Creating a Slide Layout

PowerPoint 2007 comes with many standard layoutsenough to suit most presentations. However, you might want a completely different look, either for your entire presentation or for just some of the slides in it. To get the look you want, you can create a new layout.

The easiest way to create a new layout is in Slide Master view. Clicking the Insert Layout button in the Edit Master group on the Slide Master tab adds a new layout to the master set, with a title but no other content. You can then insert placeholders and arrange and format them the way you want them.

In this exercise, you will create a new master layout for a slide with a title, introductory text, and a bulleted list.

1.	With Slide 1 displayed in Normal view, on the View tab, in the Presentation Views group, click Slide Master. You switch to Slide Master view.
2.	With the title master displayed, on the Slide Master tab, in the Edit Master group, click the Insert Layout button. PowerPoint adds a new layout after the title master. [View full size image]
3.	On the Slide Master tab, in the Master Layout group, click the Insert Placeholder arrow. PowerPoint displays the Placeholder gallery.
4.	In the Placeholder gallery, click Text. The pointer changes to a cross.
5.	Move the cross pointer to the upper-left corner of the pale tan area of the master, and drag down and to the right to draw a text placeholder the width of the area and about an inch high. The five default bullet levels overflow the boundaries of the placeholder. [View full size image]
6.	In the placeholder, click the bullet to the left of Fifth level to select the bullet point, and then press .
7.	Repeat Step 6 for Fourth level, Third level, and Second level.
8.	With the insertion point at the end of the first-level bullet point, on the Home tab, in the Paragraph group, click the Bullets arrow, and then in the gallery, click None.
9.	With the placeholder still selected, select the text, and then in the Font group, click the Italic button. Italic The text placeholder is now formatted to display an italic paragraph, instead of a bullet point. [View full size image]
10.	On the Slide Master tab, in the Master Layout group, click the Insert Placeholder arrow, click Text in the gallery, and then draw a second text placeholder below the first.
11.	Click the new text placeholder, and use the handles around its perimeter to size it so that it takes up the remaining pale tan area of the layout. This layout now accommodates an introductory statement followed by five levels of bullet points. [View full size image]
12.	On the Slide Master tab, in the Edit Master group, click the Rename button. The Rename Layout dialog box opens.
13.	In the Layout name box, type My Custom Layout, and then click Rename.
14.	In the Close group, click the Close Master View button. You switch to Normal view.
15.	With Slide 1 selected in Normal view, on the Home tab, in the Slides group, click the New Slide arrow. The Slide gallery now includes My Custom Layout.
16.	In the gallery, click the My Custom Layout thumbnail to add a slide with your custom layout to the presentation.