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A few product managers of the PowerPoint development team got together in their spare time to create this fun, yet educational video showing the difference between themes and templates.
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Duration: 3.40 minutes
What is a PowerPoint template?
A Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007 template is a pattern or blueprint of a slide or group of slides that you save as a .potx file. Templates can contain layouts (layout: The arrangement of elements, such as title and subtitle text, lists, pictures, tables, charts, shapes, and movies, on a slide.), theme colors (theme colors: A set of colors that is used in a file. Theme colors, theme fonts, and theme effects compose a theme.), theme fonts (theme fonts: A set of major and minor fonts that is applied to a file. Theme fonts, theme colors, and theme effects compose a theme.), 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, and even content.
You can create your own custom templates and store them, reuse them, and share them with others. You can also find hundreds of different types of free templates for PowerPoint and other programs on Office Online and on other partner Web sites that you can apply to your presentation.
Some examples of templates on Office Online include, but are not limited to, the following:
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| Agendas |
Award certificates |
Brochures |
| Budgets |
Business cards |
Calendars |
| Slides containing content |
Contracts |
Databases |
| Design slides |
Diagrams |
Envelopes |
| Expense reports |
Fax sheets |
Flyers |
| Common forms |
Gift certificates |
Greeting cards |
| Inventories |
Invitations |
Invoices |
| Labels |
Letters |
Lists |
| Memos |
Minutes |
Newsletters |
| Plans |
Planners |
Postcards |
| Purchase orders |
Receipts |
Reports |
| Resumes |
Schedules |
Schedules |
| Statements |
Stationary |
Time sheets |
A template can include the following:
Subject-specific content, such as Certificate of Achievement, Soccer, and the soccer ball image
Background formatting, such as pictures, texture, gradient or solid fill color, and transparency. This example shows the light blue solid fill background
Color, fonts, effects (3-D, lines, fills, shadows, etc.), and theme design elements (such as the color and gradient effects inside the word Soccer)
What is a PowerPoint theme?
To give your presentations a designer-quality look — a look that includes one or more slide layouts (layout: The arrangement of elements, such as title and subtitle text, lists, pictures, tables, charts, AutoShapes, and movies, on a slide.) with coordinating colors (theme colors: A set of colors that is used in a file. Theme colors, theme fonts, and theme effects compose a theme.), a matching background, fonts (theme fonts: A set of major and minor fonts that is applied to a file. Theme fonts, theme colors, and theme effects compose a theme.), and 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.), you'll want to apply a theme. Themes can also be applied to tables, SmartArt graphics, shapes, or charts in your slides.
In PowerPoint 2007, there are several built-in themes, and you have unlimited options for customizing them.
The gallery of built-in themes that you can use as-is or customize (also shows custom themes) further to meet your needs
You can see a live preview before you apply a theme. Live preview lets you experiment with how your slide content looks with different themes; simply rest your pointer over a thumbnail in the Themes gallery to see how your presentation changes with the different themes.
Four themes applied to the same slide that contains a SmartArt graphic
You can use and share themes among all theme-supporting Office programs, such as Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint. For example, you can save a theme that you created or customized in PowerPoint, and then apply it to an Office Word 2007 document or Office Excel 2007 worksheet. That way, all of your related business documents have a similar look and feel.
The same theme used in PowerPoint 2007, Excel 2007, and Word 2007
Additional resources about templates and themes
For more information about PowerPoint templates and themes, see the following resources:
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