Beginner questions

I am using PowerPoint 2000. I have put off learning it for as long as I
can, but the time has come when I must. I had thought it would be easier
because of my knowledge of Word, but it is not. Formatting and arranging
text in the two programs is as different as different can be.

First, I have no interest in pictures, flying words, lights, sounds,
animation, or any of that. I need to manage stationary text.
What are the limitations of the format painter? I would like to set up a
text box (or placeholder or whatever it is) with an outline format, then
apply that format to other text boxes. However, bullet formats, line
spacing, and other features are not necessarily copied from one text box (or
placeholder or whatever they are) to another with the format painter. Can I
automate the process of applying a consistent format, or do I need to start
over with each slide?
I have noticed that when text is in a placeholder (whatever that is - Help
has nothing to say on the subject) I can see it in the left-hand pane, but
when I place it in a text box it is not visible in the left hand pane. I
assume this is because the left-hand pane does not show objects in the
graphics layer or some such, and that a text box is a graphic, and therefore
does not appear. However, it seems that a placeholder can only be created
when a new slide is created, or an existing one is copied. So is there any
way (or any reason, for that matter) to view text box contents in the
left-hand pane?
Is grouping possible with placeholders, or do I need to decide between
viewing the text in the left-hand pane (which is easier than flipping
through slides) and grouping?

The body text and title text placeholders are inserted for you automatically
when you create a new slide that uses any of the layouts that have these
features (ie, NOT blank slides, for example).

The formatting for the text in these placeholders comes from the slide's Master
(choose View, Master, Slide Master to edit it).

By changing the formatting once, on the placeholder in the slide master, you
control the formatting of all placeholders that rely on it.

And the text in the title and body placeholders appears in Outline view (on the
left of the screen).

The name of the game in PPT is to do as much formatting as is possible on the
masters and as little as possible on individual slides.

You can't group placeholders on slides with other shapes.

Explain why you need to do this and maybe we can come up with a workaround.

In article , BruceM wrote:
I am using PowerPoint 2000. I have put off learning it for as long as I
can, but the time has come when I must. I had thought it would be easier
because of my knowledge of Word, but it is not. Formatting and arranging
text in the two programs is as different as different can be.

First, I have no interest in pictures, flying words, lights, sounds,
animation, or any of that. I need to manage stationary text.
What are the limitations of the format painter? I would like to set up a
text box (or placeholder or whatever it is) with an outline format, then
apply that format to other text boxes. However, bullet formats, line
spacing, and other features are not necessarily copied from one text box (or
placeholder or whatever they are) to another with the format painter. Can I
automate the process of applying a consistent format, or do I need to start
over with each slide?
I have noticed that when text is in a placeholder (whatever that is - Help
has nothing to say on the subject) I can see it in the left-hand pane, but
when I place it in a text box it is not visible in the left hand pane. I
assume this is because the left-hand pane does not show objects in the
graphics layer or some such, and that a text box is a graphic, and therefore
does not appear. However, it seems that a placeholder can only be created
when a new slide is created, or an existing one is copied. So is there any
way (or any reason, for that matter) to view text box contents in the
left-hand pane?
Is grouping possible with placeholders, or do I need to decide between
viewing the text in the left-hand pane (which is easier than flipping
through slides) and grouping?


-----------------------------------------
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================

Thanks for the reply. One of the frustrations for me is that I am very
proficient at Word, but little of what I learned applies to PowerPoint. I
think I see how Slide Master works for new slides, but I am still quite
puzzled about what happens to existing slides when I change the Master.
Part of the problem is that I don't know on which master a particular slide
was based. Is it possible to discover that information about an existing
slide? Another part of the problem is that whoever did the presentation in
the first place just sort of clicked and dragged things around until it was
sort of OK, but the whole thing sort of explodes sometimes when I try to
edit it.

If I understand correctly, if I change the Master for Title with Bulleted
List, all new slides based on that Master will contain the new formatting.

The grouping thing is for convenience. I can just select a group of objects
and move them all at once.

A curiosity: I attempted to use 26 point text in one Master, although it
was not one of the options (24 and 28 were the choices). It would not
accept 26 point, and decided on its own to make it 9 point. However, when I
format directly I can choose any size font I want.

What effect does changing a Master have on text that is in text boxes or
drawing objects. I think I have discovered that copying a placeholder and
pasting it on another slide results in its being pasted as a drawing object.

I really appreciate the insight about editing the masters. I could
customize the Masters to my own needs, thus eliminating a lot of direct
formatting. I assume that I could create a template with a particular set
of Masters, and that by so doing I would not affect the main template or any
other template.

"Steve Rindsberg" wrote in message
...

The body text and title text placeholders are inserted for you
automatically
when you create a new slide that uses any of the layouts that have these
features (ie, NOT blank slides, for example).

The formatting for the text in these placeholders comes from the slide's
Master
(choose View, Master, Slide Master to edit it).

By changing the formatting once, on the placeholder in the slide master,
you
control the formatting of all placeholders that rely on it.

And the text in the title and body placeholders appears in Outline view
(on the
left of the screen).

The name of the game in PPT is to do as much formatting as is possible on
the
masters and as little as possible on individual slides.

You can't group placeholders on slides with other shapes.

Explain why you need to do this and maybe we can come up with a
workaround.

In article , BruceM wrote:
I am using PowerPoint 2000. I have put off learning it for as long as I
can, but the time has come when I must. I had thought it would be easier
because of my knowledge of Word, but it is not. Formatting and arranging
text in the two programs is as different as different can be.

First, I have no interest in pictures, flying words, lights, sounds,
animation, or any of that. I need to manage stationary text.
What are the limitations of the format painter? I would like to set up a
text box (or placeholder or whatever it is) with an outline format, then
apply that format to other text boxes. However, bullet formats, line
spacing, and other features are not necessarily copied from one text box
(or
placeholder or whatever they are) to another with the format painter.
Can I
automate the process of applying a consistent format, or do I need to
start
over with each slide?
I have noticed that when text is in a placeholder (whatever that is -
Help
has nothing to say on the subject) I can see it in the left-hand pane,
but
when I place it in a text box it is not visible in the left hand pane. I
assume this is because the left-hand pane does not show objects in the
graphics layer or some such, and that a text box is a graphic, and
therefore
does not appear. However, it seems that a placeholder can only be
created
when a new slide is created, or an existing one is copied. So is there
any
way (or any reason, for that matter) to view text box contents in the
left-hand pane?
Is grouping possible with placeholders, or do I need to decide between
viewing the text in the left-hand pane (which is easier than flipping
through slides) and grouping?


-----------------------------------------
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================

"BruceM" wrote in message
...
Thanks for the reply. One of the frustrations for me is that I am very
proficient at Word, but little of what I learned applies to PowerPoint. I
think I see how Slide Master works for new slides, but I am still quite
puzzled about what happens to existing slides when I change the Master.

Sometimes nothing happens to existing slides when you change the master the
slides are based on. This depends on how much manual formatting has been
applied to the slide; PPT usually tries to respect that. To get the master
changes to "take" on a slide, choose Format|Slide Layout and reapply the
slide layout to the slide.

Part of the problem is that I don't know on which master a particular
slide
was based. Is it possible to discover that information about an existing
slide?

Since you're using PPT 2000, there's only one set of slide masters -- a
slide master and a title slide master (the title slide master is optional).
So if your slide uses a title layout, it will be based on the title slide
master. If it uses any other layout, it will be based on the slide master.

Multiple masters weren't introduced until PPT 2002 (aka PPT XP).

Another part of the problem is that whoever did the presentation in
the first place just sort of clicked and dragged things around until it
was
sort of OK, but the whole thing sort of explodes sometimes when I try to
edit it.

I hate that. It's tedious to clean up.

Try reapplying the slide layout as described above and see if that helps.
Sometimes you have to reapply it twice. It really depends on if the creator
used placeholders or regular textboxes, though.

If I understand correctly, if I change the Master for Title with Bulleted
List, all new slides based on that Master will contain the new formatting.

Yes, this is correct.

The grouping thing is for convenience. I can just select a group of
objects
and move them all at once.

A curiosity: I attempted to use 26 point text in one Master, although it
was not one of the options (24 and 28 were the choices). It would not
accept 26 point, and decided on its own to make it 9 point. However, when
I
format directly I can choose any size font I want.

You should be able to click on the placeholder (not selecting the text
directly), type 26 into the font box on the toolbar, and hit Enter or Tab to
have the font size apply. If you just click away from the font box after
typing in the size, it reverts to whatever was previously in the box. Or,
select the placeholder and choose Format|Font. Both should accept 26 with no
problem.

What effect does changing a Master have on text that is in text boxes or
drawing objects. I think I have discovered that copying a placeholder and
pasting it on another slide results in its being pasted as a drawing
object.

No effect. Placeholders are governed by the master slides, manual textboxes
(drawing objects) are not.

I really appreciate the insight about editing the masters. I could
customize the Masters to my own needs, thus eliminating a lot of direct
formatting. I assume that I could create a template with a particular set
of Masters, and that by so doing I would not affect the main template or
any
other template.

Not sure what you mean here. You can create your own master slides and save
them as your own template. But you can't apply multiple templates (multiple
masters, as mentioned above) to a PPT 2000 file at the same time. You could
apply your own template (with its customized masters) to the file and do a
File|Save As, though.

--
Echo [MS PPT MVP]
http://www.echosvoice.com

Thanks very much for the reply. Additional comments and responses inline.

"Echo S" wrote in message
...

"BruceM" wrote in message
...
Thanks for the reply. One of the frustrations for me is that I am very
proficient at Word, but little of what I learned applies to PowerPoint.
I
think I see how Slide Master works for new slides, but I am still quite
puzzled about what happens to existing slides when I change the Master.

Sometimes nothing happens to existing slides when you change the master
the
slides are based on. This depends on how much manual formatting has been
applied to the slide; PPT usually tries to respect that. To get the master
changes to "take" on a slide, choose Format|Slide Layout and reapply the
slide layout to the slide.

Thanks for the tip. This also answers my question, which may have been
worded confusingly, about discovering which master was used for a particular
slide. What I meant was that when I add a new slide I can choose title, two
object, bulleted list, blank, etc. If a slide was based on bulleted list,
that is the slide I need to change to affect other slides based on that one.
I had thought it was a master, but I guess the master is the whole
collection of slides you choose from when you add a new slide. In that case
I am looking for the name used for the individual slide (bulleted list) from
the collection.

By the way, I discovered that Ctrl + Spacebar works as it does in Word: it
removes character formatting from selected text.

Part of the problem is that I don't know on which master a particular
slide
was based. Is it possible to discover that information about an existing
slide?

Since you're using PPT 2000, there's only one set of slide masters -- a
slide master and a title slide master (the title slide master is
optional).
So if your slide uses a title layout, it will be based on the title slide
master. If it uses any other layout, it will be based on the slide master.

Multiple masters weren't introduced until PPT 2002 (aka PPT XP).

Another part of the problem is that whoever did the presentation in
the first place just sort of clicked and dragged things around until it
was
sort of OK, but the whole thing sort of explodes sometimes when I try to
edit it.

I hate that. It's tedious to clean up.

I would have been hard-pressed to learn about slide masters on my own. I
cannot really blame the person who needed to get something done quickly and
didn't have time to wase through the Help menu. A longstanding problem with
Microsoft products is that many of the most useful features are buried under
layers of gratuitous automation. Working with Slides, for instance, should
contain something about the left hand pane and the use of placeholders.
Placeholders, important though they are, do not even get their own mention
in Help. Copying and pasting a placeholder does not seem to result in a
placeholder, but rather a drawing object that is somehow not quite a text
box. Or something.


Try reapplying the slide layout as described above and see if that helps.
Sometimes you have to reapply it twice. It really depends on if the
creator
used placeholders or regular textboxes, though.

If I understand correctly, if I change the Master for Title with Bulleted
List, all new slides based on that Master will contain the new
formatting.

Yes, this is correct.

The grouping thing is for convenience. I can just select a group of
objects
and move them all at once.

A curiosity: I attempted to use 26 point text in one Master, although it
was not one of the options (24 and 28 were the choices). It would not
accept 26 point, and decided on its own to make it 9 point. However,
when
I
format directly I can choose any size font I want.

You should be able to click on the placeholder (not selecting the text
directly), type 26 into the font box on the toolbar, and hit Enter or Tab
to
have the font size apply. If you just click away from the font box after
typing in the size, it reverts to whatever was previously in the box. Or,
select the placeholder and choose Format|Font. Both should accept 26 with
no
problem.

Today it worked smoothly. I expect manual formatting entered into the
problem at some point.

What effect does changing a Master have on text that is in text boxes or
drawing objects. I think I have discovered that copying a placeholder
and
pasting it on another slide results in its being pasted as a drawing
object.

No effect. Placeholders are governed by the master slides, manual
textboxes
(drawing objects) are not.

I really appreciate the insight about editing the masters. I could
customize the Masters to my own needs, thus eliminating a lot of direct
formatting. I assume that I could create a template with a particular
set
of Masters, and that by so doing I would not affect the main template or
any
other template.

Not sure what you mean here. You can create your own master slides and
save
them as your own template. But you can't apply multiple templates
(multiple
masters, as mentioned above) to a PPT 2000 file at the same time. You
could
apply your own template (with its customized masters) to the file and do a
File|Save As, though.

The File Save As thing is what I meant.

Thanks again for all of your help. This has become a lot easier since I
started asking questions. Apparently random occurences can be explained
after all. Once understood, they can be tamed.

--
Echo [MS PPT MVP]
http://www.echosvoice.com

In article , BruceM wrote:
Thanks for the reply. One of the frustrations for me is that I am very
proficient at Word, but little of what I learned applies to PowerPoint.

And little of what I know of PPT is of any use in Word.
Truck drivers don't instinctively know how to pilot submarines.
Different craft, different purposes, different levers to work 'em. ;-)

think I see how Slide Master works for new slides, but I am still quite
puzzled about what happens to existing slides when I change the Master.

That gets a little trickier. If you created a slide based on say PPT's Text
and Bullets layout, it probably didn't meet your formatting requirements
because you didn't yet know about formatting via the master.

So you probably did a lot of formatting by selecting text and changing stuff.

All well and good, but PPT takes that to mean "I don't like the default
formatting and want to override it with my own." Which of course is exactly
what you meant. ,-) But it respects that decision even after you change the
master. It records your formatting as an override, and an override it stays.

You can usually convince it to return to master formatting by reapplying the
autolayout the slide was based on .... sometimes several times.

Part of the problem is that I don't know on which master a particular slide
was based. Is it possible to discover that information about an existing
slide?

Generally, when you choose View, Master, Slide Master, PPT takes you to the
correct master.

Another part of the problem is that whoever did the presentation in
the first place just sort of clicked and dragged things around until it was
sort of OK, but the whole thing sort of explodes sometimes when I try to
edit it.

If I understand correctly, if I change the Master for Title with Bulleted
List, all new slides based on that Master will contain the new formatting.

Title With Bulleted List is an autolayout. W/o getting into those, accept that
you can't change them.

The grouping thing is for convenience. I can just select a group of objects
and move them all at once.

A curiosity: I attempted to use 26 point text in one Master, although it
was not one of the options (24 and 28 were the choices). It would not
accept 26 point, and decided on its own to make it 9 point. However, when I
format directly I can choose any size font I want.

You can usually type any size you like into the font size combo. Is there a
lot of text there? Perhaps it's autoreducing it to fit.

I'd have a look here and follow the suggestions:

Do this before using PowerPoint seriously
http://www.rdpslides.com/pptfaq/FAQ00034.htm

What effect does changing a Master have on text that is in text boxes or
drawing objects.

None; it only changes the text in placeholders.

I think I have discovered that copying a placeholder and
pasting it on another slide results in its being pasted as a drawing object.

Usually yes, though the exact behavior depends on the version of PPT and what
you have selected when you paste. Were you holding your tongue in your cheek
or between your teeth? That seems to affect it in some obscure way as well.
g

Note that you might be able to apply, say, the Title and Bulleted text layout
to a slide then copy the text from one of the errant text boxes and paste it
into the body copy placeholder. That's a pretty quick way to beat these things
into shape.

I really appreciate the insight about editing the masters. I could
customize the Masters to my own needs, thus eliminating a lot of direct
formatting. I assume that I could create a template with a particular set
of Masters, and that by so doing I would not affect the main template or any
other template.

If I understand that correctly, that's correct.


"Steve Rindsberg" wrote in message
...

The body text and title text placeholders are inserted for you
automatically
when you create a new slide that uses any of the layouts that have these
features (ie, NOT blank slides, for example).

The formatting for the text in these placeholders comes from the slide's
Master
(choose View, Master, Slide Master to edit it).

By changing the formatting once, on the placeholder in the slide master,
you
control the formatting of all placeholders that rely on it.

And the text in the title and body placeholders appears in Outline view
(on the
left of the screen).

The name of the game in PPT is to do as much formatting as is possible on
the
masters and as little as possible on individual slides.

You can't group placeholders on slides with other shapes.

Explain why you need to do this and maybe we can come up with a
workaround.

In article , BruceM wrote:
I am using PowerPoint 2000. I have put off learning it for as long as I
can, but the time has come when I must. I had thought it would be easier
because of my knowledge of Word, but it is not. Formatting and arranging
text in the two programs is as different as different can be.

First, I have no interest in pictures, flying words, lights, sounds,
animation, or any of that. I need to manage stationary text.
What are the limitations of the format painter? I would like to set up a
text box (or placeholder or whatever it is) with an outline format, then
apply that format to other text boxes. However, bullet formats, line
spacing, and other features are not necessarily copied from one text box
(or
placeholder or whatever they are) to another with the format painter.
Can I
automate the process of applying a consistent format, or do I need to
start
over with each slide?
I have noticed that when text is in a placeholder (whatever that is -
Help
has nothing to say on the subject) I can see it in the left-hand pane,
but
when I place it in a text box it is not visible in the left hand pane. I
assume this is because the left-hand pane does not show objects in the
graphics layer or some such, and that a text box is a graphic, and
therefore
does not appear. However, it seems that a placeholder can only be
created
when a new slide is created, or an existing one is copied. So is there
any
way (or any reason, for that matter) to view text box contents in the
left-hand pane?
Is grouping possible with placeholders, or do I need to decide between
viewing the text in the left-hand pane (which is easier than flipping
through slides) and grouping?


-----------------------------------------
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================




-----------------------------------------
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================

"BruceM" wrote:

Thanks very much for the reply. Additional comments and responses inline.

"Echo S" wrote in message
...

"BruceM" wrote in message
...
Thanks for the reply. One of the frustrations for me is that I am very
proficient at Word, but little of what I learned applies to PowerPoint.
I
think I see how Slide Master works for new slides, but I am still quite
puzzled about what happens to existing slides when I change the Master.

Sometimes nothing happens to existing slides when you change the master
the
slides are based on. This depends on how much manual formatting has been
applied to the slide; PPT usually tries to respect that. To get the master
changes to "take" on a slide, choose Format|Slide Layout and reapply the
slide layout to the slide.

Thanks for the tip. This also answers my question, which may have been
worded confusingly, about discovering which master was used for a particular
slide. What I meant was that when I add a new slide I can choose title, two
object, bulleted list, blank, etc. If a slide was based on bulleted list,
that is the slide I need to change to affect other slides based on that one.
I had thought it was a master, but I guess the master is the whole
collection of slides you choose from when you add a new slide. In that case
I am looking for the name used for the individual slide (bulleted list) from
the collection.

Well, let's see.

In PPT 2000, you can have two master slides. One is the "slide master," the
other is the "title slide master."

The "title slide master" is the basis for all slides that have had the Title
Slide Layout applied to them. That is, if you go to Format|Slide Layout and
apply the title slide layout, your slide should pick up its attributes from
the "title slide master." So whatever font size, color, shadowing, etc., you
set in the two placeholders on the title slide master where it says "click to
edit master title style" and "click to edit master subtitle style" -- that's
what the text on any slides using the Title Slide Layout will have. Any logos
or pictures or whatever background color your Title Slide Master has will
also be reflected on any slides that use the Title Slide Layout.

The "slide master" governs all the rest of the slides. The size of your main
bulleted text placeholder determines the size of the bulleted text
placeholder on a slide that uses "title and text" layout. It also determines
the size of the two bulleted text placeholders on a "title and 2-column text"
layout -- the two placeholders fit inside the space designated by the 1
placeholder on the slide master. Likewise, the content area in a "title and
content" slide layout is the same size as the placeholder on the slide master.

So, basically, the slide masters establish the initial look and feel of your
presentation -- the colors, the background color and pattern or image, the
text colors and size, what font is used in the placeholders, etc., and if you
type in the text placeholders, you won't have to do much formatting. You
don't get a whole lot of variation -- you can't create a whole bunch of
different slide masters in PPT 2000, but you do get a bunch of built in slide
layouts. Those attempt to make it easy for you to add additional content to
your slides -- not just text -- and have it show up in the right place.
That's what the slide layouts are for.

Personally, I rarely use the content slide layouts. I do use the bulleted
text slide layouts, but I tend to use the "title only" slide layout -- the
one with a title at the top and blank space underneath -- when I need to add
additional content to my slide. Well, I lied a little. I do use the chart
slide layout a lot. That way I can start out with appropriately-sized charts,
which usually makes my life easier.

Now, don't get the 'title only" layout mixed up with the "title slide"
layout. Title Only has a title area in the same place as the regular bulleted
slides do, it just doesn't have the bulleted text placeholder in the lower
part of the slide. Title Slide layout is actually for a title slide for your
presentation. It's usually the first slide. People often use the title slide
layout for things like section breaks and "chapter headings" in
presentations. For example, you might put your company logo on the title
slide master so it shows up on all slides using the Title Slide Layout, but
you don't put it on the "regular" slide master so it doesn't show up on all
the other slides that use all the other slide layouts.

Now, in PPT 2002 and 2003, you can create more than one set of masters, so
you have a bit more control. But in PPT 2000, you just have the one set --
the title slide master and the slide master.

Does that help make sense of it a bit?

--
Echo [MS PPT MVP]
http://www.echosvoice.com

Thanks again. I haven't had a chance to look at your posting all that
carefully due to its being a busy day, and now the end of Friday is upon me
and I'm out of here. There seems to be a lot of information in there, so I
will take a closer look on Monday.

"Echo S" wrote in message
...


"BruceM" wrote:

Thanks very much for the reply. Additional comments and responses
inline.

"Echo S" wrote in message
...

"BruceM" wrote in message
...
Thanks for the reply. One of the frustrations for me is that I am
very
proficient at Word, but little of what I learned applies to
PowerPoint.
I
think I see how Slide Master works for new slides, but I am still
quite
puzzled about what happens to existing slides when I change the
Master.

Sometimes nothing happens to existing slides when you change the master
the
slides are based on. This depends on how much manual formatting has
been
applied to the slide; PPT usually tries to respect that. To get the
master
changes to "take" on a slide, choose Format|Slide Layout and reapply
the
slide layout to the slide.

Thanks for the tip. This also answers my question, which may have been
worded confusingly, about discovering which master was used for a
particular
slide. What I meant was that when I add a new slide I can choose title,
two
object, bulleted list, blank, etc. If a slide was based on bulleted
list,
that is the slide I need to change to affect other slides based on that
one.
I had thought it was a master, but I guess the master is the whole
collection of slides you choose from when you add a new slide. In that
case
I am looking for the name used for the individual slide (bulleted list)
from
the collection.

Well, let's see.

In PPT 2000, you can have two master slides. One is the "slide master,"
the
other is the "title slide master."

The "title slide master" is the basis for all slides that have had the
Title
Slide Layout applied to them. That is, if you go to Format|Slide Layout
and
apply the title slide layout, your slide should pick up its attributes
from
the "title slide master." So whatever font size, color, shadowing, etc.,
you
set in the two placeholders on the title slide master where it says "click
to
edit master title style" and "click to edit master subtitle style" --
that's
what the text on any slides using the Title Slide Layout will have. Any
logos
or pictures or whatever background color your Title Slide Master has will
also be reflected on any slides that use the Title Slide Layout.

The "slide master" governs all the rest of the slides. The size of your
main
bulleted text placeholder determines the size of the bulleted text
placeholder on a slide that uses "title and text" layout. It also
determines
the size of the two bulleted text placeholders on a "title and 2-column
text"
layout -- the two placeholders fit inside the space designated by the 1
placeholder on the slide master. Likewise, the content area in a "title
and
content" slide layout is the same size as the placeholder on the slide
master.

So, basically, the slide masters establish the initial look and feel of
your
presentation -- the colors, the background color and pattern or image, the
text colors and size, what font is used in the placeholders, etc., and if
you
type in the text placeholders, you won't have to do much formatting. You
don't get a whole lot of variation -- you can't create a whole bunch of
different slide masters in PPT 2000, but you do get a bunch of built in
slide
layouts. Those attempt to make it easy for you to add additional content
to
your slides -- not just text -- and have it show up in the right place.
That's what the slide layouts are for.

Personally, I rarely use the content slide layouts. I do use the bulleted
text slide layouts, but I tend to use the "title only" slide layout -- the
one with a title at the top and blank space underneath -- when I need to
add
additional content to my slide. Well, I lied a little. I do use the chart
slide layout a lot. That way I can start out with appropriately-sized
charts,
which usually makes my life easier.

Now, don't get the 'title only" layout mixed up with the "title slide"
layout. Title Only has a title area in the same place as the regular
bulleted
slides do, it just doesn't have the bulleted text placeholder in the lower
part of the slide. Title Slide layout is actually for a title slide for
your
presentation. It's usually the first slide. People often use the title
slide
layout for things like section breaks and "chapter headings" in
presentations. For example, you might put your company logo on the title
slide master so it shows up on all slides using the Title Slide Layout,
but
you don't put it on the "regular" slide master so it doesn't show up on
all
the other slides that use all the other slide layouts.

Now, in PPT 2002 and 2003, you can create more than one set of masters, so
you have a bit more control. But in PPT 2000, you just have the one set --
the title slide master and the slide master.

Does that help make sense of it a bit?

--
Echo [MS PPT MVP]
http://www.echosvoice.com

My frustration with different interfaces for different Office programs comes
especially when I am attempting to use something that appears to be the same
in two separate programs, but which works differently in each. For
instance, to align a series of text boxes that are arranged vertically in
PowerPoint I select them, then on the Drawing toolbar select Draw Align or
Distribute, and click Distribute Vertically, they all move. Apparently it
considers the whole slide as the area in which they are to be distributed.
In Word that same command leaves the top and bottom text boxes in place, and
distributes the others between them. Similarly, if I click Align
Distribute Align Left, in PowerPoint the text boxes all move to the left
edge of the slide; in Word they align with the leftmost tex box. I find
stuff like that a bit frustrating, because it makes no sense to me that the
same command, same toolbar, same icon, etc. would produce such different
results in the two programs.

It seems that manual formatting takes precedence over defined layouts, which
is similar to Word, although it gets there be a different route. In
PowerPoint it seems that Line Spacing can only be applied case by case. I
have not found a way of copying it from one slide to another except by
changing the master. In Word, Line Spacing is the same as paragraph
formatting, except in Word it can be copied from one paragraph to another.

In any case I do what I can to avoid manual formatting. In Word I use
styles; in PowerPoint I will try to use predefined layouts or masters or
whatever they are called. I was working with an existing presentation to
which endless manual formatting had been applied. In most cases I created
new slides based on new masters or layouts or whatever they are called,
copied the text, and removed manual formatting, reapplying it only as needed
to do such things as squeeze an extra line onto a slide.

Thanks for your comments. The difficult thing so often is to understand why
something is happening the way it is. Once I understand the underlying
rationale I can begin to tame it.

"Steve Rindsberg" wrote in message
...
In article , BruceM wrote:
Thanks for the reply. One of the frustrations for me is that I am very
proficient at Word, but little of what I learned applies to PowerPoint.

And little of what I know of PPT is of any use in Word.
Truck drivers don't instinctively know how to pilot submarines.
Different craft, different purposes, different levers to work 'em. ;-)

think I see how Slide Master works for new slides, but I am still quite
puzzled about what happens to existing slides when I change the Master.

That gets a little trickier. If you created a slide based on say PPT's
Text
and Bullets layout, it probably didn't meet your formatting requirements
because you didn't yet know about formatting via the master.

So you probably did a lot of formatting by selecting text and changing
stuff.

All well and good, but PPT takes that to mean "I don't like the default
formatting and want to override it with my own." Which of course is
exactly
what you meant. ,-) But it respects that decision even after you change
the
master. It records your formatting as an override, and an override it
stays.

You can usually convince it to return to master formatting by reapplying
the
autolayout the slide was based on .... sometimes several times.

Part of the problem is that I don't know on which master a particular
slide
was based. Is it possible to discover that information about an existing
slide?

Generally, when you choose View, Master, Slide Master, PPT takes you to
the
correct master.

Another part of the problem is that whoever did the presentation in
the first place just sort of clicked and dragged things around until it
was
sort of OK, but the whole thing sort of explodes sometimes when I try to
edit it.

If I understand correctly, if I change the Master for Title with Bulleted
List, all new slides based on that Master will contain the new
formatting.

Title With Bulleted List is an autolayout. W/o getting into those, accept
that
you can't change them.

The grouping thing is for convenience. I can just select a group of
objects
and move them all at once.

A curiosity: I attempted to use 26 point text in one Master, although it
was not one of the options (24 and 28 were the choices). It would not
accept 26 point, and decided on its own to make it 9 point. However,
when I
format directly I can choose any size font I want.

You can usually type any size you like into the font size combo. Is there
a
lot of text there? Perhaps it's autoreducing it to fit.

I'd have a look here and follow the suggestions:

Do this before using PowerPoint seriously
http://www.rdpslides.com/pptfaq/FAQ00034.htm

What effect does changing a Master have on text that is in text boxes or
drawing objects.

None; it only changes the text in placeholders.

I think I have discovered that copying a placeholder and
pasting it on another slide results in its being pasted as a drawing
object.

Usually yes, though the exact behavior depends on the version of PPT and
what
you have selected when you paste. Were you holding your tongue in your
cheek
or between your teeth? That seems to affect it in some obscure way as
well.
g

Note that you might be able to apply, say, the Title and Bulleted text
layout
to a slide then copy the text from one of the errant text boxes and paste
it
into the body copy placeholder. That's a pretty quick way to beat these
things
into shape.

I really appreciate the insight about editing the masters. I could
customize the Masters to my own needs, thus eliminating a lot of direct
formatting. I assume that I could create a template with a particular
set
of Masters, and that by so doing I would not affect the main template or
any
other template.

If I understand that correctly, that's correct.


"Steve Rindsberg" wrote in message
...

The body text and title text placeholders are inserted for you
automatically
when you create a new slide that uses any of the layouts that have
these
features (ie, NOT blank slides, for example).

The formatting for the text in these placeholders comes from the
slide's
Master
(choose View, Master, Slide Master to edit it).

By changing the formatting once, on the placeholder in the slide
master,
you
control the formatting of all placeholders that rely on it.

And the text in the title and body placeholders appears in Outline view
(on the
left of the screen).

The name of the game in PPT is to do as much formatting as is possible
on
the
masters and as little as possible on individual slides.

You can't group placeholders on slides with other shapes.

Explain why you need to do this and maybe we can come up with a
workaround.

In article , BruceM wrote:
I am using PowerPoint 2000. I have put off learning it for as long as
I
can, but the time has come when I must. I had thought it would be
easier
because of my knowledge of Word, but it is not. Formatting and
arranging
text in the two programs is as different as different can be.

First, I have no interest in pictures, flying words, lights, sounds,
animation, or any of that. I need to manage stationary text.
What are the limitations of the format painter? I would like to set
up a
text box (or placeholder or whatever it is) with an outline format,
then
apply that format to other text boxes. However, bullet formats, line
spacing, and other features are not necessarily copied from one text
box
(or
placeholder or whatever they are) to another with the format painter.
Can I
automate the process of applying a consistent format, or do I need to
start
over with each slide?
I have noticed that when text is in a placeholder (whatever that is -
Help
has nothing to say on the subject) I can see it in the left-hand pane,
but
when I place it in a text box it is not visible in the left hand pane.
I
assume this is because the left-hand pane does not show objects in the
graphics layer or some such, and that a text box is a graphic, and
therefore
does not appear. However, it seems that a placeholder can only be
created
when a new slide is created, or an existing one is copied. So is
there
any
way (or any reason, for that matter) to view text box contents in the
left-hand pane?
Is grouping possible with placeholders, or do I need to decide between
viewing the text in the left-hand pane (which is easier than flipping
through slides) and grouping?


-----------------------------------------
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================




-----------------------------------------
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================

Thanks for the explanation about the Title Slide Master and the Slide
Master. From what I can tell, changes to the Title Slide Master are
reflected in the Title area of all the slides. In other words, that
placeholder at the top is the same for each new slide (unless I choose
Blank, of course). To me it's puzzling to have Slide Master refer to a
whole group of possible layouts (Title alone, Title with bullets, Title with
two columns, Title with graph, etc.). I would have thought each of those
was a master. I will think of them as layouts, then, unless there is
another term for them.

I think I agree that the individual layouts are of limited usefulness. I
have decide that being able to see the text on the left is not really all
that useful. Scrolling through the slides is just as quick, and is much
easier to read in many cases. Also, I can choose a style for the Title
placeholder on all pages, but will have to manually format it if I need to
change it on a particular slide, or partway through, or if I want it to be
different after the first slide. Similarly, there is one format for other
placeholders on the slide. If I choose a subtitle layout it is applied to
every placeholder (except for the Title placeholder) on every slide.

In general it seems that PowerPoint needs more manual formatting for than do
other office programs. The format painter is very limited in the formatting
that it copies (it does not copy line spacing formats, for instance), and
the use of predefined styles or formats is also limited. Not a big deal, as
long as I am not looking for a way to get formatting to behave as it does in
Word (which uses Styles, and in which the Format Painter applies to
paragraphs, but not to table cell formatting) or Excel (in which cell
formatting can be copied, but the equivalent of paragraph formatting is very
limited). Access is in many ways a breed apart from the others. The
programs are far more dissimilar than they are alike, so I just need to
remember where I am when I click a particular button or menu command.

I appreciate your help and your comments. Thanks again.

"Echo S" wrote in message
...


"BruceM" wrote:

Thanks very much for the reply. Additional comments and responses
inline.

"Echo S" wrote in message
...

"BruceM" wrote in message
...
Thanks for the reply. One of the frustrations for me is that I am
very
proficient at Word, but little of what I learned applies to
PowerPoint.
I
think I see how Slide Master works for new slides, but I am still
quite
puzzled about what happens to existing slides when I change the
Master.

Sometimes nothing happens to existing slides when you change the master
the
slides are based on. This depends on how much manual formatting has
been
applied to the slide; PPT usually tries to respect that. To get the
master
changes to "take" on a slide, choose Format|Slide Layout and reapply
the
slide layout to the slide.

Thanks for the tip. This also answers my question, which may have been
worded confusingly, about discovering which master was used for a
particular
slide. What I meant was that when I add a new slide I can choose title,
two
object, bulleted list, blank, etc. If a slide was based on bulleted
list,
that is the slide I need to change to affect other slides based on that
one.
I had thought it was a master, but I guess the master is the whole
collection of slides you choose from when you add a new slide. In that
case
I am looking for the name used for the individual slide (bulleted list)
from
the collection.

Well, let's see.

In PPT 2000, you can have two master slides. One is the "slide master,"
the
other is the "title slide master."

The "title slide master" is the basis for all slides that have had the
Title
Slide Layout applied to them. That is, if you go to Format|Slide Layout
and
apply the title slide layout, your slide should pick up its attributes
from
the "title slide master." So whatever font size, color, shadowing, etc.,
you
set in the two placeholders on the title slide master where it says "click
to
edit master title style" and "click to edit master subtitle style" --
that's
what the text on any slides using the Title Slide Layout will have. Any
logos
or pictures or whatever background color your Title Slide Master has will
also be reflected on any slides that use the Title Slide Layout.

The "slide master" governs all the rest of the slides. The size of your
main
bulleted text placeholder determines the size of the bulleted text
placeholder on a slide that uses "title and text" layout. It also
determines
the size of the two bulleted text placeholders on a "title and 2-column
text"
layout -- the two placeholders fit inside the space designated by the 1
placeholder on the slide master. Likewise, the content area in a "title
and
content" slide layout is the same size as the placeholder on the slide
master.

So, basically, the slide masters establish the initial look and feel of
your
presentation -- the colors, the background color and pattern or image, the
text colors and size, what font is used in the placeholders, etc., and if
you
type in the text placeholders, you won't have to do much formatting. You
don't get a whole lot of variation -- you can't create a whole bunch of
different slide masters in PPT 2000, but you do get a bunch of built in
slide
layouts. Those attempt to make it easy for you to add additional content
to
your slides -- not just text -- and have it show up in the right place.
That's what the slide layouts are for.

Personally, I rarely use the content slide layouts. I do use the bulleted
text slide layouts, but I tend to use the "title only" slide layout -- the
one with a title at the top and blank space underneath -- when I need to
add
additional content to my slide. Well, I lied a little. I do use the chart
slide layout a lot. That way I can start out with appropriately-sized
charts,
which usually makes my life easier.

Now, don't get the 'title only" layout mixed up with the "title slide"
layout. Title Only has a title area in the same place as the regular
bulleted
slides do, it just doesn't have the bulleted text placeholder in the lower
part of the slide. Title Slide layout is actually for a title slide for
your
presentation. It's usually the first slide. People often use the title
slide
layout for things like section breaks and "chapter headings" in
presentations. For example, you might put your company logo on the title
slide master so it shows up on all slides using the Title Slide Layout,
but
you don't put it on the "regular" slide master so it doesn't show up on
all
the other slides that use all the other slide layouts.

Now, in PPT 2002 and 2003, you can create more than one set of masters, so
you have a bit more control. But in PPT 2000, you just have the one set --
the title slide master and the slide master.

Does that help make sense of it a bit?

--
Echo [MS PPT MVP]
http://www.echosvoice.com