How to Use PowerPoint

Introduction to Power Point

1. PowerPoint is a component of MS Office, which is used to create presentations or transparencies. A presentation consists of one or more slides.

Starting PowerPoint

2. There are number of ways to start the PowerPoint. The most common ways are:-

(a) Double click the PowerPoint icon if it is present on the desktop.

(b) Click Start Button, points to Program & then click Microsoft PowerPoint.

Understanding the Screen of MS PowerPoint

3. PowerPoint window contains elements similar to those found in other MS Office components.

(a) Title Bar. It contains the title of the software i.e. Microsoft PowerPoint and name of the current open document.

(b) Menu Bar. It provides commands grouped in menus that instruct PowerPoint to perform certain tasks. Some commands perform an action immediately; others display a dialog box that enables us to select options before the action is performed.

(c) Tool Bar. It contains number of Buttons which are shortcut keys that enable us to perform common tasks without using the menus. There are some standard toolbars provided with the package, but the user can also design own customized toolbar.

(d) Vertical and Horizontal Rulers. There are graduated vertical and horizontal rulers to provide better control in page formatting and spacing.

(e) Scroll Bar. It allows us to move horizontally and vertically across and along the page or pages.

(f) Status Bar. It is displayed at the bottom of the PowerPoint window. The status bar supplies current information, such as the current slide number with the total number of slide in the current presentation.

Other PowerPoint Window Elements

4. Five View buttons are located above the status bar on the left side of the window. These Slide view, Outline view, Slide Sorter view, Notes Pages view & Slide Show view.

Views In PowerPoint

5. Microsoft PowerPoint comes with different views to help you while you are creating a presentation. The two main views used in PowerPoint are Normal View and Slide Sorter View. To easily switch between views, you click the buttons at the lower left of the PowerPoint window.

(a) Normal View. Normal view contains three panes: the Outline Pane, the Slide Pane, and the Notes Pane in PowerPoint. These panes let you work on all aspects of your presentation in one place. You can adjust the size of the different panes by dragging the pane borders.

(i) Outline Pane. Use the outline pane to organize and develop the content of the presentation. We can type all of the text of presentation and rearrange bullet points, paragraphs, and slides.

(ii) Slide Pane. In the slide pane, we can see how your text looks on each slide. We can add graphics, movies, and sounds, create hyperlinks and add animations to individual slides.

(iii) Notes Pane. The notes pane lets we add speaker notes or information we want to share with the audience. If we want to have graphics in the notes, we must add the notes in notes page view in PowerPoint.

(b) Slide Sorter View. In slide sorter view, we see all the slides present in the presentation on screen at the same time, displayed in miniature. This makes it easy to add, delete, and move slides, add timings, and select animated transitions for moving from slide to slide. You can also preview animations on multiple slides by selecting the slides you want to preview and then clicking Animation Preview on the Slide Show menu.

(c) Slide View. In this view, we can work with only one slide at a time. We can add title and body text, graphs, organization charts, clip art & word art. We can also draw shapes and access all of the toolbars.

(d) Outline View. In this view of PowerPoint, we can organize & develop the contents of the file.

(e) Slide Show View. This view is used to display the presentation on the full screen of the computer’s monitor. In this view, all the bars will be hidden.

Creating a New Presentation

6. For creating a new presentation, we need to follow these points:-

(a) Select option File from the menu.

(b) Select New. A dialogue box will appear.

(c) Select an Auto layout in PowerPoint.

(d) Click Ok. A blank slide with the selected Auto layout is displayed on the screen.

Saving a Presentation

7. We can save the presentation by the following procedure:-

(a) Select option File + Save from the Menu Bar or simply press CTRL+S or click Save icon present in the standard toolbar.

(b) Select the drive & directory in which we want to save the presentation.

(c) Write the name of the presentation in the File Name Area in PowerPoint.

(d) Click Save.

Close a Presentation or Exit PowerPoint

8. Do as follows:-

(a) On the File menu, click Close to close a presentation and want to remain in PowerPoint for creating another presentation. OR

(b) On the File menu, click Exit to quit PowerPoint.

Inserting a New Slide In a Presentation

9. For inserting a new slide in a presentation, place the cursor on that slide where we want to insert a new one.

(a) Click New Slide on the Insert Menu.

(b) Select the layouts and then click ok.

Delete a Slide in PowerPoint

10. To delete a slide, do as follows:

(a) Select the slide you want to delete.

(b) On the Edit menu, click Delete Slide.

Inserting a Duplicate Slide In a Presentation

11. To insert a duplicate slide, do as follows:-

(a) Select the slide or slides you want to duplicate.

(b) On the Insert menu, click Duplicate Slide.

Note. For duplicating more than one slide, we have to select them in the slide sorter view while only one slide duplication can be done in the slide view in PowerPoint.

Go To a Specific Slide

12. Navigating slides using different views are as follows:-

(a) Normal. In the slide pane, drag the vertical scroll bar until the slide number you want appears. In the outline pane, click the slide number.

(b) Slide sorter. Double-click the slide.

(c) Slide show. Right-click, point to Go on the shortcut menu, and then click Slide Navigator. Double-click the title of the slide you want to go to. Or, if you know the number of the slide you want to go to, just type it and press ENTER in PowerPoint.

Add Text to a Placeholder

13. PowerPoint comes with 24 Auto Layouts for slides. Many of these layouts contain text placeholders for titles, body text and bulleted lists. To add text to a text placeholder, just click in the placeholder and start typing. We can change the size and position of a text placeholder or apply a different Auto Layout to an existing slide at any time.

14. If you have a few extra lines of text that do not fit in the placeholder, PowerPoint automatically tries to fit the text within the placeholder. If your text starts to run off the bottom of the slide, insert a new slide and move the text to that slide. Text added to placeholders is the only text displayed in the outline pane and can be exported to Word.

Insert a Text Box

15. To place text anywhere on the slide, Text Box is used.

(a) Click the Text Box button present in the drawing tool bar or Click Insert Menu & then click Text Box.

(b) Click on the slide where you want to insert the text box

Add Text

16. Most often in PowerPoint, the easiest way to add text to a slide is to type it directly into any placeholder on the slide. If we want to add text outside a placeholder or shape, we can use the Text Box button present in the Drawing toolbar. We can also add text to an AutoShape or add a WordArt drawing object for a special text effect.

Change Capitalization

17. To change the case of a text:-

(a) Select the text you want to change.

(b) On the Format menu, click Change Case.

(c) Select the desire option.

Change Text Color in PowerPoint

18. To change text color:-

(a) Select text you want to change.

(b) On the Drawing toolbar, click the arrow next to Font Color.

(c) To change the text color back to its default, click Automatic.

(d) To change to a color in the color scheme, click one of the eight colors below Automatic.

(e) To change to a color that isn't in the color scheme, click More Font Colors. Click the color you want on the Standard tab or click the Custom tab to mix your own color, and then click OK.

Copy Only the Look & Style Of Text

19. Do as follows:-

(a) Select the text that has the style you want to copy.

(c) Click Format Painter.

(c) Select the text you want to apply the formatting to.

Note. You can't copy the font and font size on text created by the Insert WordArt tool on the Drawing toolbar.

Insert a Symbol or Special Character

20. Do as follows (PowerPoint):-

(a) On the Insert menu, click Symbol.

(b) To change fonts, click a name in the Font box.

(c) Click the symbol or character you want and then click Insert.

Change the Layout of a Slide

21. Do as follows (PowerPoint):-

(a) Normal or slide sorter view, select the slide you want to change.

(b) On the Format Menu, click Slide Layout.

(c) Use the scroll bar to view all layouts, click the one you want and then click Reapply or double click the selected layout.

Apply or Change Slide Background Color

22. We can change the appearance of the slide background by changing its color, shade, pattern or texture. We can also use a picture as a slide background, but you can use only one type of background on a slide.

(a) Click Background on the Format menu.

(b) Under Background fill, click the down arrow & then select the color.

(c) To change to a color in the color scheme, click one of the eight colors below Automatic.

(d) To change to a color that isn't in the color scheme, click More Colors. Click the color you want on the Standard tab, or click the Custom tab to mix your own color, and then click OK.

(e) To change the background color back to its default, click Automatic in PowerPoint.

(f) To apply the change to the current slide, click Apply.

(g) To apply the change to all slides and the slide master, click Apply to All.

Add or Change a Shaded Slide Background

23. Do as follows:-

(a) Click Background on the Format menu.

(b) Under Background fill, click the down arrow, click Fill Effects and then click the Gradient tab.

(c) Click the options you want and then click OK.

(d) To apply the change to the current slide, click Apply.

(e) To apply the change to all slides and the slide master, click Apply to All.

Add or Change a Patterned Slide Background

24. Do as follows:-

(a) Click Background on the Format menu.

(b) Under Background fill, click the down arrow, click Fill Effects, and then click the Pattern tab.

(c) Click the options you want, and then click OK.

(d) To apply the change to the current slide in PowerPoint, click Apply.

(e) To apply the change to all slides and the slide master, click Apply to All.

Add or Change a Textured Slide Background

25. Do as follows:-

(a) Click Background on the Format menu.

(b) Under Background fill, click the down arrow, click Fill Effects, and then click the Texture tab.

(c) Click the texture you want, or click Other Texture and find the texture you want, and then click OK.

(d) To apply the change to the current slide in PowerPoint, click Apply.

(e) To apply the change to all slides and the slide master, click Apply to All.

Add or Change a Slide Background Picture

26. Do as follows:-

(a) Click Background on the Format menu.

(b) Under Background fill, click the down arrow, click Fill Effects, and then click the Picture tab.

(c) Click Select Picture, find the folder that contains the picture you want, double-click the file name, and then click OK.

(d) To apply the change to the current slide, click Apply.

(e) To apply the change to all slides, click Apply to All.

Copy a Slide From One Presentation to Another

27. Do as follows:-

(a) Display the slide that will precede the slide you want to insert.

(b) On the Insert menu, click Slides from Files of PowerPoint.

(c) Find and select the presentation you want to copy a slide from.

(d) Click Display.

(e) Select the slide or slides you want to copy, and then click Insert.

(f) To copy an entire presentation, click Insert All.

Apply Design Template to a Presentation

28. Design templates contain pre-designed formats and color schemes you can apply to any presentation to give it a custom look.

(a) Click Apply Design on the Format menu.

(b) Select the design and then click Apply in PowerPoint.

Slide Transition in PowerPoint

29. Movement of the slide with a special effect is called slide transition. Following points are necessary to apply the transition on any slide.

(a) In slide or slide sorter view, select the slide or slides on which we want to apply transition.

(b) On the Slide Show menu, click Slide Transition.

(c) In the Effect box, select the transition & see the preview in the preview box.

(d) Select a speed (Slow, Medium, Fast) for the transition effect.

(e) To apply the transition to the selected slide, click Apply.

(f) To apply the transition to all the slides, click Apply to All.

Create a Color Scheme

30. Color schemes are sets of eight balanced colors designed in PowerPoint 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. We can create our own color scheme for the presentation by the following steps:-

(a) On the Format menu, click Slide Color Scheme, and then click the Standard tab.

(b) Select a color scheme nearest the type you want, and then click the Custom tab.

(c) Under Scheme colors, click a color you want to change, and then click Change Color.

(d) Click the Standard tab to select from the color palette, or click the Custom tab to mix your own color.

(e) In the Standard color palette, click the color you want, and then click OK.

(f) In the Custom color palette, drag the cross-hair to select a color, drag the scroll bar to adjust the brightness, and then click OK in PowerPoint.

(g) Repeat the process for each color you want to change.

(h) To save your color scheme with the presentation, click Add as Standard Scheme.

(j) To apply the new color to only the current slide, click Apply.

(k) To apply it to all slides in the presentation, click Apply to All.

Insert a Picture From the Clip Gallery

31. Do as follows:-

(a) Display the slide you want to add a picture to.

(b) Click Insert Clip Art on the Drawing toolbar, and then click the Pictures tab or on the Insert menu, click Picture & then click Clip Art.

(c) Click the category you want.

(d) Click the picture you want, and then click Insert Clip on the shortcut menu.

(e) When you are finished using the Clip Gallery, click the Close button on the Clip Gallery title bar.

Note. You can also drag a picture from the Clip Gallery to your slide (PowerPoint).

Insert an Imported Picture

32. Do as follows:-

(a) Display the slide you want to add a picture to.

(b) On the Insert menu, point to Picture and then click From File.

(c) Locate the folder that contains the picture you want to insert.

(d) Click the picture.

(e) Do one of the following:-

(i) To embed the picture into your presentation, click Insert.

(ii) To link the picture in your presentation to the picture file on your hard drive, click the arrow next to Insert, and then click Link to File.

Note. You can also add pictures to your notes pages. To do this, click Notes Page on the View menu and then add the picture you want.

Apply Hyperlink in PowerPoint

33. Hyperlink means “ A link which is used to jump to a variety of locations. For example: to a specific slide within a presentation, to a different presentation altogether, to a Word document or Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, to a company intranet, or to an address on the Internet. We can create a hyperlink from any text or object, including a shape, table, picture, or action button and then we can either click the hyperlink or hold the mouse over it to start its action. For applying hyperlink, follow the following points:-

(a) Save the PowerPoint presentation.

(b) Select the text, which user wants to hyperlink.

(c) Go to the Insert Menu & then click Hyperlink. A dialog box will be appeared.

Adding Animation In a Presentation

34. Animation means, “ To add a special visual or sound effect to text or an object. We can animate text, graphics, sounds, movies, and other objects on the slides with the help of the Custom Animation option. By this option, we can focus on important points, control the flow of information and add interest to the presentation. To set up and preview the animation of the text and objects, follow the following points:-

(a) Click Custom Animation on the Slide Show Menu.

(b) Select the Slide Object from Slide Objects without Animation box of the timing tab.

(c) Click the Effects tab & select the effect.

(d) Click Ok.

Pack & Go in PowerPoint

35. When we want to run a slide show on another computer, we can use the Pack and Go Wizard. The wizard packages together, on a disk, all the files and fonts used in the presentation. When we intend to run our show on a computer that doesn't have PowerPoint installed, it also packages the PowerPoint Viewer on the disk of PowerPoint.

36. We can include linked files as part of the package. If we make changes to the presentation after we use the Pack and Go Wizard, just run the wizard again to update it.

37. There are two main things to use the presentation on another computer through Pack & Go option.

(a) Pack up a presentation.

(b) Unpack a presentation.

Pack Up a Presentation For Use on Another Computer

38. For packing up the presentation, we have to go through the following points:

(a) Open the PowerPoint presentation we want to save to a disk.

(b) On the File menu, click Pack and Go.

(c) Follow the instructions in the “Pack and Go” Wizard. If prompted, insert another disk.

Unpack a Presentation to Run on Another Computer

39. Before we can do this procedure, we must have used the “Pack and Go” Wizard to package the presentation.

(a) Insert the disk in the floppy drive in which we have copied the PowerPoint presentation.

(b) In Windows Explorer, go to the drive where the disk is located and then double-click PNGSETUP.

(c) Enter the destination we want to copy the presentation to.

40. To run the slide show, double-click the PowerPoint Viewer PPVIEW32 and then click the presentation you want to run.

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