Advanced PowerPoint Features

1. Advanced PowerPoint Features Some general tips and techniques for those familiar with the basics of PowerPoint By Jacob Hill, Librarian, Elmhurst College

2. Fonts • All font changes can be made under the Format menu on the toolbar • You can italicize, underline, embolden or change types or sizes, plus change color using the colored “A” on the toolbar. • Font changes only affect the current slide.

3. Adding Text Boxes • You can insert a text box anywhere you want text on a slide. • Click on Insert/ Text Box, then use your mouse to “draw” a text box by dragging your mouse across the slide. • Type in the text box (do this first, or you will lose the box when you click somewhere else).

4. Pre-made Slide Designs and colors • Slide design refers to Design Templates (pre-made slide designs) and slide Color Schemes under Format/ Slide Design. • Use Design Templates to find a slide design you like from a list on the right panel. • Use Color Schemes to change the color combinations of various pre-made slides.

5. Adding Sounds • There are several ways to add sound. • To add sounds that will occur each time you advance a slide, go to Slide Show/ Slide Transition. • Under “Modify Transition,” select the drop-down menu under “Sound” and choose a pre-made sound.

6. Background Images and colors • To change the background color instead of adding a pre-made Design Template, go to Format/ Background. • Click on the drop-down menu in the pop-up menu to choose colors, or go to “Fill Effects” to add your own image as a background. • Background images: under “Fill Effects,” go to “Picture,” then “Select Picture” and add your image file. Apply to all Slides.

7. Sounds, continued • You can also add music files from your computer, or play from a CD. • To have a particular song file play in a slide, go to that slide, click on Insert/ Movies and Sounds, then choose the sound file you want on your computer, OR… • You can put a CD in the tray and choose “Play CD audio track” in the same menu to play from the CD.

8. Sounds, continued • To have a song play over your entire presentation, go to the title slide, insert your sound file, then right click on the sound icon and choose “Custom Animation.” • In the Custom Animation screen, click on the sound file’s drop-down menu and choose “Effect Options.” • In the Effect Options pop-up window, under “Stop Playing,” click on “After” and choose the number of slides you want the song to play over.

9. Running Slides Automatically • To have your slides run automatically, click on Slide Show/ Slide Transition • On the right-side panel under “Advance Slide,” click on “Automatically after…” and choose your time interval. • Then click “Apply to All Slides.”

10. Running your presentation in a loop • To make your presentation run continuously until you press Escape, go to Slide Show/ Set up Show. • Under “Show Options,” click on “Loop continuously until ‘Esc’.”

11. Changing Slide Transition • Slide transition affects the way the slide appears on the screen. • Go to Slide Transition under the Slide Show menu. Pick a transition style to preview it. • Can apply to one or all slides

12. Animation Schemes • Affects the way bullet-pointed text appears on the screen. • If you don’t select an animation scheme for your PowerPoint, all bullet points will appear at once on a slide. • Go to Slide Show/ Animation Schemes. • Pick an animation scheme from the list for a preview, and apply it to all slides.