Dark or Light Backgrounds on PowerPoint Slides?
By Robert Lane
It’s the age-old PowerPoint question: Should I use a light or dark background on slides? I’m going to solve the issue once and for all by giving you a definitive answer—it depends. That’s another way of saying there is no absolute right or wrong in this area. Let’s look at some of the factors that argue one way or the other, and then you can make up your own mind.
A presenter told me once that she sometimes receives guidelines at conferences claiming women prefer light pastel-colored slides and men prefer dark colors. I’ve never seen any research to that effect and think it’s bologna. However, if you happen to know of such studies, I will be most grateful for the references.
In the past, I used to recommend dark backgrounds primarily because projector lights were weak, requiring speakers to project in a darkened or semi-darkened room. In that kind of environment, looking at a light-colored slide was like looking into car headlights at night. A white slide background in a darkened room is brutal on audience members’ eyes. Don’t do it.
Today, however, projectors are stronger and performances usually occur in a fully lit or slightly dimmed room. In that case, light backgrounds are fine, and maybe are superior. A brightly lit room tends to make dark backgrounds appear faded, especially if an ambient light source (such as window) strikes the screen at an angle. Florescent lights also tend to wash out dark displays, particularly when elements on the slides do not contrast sharply with the background.
On the other hand, I still recommend using a dark or pure black background if your slide prominently features a picture that does not cover the entire slide pane, such as a vertically oriented photograph. In that case, a light background showing around the picture only distracts from the image’s visual impact.
Another argument in favor of dark backgrounds is the opportunity for creating attractive lighting effects on slides, as well as decorative text effects. Gradation of colors, bevels, and glows just look better on dark backgrounds. Shadows and reflections, of course, are more appropriate on light backgrounds. It kind of depends on which effects you wish to display.
One final consideration is text use. If slides contain very few words, light or dark surroundings are fine, so long as the text and back contrast sharply (light text on dark background, or vice versa) and the words are large. If slides contain a lot of text, which in a perfect world NEVER should be the case, definitely use a light background. Light text on a dark background is hard to read, requiring even more mental exertion than normal.
Filed under: Design of Slides, General Presentation, PowerPoint on July 22nd, 2008
[...] Lane debates whether slide backgrounds should be light or dark. In the past, I used to recommend dark backgrounds primarily because projector lights were weak, [...]