Creating a New Presentation
Creating a new presentation is one of the most basic
commands you need to know in PowerPoint. You can
create a blank new presentation, such as the one that
appears when you open PowerPoint, or you can create a
new presentation based on a template.
Create a new blank presentation
1. Click the File tab on the Ribbon and select New.
The New tab of Backstage view appears. By default,the
Blank presentation option is already selected.
2. Make sure the Blank presentation option is selected
and click Create.
The new blank presentation appears in the
PowerPoint application screen.
Other Ways to Create a Blank Presentation: Press
<Ctrl> + <N>. Or, double-click the Blankpresentation
option in Backstage view.
Create a presentation from a template
1. Click the File tab on the Ribbon and select New.
Figure 1: The New tab of Backstage view.
The New tab of Backstage view appears. There areseveral
ways to create a new presentation from a template.
Recent templates: Select a template in the Recently
Used Templates area and click Create.
Sample templates: Click this category to view templates
that are already installed on your computer. Select the
template you want to use andclick Create.
Themes: Click Themes to open a gallery of
presentation themes. Select a theme you want touse for
your presentation and click Create.
My templates: Select My templates to open adialog
box that displays templates you have created and saved
on your computer.
New from existing: Select New from existing toopen a
dialog box that allows you to browse for apresentation on
your computer that you want to base a new presentation on.
This is like creating acopy of an existing file.
Office.com Templates: Click a category to view
templates that you can download from Office Online. Find
the template you want to use and click Download.
Opening a Presentation
Opening a presentation lets you use a presentation thatyou or someone else has previously created and then saved. This lesson
explains how to do this.
Open a presentation
You can locate presentation on your computer and simplydouble-
click it to open it, but you can also open a presentation from within
the PowerPoint program.
1. Click the File tab and select Open.
The Open dialog box appears. Next, you have to tellPowerPoint
where the file you want to open is located.
Other Ways to Open a Presentation:
Press <Ctrl> + <O>. Folders List Address bar Search box
2. Navigate to the location of the saved file.
The Open dialog box has several controls that make iteasy to navigate
to locations and find files on your computer:
Address bar: Click a location in the Address barto open it. Click
the arrow to the right of a location to view a list of folders within
that location. Select a folder from the list to open it.
Folders List: Shortcuts to common locations onyour computer,
such as the Desktop and Documents library.
Search box: This searches the contents— including subfolders—
of that window for the text that you type. If a file’s name, file content,
tags, orother file properties match the searched text, it will appear in
the search results. Search results appear as you enter text in the search
box. Figure 2: The Open dialog box. To open a file, youmust first
navigate to the folder where it is saved. Most new files are
3. Select a file and click Open. saved in the Documents folder by default.
PowerPoint displays the file in the window.
Tips
✓ To open a presentation that has been used recently,
click the File tab, click Recent, and select a
presentation from the Recent Presentations list.
✓ You can pin a presentation to the Recent
Presentations list so that it is always available there.
Click the Pin this document to the Recent
Documents list button next to the presentation that
you want to always be available. Click it again to
remove the presentation from the Recent
Presentations list.
Previewing and Printing aPresentation
Once you have created a presentation, and your computer is connected to a printer, you can print a copy. Before youdo this, it’s a good idea
to preview how it’s going to look.
1. Click the File tab and select Print.
Notice that the print settings and a preview of the document appear together, with print settings on theleft and a preview on the right.
Tip: Use the scroll bar or the page navigation controls
below the preview to view other pages inthe document.
Other Ways to Preview and Print: Press <Ctrl> + <P>.
After previewing the document, you can specify printing options, such as which pages or the numberof copies to print.
2. Specify printing options and click the Print button.The document is sent to
the printer.
Figure 3: The Print settings and Print Preview as shown in Backstage view. Use the print settings in the left
column to control how the document is printed. Use the print preview area inthe right column to preview how the
document will look when printed.
Saving a Presentation
After you’ve created a presentation, you need to save it ifyou want to use it again. Also, if you make changes to a presentation, you’ll
want to save it. You can even save a copy of an existing presentation with a new name, to a different location, or using a different file
type.
Save a new presentation
1. Click the Save button on the Quick Access Toolbar.
The Save As dialog box appears.
Other Ways to Save:
Folders List Address bar Search box
Press <Ctrl> + <S>. Or, click the File tab andselect Save.
2. Specify the drive and/or folder where you want to
save your presentation.
The Save As dialog box has several controls thatmake it easy to
navigate to locations on your computer:
Address bar: Click a location in the Address barto open it. Click
the arrow to the right of a location to view a list of folders within
that location. Select a folder from the list to open it.
Folders List: Shortcuts to common locations onyour computer,
such as the Desktop and Documents library.
Search box: This searches the contents— including subfolders—
of that window for the text that you type. If a file’s name, file content,
tags, or other file properties match the searched text, it will appear in
the search results. Search results appear as you enter text in the search
box.
Figure 4: The Save As dialog box. The Documentslibrary is the
3. Enter the file name in the File name text box. default location for saving, but you can change the save location
as necessary.
4. Click Save.
Save presentation changes
Once you make changes to a presentation you’ve saved before, you need to save it again.
1. Click the Save button on the Quick Access Toolbar.
Any changes you have made to the presentation aresaved.
Other Ways to Save:
Press <Ctrl> + <S>. Or, click the File tab andselect Save.
Save a presentation under a different name and/or location
You can save another copy of a saved document using a new name or in a new location.
1. Click the File tab and select Save As.The Save As dialog box appears.
2. Enter a different name for the file in the File name
Table 1: Common Presentation File Formats
text box
Navigate to a new location to save the file as File Type Description
necessary. PowerPoint The default format for
Presentation (.pptx) PowerPoint 2010 presentations.
3. Click Save. PowerPoint Macro- This file format supports macrosin
Enabled Presentation PowerPoint 2010.
Save a presentation as a different file type (.pptm)
Just as some people can speak several languages, PowerPoint 97- 2003 Presentations in this format canbe
PowerPoint can read and write in other file formats, Presentation (.ppt) used by all versions of
making it easier to share information between programs. PowerPoint.
PDF (.pdf) Use this format for files you wantto
1. Click the File tab and select Save As. share, but do not want to be
changed.
The Save As dialog box appears.
PowerPoint Show Presentations saved in this format
(.pps, .ppsx) will always open in Slide Show
2. Click the Save as type list arrow and select a file
view instead of Normal view.
format.
Windows Media Video The format for presentations that
3. Click Save. (.wmv) are saved as videos.
Closing a Presentation
When you’re done working on a presentation, you need toclose it.
1. Click the File tab and select Close.
The presentation closes. You can access the file againby opening it later.
Other Ways to Close a Presentation:
Press <Ctrl> + <W>. Or, click the Close buttonin the upper right corner of the PowerPoint window.
Tip: If you have multiple presentations open, clicking the active presentation’s Close button only closes that one presentation. The other
presentations remain open in their windows untilyou click their close buttons as well.
Trap: The Close button located in the title bar closes only the active presentation if there is more than presentation open. However, if there
is only one presentation open, it closes the presentation and causes you to exit the PowerPoint program entirely.
Close the PowerPoint presentation.
Figure 5: Closing a presentation.
Using Help
When you don’t know how to do something in PowerPoint
2010, look up your question in the PowerPoint Help files.
The PowerPoint Help files can answer your questions, offer
tips, and provide help for allof PowerPoint’s features.
Search for help
1. Click the Microsoft PowerPoint Help button ( ) on Enter search Browse help topic
the Ribbon. keywords here. categories.
The PowerPoint Help window appears.
Other Ways to Open the Help window:
Press <F1>.
2. Type what you want to search for in the “Type words
to search for” box and press <Enter>.
A list of help topics appears.
3. Click the topic that best matches what you’re looking
for.
PowerPoint displays information regarding the
selected topic.
Browse for help
1. Click the Microsoft PowerPoint Help button ( ) on
the Ribbon.
The PowerPoint Help window appears.
2. Click the category that you want to browse.
The topics within the selected category appear.
3. Click the topic that best matches what you’re looking
for.
Figure 6: The PowerPoint Help window.
PowerPoint displays information regarding the
selected topic.
Choose the Help source
If you are connected to the Internet, PowerPoint 2010
retrieves help from the Office Online database by default.
You can easily change this to meet your needs.
1. Click the Search button list arrow in the PowerPoint
Help window.
A list of help sources appears.
2. Select an option from the list.
Now you can search from that source.
Table 2: Help buttons
Tips
Return to the previous help
Back
✓ Office 2010 offers enhanced ScreenTips for many topic.
buttons on the Ribbon. You can use these ScreenTips Return to move forward to the
to learn more about what a button does and, where Forward next help topic after clicking
available, view a keystroke shortcut for the Back.
command. If you see the message “Press F1 for more
Stop the transfer of information
help”, press <F1> to get more information relative to Stop
from the online Help database.
that command.
Refresh the page to correct page
✓ When you are working in a dialog box, click the Refresh
layout or get the latest data.
Help button ( ) in the upper right-hand corner to get
help regarding the commands in the dialog box. Click here to return to the Help
Home
home page.
Click here to print the current
Print
help topic.
Click here to change the size of
Change Font Size
the text in the Help window.
Show Table of Click here to browse for help
Contents using the Table of Contents.
Click here to layer the Help
window so that it appears behind
Keep On Top
all other Microsoft Office
programs.
Exiting PowerPoint
When you’re finished using PowerPoint 2010, you should exit it. Exiting a program closes it until you need to use it again.
1. Click the File tab.
2. Click the Exit button.
The PowerPoint program window closes.
Other Ways to Exit PowerPoint:
If there is only one PowerPoint program windowopen, click
the Close button in the title bar. Or, right-click the
PowerPoint button on the taskbarand select Close window
from the Jump List.
Tips
✓ Having too many programs open at a time could slow
down your computer, so it’s a good idea to exit all
programs that aren’t being used.
Exit the PowerPoint program.
Exit the PowerPoint
program.
Figure7: Two ways to exit PowerPoint.
Inserting Slides and DeletingSlides
Slides are the building blocks of a presentation. This lesson will show you how to insert a new slide and how todelete a slide.
Insert a new slide
Inserting a new slide is quick and easy. Layout button
Click the Home tab on the Ribbon and click the New
Slide button in the Slides group. New Slide button Reset button
A new slide is added to the presentation.
New Slide button
list arrow
Other Ways to Insert a New Slide: Section button
Press <Ctrl> + <M>. Or, right-click a slide on
theSlides tab in the Outline pane and select New
Slide from the contextual menu. Figure 8: The Slides group on the Home tab.
Delete a slide
If you decide you don’t need a slide, delete it.
1. On the Slides tab in the Outline pane, select the slide
you want to delete.
2. Press <Delete>.
The slide is deleted.
Other Ways to Delete a Slide:
On the Slides tab in the Outline pane, right-click
the slide you want to delete and select Delete
Slide.
Selecting a Layout
If you don’t like the layout that has been assigned to the new slide by default, choose a new one. PowerPoint 2010gives
you nine different layouts to choose from, and you can even create your own custom layouts (more on this later) .
The layout name tells you which types of text and/or object placeholders are included in the layout; for example, the
Title and Content layout contains a titleplaceholder and a body text placeholder.
Select a layout Table 3: PowerPoint 2010 Slide Layouts
1. Click the Home tab on the Ribbon and click the
Title Slide
Layout button in the Slides group.
The Layout gallery appears.
Title and Content
2. Select the layout you want to use.
The new layout is applied to the slide.
Section Header
Other Ways to Select a Layout:
On the Slides tab in the Outline pane, right-click
the slide whose layout you want to change. Select Two Content
Layout from the contextual menu and select a
layout from the list.
Tip: If you don’t find a layout that meets your Comparison
needs perfectly, don’t fret; you can always
modify, move, or delete placeholders.
Title Only
Insert a new slide using the Layout gallery
You can insert a new slide and select a layout at the same
Blank
time using the Layout gallery.
1. Click the Home tab on the Ribbon and click the New
Slide button list arrow in the Slides group. Content with Caption
The Layout gallery appears, listing the available
layouts you have to choose from. Picture with Caption
2. Select a layout from the list.
A new slide with the selected layout is inserted into
the presentation.
Inserting Text
Every slide has one or more areas, called placeholders, where you can insert text. Placeholders are hard to miss, since
they’re labeled “Click to add title” or “Click to addtext,” and are extremely easy to work with.
1. Click the placeholder where you want to insert your Placeholders
text.
An insertion point appears inside the placeholder.
2. Start typing.
The new text appears on the slide.
Click to add title
Tips
✓ Placeholders grow and shrink to accommodate any
Click to add subtitle
text that you enter.
✓ If you are creating a bulleted list, press <Enter> after
each paragraph to add another bullet to the list.
✓ To learn how to move, resize, copy, or delete
placeholders, see the chapter on Working with Objects. Figure 9: Dotted lines surround empty placeholders.
Inserting a Text Box
Even though most slides have one or two placeholders for
you to insert text, it’s a good idea to learn how to insert
your own—especially if you plan on creating a blank
presentation any time soon.
Create a text box
1. Click the Insert tab on the Ribbon and click the Text
Box button in the Text group.
Text Box button
The pointer changes to a , indicating you can draw a
text box.
2. Position the mouse pointer where you would like to
insert the text box, and click and drag until the text
box reaches the desired size.
3. Release the mouse button.
Insert text in a text box
As soon as you finish creating a text box, a blinking
cursor appears inside it, indicating that you can add text.
Click the text box and start typing.
Figure 10: Inserting a text box.
Editing Text
Oftentimes you will need to go back and make some
changes to the text in a presentation; for example, perhaps
you’ll want to delete a bullet or insert a new title. Before
you can do any of these things, however, you need to
know how to select text. This lesson will show you how
to select, replace, and delete text.
Select text
There are several ways to select text in PowerPoint 2010:
Using the mouse: Move the mouse until the
insertion point is positioned before or after the text
you want to select. Then, click and hold down the
mouse button as you drag across the text. Release the
mouse button when the text you want to select is
highlighted.
Using the keyboard: Position the insertion point
before or after the text you want to select, press and
hold down the <Shift> key, and use the arrow keys to
select the text.
Using shortcuts: See the “Shortcuts for Selecting
Text” table to learn about selection shortcuts.
Figure 11: Text that is selected appears highlighted inblue.
Replace text
Once you have a block of text selected, anything you type
will replace the selected text.
1. Select the text that you want to replace.
2. Type the new text.
The selected text is replaced with the new text.
Delete text Table 4: Shortcuts for Selecting Text
You can delete any selected text simply by pressing the To select a word Double-click the word.
<Delete> key.
To select a line or Triple-click the line or sentence.
sentence
1. Select the text you want to delete.
To select all the Click the slide icon ( ) on the Outline
2. Press <Delete>. text on a slide tab in the Outline pane.
To select all the Press <Ctrl> + <A>.
The text is deleted.
text in a text box
Moving and Copying Text
You can easily move text to a new location in a
presentation by cutting or copying it and then pasting it in
the new location.
Tips
✓ In addition to text, you can cut, copy, and paste just
about any item in a presentation, including clip art,
shapes, placeholders, and tables.
Copy text
Cut
Paste button
When you copy text, the selected text remains in its
original location and a copy of it is added to a temporary Copy
storage area called the Clipboard. Format Painter
Paste button
list arrow
1. Select the text or object you want to copy.
2. Click the Home tab on the Ribbon and click the Figure 12: The Clipboard group on the Home tab.
Copy button in the Clipboard group.
Notice that unlike cutting, the original text remains in
the document.
Other Ways to Copy:
Press <Ctrl> + <C>. Or, right-click the text you
want to copy and select Copy from the contextual
menu.
3. Select the location where you want to paste the
copied content.
4. Click the Home tab on the Ribbon and click the
Paste button in the Clipboard group.
The copied text or object is pasted to the new
location.
Other Ways to Paste:
Press <Ctrl> + <V>. Or, right-click where you
want to paste and select Paste from the contextual
menu.
Move text
Moving text typically involves the process of cutting and
pasting. When you cut text, it is removed from its original
location and placed in the Clipboard.
1. Select the text or object you want to cut.
2. Click the Home tab on the Ribbon and click the Cut
button in the Clipboard group.
The text or object is removed from the slide and
placed on the Clipboard.
Other Ways to Cut:
Press <Ctrl> + <X>. Or, right-click the text you
want to cut and select Cut from the contextual
menu.
3. Select the location where you want to paste the cut
content.
4. Click the Home tab on the Ribbon and click the
Paste button in the Clipboard group.
The copied text or object is pasted to the new
location.
Other Ways to Paste:
Press <Ctrl> + <V>. Or, right-click where you
want to paste and select Paste from the contextual
menu.
Move and copy text using the mouse
Using the mouse to move and copy text is even faster and
more convenient than using the cut, copy and paste
commands.
1. Select the text or object you want to move.
2. Point to the new text or object.
3. Click and hold the mouse button.
4. Drag the pointer to where you want to move the
selected text or object and then release the mouse
button.
Tips
✓ Press and hold the <Ctrl> key while clicking and
dragging to copy the selection.
