Selecting and Changing Slide Layouts: In PowerPoint, text is entered in text boxes. Various layouts contain pre-formatted text boxes with placeholder text. Clicking in a layout text box allows you to replace that text with your own.

Activity 1 - Selecting and Changing Slide Layouts:

1.Start PowerPoint by clicking on the PowerPoint icon in the Start - Programs menu. By default, PowerPoint creates a Title layout slide. Thereafter, each time you insert a new slide, the Bulleted List layout is used.

Available slide layouts include Title Slide, Bulleted List, 2 Column Text, Table, Text & Chart, Chart & Text, Organizational Chart, hart, Text and Clipart, Clipart & Text, Title Only, Blank, etc.

2.You may change the Slide Layout at any time by going to the Task Pane > Slide Layout tab to bring up the available layouts.  

Creating Text Boxes with the Text Tool: Most often, the easiest way to add text to a slide is to type it directly into any placeholder on the slide. If you want to add text outside a placeholder or shape, you can use the Text Box button on the Drawing toolbar. You can also add text to an AutoShape or add a WordArt drawing object for a special text effect.

Activity 2 - Creating Text Boxes with the Text Tool:

1. On the Drawing toolbar, click Text Box.

2. To add text that doesn't wrap, click where you want to add the text, and start typing. To add text that does wrap, drag to where you want to add text, and then start typing.

Note:   To change the shape of a text box to any AutoShape, select the text box, click Draw on the Drawing toolbar, point to Change AutoShape, point to a category, and then click the shape you want. (You must choose a line color from the drawing toolbar to see the box).

Text boxes are objects – just like clip art or pictures. They may be resized or moved to any position on a slide. Resizing a text box changes the text wrapping to fit the text box size. Text that normally is presented on one line may wrap to two lines or more if the text box is made smaller.

Text boxes of specific sizes (width) may be  created by clicking and dragging. Text typed inside one of these boxes will wrap within the boundaries of the box.

To rotate text, select the text box and choose "Text Box" from the Format menu. Click on the Text Box tab and check the box labeled Rotate text within AutoShape by 90*.

Text boxes are objects – just like clip art or pictures. They may be resized or moved to any position on a slide. Resizing a text box changes the text wrapping to fit the text box size. Text that normally is presented on one line may wrap to two lines or more if the text box is made smaller.

Entering Text: To enter text into a placeholder text box, click in the box and then type.

Activity 3 - Entering Text: 

1.In the Title box, type “PowerPoint” (without the quotes).

2.In the subtitle box, type your name.

3.On the Insert menu, click on New Slide

4.On this slide, type the title Four Things I Have Learned.

5.Finally, add four bullets. Click in the bulleted list box, type your first bullet, and hit the Enter key to go to the next bullet. Backspace to remove a mistake.

Text can be positioned within a text box by using the alignment buttons on the toolbar:

Formatting Text: Text may be formatted by choosing Font from the Format menu.

Activity 4 - Formatting Text: 

1.Select the text you wish to format.

2.From the Format menu, choose  Font.

3.You will see the Font dialogue box.

4.Scroll up in the Font window to choose Arial. In the Font Style window choose Bold. In the size window choose 40. Click the down arrow in the color box to see colors in use in your selected color scheme. You may choose different colors by clicking on the More Colors... option. Notice the different effects (underline, shadow, etc. that are available.

5. Many formatting options are available from the Formatting Toolbar .

6.Practice formatting the text on your slide(s). Use the Undo arrow on the Standard Toolbar to reverse any changes that you apply

To format any object, including text, you must first select it.  A shortcut: when you select an object, right click it and choose Format…Object (Text) from the pop-up menu. To select all the text in a text box, click on the hash mark border (it will change into a spotted, or “fuzzy” border. A picture or piece of clip art can be selected by clicking anywhere on the picture. (Sizing handles –little boxes—will appear at the corners and midpoints of the object)

Formatting the Background (and the text) Using Presentation Designs: Design templates contain color schemes, slide and title masters with custom formatting, and styled fonts, all designed to create a particular look. When you apply a design template to your presentation, the slide master, title master, and color scheme of the new template replace the slide master, title master, and color scheme of the original presentation. After you apply a design template, each slide you add has the same custom look.

Activity 5 - Formatting the Background (and the text) Using Presentation Designs: 

1.From the Format menu, choose Slide Design.

2.Preview available designs, choose one and click Apply.

There are several ways to format the background; one of them is to apply a Presentation Design. This will not only format your background, but also apply formatting to text that you have typed into the layout fields. It is important to remember that when you choose a design template, it is applied to each slide in your presentation.

Changing the Slide Color Scheme: Color schemes are sets of eight balanced colors designed for use as the main colors of a slide presentation —for text, background, fill, accents, and so on. Each color in the scheme is used automatically for a different element on the slide. You can pick a color scheme for an individual slide or for an entire presentation. When you apply a design template to a presentation, you can choose from a set of pre-designed color schemes made to go with that design template. This makes it easy to change color schemes for a slide or an entire presentation and know that the new color scheme will harmonize with the rest of the slides in your presentation.

Activity 6 - Changing the Slide Color Scheme: 

1.Display the slide you want to change.

2.On the Task Pane – Slide Design tab, choose Color Schemes.

3.Click the color scheme you want, and then click Apply. You may also choose to apply the scheme to all slides in the presentation.

Changing the Background Fill (Colors, Shading, Patterns, Picture): You can change the appearance of your slide background by changing its color, shade, pattern, or texture. You can also use a picture as a slide background, but you can use only one type of background on a slide or master. For example — you can have a shaded background, a textured background, or a picture as the background, but you can use only one of these on a single slide. When you change the background, you can apply the change to only the current slide or to all the slides and the slide master.

Activity 7 -  Changing the Background Fill (Colors, Shading, Patterns, Picture): 

1.Display the slide you want to change.

2.On the Format menu, click Background. The Background dialogue box appears, showing you the current color scheme and the current background in a drop box.

3.There is an option to omit the background graphics that may have been applied when you chose a design template.

4.Click the down arrow beside the colored box representing the current background. You may choose another color in the current color scheme or click on More colors... to choose a different color. Practice omitting the background graphics and changing the background color.

5.From the drop down arrow choose Fill Effects. Explore the different options under the Gradient, Texture, Pattern, and Picture tabs.

The Fill Effects options may also be used when formatting drawing objects and WordArt.

You have now completed this module. Take a few minutes to review and practice what you have learned.