PowerPoint 2016: Slide Master View

The Slide Master view in PowerPoint 2016 is a powerful tool that allows you to customize the overall design and layout of your entire presentation. Using Slide Master can help ensure consistency across all slides as well as save time when designing your presentation.

What is Slide Master View?

The Slide Master view displays a thumbnail version of all the slide layouts and allows you to make global changes to your presentation. For example:

• Change theme colors and fonts
• Add design elements like logos or backgrounds
• Customize layouts
• Rearrange placeholders for titles, text, images etc.

Any changes made in Slide Master view will apply to all slides in your presentation. This helps keep the look consistent.

Why Use Slide Master View?

There are several key reasons to use the Slide Master view:

• Consistency – Easily update fonts, colors, logos across all slides
• Customization – Create new layouts or modify built-in layouts
• Efficiency – Make universal changes in one place instead of editing each slide
• Flexibility – Add unique design elements like logos and backgrounds
• Control – Rearrange placeholders and contents

Using Slide Master can save a tremendous amount of time compared to editing each individual slide.

How to Access Slide Master View

Accessing Slide Master view is easy:

1. Click on the View tab
2. Click on Slide Master in the Master Views group

This will open the Slide Master view and display thumbnails of all your slide layouts.

Parts of the Slide Master View

The Slide Master view contains the following key elements:

• Slide Pane – Displays thumbnail images of all slide layouts
• Slide Master – The top thumbnail that controls overall design
• Layout Masters – Remaining thumbnails that control individual layouts
• Close Master View – Button to exit Slide Master view

Use the Slide Pane to select a layout to customize.

Customizing in Slide Master View

Once in Slide Master view, you can customize various design elements:

Themes and Backgrounds

• Change theme colors and fonts for the entire presentation
• Apply custom background graphics or colors
• Add design elements like logos

Layouts and Placeholders

• Modify built-in slide layouts
• Create new custom layouts
• Rearrange title, text, image placeholders
• Resize placeholders

Slide Numbers, Footers

• Change position, size and look of slide numbers
• Add footers elements throughout the presentation

The changes made in Slide Master view will apply to all slides using that master.

Tips for Using Slide Master Effectively

• Open Slide Master early on when starting your presentation
• Make broad changes first, then modify individual layouts
• Use a simple, consistent design for maximum impact
• Don’t overcrowd slides with too many elements
• Use high quality graphics for best visual results

Conclusion

The Slide Master view allows you to truly customize PowerPoint 2016 with consistent design and branding. Taking the time to learn it will enable you to work smarter and faster when building presentations. Use Slide Master as your central dashboard to change the look and layout while maintaining your creative vision.