To make your presentation use a powerpoint background

If you wish to make an existing presentation use an Awesome Background, do the following:

PowerPoint 2002 / XP / 2003

1. Open your existing presentation
2. Choose the "Format" menu
3. Select the "Slide Design" option
4. The Slide Design task pane will appear
5. Powerpoint will show three sections of templates
   - Used in this Presentation
   - Recently Used
   - Available for use
   
6. To tell powerpoint to look for new templates you need to click the tiny blue text marked Browse
7. Then it's just a case of telling powerpoint where you have decided to store your new templates
8. Navigate to where you have stored your templates
   e.g C:\AwesomeBackgrounds\, by clicking the "drop-down",
9. Then My Computer, Drive C: Then the folder AwesomeBackgrounds
10. Select any of the files, e.g. ab-Bright-Idea-01 and click "Apply"
11. PowerPoint will apply this template, and also make it available in the "Recently used" list
12. Your presentation will now have the style of the new awesome powerpoint background

PowerPoint 97/2000

1. Open your existing presentation
2. Choose the "Format" menu
3. Select the "Apply Design..." option
4. Navigate to where the awesome powerpoint background file is located
5. Click on the presentation template you require
6. Then click on "Apply"
7. Your presentation will now have the style of the new awesome powerpoint background

Make awesome templates readily available in powerpoint

Making the templates more readily available to browse through is a 3 step process:

1) Find the correct folder where your existing powerpoint templates are currently stored

2) Move your new awesome templates to that folder

3) Create a new presentation with, or apply awesome templates to your presentations

The folder in which standard powerpoint templates are stored, is different depending on your version of powerpoint and how it was installed. Please follow the instructions below for your version of powerpoint.

PowerPoint 2002 / XP / 2003

When you go "File" > "New" > "On My Computer", powerpoint will show all the available templates available in 3 nicely divided sections, "General", "Design templates" and "Presentations". These instructions explain how to add an additional "tab", just for your "Awesome Templates":

A) Find the correct folder where your existing powerpoint templates are currently stored

1. Start powerpoint
2. Click on "Save As.."
3. Click on the drop down menu "Save as type"
4. Choose "Design template (*.pot)"
5. 
6. Click the "down arrow" to show the full path to the correct folder
7. 
8. The full path to your templates folder is likely to follow this system
   
9. C:\documents and settings\YourUserName\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates\
10. Make a new folder called Awesome by clicking the "new folder" icon (shown above). This is where we are going to move the awesome templates to, in step (B).
11. 
12. Click OK to accept the new folder name
13. Click Cancel
14. That's it

B) Move your new awesome templates to that folder

1. Click "start" on your windows XP desktop
2. Choose "My Computer"
3. Double click "Drive C: / Boot C: Local Disk C:"
4. You should see a list of folders. If you've extracted the awesome backgrounds from the downloaded EXE file, to the default folder, then your awesome backgrounds will be in the folder called "AwesomeBackgrounds"
5. So double click the folder called AwesomeBackgrounds
6. Select every single file in that folder by going to the "edit" menu > "Select all"
7. Edit menu > Cut
8. You need to navigate to the new folder we created in Step (A), so close any windows to keep things simple, by clicking the 'X' in the top right of each window
9. Again, click "start" on your windows XP desktop
10. Choose "My Computer"
11. Double click "Drive C: / Boot C: Local Disk C:"
12. You should see a list of folders.
13. This time we need to navigate to the same folder we made in Step (A), so if the folder you found in Step (A) was
    C:\documents and settings\YourUserName\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates\
14. Double click the folder called Documents and Settings,
15. Then double click "yourusername", or whatever is your login name e.g. "John"
16. Keep double clicking each folder until your reach "Templates"
17. If you created a new folder in Step (A), you should see one last folder called Awesome
18. Double click the folder called Awesome
19. Edit menu > Paste
20. The computer will now move all your new awesome templates to
    C:\documents and settings\YourUserName\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates\Awesome
21. Close any windows by clicking the red 'X' in the top right of each window
22. That's it

C) Create a new presentation with, or apply awesome templates to your presentations

Create a new presentation
1. Start powerpoint
2. File menu > New
3. Choose "On My Computer"
4. As well as the normal "General, Design Templates and Presentations" tabs, you should see a new tab called Awesome.
5. Click the tab called Awesome and you will see a list of template names
6. Choose a template by clicking the filename e.g. ab-Bright-Idea-01.pot
7. Powerpoint will show a preview of the template to the right
8. Click OK to select that template
9. That's it

Apply an awesome template to your presentation
1. Start powerpoint
2. Open your existing presentation as normal
3. Format menu
4. Choose "Slide design"
5. The Slide Design task pane will appear
6. Powerpoint will show three sections of templates
   - Used in this Presentation
   - Recently Used
   - Available for use
   
7. To tell powerpoint to look for new templates you need to click the tiny blue text marked Browse
8. Double click the folder called Awesome within
   C:\documents and settings\YourUserName\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates\Awesome
9. Select any of the files, e.g. ab-Bright-Idea-01 and click "Apply"
10. PowerPoint will apply this template, and also make it available in the "Recently used" list
11. Your presentation will now have the style of the new awesome powerpoint background

Top Tip: If you only have a few templates (less than 20), then it makes sense to just put them all in
C:\documents and settings\YourUserName\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates
Then they will always be listed in the "Available for use" section in the "slide design" task pane.

PowerPoint 97 / 2000

When you go "File" > "New", powerpoint will show all the available templates available in 4 nicely divided sections, "General", "Presentation Designs", "Presentations" and "Web Pages". These instructions explain how to add an additional "tab", just for your "Awesome Templates":

A) Find the correct folder where your existing powerpoint templates are currently stored

1. Start powerpoint
2. Click on "Save As.."
3. Click on the drop down menu "Save as type"
4. Choose "Presentation Template (*.pot)"
5. 
6. Click the "down arrow" to show the full path to the correct folder
7. 
8. The full path to your templates folder is likely to follow this system
   
9. C:\Program files\Microsoft Office\Templates
10. Make a new folder called Awesome by clicking the "new folder" icon. This is where we are going to move the awesome templates to in step (B).
11. 
12. Click OK to accept the new folder name
13. Click Cancel
14. That's it

B) Move your new awesome templates to that folder

1. Double Click "My Computer" on your windows desktop
2. Double click "Drive C: / Boot C: Local Disk C:"
3. You should see a list of folders. If you've extracted the awesome backgrounds from the downloaded EXE file, to the default folder, then your awesome backgrounds will be in the folder called "AwesomeBackgrounds"
4. So double click the folder called AwesomeBackgrounds
5. Select every single file in that folder by going to the "edit" menu > "Select all"
6. Edit menu > Cut
7. You need to navigate to the new folder we created in Step (A), so close any windows to keep things simple, by clicking the 'X' in the top right of each window
8. Again, Double Click "My Computer" on your windows desktop
9. Double click "Drive C: / Boot C: Local Disk C:"
10. You should see a list of folders.
11. This time we need to navigate to the same folder we made in Step (A), so if the folder you found in Step (A) was
    C:\Program files\Microsoft Office\Templates\Awesome
12. Double click the folder called Program Files,
13. Then double click "Microsoft Office"
14. Double click "Templates"
15. Double click the folder called Awesome
16. Edit menu > Paste
17. The computer will now move all your new awesome templates to
    C:\Program files\Microsoft Office\Templates\Awesome
18. Close any windows by clicking the red 'X' in the top right of each window
19. That's it

C) Create a new presentation with, or apply awesome templates to your presentations

Create a new presentation
1. Start powerpoint
2. File menu > New
3. As well as the normal "General, Presentation Designs, Presentations and Web Pages" tabs, you should see a new tab called Awesome.
4. Click the tab called Awesome and you will see a list of template names
5. Choose a template by clicking the filename e.g. ab-Bright-Idea-01.pot
6. Powerpoint will show a preview of the template to the right
7. Click OK to select that template
8. That's it

Apply an awesome template to your presentation
1. Start powerpoint
2. Open your existing presentation as normal
3. Format menu
4. Choose "Apply design"
5. The Apply Design window will appear
6. Powerpoint will show the available templates
   
7. Double click the folder called Awesome within
   C:\Program files\Microsoft Office\Templates\Awesome
8. Select any of the files, e.g. ab-Bright-Idea-01 and click "Apply"
9. Your presentation will now have the style of the new awesome powerpoint background

Top Tip: If you only have a few templates (less than 20), then it makes sense to just put them all in
C:\Program files\Microsoft Office\Templates Then they will always be listed in the "Available for use" section in the "General" tab when you create new presentations.

To copy just the background graphic image into your presentation

If you just require one of the fantastic background images from any awesome powerpoint background then do the following:

1. Open the new awesome background in powerpoint as follows
2. Choose the "File" menu
3. Click on "Open"
4. Navigate to where the powerpoint background is located
   Powerpoint 97 / 2000 users need to change the "Files of type" drop-down,
   from "Presentations and Shows (*.ppt;*.pps)" to "Presentation Templates (*.pot)"
5. Click on the filename of the template you want to load with the left mouse button
6. Then click on "Open"
7. Choose the "View" menu
8. Select "Master"
9. Click on "Slide Master"
10. You are now on the master slide.
11. This is where all the clever stuff happens!
12. Click on the background image, being careful not to select the title or body text
13. When you have successfully selected it, 8 little white squares will appear around it
14. Choose the "Edit" menu
15. Select "Copy"
16. This will place the background on your computers clipboard
17. Open your existing presentation by following steps 2-10
18. Choose the "Edit" menu
19. Click on "Paste"
20. Nearly there!
21. Click on "Draw" located at the bottom left of the screen
22. Select "Order" and choose "Send to Back"
23. That's It!

Combine different backgrounds into the same presentation

To get multiple backgrounds in one presentation follow these instructions and repeat the steps for each background you require:

PowerPoint 2002 / XP / 2003

The introduction of Multiple Masters, with powerpoint 2002 (XP), powerpoint finally allowed more than one master / template in a single presentation. These instructions explain how to use multiple masters.

PowerPoint 97 / 2000

Powerpoint 97 / 2000 cannot apply multiple templates (multiple masters) to one single presentation. These instructions provide a very good workaround.

1. While having PowerPoint running do the following
2. Choose the "File" menu
3. Click on "Open"
4. Navigate to where the powerpoint background is located
   Powerpoint 97 / 2000 users need to change the "Files of type" drop-down,
   from "Presentations and Shows (*.ppt;*.pps)" to "Presentation Templates (*.pot)"
5. Click on the filename of the template you want to load with the left mouse button
6. Then click on "Open", the awesome PowerPoint background will open
7. Choose the "View" menu
8. Select "Master"
9. Click on "Slide Master"
10. This is where all the clever stuff happens!
11. Right click on the background image, being careful not to select the title or body text
12. When you have successfully selected it, 8 little white squares will appear around it
13. Choose "Copy"
14. This will place the background on your computers clipboard
15. Open your existing presentation by following steps 2-6 or if it is already open go to step 16
16. Go to the slide you want the image on
17. Right click the slide you want to insert the image on itself, not a text box, table, etc, and then choose "Paste"
18. Nearly there!
19. Once this has been completed right click again on your new inserted awesome image and go to "Order" and then choose "Send to Back"
20. If you will be keeping the image "full screen" size, then it's good practice to tell powerpoint not to display the image from our "slide master". Select the "Format" menu, and choose "background" then tick "omit backgrounds from master".
21. Click save.
22. That's it

Top Tip: It's best to have the background you will use for the majority of your presentation on the "slide master"

To darken or lighten the background image in powerpoint

If you would like the background image slightly darker or lighter, then powerpoint has an in-built feature called the "picture toolbar". It enables you to darken or lighten the image as well as to increase or reduce the contrast in an image. To use the picture toolbar follow these instructions...

1. Open the awesome powerpoint backgrounds as follows
2. Choose the "File" menu
3. Click on "Open"
4. Navigate to where the powerpoint background is located
   Powerpoint 97 / 2000 users need to change the "Files of type" drop-down,
   from "Presentations and Shows (*.ppt;*.pps)" to "Presentation Templates (*.pot)"
5. Click on the filename of the template you want to load with the left mouse button
6. Then click on "Open"
7. Choose the "View" menu
8. Select "Master"
9. Click on "Slide Master"
10. You are now on the master slide.
11. This is where all the clever stuff happens!
12. Right Click on the background image, being careful not to select the title or body text
13. When you have successfully selected it, 8 little white squares will appear around it
14. From the menu that pops up, choose "show picture toolbar", if the option "hide picture toolbar" appears, then the toolbar is already displayed somewhere on your screen
15. On the picture toolbar, there are various tools to manipulate the image
16. Each click of the "less brightness" button (6=the one with the down arrow and the sun icon) will darken the image. So click the button more than once to continue to darken the image
17. Click the "view" menu, then choose "slide" when you are happy with the brightness
18. Save the file under a new name by going to the "file" menu
19. Choose "Save As..."
20. Type in your new filename
21. Click "Save"
22. That's It!

To remove the "slide number" from every page

If you would like to remove the slide numbering on every page then do the following:

1. Open the new awesome powerpoint backgrounds as follows
2. Choose the "File" menu
3. Click on "Open"
4. Navigate to where the awesome powerpoint background is located
   Powerpoint 97 / 2000 users need to change the "Files of type" drop-down,
   from "Presentations and Shows (*.ppt;*.pps)" to "Presentation Templates (*.pot)"
5. Click on the filename of the template you want to load with the left mouse button
6. Then click on "Open"
7. Choose the "View" menu
8. Select "Master"
9. Click on "Slide Master"
10. You are now on the master slide.
11. This is where all the clever stuff happens!
12. Click on the background image, being careful not to select the title or body text
13. When you have successfully selected it, 8 little white squares will appear around it
14. Repeatedly press the "Tab" key (it's next to the Q on the keyboard)
15. PowerPoint will cycle through all the objects on the page
16. When the "slide #" is selected press the "Delete" key on the keyboard
17. That's It!

Which Bitmap quality to use from the CD-ROM

If you have purchased the CD-Rom and would like to know which quality/resolution of bitmap to use then do the following:

1. On the Windows desktop right click an empty area of space.
2. Select "Properties"
3. Select the "settings" tab
4. Somewhere on the screen it should say "Screen Area"
5. If it says 1024x768 this is the quality of files to use from the CD-ROM.
   The CD-Rom would have a directory called \cyan\png\1024x768 containing all the 1024x768 bitmap files.
   If your screen area is less than 1024x768 eg 800x600 then use the files from the 800x600 directory.
   If your screen area is 640x480 then use the files from the 640x480 directory.
6. That's it!

To view the catalog showing all the thumbnails of the backgrounds

If you would like to see thumbnails (small pictures) of each powerpoint background contained on the CD, then do the following:
(note: requires internet explorer or a similar internet browser):

To Left align a template

Our templates are always set to "left align", but with a slight difference to perhaps what you are used to. If you type a few short words for each bullet, then they will still be set left aligned, but the "block as a whole" will be centered, instead of starting from the very left of your slides.

Left & Centred	Left Aligned Only

We feel this gives a much better layout to your slides, as sometimes it can look a bit odd if the bullets contain only a few short words, then the right hand side of the slide can look a bit 'empty'. Just like the right hand side box above

If, this is not to your liking, here's how to edit the template to make it totally left aligned, the text will start from the very left of the slide, and not be centered as a whole.

1. Open your presentation
2. Click the View menu
3. Select Master
4. Then Slide master
5. Select the text holder for the bullet list, making sure that you are not editing just the text, but the "whole" text holder. You will know this because no flashing cursor will be visible
6. Click the "Format" menu and choose "autoshape" or "placeholder"
   (depending on your version of powerpoint)
7. On the new window that pops up click the "Text box" tab
8. On the area marked "Text anchor point" change it from "Top centered" to just "Top"
9. Click OK
10. Click the View menu
11. Choose Slide
12. Save your presentation
13. That's it!

Question not answered here?