How to Change Theme and Theme Color in Google Slides

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Choosing an attractive and appropriate theme is key to creating an effective presentation in Google Slides. Themes allow you to quickly apply color schemes, fonts, backgrounds, and layouts to give your presentation a cohesive look and feel.

While Google Slides offers several built-in theme options to choose from, you may want to customize the theme further to match your brand colors or tailor it to your presentation content. Fortunately, Google Slides makes it easy to edit theme colors and even import new themes.

In this article, we’ll walk through the steps to change themes and edit theme colors in Google Slides. Whether you want to tweak the default themes or create a custom color palette from scratch, these tips will help you design the perfect theme.

How to Change Themes in Google Slides

Changing themes in Google Slides allows you to instantly give your presentation a new look. Here are the steps:

  1. Open your Google Slides presentation and select a slide.
  2. Click on the Slide tab at the top and choose Change Theme. Alternatively, you can click on the Themes icon in the toolbar. Change Theme option in Google Slides toolbar
  3. The Themes panel will appear on the right. Click through the various themes to preview how they will look. Themes panel in Google Slides
  4. When you find a theme you like, click on it to apply it to your presentation. The new theme will be applied to all slides.

To access additional themes not included in the default options:

  1. At the bottom of the Themes panel, click Import theme.
  2. Select a Google Slides or PowerPoint presentation from your Google Drive to import its theme.
  3. Choose the specific theme you want to import and click Import theme.

The imported theme will now be available alongside the built-in options for you to use.

How to Edit Theme Colors in Google Slides

You can customize the color scheme of any theme in Google Slides using the built-in color editing tools:

  1. Select any slide and click Slide > Edit theme at the top.
  2. In the toolbar that appears, click Colors. Editing theme colors in Google Slides
  3. In the Theme colors panel on the right, use the drop-down menu to choose one of the pre-defined theme colors to edit. The different types include:
    • Primary text and background
    • Accent colors
    • Secondary text and lines
    • Links
  4. With a theme color selected, you have several options to change its shade:
    • Choose from the default color palette
    • Enter a HEX color code
    • Use the hue slider to select any color
    • Adjust the transparency
  5. Continue tweaking different theme colors as needed. The changes will apply instantly to your presentation.
  6. When done, close the Colors panel by clicking the X in the upper right.

By customizing theme colors this way, you can create a color scheme that perfectly matches your brand, charts and graphs, or presentation topic.

How to Change Background Color or Image

The slide background in Google Slides refers to the color or image that sits behind the actual content. It’s a great way to add visual interest or reinforce your theme. Here’s how to customize it:

Changing Background Color

  1. Select the slide(s) you want to modify.
  2. Click Slide > Change background.
  3. In the panel that opens, click the color box under Solid color.
  4. Choose a predefined color or create a custom one using the color picker.
  5. For a single slide, click Done. For multiple slides or the entire presentation, click Add to theme.

Changing Background Image

  1. Select the slide(s) to customize.
  2. Click Slide > Change background.
  3. Next to Image, click Choose.
  4. Select an image from your Google Drive or device.
  5. Click Select and then Done or Add to theme.

Adjusting the background is an easy way to alter the look and feel of your slides without changing themes entirely.

Conclusion

Knowing how to tweak themes and theme colors gives you creative control when designing Google Slides presentations. Take advantage of the built-in customization tools to match colors to your brand, reinforce information hierarchy, and make individual slides stand out.

With a few simple clicks, you can:

  • Change themes
  • Edit pre-defined theme colors
  • Create custom color palettes
  • Adjust background colors and images

So don’t settle for the default settings—put your own stamp on presentations by utilizing Google Slides theming options. Just remember to maintain color consistency across slides as you design for a professional, polished look.

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