Add Color

There are a number of different methods you can use to add color. First we’ll use some basic methods and then try some “exotic” effects.

First, go to Slide Sorter View by clicking-on the Slide Sorter button in the lower left corner of your screen.

Then click-on Slide 1. By being in Slide Sorter View you’ll be able to see the different color effects in several slides at the same time.

The following Slide Design Task Pane will appear in the right area of your PowerPoint screen. As you can see, PowerPoint 2003 uses the right side of the screen for just about anything on which you’re working.

Notice at the top of this Slide Design area that it indicates Design Templates, Color Schemes, and Animation Schemes.

We’ll choose Color Schemes to begin our slide coloring process. So, click-on Color Schemes and the right area of your screen will change to the Slide Design Task Pane below.

As you can see, in the Slide Design Task Pane to the left, there are several color schemes from which you can choose (notice the elevator bar on the right side of the Apply a color scheme choices). We moved down the list of color schemes and are going to choose the dark blue scheme you see below. Be careful and follow the instructions just below this blue slide selection.

Look at the image to the right. Notice, once again, when you move your cursor over the right side of the blue slide, you see a small down arrow. Click-on this down arrow and select Apply to Selected Slides (in our case Slide 1). Notice in Slide Sorter View that Slide 1 now has this Color Scheme.

Note: If you accidentally clicked-on the selection Apply to all Slides – all the slides in Slide Sorter view were colored with this Color Scheme. To “undo” this mistake click the Undo button at the top of the screen in the button bar. It looks like an arrow pointing in a counter clockwise direction (like the one to the right). One click-on it and you’re ready to try coloring just Slide 1 again. Later on you might want all of your slides to have the same Color Scheme – you now know what to do.

If you do not like the color of the blue background (or the text color, bar fill colors or arrow color) you can change them by moving your cursor over Edit Color Schemes… at the bottom of the Slide Design Task Pane. Click-on Edit Color Schemes.

In the Edit Color Scheme menu that appears (see below image), you’ll notice that the Custom Tab is highlighted. You’ll also see that your blue slide scheme does not appear in the lower right corner of the screen.

To select our color scheme, so that we may change the colors, we’ll click-on the Standard Tab in the image above. This will cause the Standard view for Edit Color Scheme to appear.

Now we’ll click-on our blue color scheme, and then click-on the Custom Tab at the top of the screen. This will allow us to edit our colors. Your screen should look similar to the one below.

Select Background (or any of the other Scheme colors) by clicking-on the “color square” to the left of the item you desire to change. Then click-on the Change Color button. Choose a color you like from the color “chart” and then click-on OK.

If you change some of the colors in the Edit Color Scheme, it is a good idea to click-on the button at the bottom of the screen – Add As Standard Scheme.

When you click-on Add As Standard Scheme – it will appear that nothing has happened. But when you Click-on the Apply button you will see that EVERY slide in Sorter View is changed to the new color scheme – even if you only wanted one slide changed.

This is not a big deal however, for when you clicked Apply, the new color scheme was added to your Apply a Color Scheme in the Slide Design Task Pane.

If you only want your new color scheme on one slide, click-on that slide. Then, go to the bottom of the Slide Design Task Pane and click-on the down arrow on the right side of your new color scheme and click Apply to Selected Slides. You will see your one slide has your new color scheme.

Be very careful when you are working with background colors. Many times color changes will make the text on the slide hard to read against a background. All of the templates in PowerPoint are OK with color and text, but when you start changing either the background or text color, you may create a slide where the text is hard to see. So, again be careful – and remember the Undo Arrow.

You can try this on several slides, if you want. Once you have the hang of it, there are several ways you can enhance these effects.

You should still be in Slide Sorter View. If you are not, click-on the Slide Sorter button at the bottom left of the screen.

Click-on Slide 2. We’ll do something different to place a colored background in this slide.

The Background Menu Screen (like the one on the right) will appear. Click-on the small down arrow in the bottom portion of this screen. Now click-on Fill Effects.

Notice, in the Fill Effects Screen Menu below, that there are a number of choices (tabs at the top) – Gradient, Texture, Pattern and Picture (see arrows below). Well discuss each of these selections below.

Click-on several of the Shading Styles (Horizontal, Vertical, etc.) and observe the effects in the lower right in the Variants and Sample areas. Notice that there are four choices in the Variants area. As you click-on each of the individual “squares” the choice will appear in the Sample area. If you click on OK, at any time, the Background you see in the Sample will be the background on the slide. You will return to the Background Menu screen when you click-on OK. You will see a miniature version of what your slide will look like in the lower right corner of the Background menu screen. Click the OK button to see a miniature preview of your slide.

Note there are three color choices: One color, Two colors and Preset. If you click-on one of these, you will see the same color choices that you saw when you used them for text. So, have some fun and “click-away.”

Note the other tabs at the top of the Fill Effects menu screen. Click-on Texture and Pattern and observe the effects. In Texture, use the “elevator bar” to the right of the textures to see all the selections. Click-on the Texture of your choice. In Patterns, you simply click-on the Pattern of your choice. Click the OK button to see a miniature preview of your slide.

If you want your entire slide to have a picture as its Background, this is what the last tab is for. You need to click-on Select Picture. This will take you to the Windows “Open File” menu screen and then you can select a picture you have saved. The FrontPage 2000, 2002, and 2003 tutorials go into this in great detail. When you have the picture you like, click-on OK and then click-on Apply.