Quick PowerPoint Tips

Ahh, PowerPoint the presentation program everyone has a love/hate relationship with. But never fear, here are a couple of quick tips that might just make your day when it comes to putting a presentation together – this is not an in-depth how-to … more like a few helpful hints to help prevent premature hair loss.

Arggg, my stuff is all misaligned, it looks kinda crappy?

Make use of the Arrange > Align menu item, select all the elements you want to be aligned and choose an option (align left, right, top or bottom) it will clean stuff up quick-smart. There is also an option for distributing objects evenly in here too. Just roughly lay out your objects making sure that you have your first and last object in the series in the correct position and then choose Arrange > Distribute (horizontally or vertically).   

Why is my PPT such a big file, I want to make it smaller!

Ok, so this one is a tough one because it is all about compromises. Here are a couple of cut-throat ways to make your PPT smaller:

  1. Take stuff out
    • Removing content on your slides
    • Removing images and graphics (backgrounds)
    • Trimming down the master templates (getting rid of master template styles you are not going to use – like that sideways one towards the end, totally weird!).
  2. Reduce the quality or size of images
    • Instead of using vector images (eps or just pasting in illustrations from illustrator directly) save out your vectors as PNG files at 72dpi at the size you want them shown on the screen – they wont look as crisp as pasted vectors, but it will save a ton of file space and it is very close in quality to the vectors.
    • Size photos and graphics to the correct size to show them on screen. For instance, a full-cover background for a 4:3 it’s 1024px x 768px and for 16:9 it’s 1920px x 1080px – keep your photos under these sizes and it will help reduce file size.

I want to use my brand colors, but PPT disagrees and all my hyperlinks are pink!

Ok, so this one is cool, you can sample colors for your PPT from your logo or other graphics you bring into it. Just navigate to Format > Theme Colors. This will bring up a dialogue box where you can select a default PPT color and change it to your brand colors. Don’t forget to name your color profile and apply to all. 

You can then choose this profile from the Theme Options menu:

Happy POWERpointing.

I hope these quick tips will help you make a better/faster/leaner presentation and help you keep your hair on your head … you look great today, way to go! Contact us for help improving your PowerPoint presentations.


Post by Jannah Lyon