Imagine no one giving proper attention to your PowerPoint presentation at a meeting! It’s a scenario that no one wants to be in. So, how can you keep the viewer’s attention in a presentation? Simply, by using unique PowerPoint themes.
But, what is the theme in PowerPoint anyway? To put it simply, a theme is what you can call a color scheme that also includes fonts and other visual effects. You can put it on your slides to make them look more polished and cohesive.
Intrigued to know more about themes in PowerPoint? You’re in luck. By the end of this article, you will be able to create stunning presentations with themes that match your purpose and audience. Let’s get started!
What Is a Theme in PowerPoint?
In simple terms, a theme is known as a set of design choices that makes your slides look good together. Themes have matching colors, fonts, and effects, so everything looks coordinated.
Using a theme means your slides will look professional without you having to do a lot of work. The theme does the design work for you and makes your presentation look unified.
You can access the themes in PowerPoint from the Design tab on the ribbon. There you can see a gallery of built-in themes that you are able to apply to the presentation with one click.
You are also able to browse for more themes online or download them from other sources.
How To Choose and Apply a Theme In Powerpoint?
PowerPoint comes with a number of premade templates that you are able to access from the Design tab on the ribbon.
To get ahold of the complete collection of themes, follow the below-mentioned steps:
- Step 1: Select More from the drop-down menu located in the rightmost corner of the Themes section.
- Step 2: You can preview how a theme would look on your slide by hovering over its thumbnail. If you like the look of a particular theme and want to use it for the entire presentation, just click on the thumbnail of that theme.
Then,
Step 3: You are also able to download more themes from online sources and then apply them by left-clicking “Browse for Themes” at the lower portion of the gallery.
Doing this will open a new window where you may search for templates on Office.com or on your computer.
It’s also possible to acquire pre-designed themes from other websites, such as Envato or Slidesgo. These websites offer countless varieties of themes for various topics and purposes.
To use these themes, you need to download them and save them in a folder on your PC. Then, you can use the Browse for Themes option (as shown in step 3 above) to apply it.
Need a more lively guide on applying themes? Here’s a quick video instruction that you can check.
How To Apply A Theme In PowerPoint to Only One Or A Few Slides?
By default, the theme you select applies to all slides in your presentation. However, you are also able to apply a theme to only one or a few slides if you prefer to create some contrast or variety in your presentation.
To apply a theme to only one or a few slides, follow these steps:
- Step 1: Select the slide or slides that you prefer to change. Slides can be selected in bulk by clicking while holding the Control (Ctrl) key. Hold the “CTRL” button, and left-click on the mouse.
- Step 2: Right-click on the theme that you prefer to apply and choose Apply to Selected Slides from the menu.
The selected slides will now have the new theme applied, while the rest of the slides will keep the original theme.
How To Customize A Theme In Powerpoint?
Sometimes, you might need to tweak some aspects of a theme to suit your preferences or needs. For example, you might need to change the color scheme, the font style, or the background image of a theme. You can do this by customizing the theme elements in PowerPoint.
To customize a theme element, follow these steps:
- Step 1: Go to the Design tab and click on the Variants drop-down arrow.
- Step 2: Choose the element that you prefer to customize: Colors, Fonts, Effects, or Background Styles.
- Step 3: Select one of the available options from the menu or click the “>” (right-oriented arrow) icon to generate your very own.
- Depending on which element you choose, you will see different options for customization.
For example, if you choose Colors, you will see a list of color palettes that you are able to apply to your theme. You are also able to generate your very own color palette by clicking Customize Colors and choosing the colors that you want for each element.
- Similarly, if you choose Fonts, you will see a list of font pairs that you can apply to your theme.
You can also generate your very own font pair by clicking Customize Fonts and choosing the fonts that you want for each element.
- If you choose Effects, you will see a list of visual effects that you are able to apply to your theme.
These effects include shadows, reflections, glows, bevels, and 3D rotations. You cannot generate your very own effects in PowerPoint, but you can choose from different presets.
- If you choose Background Styles, you will see a list of background options that you are able to apply to your theme. These options include solid colors, gradients, textures, patterns, and pictures.
You are also able to click Format Background to open a pane where you may adjust the fill, transparency, artistic effects, and picture settings of your background.
For your convenience, here’s a video guide for the whole process of customizing a theme below.
How To Generate Your Very Own Theme In Powerpoint?
If none of the built-in or online themes meet your requirements, you can generate your very own theme from scratch or by modifying an existing one.
To generate your very own theme, you need to use the Slide_Master view, which is where you will define the layout, design, and content of your slides.
To generate your very own theme, follow these steps:
- Step 1: Go to the View tab and click on Slide Master.
- Step 2: In the Slide Master view, you will see a list of slide layouts on the left and a large slide on the right.
The slide at the top is the master slide, which controls the appearance of all slides in your presentation.
The slides below are the layout slides, which control the appearance of specific types of slides, such as title slides, content slides, or comparison slides.
- Step 3: To generate your very own theme, you need to modify the master slide and the layout slides according to your preferences.
You can change the background, the placeholders, the text styles, and the graphics of each slide.
You are also able to add new slide layouts or delete existing ones by utilizing the buttons on the Slide Master tab.
- Step 4: To change the background of a slide, go to the Background group on the Slide Master tab and click Background Styles.
You can choose from different background options or click Format Background to customize your own background.
- Step 5: To change the placeholders of a slide, go to the Master Layout group on the Slide Master tab and click Insert Placeholder.
You can choose from different types of placeholders, such as text, picture, chart, table, or video. You are also able to resize, move, or delete placeholders by utilizing the handles or the right-click menu.
- Step 6: To change the text styles of a slide, go to the Edit Theme group on the Slide_Master tab and click Fonts.
You can choose from different font pairs or click Customize Fonts to generate your very own font pair.
- Step 7: To change the graphics of a slide, go to the Edit Theme group on the Slide Master tab and click Colors or Effects.
You can choose from different color palettes or visual effects or click Customize Colors to generate your very own.
Or,
- Step 8: When you are done creating your own theme, go to the Close group on the Slide Master tab and click Close Master View.
You will return to the normal view with your new theme applied to the presentation.
Conclusion
At this point, there’s no doubt you have a pretty good idea of what a theme is in PowerPoint. Additionally, now you also know how to use it effectively.
All in all, a theme is known to be a design scheme of hues, fonts, and aesthetic effects. It’s what you use on your slides to give them a consistent, polished appearance.
By utilizing themes, you will put forth stunning presentations that match your purpose and audience with minimal effort. So, go ahead and use themes in PowerPoint all you want.