powerpoint 2008 multiple themes

D

don731

We normally construct ppt shows in 2004 with different backgrounds for each slide in the show. We see no way in 2008 to do that. There is a tab in 2008 for "themes in presentation" that will show all the different "themes" when we open an old show from 2004, but we are unable to change the theme (background) for an individual slide as we do in 2004. We understand the theme concept, but the options for changing one slide's background in 2008 do not support a .pot type of background.

Any help here? We thought of converting the old 2004 backgrounds to .jpg files, and using them as background pictures for an individual slide in 2008, but then the 2004 background functionality is lost when it comes to test box formatting, etc.

So far, we are very disappointed with the ppt 2008 functionality, even though the intuition is quite improved.

Cheers,
Don in Chicagoland
 
C

Cindylu

Go up top and click Format, Format Background, the on the left side click Fill and then choose Solid (where you can chose any color you wish), Gradient, Picture or Texture. Then click Apply and it will become the new background for that particular slide.
 
D

don731

Cindylu:

Thanks for your reply, but that is not quite what we are looking for. We are looking to use multiple themes, a different one for each slide, not just a background color or texture. If we import a 2004 powerpoint with different backgrounds, they all show up in the "Themes in Presentation" tab, but you cannot change them or replace them without changing all slides to the same theme.

Cheers,
Don in Chicagoland
 
M

Matt Centurión [MSFT]

Date: 1/19/08 3:51 PM / From: "(e-mail address removed)"
We normally construct ppt shows in 2004 with different backgrounds for each
slide in the show. We see no way in 2008 to do that. There is a tab in 2008
for "themes in presentation" that will show all the different "themes" when we
open an old show from 2004, but we are unable to change the theme (background)
for an individual slide as we do in 2004. We understand the theme concept,
but the options for changing one slide's background in 2008 do not support a
.pot type of background.

Any help here? We thought of converting the old 2004 backgrounds to .jpg
files, and using them as background pictures for an individual slide in 2008,
but then the 2004 background functionality is lost when it comes to test box
formatting, etc.

So far, we are very disappointed with the ppt 2008 functionality, even though
the intuition is quite improved.

Cheers,
Don in Chicagoland

I¹m not sure why this is so but you can apply different themes to different
slides if you have at least 2 slides selected in the thumbnail view.
Otherwise if you only have 1 slide selected it thinks that you want to
change the theme of all slides in the presentation with that theme for
another.

If you only have 1 slide per theme you want to apply to, then just create an
empty slide a the end of your presentation and simply select the 1st two
slides, apply your theme, then select the 2nd & 3rd slides and apply your
theme and so on... OR you can use CMD-Click to select the 1st & last empty
slide and apply a theme, then select the 2nd & last slide and apply a
different theme. All in all the trick is to have at least 2 slides selected
when applying your theme.

Maybe someone with more PPT expertise will have a better solution.

Matt
MacOffice Testing
Microsoft
 
D

don731

Thanks Matt!

That is exactly what we want to do. I also do not know why you need to have two slides selected at once, but it does work! Is there some other view besides the thumbnail view that might allow you to do just one slide?

Appreciate the help!
Don
 
D

don731

Although if you import a .ppt from 2004 with the backgrounds(themes) already on each slide, this procedure just overlays another background (theme) on top of the old one.

Any help?

Thanks!

Don
 
G

Guest

I selected at least two slides and when I tried to create different layouts for each slide it would just change them all to the same one again. What should I do?
 
H

HK

I am getting very frustrated. In Mac Office 2004 you could keep the slide design when copying and pasting slides in preferences. In Office 2008, the slides always change to the design of the presentation you are pasting to.

Is there away around this?
 
A

AJ

I am getting very frustrated. In Mac Office 2004 you could keep the slide
design when copying and pasting slides in preferences. In Office 2008, the
slides always change to the design of the presentation you are pasting to.

Is there away around this?

Yes - Choose "Insert > Slides from > other presentation" then in the new
dialogue box there is an option to "select slides to insert".

Select some or all of them AND check the box to "keep design of original
slides"

Not totally obvious but it works perfectly.
 
R

Rocketboy

To do this, you would have to go to the view option and click master. then
click master slides and change the background from there.
 

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