PowerPoint templates provide a quick way to create professional presentations by using pre-designed layouts, color schemes, fonts, and graphics. However, you may sometimes need to resize a template to fit your specific needs, like printing handouts or using a different slide aspect ratio.
Resizing PowerPoint templates is easy to do directly within PowerPoint. This article will walk you through the step-by-step process to resize templates for custom slide dimensions, standard vs widescreen formats, printing, and more.
Step 1: Open the PowerPoint Template File
First, open the PowerPoint template you want to resize. You can do this by:
- Navigating to File > Open in PowerPoint and browsing to the .potx template file
- Opening a presentation that already has the template applied
Once the file is open, you’ll resize the slides using the Design tab.
Step 2: Access the Slide Size Options
Go to the Design tab and click on “Slide Size” in the Customize group. This will open a drop-down menu with resize options.
Slide Size button
Step 3: Select a Standard Slide Size
For quick resizing, you can select one of the preset sizes:
- Standard (4:3): Best for printed handouts. Fits a standard 8.5 x 11” sheet of paper.
- Widescreen (16:9): Best for modern digital displays. Gives you more horizontal space.
PowerPoint will automatically scale down the contents to fit the new slide size.
Step 4 (Optional): Use a Custom Size
For precise control, select “Custom Slide Size” at the bottom. This opens the custom size window:
Custom Slide Size window
Here you can:
- Enter exact dimensions for the width and height
- Choose between landscape or portrait page orientation
- Select the content scaling behavior when resizing
Tip: Make sure to have “Don’t scale” selected when reducing size to prevent content overlap.
Step 5: Resize Slide Master Elements
When you resize a template, you’ll likely need to proportionally resize elements in the Slide Master.
To do this:
- Go to View > Master Views > Slide Master
- Select and resize any placeholders or graphics that need adjustment
- Close Master View when finished
This will scale the Slide Master to match your new slide dimensions.
Step 6: Save as a Custom Template
If you want to save your resized template for reuse:
- Go to the Design tab and click on the arrow below the templates
- Choose “Save Current Theme” at the bottom
- Give your custom template a name
- Click Save
You can then apply your resized template to new presentations later on.
Recap and Tips
Resizing a PowerPoint template is straightforward:
- Use preset sizes for quick 4:3 or 16:9 resizing
- Enter custom dimensions for fully customizable slides
- Adjust slide master elements like placeholders to match new size
- Save resized templates to easily reuse
Pro Tip: Create multiple templates with different sizes tailored to specific needs, like printing vs presentations.
With just a few clicks, you can resize templates in PowerPoint to perfectly fit your presentation needs.