PowerPoint 2004 Slide Master question

[format_jen]

I am working on a presentation that was created by another person. It
seems they have overridden the slide master in over half of the slides
and I was wondering how I remove their local changes. I've gone into
the slide master window and while looking at the slide thumbnail,
changed the font in the titlebar (in the slide master) However, there
isn't a change on the actual slide (in the thumbnail in slide master
view). I think these slides have somehow been detached from the master.
How do I reattach? I've seen responses that say to reattach using the
"Slide Design" palette but I assumed that palette houses the templates
and not the slide masters.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Jennifer

 

[CyberTaz]

Hi Jennifer -

If modifying the Slide Master doesn't reformat the text, I doubt that
applying a different Design Template will make any difference either. If you
format the Slide & Title Masters, then go to each slide & reselect the
appropriate *Slide Layout* from the Formatting Palette it should reformat
the Placeholders accordingly.

It sounds like the creator of the file may have used regular text boxes
and/or AutoShapes to contain the text rather than the standard Title, Sub
Title & Bulleted List Placeholders. To find out, select a Title content &
delete it, then press the Esc key to see if the "Click to add Title"
instruction reappears in the box. If the box remains empty, it indicates
that it is *not* a placeholder.

If that is the case, each box will have to be reformatted individually as
PPt doesn't offer a Find & Replace for formatting (the best you have is
Format>Replace Fonts which doesn't apply to size, style. color, etc.) &
reapplying the Layout won't help. Someone may be able to offer a VBA
solution to automate the process, but that's out of my realm.

Regards |:>)

 

[format_jen]

CyberTaz,

Thanks for your response. I have tried reapplying the slide layout to
no avail. I will double-check to see if the text was placed in text
boxes instead of the placeholders. However I was already afraid that I
would have to go through each slide and change the font myself.

Thanks for your help! It is much appreciated.

Jennifer

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

CyberTaz,

Thanks for your response. I have tried reapplying the slide layout to
no avail. I will double-check to see if the text was placed in text
boxes instead of the placeholders. However I was already afraid that I
would have to go through each slide and change the font myself.

Here's an easy way to tell:

If the text appears on both the slide and in the outline, it's in placeholders;
if it's not in the outline, the text has been added using regular text boxes
and changing the master won't help.

If it's in the outline but reapplying the slide layout doesn't change anything,
try reapplying again a time or two. Sometimes that's necessary if the text's
formatting has been overridden by the user.

Worst case, you have to reformat LOTS of individual text boxes, use the Format
Painter brush. Format one text box to taste then, with it selected,
DOUBLE-click the format painter brush. That will keep it active until you
press ESC or click the icon again (normally it's a one shot deal). Now you can
click each text box once to apply all the formatting at once. Major time
saver.


================================================
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================

 

[format_jen]

Wonderful tips!! Thanks so much.

Jennifer : )