applied to elements in a file. Theme effects, theme colors, and theme fonts compose a theme.).

Background styles are displayed in thumbnails in the Background Styles gallery. When you place your pointer over a background style thumbnail, you can preview how the background style will affect your presentation. If you like the background style, you can then click to apply it.

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Add a background style to your presentation

1. Click the slide or slides that you want to add a background style to.

   To select multiple slides, click the first slide, and then press and hold CTRL while you click the other slides.

2. On the Design tab, in the Background group, click the arrow next to Background Styles.

   

3. Right-click the background style that you want, and then do one of the following:
   • To apply the background style to the selected slides, click Apply to Selected Slides.
   • To apply the background style to all of the slides in your presentation, click Apply to All Slides.
   • To replace the background style for the selected slides and any other slides in the presentation that use the same slide master (slide master: The main slide that stores information about the theme and layouts of a presentation, including the background, color, fonts, effects, placeholder sizes, and positions.), click Apply to Matching Slides. This option is available only when your presentation contains multiple slide masters.

  Notes  

• To change the available background styles, change the theme or theme colors, as the background styles will be updated to reflect the new theme colors and backgrounds.
• To add the background styles gallery to the Quick Access Toolbar, right-click a thumbnail, and then click Add Gallery to Quick Access Toolbar.

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Customize a solid color background for your presentation

1. Click the slide or slides that you want to add a solid color background to.

   To select multiple slides, click the first slide, and then press and hold CTRL while you click the other slides.

2. On the Design tab, in the Background group, click the arrow next to Background Styles.

   

3. Click Format Background.
4. Under Fill, select Solid fill, and then choose the background color and transparency that you want.
5. Do one of the following:
   • To use this background for the slides that you selected, click Close.
   • To use this background for all of the slides in your presentation, click Apply to All.

 Tip   To make your presentation handouts easier to read, you can hide nonplaceholder objects (object: A table, chart, graphic, equation, or other form of information. Objects created in one application, for example spreadsheets, and linked or embedded in another application are OLE objects.) (such as shapes, images, charts, or SmartArt graphics) that are on slide master layouts or custom layouts. To do so, click the slide or slides that you want to hide the background graphics for, and then on the Design tab, in the Background group, select the Hide Background Objects check box.

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Customize a gradient background for your presentation

1. Click the slide or slides that you want to add a gradient background to.

   To select multiple slides, click the first slide, and then press and hold CTRL while you click the other slides.

2. On the Design tab, in the Background group, click the arrow next to Background Styles.

   

3. Click Format Background.
4. Under Fill, select Gradient fill, and then choose the options that you want. For example, you can use a preset color scheme, you can use different gradient styles, you can change the gradient stops, or you can change the angle of the gradient effect.
5. Do one of the following:
   • To use this background for the slides that you selected, click Close.
   • To use this background for all of the slides in your presentation, click Apply to All.

 Tip   To make your presentation handouts easier to read, you can hide nonplaceholder objects (object: A table, chart, graphic, equation, or other form of information. Objects created in one application, for example spreadsheets, and linked or embedded in another application are OLE objects.) (such as shapes, images, charts, or SmartArt graphics) that are on slide master layouts or custom layouts. To do so, click the slide or slides that you want to hide the background graphics for, and then on the Design tab, in the Background group, select the Hide Background Objects check box.

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Use a picture as a slide background

1. Click the slide that you want to add a background picture to.

   To select multiple slides, click a slide, and then press and hold CTRL while you click the other slides.

2. On the Design tab, in the Background group, click Background Styles, and then click Format Background.

   

3. Click Fill, and then click Picture or texture fill.
4. Do one of the following:
   • To insert a picture from a file, click File, and then locate and double-click the picture that you want to insert.
   • To paste a picture that you copied, click Clipboard.
   • To use clip art (clip art: A single piece of ready-made art, often appearing as a bitmap or a combination of drawn shapes.) as a background picture, click Clip Art, and then in the Search text box, type a word or phrase that describes the clip (clip: A single media file, including art, sound, animation, or movies.) that you want, or type all or part of the file name of the clip.

     To include clip art that is available on Microsoft Office Online in your search, select the Include content from Office Online check box, click Go, and then click the clip to insert it.

5. Do one of the following:
   • To use the picture as a background for the slides that you selected, click Close.
   • To use the picture as a background for all of the slides in your presentation, click Apply to All.

  Notes  

• To adjust a picture's relative lightness (brightness) or the difference between its darkest and lightest areas (contrast), in the Format Background dialog box, click the Picture pane, and then choose the options that you want.
• To have text appear on top of the picture, add a text box. On the Insert tab in the Text group, click Text Box, and then drag to make it the size that you want. Enter your text in text box.

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Add a texture background

1. Click the slide that you want to add a background texture to.

   To select multiple slides, click a slide, and then press and hold CTRL while you click the other slides.

2. On the Design tab, in the Background group, click Background Styles, and then click Format Background.

   

3. Click Fill, and then click Picture or texture fill.
4. Click Texture, and then click the texture that you want to use as a background.
5. Do one of the following:
   • To use the texture as a background for the slides that you selected, click Close.
   • To use the texture as a background for all of the slides in your presentation, click Apply to All.

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Delete a background

1. Click the slide that you want to delete the background for.

   To select multiple slides, click a slide, and then press and hold CTRL while you click the other slides.

2. On the Design tab, in the Background group, click Background Styles, and then click Reset Slide Background.

   

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• Export Current Background to JPG?