tutorial

Adding slides from one presentation into another and hoping for a button that will automatically format the slides the way needed is just not a feature in PowerPoint. But, the almost magical “Destination vs. Source Formatting” button does exist. For this tutorial, we are going to add slides from the “Blue” presentation (Presentation #1) to the “Purple” presentation (Presentation #2) and keep the blue slides blue (ie. opposite of the last tutorial where the slides updated to the purple template).

Here is our “Blue” presentation (#1):

And here is our “Purple” presentation (#2):

Select the slides from Presentation #1 and copy. Then paste them into Presentation #2. To paste in the new slides, right-click and in the pop-up menu in the “Paste Options” sections, select “KEEP SOURCE FORMATTING:”

With the KEEP SOURCE FORMATTING option the template for the new slides keeps the template that was used in Presentation #1. So the blue slides stay blue.

Behind the scenes what happens is a new Master Slide set is added to the presentation. So if you look in the slide layouts (HOME >> SLIDES section >> LAYOUTS) there are two master slide sets to choose from (Presentation #1 and Presentation #2).

NOTE: If you paste in more slides from the Blue presentation in a new location and select KEEP SOURCE FORMATTING another blue master slide set will be added (which is not optimal).

– Troy @ TLC

Adding slides from one presentation into another and hoping for a button that will automatically format the slides the way needed is just not a feature in PowerPoint. But, the almost magical “Destination vs. Source Formatting” button does exist. For this tutorial, we are going to add slides from the “Blue” presentation (Presentation #1) to the “Purple” presentation (Presentation #2) and make all of the slides the same, so they are all purple.

Here is our “blue” presentation (#1):

And here is our “purple” presentation (#2):

Select the slides from Presentation #1 and copy. The paste them into Presentation #2. To paste in the new slides, right-click and in the pop-up menu in the “Paste Options” sections select “Use Destination Theme:”

With the USE DESTINATION THEME option, the template for the new slides is assigned to the template used on the slide in front of the insert point. So now all of the blue slides are changed to the purple template.

*Note: There is no “magic” button and with this example the text boxes, background, colors used, etc. were all setup correctly using the template formatting (which also means it is a real template). When updating to the new (purple) template all of the master slide formatting carries over just fine. But there are lots of times when things are not based on template formatting and need to be manually updated (ie. no magic format button).

– Troy @ TLC

I have used this technique on some recent projects that we designed dynamic background art for. The idea uses a simple feature that is used little and creates really dynamic graphic elements that are amazingly easy to use. Here is my sample slide with a dynamic background (thanks to Amber for creating this sample slide and tutorial images).

1. Add a PPT shape of your choice, I am using a standard rectangle. Set it as the background (FORMAT >> BACKGROUND >> PICTURE).

2. Set the PPT shape to “No outline,” solid color fill and no styling.

3. With the shape selected, go to FORMAT >> open the shape options by clicking the small icon in lower right >> under FILL >> SLIDE BACKGROUND FILL (last option).

4. NOTE: The shape has now disappeared with only the shape selection lines visible.

5. What you do here determines the look you create. I am using 3D perspective and some styling options. Select the shape.
– Add 3D Rotation (we are starting the “Perspective Relaxed” preset).

– Add a 3D Format for a bevel effect (Circle bevel with the width at 7pt and height at 8pt).

6. Now we see the interesting effect when the background fill is combined with some shape styling.

7. To really create a dynamic visual the next step is to select the shape and modify the 3-D Rotation perspective to 120 degrees.

8. With the new 3D formatting we can really see the effect of the background fill in the shape.

9. To create a full Title Slide layout, the shape was enlarged for more depth and stretched across the slide. Then duplicated, reduced in size and moved under the subtitle text box. The background fill automatically adjusts to the new placement on the background to create new looks for the same shape

Click here to download the sample slide.

– Troy @ TLC

Here is the end result:

This great 3D icon was developed entirely in PowerPoint 2010. Using standard shapes, 3D Perspective and the Shape Combine tools.

Here are steps to create:

1. Insert the tear drop shape from the shape menu.

2. Rotate the shape until the point is pointing down.

3. Change the color to a gray, and remove the outline.

4. Insert an oval shape, holding down shift to make it a perfect circle. Holding ctrl, it will expand from the center and place in middle of the tear drop shape.

5. Remove the outline from the circle, if there is one.

6. Select both shapes and group.

7. For the 3D rotation, we will need the group selected.

8. Select “off axis 2 left.”

9. For the 3D effects, we only need the tear drop shape selected.

10. Height: 19.5 pt, width 0 pt, depth 5 pt, material special effect >> soft edge, lighting >> three point, angle 190.

11. Now you have a 3D tear drop shape.

I know the developers at Microsoft have a big job. I know they create updates to help all users. I also know they do a lot of testing before anything is released (almost too much testing as it slows down their release cycle by months and years…). I know the focus is on the newer PowerPoint format, but I still have PPT 2003 (and PPT 2010) installed on all computers here.

A small small security update on Tuesday, April 12, 2011 has brought countless users to a stop as it looks at okay content as a potential threat – offers no options to override its action – and only allows presentations to be opened in a useless state – arghhh!

Here is the fix:

1. Close all applications.

2. Open the control panel (START >> CONTROL PANEL)

3. Select UNINSTALL A PROGRAM

4. Select VIEW INSTALLED UPDATES

5. Scroll down list and select SECURITY UPDATE FOR POWERPOINT 2003 (KB2464588) POWERPOINT

6. Select UNINSTALL

7. Follow any prompts to confirm. When done, open any PPT 2003 presentation as normal with no need to restart computer.

– Troy @ TLC