Multiple Masters in PowerPoint 2002/2003

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PowerPoint now enables you to have as many Slide Masters as you need; this enables you to create presentations with slides that have several different looks.

If, for example:

  • you wish to merge slides from two separate presentations and you want the slides to keep their original appearance,

  • you want to create a presentation with two or more sections

Relationship between Slide Masters and Title Masters

  • Every presentation has at least one Slide Master.
  • Each Slide Master in a presentation may have a corresponding Title Master, but does not have to.

For example:

  • In a presentation - it can have three Slide Masters but still only one Title Master.
  • If you want to add an additional Title Master, the new Title Master must be paired with an existing Slide Master that does not already have a Title Master. So, you can add a new Title Master to either of the two new Slide Masters you created.

Creating a new slide master

  1. From the View menu select Master4Slide Master  to switch to Slide Master View.

    Or if you prefer, hold down the Shift key and click the Normal View   button.
     

  2. Click on the Insert New Slide Master  button.

A new Slide Master is displayed
A thumbnail for the new Slide Master has been added to the list of thumbnails
The new Slide Master uses PowerPoint's default settings

  1. Modify the new Slide Master to your liking.

    You can make any formatting changes you want: Change the background colour or shading, text styles, different logos or pictures
     

  2. Click on the Slide Master View toolbar to return to Normal View.

Duplicate a Slide Master

Another way to create a new Slide Master is to duplicate one of your presentation's existing Slide Masters.

Note: The new Slide Master inherits the formatting of the original one

  1. Select the master you want to duplicate in the thumbnails on the left of the screen.

  2. Press Ctrl D or from the Edit menu select Duplicate.

Delete a Slide Master

  1. Select the master you want to delete.

  2. Click on the Delete Master button, or from the Edit menu select Delete Master, or press the Delete key.

Creating a new Title Master

You can add a new Title Master to any Slide Master that does not yet have a Title Master paired with it.

  1. Select an available Slide Master by clicking its thumbnail on the left of the screen.

  2. From the Insert menu select New Title Master.

    A new Title Master is displayed.
    The Title Master and Slide Master thumbnails are connected by a line to indicate that these Slide and Title Masters are paired.

  • When you create a Title Master, the Title Master inherits any formatting from its Slide Master.

  • Once created, the Title Master and Slide Master are formatted independently of one another.

  • You can change the format of the Slide Master without affecting its Title Master, and vice versa.

Delete a Title Master

  1. Select the master you want to delete.

  2. Click on the Delete Master button or from the Edit menu select Delete Master, or press the Delete key.

    If you delete a Slide Master that is paired with a Title Master, the Title Master is deleted as well.

Applying masters

If you have created multiple masters for a presentation, you can select which master to use for each slide in your presentation.

  1. Select the slide or slides you want to apply the alternate Slide Master to.

    The easiest way to do this is to click the slide you want in the thumbnails on the left of the screen. To select more than one slide, hold down the Ctrl key and click each slide you want to select.
     

  2. From the Format menu select Slide Design to bring up the Slide Design Task Pane.

    It shows the Slide Design Task Pane, with two slides selected in the thumbnail list. This pane shows a thumbnail list of Slide Masters and Design Templates you can apply to your slides.
     

  3. Click on the arrow next to the Slide Master you want to apply to the slides you've selected, and then choose Apply to Selected Slides.

The Slide Master is applied to the selected slides.

Do not simply click the Slide Master you want to use in the Slide Design Task Pane or you may be surprised by the results. If you select two or more slides and then click a Slide Master, the Slide Master is applied to the slides you selected. But if you select only one slide and click a Slide Master, the Slide Master is applied to all the slides in the presentation, not just the one you selected!
  There's a good chance that PowerPoint will also delete the Slide Master that was applied to the other slides in the presentation. To avoid this, always click the arrow next to the Slide Master so you can select the Apply to Selected Slides command from the menu.
  If you accidentally apply a Slide Master to all slides in your presentation and PowerPoint deletes the original Slide Master, just press Ctrl+Z or from the Edit menu select Undo to restore sanity to your presentation.

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