colour palettes and schemes in powerpoint 2003 · colour palettes and schemes in powerpoint 2003...

12
Colour Palettes and Schemes in PowerPoint 2003 Introduction A PowerPoint scheme is a defined palette of eight colours which you can apply to pre-defined parts (eg the background) of a slide (or notes/handouts). It can be likened to a style in Microsoft Word. If you choose a different scheme or change one of the colours in the palette, all objects defined as using that scheme or colour will automatically be reset to reflect the change. The scheme can be applied to a single slide or all the slides in the show. By using the palette for objects on your slide(s), you can maintain a consistency and flexibility throughout your presentation. In addition to the palette of colours used by the scheme, you can define your own custom palette with a further eight colours. It is important to note that the Master slide is, by default, set up to use the scheme palette colours. If you fix an object (eg background) colour on the Master slide then selecting a different colour scheme will not effect that particular object (ie the background would not change). All the other objects, however, would reflect the new scheme. You will try out an example of this later in these notes. Built-in Schemes PowerPoint has several pre-defined colour schemes, which are specifically designed to give a palette of colours which work together to give clear and interesting presentations. Different schemes are provided for different templates, as you will see later. Every presentation uses a template, the default one (with which you should be familiar) using a scheme with black text on a white background. In this exercise it is assumed you don't have an existing presentation to work on, so one is created from new: 1. Load up PowerPoint and start a new presentation (or press <Ctrl n> if PowerPoint is already running) 2. Open the Format menu and choose Slide Layout...

Upload: vongoc

Post on 20-Aug-2018

220 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

Colour Palettes and Schemes in PowerPoint 2003

Introduction

A PowerPoint scheme is a defined palette of eight colours which you can apply to pre-defined parts (eg the background) of a slide (or notes/handouts). It can be likened to a style in Microsoft Word. If you choose a different scheme or change one of the colours in the palette, all objects defined as using that scheme or colour will automatically be reset to reflect the change. The scheme can be applied to a single slide or all the slides in the show. By using the palette for objects on your slide(s), you can maintain a consistency and flexibility throughout your presentation. In addition to the palette of colours used by the scheme, you can define your own custom palette with a further eight colours.

It is important to note that the Master slide is, by default, set up to use the scheme palette colours. If you fix an object (eg background) colour on the Master slide then selecting a different colour scheme will not effect that particular object (ie the background would not change). All the other objects, however, would reflect the new scheme. You will try out an example of this later in these notes.

Built-in Schemes

PowerPoint has several pre-defined colour schemes, which are specifically designed to give a palette of colours which work together to give clear and interesting presentations. Different schemes are provided for different templates, as you will see later. Every presentation uses a template, the default one (with which you should be familiar) using a scheme with black text on a white background.

In this exercise it is assumed you don't have an existing presentation to work on, so one is created from new:

1. Load up PowerPoint and start a new presentation (or press <Ctrl n> if PowerPoint is already running)

2. Open the Format menu and choose Slide Layout...

3. Scroll down the layouts in the Task Pane and, under Text and Content Layouts choose Title, Text & Content

4. As a Title type PowerPoint Schemes 5. In the Text placeholder type The University web address is: then press

<Shift Enter> and type www.reading.ac.uk - press <Enter> and the link is established

6. Double click on the [Insert Chart] icon in the Content placeholder (Microsoft Graph will be loaded with a sample graph)

You should now have a sample slide containing a range of objects, including text, a hyperlink and a chart. These are some of the objects for which a particular palette colour is defined - you might have already noticed that the hyperlink is coloured differently from the rest of the text. The colours used in the chart are also determined by the scheme.

To apply a different Scheme:

1. Click on the [Design] button then, at the top of the Task Pane, click on Color Schemes

Currently you are using the first scheme in the top row. To change the scheme:

2. Click on the scheme with the dark green background

It's obvious that the background colour has changed, but so have the colours used in the chart and text - the hyperlink is now blue and the title (yellow) different from the ordinary text (white).

3. Try out some of the other schemes and decide which you prefer (and which satisfies accessibility criteria)

4. Open the Insert menu and choose Duplicate Slide - an identical slide appears

5. Choose a different Color scheme: in the task bar but this time click on the list arrow which appears on the right of the design miniature and choose Apply to Selected Slides - only the second slide has the new scheme

6. Next, press <Ctrl m> to create a new slide - the original scheme is used as this is the default for the whole presentation

To return to a single colour scheme for all the slides:

7. Click on the [Design] button then on Color Schemes (or use the [Other Task Panes] button - the down arrow at the top right of the Task Pane - and choose Slide Design - Color Schemes)

8. Under the Apply a color scheme: heading, click on the preferred scheme - the default is to Apply to All Slides

Copying a Scheme to Another Slide

If you have several slides in a presentation for which you would like to use a different scheme, you can copy the scheme from one slide to the others using the Format Painter. It's easiest to do this in Slide Sorter View.

1. Press <Ctrl z> or click on the [Undo] to revert to a mixture of colours 2. Click on the [Slide Sorter View] button or choose Slide Sorter from the

View menu 3. Click on the slide with the preferred scheme then click on the [Format

Painter] button 4. Finally, click on the slide with the incorrect scheme - the scheme should

now be correct 5. Click on the [Normal View] button or choose Normal from the View menu

to revert to the standard screen

Note that if you double click on the [Format Painter] you can paint the scheme to more than one slide. When you have finished, you have to click on the [Format Painter] button again, to turn it off.

Tip: You can paint a scheme between presentations by having both open at the same time. To view both presentations at the same time, use the Arrange All command from the Window menu.

Templates

You may or may not be familiar with using a template in Microsoft PowerPoint - for further information see the document Templates and Slide Masters in PowerPoint 2003. In this next exercise you will see how each template has its own set of associated Schemes.

1. Open the File menu and select New... 2. Under New from template in the New Presentation task pane, click on On

my computer... 3. Click on the Design Templates tab to see the following:

4. Select any of the templates and a sample slide will appear in the Preview screen

5. Explore what's available then choose a template and press <Enter> for [OK] to start the presentation

6. Click on the [Design] button then choose Color Schemes in the Task Pane

You should find that a different set of schemes is provided from that which you saw in the first exercise. These particular schemes have been designed especially for use with the template you have chosen.

7. Select each new scheme in turn and view the result 8. To [Apply to All] the slides in the new presentation, click on the preferred

scheme

You can, at any time, change the current template:

9. Click on Design Templates at the top of the Task Pane and select a different one

10. Click on Color Schemes to see the variety of pre-set schemes for this template and click on them to test them out

11. Finally, open the File menu and choose Close - there is no need to save this presentation

Customising a Scheme

Though you have seen a wide range of schemes, you do not yet know precisely what eight elements are defined in the palette. In this next exercise you will investigate these and, in the process, learn how to create your own schemes.

1. Press <Ctrl Home> or click on slide 1 to view the first slide in your original presentation

2. Click on Color Schemes then on Edit Color Schemes... at the foot of the Task Pane

3. If necessary, click on the Custom tab to see the following dialog box:

Down the left hand side of the dialog box, the palette colours are shown together with what they control. The elements are:

• Background - the colour for the slide background • Text and lines - the default colour for lines and most text • Shadows - the colour used for a shadow • Title text - the colour used for the text in Title placeholders • Fills - the default fill colour • Accent - the colour used for highlights and as the second fill colour • Accent and hyperlink - the colour used for hyperlinks which have not

been activated. This is also used for the third fill colour • Accent and followed hyperlink - for hyperlinks which have been

activated. This is also used for the fourth fill colour

Any of the scheme colours used in the palette can easily be changed, if you want to set your own. To do this:

4. Select the element whose colour you would like to change (by clicking on the colour sample) then click on [Change Color...] - or double click the existing colour sample

5. Choose a colour then press <Enter> for [OK] 6. [Preview] the result to see how your choice affects your current slide 7. Repeat steps 4 to 6 for any further scheme colours you wish to reset

When you are satisfied with your new colour scheme, you can either [Apply] it to the current slide or save it for future use with this presentation (using [Add As Standard Scheme]). If you want it to be available for other presentations then it must be saved in a template, as you will see later.

8. Click on the [Add As Standard Scheme] button 9. On the Standard tab you will find your own scheme has been added to

those previously there

IMPORTANT: In order for the new scheme to be saved in your set of schemes, you MUST use [Apply] before you close the Color Scheme dialog box. This saves the current set of schemes. You don't necessarily have to apply a new scheme to the current slide - you could choose an old scheme, or create and apply yet another new one.

10. Click back on the Custom tab and create another scheme by repeating steps 4 to 8

You can create as many schemes as you like - a scroll bar appears once you have more than nine. If you decide you no longer want one of the schemes (including the built-in ones):

11. On the Standard tab, select the scheme no longer required and click on the [Delete Scheme] button

Note that this action too will be ignored unless you save the current set of schemes by applying one of them to the current slide.

12. Select the scheme you want for the current slide and [Apply] it - the Color Scheme dialog box disappears

To save the colour scheme in a template, which can then be used for another presentation:

1. First, [Save] your presentation as usual 2. Click on the [Slide Sorter View] or choose Slide Sorter from the View

menu 3. Press <Ctrl a> (or use Select All in the Edit menu) 4. Press <Delete> to remove all your existing slides

5. Switch back to Normal view - click on [Normal View] or choose Normal View from the View menu

6. Now open the File menu and choose Save As... 7. Change Save as type: to Design Template (*.pot) 8. Give the template a File name (e.g. My Scheme) then press <Enter> for

[Save] 9. [Close] the template file

The template will now be available for you to use for another presentation. To do this:

1. Open the File menu and choose New... 2. Under New from template in the Task Pane, click on On my computer...

and select your template from those showing on the General tab 3. Finally, press <Enter> for [OK]

You should find the default design and colour scheme is the one you just set up for this template.

Schemes and the Slide Master

As mentioned in the introduction to these notes, the Slide Master is, by default, set to use whichever scheme palette is specified. Most users know a little about Slide Masters but very little about schemes, and set up the required default background colour on the Master. This then overrides the scheme palette background colour. This may or may not be what's required. To see this:

1. Open the View menu, select Master then Slide Master 2. Open the Format menu and choose Background... 3. Click on the list arrow attached to the current Background fill colour

Note how the colours being used by the Slide Master match those of the scheme you selected earlier. These only represent the current palette colours - they are not fixed but change as different schemes are selected.

You would find the same use of scheme colours applies to all your existing text, chart fills etc. Only by selecting a particular colour from outside the palette will the scheme colour be overridden.

4. Click on More Colors... button, select a new background colour on the Standard tab and press <Enter> for [OK]

5. Click on the list arrow attached to the current Background fill colour again and note how your chosen colour has been added to a second (custom) palette

You can select up to eight further colours in this palette for use anywhere in your presentation - eg for text or colour fill. If you try to add a ninth colour, the first custom colour will drop off the palette. Colours you add to this palette are not affected by any scheme you might choose.

6. Click on [Apply] to set the background colour and close the dialog box 7. Click on the [Close Master View] button to return to normal working

You will find that all your slides have the same background colour as the Master. Now choose a different Scheme and note the effect:

8. Click on the [Design] button and choose Color Schemes from the Task pane

9. Choose any of the schemes with a different coloured background

You should find that the background colour remains the same - that used by the scheme is ignored. However, if you look closely, you will find that the other scheme colours have been used for eg text and colour fill. If you wanted the slide to have the same background as the scheme, you could set it explicitly

(by choosing Background... from the Format menu) or you could reset the Slide Master to reuse the scheme:

10. Open the View menu, select Master then Slide Master 11. Open the Format menu and choose Background... 12. Click on the list arrow attached to the current Background fill colour and

this time select the first button on the scheme palette (Follow Background Color Scheme)

13. [Apply] this to your Slide Master then click on [Close Master View] to get back to your presentation

Your slides should now be back to using the background colour of whichever scheme you chose for them. Try setting a different background by applying a different scheme, if you like. Hopefully the above exercise has demonstrated that it's not always a good idea to set a fixed background colour on the Slide Master.

Fixing Colours on a Chart

Though schemes are very useful, there are some instances when you might not want them to work. For example, you might have devised a special colour scheme for a chart in Excel which you want to preserve. PowerPoint allows you to isolate the colours used on a chart from the rest of your presentation as follows:

1. Click on the chart you want to make independent of the scheme 2. Make sure the Picture Toolbar is displayed - if it isn't, open the View menu,

choose Toolbars... then select Picture

3. Click on the [Recolor Chart] button

The dialog box which appears has three settings. The default is for the chart to follow the current colour scheme. If you choose Only text and background colours then only those elements of the scheme palette will be used; if you choose None then all the colours on the chart will be independent of the scheme.

4. Set Chart colors follow to None then press <Enter> for [OK] 5. Click on the [Design] button and choose Color Schemes from the Task

pane 6. Choose any of the schemes with a different set of fill colours

You should find that the chart fill colours do not change. The background may have done so, however. This is because the current chart has no background colour set. To apply one:

7. Right click on the chart and choose Format Object... from the pop-up menu

8. On the Colors and Lines tab change the Fill colour by clicking on the list arrow attached to the Color: box (which currently reads No Fill)

9. Select a colour either from the palette of 40 colours or your custom palette or by clicking on More Colors... - DO NOT use the scheme palette (the row of 8 colours under Automatic)

10. Click on [OK] to set the fill colour and close the dialog box 11. In the Task Pane, select a scheme with a different background colour - the

chart background should now not change 12. End by closing the file - there's no need to save it