Microsoft PowerPoint Slide Masters

In PowerPoint, the Slide Master controls the look of the presentation. Changes made on the slide master can affect all slides in your presentation, although it is always given the option to apply changes only to the slide you're working. The Slide Master provides a great way to add standard elements such as logos or page numbers, to a slide.

To access the Slide Master, select View> Slide Master. In Office 2007, the Slide Master tab on the far left of the screen. From the Slide Master tab, you can control all the main elements of a slide, including the layout, headings, footers and their attributes, colors, fonts, effects, background styles and orientation of the slide. Changes made on the slide master will affect every slide in your presentation unless otherwise indicated.

The slide master contains text and graphics placeholders. A placeholder is a pre-formatted text box where you can enter the title or body text for the slide. You can also insert pictures, charts or other default items, depending on the type of placeholder applies.

You can insert and delete placeholders. To insert a placeholder, select the Insert Placeholder button found on the tape. Select the type of placeholder that you want to add. To delete a placeholder, select it and press the Delete key. You can also select Delete from the Edit menu or right-click the placeholder and select Delete.

The placeholders on the slide can be moved like any other graphic object. To move a placeholder on the Slide Master, select it and then drag to the desired position.

The placeholders are resizing the corners and along the midpoints of the placeholder that determines the amount of space on the placeholder slide will consume. To resize a placeholder, turn the handles by clicking on the placeholder. Select the appropriate selection handle and drag to resize the placeholder.

How to add and subtract placeholders, keep in mind that changes made on the slide master can affect all slides in the presentation .......