Working with slides and text

AutoContent Wizard

The wizard includes content templates that contain suggested text content for Microsoft® Office PowerPoint® slides, and it has a design already in place. To open the wizard:

1. On the File menu, click New.
2. In the New Presentation task pane, click From AutoContent wizard.
3. Step through the wizard and click Finish when you're done.

   The presentation you've chosen opens in PowerPoint, and you fill in the sample content with your own content.

Insert slides from another show

To copy slides by using the slide finder:

1. With your current presentation open, position the pointer on the Slides tab at the point where you want to insert the new slides.
2. Click Slides from Files on the Insert menu.
3. Use the Browse button to find the presentation whose slides you want to copy, select the presentation, and click Open.
4. Hold down CTRL as you click the slides you want to copy.
5. To keep the slides' current formatting after they're inserted, select the Keep source formatting check box.
6. Click Insert to include selected slides; click Insert All to include all slides.

AutoFit text

When the amount of text exceeds the space available in the placeholder, by default the text will reduce in size to fit, and you'll see the AutoFit Options button . This button offers options for sizing the text and remains there until you perform a different action on the slide. Points to remember:

• To undo the text resizing that's been applied, click Stop Fitting Text to This Placeholder.
• To turn AutoFit Options off altogether, click Control AutoCorrect Options. In the AutoCorrect dialog box, clear these check boxes on the AutoFormat As You Type tab: AutoFit title text to placeholder and AutoFit body text to placeholder.

Working with notes and other printouts

View notes pages

On the View menu, click Notes Page. Add more notes in this view and apply additional text formatting.

Preview and print

To preview slides, notes, and handouts before printing, click the Print Preview button on the Standard toolbar. In print preview, do any of the following:

• To select a type of printout, select from the Print What box.

• To set color or black and white printing options, or to access the Header and Footer dialog box, click the Options menu.

• To print, click the Print button.

Send notes to Word

Microsoft Office Word gives you unlimited room for notes. To print your notes and your slides in Word:

1. On the File menu, point to Send To, and click Microsoft Office Word.
2. Select either of two options: Notes next to slides or Notes below slides.

   Word opens and inserts your slides and any notes you've written. You can edit the notes and print from Word.

Layout and design

Apply a design template

To apply a design template:

1. On the Format menu, click Slide Design. (Or: click the Slide Design button on the Formatting toolbar.)
2. If you want the design template to apply to all slides in the show, select one slide thumbnail, and then click the design template to apply it.

   If you want the design template to apply to only some of the slides, select those slides (press and hold CTRL as you click the slide thumbnails to select them), and then click the design template you want.

Apply a slide layout

To apply a slide layout:

1. On the Format menu, click Slide Layout. (Or: right-click a slide thumbnail on the Slides tab, and then click Slide Layout on the shortcut menu.)
2. Be sure that the slide thumbnail you want the layout for is selected; then click a layout thumbnail to apply it.

   Tip    To insert a new slide with the layout you want, point to the layout thumbnail you want, click its arrow, and then click Insert New Slide in the list.

Insert a picture or other content

Using icons in a layout:

1. In the Slide Layout task pane, apply a content layout (look for placeholders that contain icons).
2. On the slide, click the icon for the content you want.

Using the Insert menu:

1. Apply the content layout you want. Then click the content placeholder that you'll insert the content into to select it.
2. On the Insert menu, click the type of content you want to insert.

Tip    This lesson gives tips on how to keep picture file sizes small: Optimize pictures.

Getting ready to present

Preview a slide show

To switch to slide show view:

• Press F5 (to start on the first slide) or SHIFT+F5 (to start on the current slide). Or:
• Click the slide you want to start from, and then click the Slide Show button in the lower left of the window.

Press ESC to return to your last view.

Tip   For keyboard shortcuts and detailed navigation information, see the course Navigation know-how.

Package your presentation

Use the Package for CD feature, new in Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003, to bundle and then copy all your presentation files to a folder or CD.

To package and then copy to a CD from PowerPoint, you must have Microsoft Windows® XP or later and a CD burner. If you have Microsoft Windows 2000, you can still use this feature to package the presentation files to a folder, and then use a third-party program to burn the folder to a CD.

Tip   If you're not sure whether the presenting computer will be running PowerPoint 2003, include the Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003 Viewer when you run Package for CD.

For in-depth information about this process, see the lesson Package to a CD.

For more information about the PowerPoint Viewer, see PowerPoint Help.

Additional resources

For more training about PowerPoint, see an article with descriptions of other courses: Roadmap to PowerPoint 2003 Training.

To learn about using animation special effects, see the course Animations I: Preset and custom animation.