Working with the Slide Master

Before placing content on actual slides, we'll make a few changes to the Slide Master to give the overall presentation a consistent feel.

Begin by opening a blank PowerPoint slide show (if you don't already have one open) and save it with the name The Chicken. We will use only this slide show throughout the remainder of the lesson.

Adding a Picture to the Slide Master

First we'll add a picture to the Master, to provide a background image for slides.

• On the View menu, click Master/Slide Master to display the Slide Master. If you are unfamiliar with using the Slide Master, you may want to take a moment to read about it in PowerPoint's Help files. The Slide Master controls the formatting of the show's regular slides.
• In your Chicken Resources folder you will find a picture named The Chicken Background.jpg. Insert this picture on top of the Slide Master by clicking the Insert menu and selecting Picture/From File. Navigate to your Chicken Resources/Picture folder, click the desired picture name, and then click the Insert button (or simply double-click the picture name). Another way to insert the picture is by clicking the Insert Picture icon on the Drawing toolbar.
• Notice that the picture covers all of the text boxes on the Master. We will fix this by sending the picture behind the text boxes. Right-click the picture and select Order/Send to Back.

Your Slide Master will look similar to this:

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Formatting the Slide Master Title Box

Next, we'll format the text in the title box.

• Click on the dotted-line border of the title box to select it. (The text displayed in the title box Click to edit Master title style is almost invisible at the moment because it is black text on top of a very dark background. We will change the text color.)
• With the title box selected, change the font color to yellow, the font size to 36 pt, and the font name to Verdana—or whichever font you prefer. Make sure the text is centered in the box.

Now reposition and resize the title box.

• With the title box still selected, move the box to the top of the Slide Master and expand its edges until the box is as wide as the Slide Master.
• Shrink the height of the title box to approximately .7 inch. You can check the exact dimensions of the box by double-clicking its border to display the Format AutoShape dialog box. Select the Size tab to see the exact dimensions.

Apply black shadow to the title box.

• With title box still selected, click the Shadow Style icon on the Drawing toolbar. In the box that appears, click Shadow Settings. The following appears.
• Change the Shadow Color to black.

At this point your Slide Master should look similar to the example below.

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Adding a Line Below the Title

Now, add a yellow line immediately below the title box. Note that when you first create the line, its default color is black and it is hard to see on top of this background. Change its color while still selected.

• Click the Line icon on the drawing toolbar. Your cursor will change to a plus sign over the slide pane area. Click and drag from left to right, just below the title box to create the line.
• Format the line color to yellow by using the Line Color icon and change the Style to 2.25 pt by using the Line Style icon.
  
  

Formatting the Body Text

Finally, format the text in the large box below the title box.

• Click its border to select the box. Perform the remaining tasks with the box selected.
• Change the font color to white.
• Change the font size to 40 pt.
• Change the font style to Verdana.
• Add shadow to the box as you did with the title box.
• Center the text horizontally in the box but leave the vertical spacing at the Top.
• Remove the bulleted formatting by clicking the Bullets icon on the Formatting toolbar.
• Delete the lines of text below Click to edit Master text styles.

Your Slide Master should now look similar to the following example.

Save your slide show.

You have completed the Slide Master formatting and can close the Slide Master view. To do so, click Close Master View on the Master toolbar.

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