Formatting

Working with Bullets

Bullets are small dots that come before a list of items. By convention, a bulleted list looks like this:

• This is a bulleted list. Each item has a dot before it. The second line of the text is lined up with the first letter of the first line and the bullets sticks out to the left.
• The second line of the text should not go back to the left margin. In fact a bulleted list is formatted just like a numbered list, except that is uses bullets instead of numbers.

In PowerPoint bulleted lists are the most common type of text. The best way to create bulleted text is to use a slide layout that contains a text placeholder. These placeholders are automatically formatted for bulleted text. Just start typing. Press Enter to create the next bullet.

To delete a lone bullet, place the cursor to the right of the bullet and press Backspace.

To format a bulleted list:

Select the bulleted text and choose Format > Bullet. In the Bullet dialog box, you can choose another form of bullet, change its size, and change its color. (In PowerPoint 2000, you can use this dialog box to create picture bullets. Click Picture to choose a picture for the bullets.)

To change the distance between the bullet and the text, you need to use the ruler. Follow these steps:

1. Choose View > Ruler to display the ruler, if it is not already displayed.
2. Select the bulleted text.
3. To increase the distance between the bullet and the text, drag the indent markers to the right.
4. To decrease the distance between the bullet and the text, drag the indent markers to the left, closer to the margin marker.

To change the distance between the bullet and the text for the entire presentation, do it on the Slide Master.

Changing Text Color

1. Display the Drawing toolbar if necessary. (View > Toolbars > Drawing.)
2. Select the text.
3. Click the arrow to the right of the Font Color button (it has a letter "A" on it).
4. Choose one of the available colors.
5. Deselect the text to see the result.

Copying Formatting from One Place to Another An easy way to format text is to copy the formatting from some place else that has the formatting you want. Formatting includes font, font size, font color, bold, italic, underlining, and so on. Here's how:

1. Select the text that has the formatting you want.
2. Click the Format Painter button on the Standard toolbar. (It looks like a paintbrush.)
3. Select the text you want to format.

Tip: To format several different sections of text with the same format, double-click the Format Painter button. Select the text that has the formatting you want, then select all the sections of text that you want to format. Double-click the Format Painter button again (to turn it off).

Aligning Text

Highlight the text.and click an alignment button from the Formatting Toolbar (Align Left, Center, Align Right, Justify). Justified text has a straight margin on both sides. You can also click an alignment button just before you type text, to align it in advance.

Using the Slide Master

The Slide Master controls formatting for your entire presentation, except for your title slide (a slide using the Title layout). Any formatting changes you want to make to the entire presentation should be made here, rather than on the individual slides. Use the Slide Master to create a unified look. When creating your own backgrounds and templates, the Slide Master is the key to creating the look you want.

To display the Slide Master: Press Shift and click the Slide view icon (or choose View > Master > Slide Master).

To format the Slide Master: Format the Slide Master as you would format any slide, using any of PowerPoint tools. You can change the font, bullet type, colors, background, and so on. Anything that you put on the Slide Master appears on every slide. For example, you can add a company logo to every slide in this way.

To return to your presentation: Click Close on the small Master toolbar that appears when you open the Slide Master.

Tip: To create exceptions on individual slides, you can choose Format > Background and check Omit background graphics from Master." Then click Apply. PowerPoint deletes the graphics from the Slide Master for that slide only. Use this technique when you have a graphic, such as a logo, that doesn't fit on a particular slide.

Adding Slide Numbers, Headers and Footers

1. Choose View > Header and Footer.
2. On the Slide tab, check the options you want.
3. If you add the Date and time, choose whether you want it to update automatically (so it always shows today's date, for example) and choose the format from the drop-down list.
4. If you choose a Footer, type the text you want there in the text box. This is a good place to put your department or name.
5. Click Apply to All to apply the settings to all slides. Click Apply to apply the settings to the current slide only.

The formatting and location of the slide numbers, date and time, and footer are controlled on the Slide Master.

Creating and Using Tables

Use tables whenever you need to present data that can't be quantified. (For quantifiable data, think about creating a chart.)

To create a table

1. Add a slide with the the table slide layout.
2. Double-click the table placeholder.
3. Choose the number of rows and columns you want. Be sure to add a row or column for your headings. (You can always adjust the table later.) Click OK. PowerPOint creates the table.
4. Type the text/data you want in the table. Press Tab to move to the next cell. Don't worry about the formatting yet.
5. Click outside the table to see the results.

To modify a table:

To add a row or column:

1. Double-click the table to open it.
2. Click where you want to add the row or column.
3. From the Table menu, choose Insert Rows or Insert Columns . If the command isn't available, first choose Select Row or Select Column. (In PowerPoint 2000, use the Table drop-down menu of the Tables and Borders toolbar that appears when you double-click the table.)

To delete a row or column:

1. Double-click the table to open it.
2. Click where you want to delete the row or column.
3. From the Table menu, choose Delete Rows or Insert Columns . If the command isn't available, first choose Select Row or Select Column. (In PowerPoint 2000, use the Table drop-down menu of the Tables and Borders toolbar that appears when you double-click the table.)

To adjust the row or column size:

1. Double-click the table to open it. (In PowerPoint 2000, skip this step.)
2. Place the cursor over the row or column border until you see a two-headed arrow and drag in the desired direction.

To format a table:

• Double-click the table and choose Format > Borders and Shading to add borders and shading for the table. (In PowerPoint 2000, use the Borders and Fill Color buttons on the Tables and Border toolbar.
• To format the text, double-click the table, select the text and format it as you normally would. You can change the font, font size, font color, alignment, etc. Don't forget to change the font color if necessary for legibility against your background.

When you're done, click anywhere outside the table to see the results.

Tip: If you can't see your table text, it is probably the same color as your background. Double-click the table, select the text and choose a new color from the Font Color drop-down list.

Creating a Chart

Use a chart when you want to present complex, quantifiable data. PowerPoint has powerful charting capabilities. Follow these steps:

Creating a chart:

1. Create a slide with a chart placeholder (you have three options).
2. Double-click the chart placeholder.
3. PowerPoint opens a datasheet with dummy data. You can type your own data on the datasheet or copy data from an Excel spreadsheet to the Clipboard, for example, and paste the data into the datasheet. If the datasheet has more rows or columns than you need, click the row or column heading, and press Delete.
4. PowerPoint automatically creates the chart using the default chart type. Click anywhere outside the chart to see the results.

Editing a chart: All charts need editing to maximize clarity and effectiveness. First double-click the chart to open it, then use these techniques:

• To format an element, right-click/Ctrl + click it and choose the Format item for that element from the menu. Makes the desired changes in the dialog box and click OK. To remove gridlines and certain other features, right-click/Ctrl + click and choose Clear from the menu.
• To change the chart type, choose Chart > Chart Type from the menu (which is changed when you have a chart open). You can choose a new type from the left and then a sub-type from the right of the dialog box.
• Use the Data menu to change how your data is organized on the axes, either Series in Rows or Series in Columns. (Try each option to see which gives you the result you want.)
• Choose Chart > Chart Options to set detailed options for your chart, such as adding data labels giving the exact value for each bar.

Tip: Simpler charts are clearer. Try removing gridlines and using 2D charts for clarity.