Selecting a Color Scheme

Each template comes with a default color scheme, and in most cases several alternative color schemes too. That means that if a certain template is perfect except for the colors, you can simply switch to a different color scheme-without giving up any of the other design elements of that template.

The color schemes available depend on the template. Some templates have lots of color schemes; others have only a few.

Before selecting a color scheme, you should be happy with your choice of templates. If you switch to a different template later, your color scheme choice will be wiped out, so make sure the template is correct first. Then, do the following to see what color scheme choices that template offers:

1. Click the Design button to open the Slide Design task pane if it is not already displayed.

2. Click the Color Schemes hyperlink near the top of the task pane. Thumbnail images of various color schemes appear, as shown in Figure 2-10.

3. Click the color scheme to apply; it is immediately applied. Try several, if needed, to find the one that looks best. Then, close the task pane.

Figure 2-10: Select from among the alternative color schemes that the template provides.

Applying a Color Scheme to Individual Slides

As with slide designs, you can also apply a color scheme to only the selected slides, if you prefer. Point to the color scheme, so that an arrow appears to its right, and then click that arrow to open a menu. Then choose Apply to Selected Slides, as shown in Figure 2-11.

Figure 2-11: Select a different color scheme for some or all slides.

Color scheme can be copied from one slide to another via Format Painter. In Normal view, make sure that the left-hand pane shows the slide thumbnails, as shown in Figure 2-11. Then click one of the slides that has the desired color scheme, click the Format Painter button, and then click the slide that needs its color scheme changed.

To switch all slides back to a common color scheme, simply reapply the color scheme by clicking on it in the task pane.

Customizing a Color Scheme

As I said before, some templates are much more generous in the number of color schemes they provide than others. If none of the color schemes suits you, customize one.

When you customize a color scheme, you redefine one or more of the color numbers as a different choice. For example, you could redefine Color 1's definition in order to change the color of the background plus any other images that are formatted using Color 1. (See Using Scheme Colors for Individual Object Formatting later in this chapter for details about how that might occur.)

It's best to start with the color scheme that is closest to what you want, because then you'll have fewer changes to make. To customize a color scheme, follow these steps:

1. In the Slide Design task pane, make sure Color Schemes is selected and the available schemes appear.

2. (Optional) To apply the scheme to certain slides only, select them.

3. Click the color scheme that is closest to what you want. It is applied to all slides.

4. Click the Edit Color Schemes hyperlink at the bottom of the task pane. The Edit Color Scheme dialog box opens, as shown in Figure 2-12.

5. Click a colored square representing a color you want to change, and click the Change Color button. The Color dialog box appears. Its exact name depends on the colored square you chose. For example, it's Background Color in Figure 2-13.

   Note

   There are two tabs in the Color dialog box. If the current selection is a custom color, the Custom tab will appear at first, as shown in Figure 2-13. If the current color is a standard color, the Standard tab will appear first. You can select from either.

6. Select a color. You can click the color you want or enter an exact value by number. I'll explain more about these advanced ways of picking a color in Chapter 7; for now you might be better off going to the Standard tab and selecting one of the solid colored hexagons there, as shown in Figure 2-14.

7. Click OK.

8. Repeat steps 4-7 for each color to change. Click Preview if you desire to see the color choices previewed on the slide behind the dialog box.

9. When you're finished, click Apply. (Or, click Cancel to reject all the changes you've made.)

Figure 2-12: Edit the color scheme by redefining one or more of the color placeholders.

Figure 2-13: Select the exact color that the chosen placeholder should display for all objects formatted with it.

Figure 2-14: Select the exact color that the chosen placeholder should display for all objects formatted with it.

Saving a Custom Color Scheme

Saving the color scheme is easy. After making your changes to the color scheme, but before clicking Apply (step 9 in the preceding steps), click the Add as Standard Scheme button. It's added to the color scheme thumbnails in the Slide Design pane. There's no need to name it.

Using Scheme Colors for Individual Object Formatting

Whenever there is an opportunity to select a color for an object in PowerPoint, the drop-down list shows the scheme's colors on its first row. Below that are menu items for opening dialog boxes (which I'll get into a bit later). Figure 2-15 shows a typical list.

Figure 2-15: Color selection for an object on the slide.

If you have chosen any non-scheme colors for any objects in the presentation (which I'll get into in Chapter 7), they will appear on menus in a row immediately below the scheme colors. In Figure 2-16, for example, there is one non-scheme color that has been used. Use non-scheme colors sparingly, as they don't automatically change when you apply a different color scheme.

Figure 2-16: Non-scheme colors appear on a separate row.