Overview
The “Design” tab in Microsoft PowerPoint is a crucial part of the PowerPoint ribbon interface, offering a range of tools and options to enhance the visual appeal and overall design of your presentation. Here’s an overview of the key groups and functions you’ll find in the Design tab:
Themes Group:
- Theme Gallery: Browse and select from a variety of built-in PowerPoint themes that define the color scheme, fonts, and effects for your entire presentation.
- Variants: Customize the selected theme with different color schemes and font combinations.
- Customize: Access advanced theme customization options to tweak colors, fonts, and effects further.
Slide Size Group:
- Slide Size: Change the dimensions of your slides, including standard options like widescreen (16:9) and standard (4:3) ratios.
- Custom Slide Size: Set a custom slide size with specific dimensions.
Page Setup Group:
- Slides Orientation: Change the orientation of slides between portrait and landscape.
- Margins: Adjust the margins of your slides.
- Background: Modify the background color or insert background images for your slides.
Custom Slide Size Group:
- Slide Size: Set a custom slide size with specific dimensions.
- Maximize: Enlarge the slide content to fit the new slide size.
Arrange Group:
- Align: Align selected objects (e.g., images, shapes) on your slide.
- Selection Pane: Manage the visibility and order of objects on your slide.
- Rotate: Rotate selected objects.
- Group: Group selected objects together.
- Bring Forward/Send Backward: Adjust the layering of objects on your slide.
Themes Group:
- Theme Gallery: Browse and select from a variety of built-in PowerPoint themes that define the color scheme, fonts, and effects for your entire presentation.
- Variants: Customize the selected theme with different color schemes and font combinations.
- Customize: Access advanced theme customization options to tweak colors, fonts, and effects further.
Slide Size Group:
- Slide Size: Change the dimensions of your slides, including standard options like widescreen (16:9) and standard (4:3) ratios.
- Custom Slide Size: Set a custom slide size with specific dimensions.
Page Setup Group:
- Slides Orientation: Change the orientation of slides between portrait and landscape.
- Margins: Adjust the margins of your slides.
- Background: Modify the background color or insert background images for your slides.
Custom Slide Size Group:
- Slide Size: Set a custom slide size with specific dimensions.
- Maximize: Enlarge the slide content to fit the new slide size.
Arrange Group:
- Align: Align selected objects (e.g., images, shapes) on your slide.
- Selection Pane: Manage the visibility and order of objects on your slide.
- Rotate: Rotate selected objects.
- Group: Group selected objects together.
- Bring Forward/Send Backward: Adjust the layering of objects on your slide.
Slide Master Group:
- Slide Master: Access the Slide Master view to make global changes to slide layouts, fonts, and backgrounds.
The Design tab in PowerPoint is a powerful tool that allows you to quickly and easily apply themes, customize slide sizes, manage backgrounds, and arrange objects on your slides to create visually appealing presentations. It’s an essential part of designing and formatting your PowerPoint slides to communicate your message effectively.
Navigation In Design Tab Using Screen Readers
Using a screen reader to access the functions of the “Design” tab in Microsoft PowerPoint allows you to control the visual design and formatting of your presentation slides. Here are steps on how to use the functions of the Design tab with a screen reader:
Open PowerPoint and Load Your Presentation:
Launch Microsoft PowerPoint and open the presentation you want to work on.
Navigate to the Design Tab:
Use the keyboard shortcut or screen reader command to navigate to the Design tab. Typically, you can use the “Alt” key in combination with the “G” key (Alt + G) to access the Design tab. The screen reader should announce when you’re on the Design tab.
Explore the Themes Group:
- The Themes group allows you to select and customize presentation themes.
- Use screen reader navigation commands (e.g., arrow keys) to browse the themes in the Theme Gallery.
- To select a theme, press “Enter” or use the screen reader activation command.
- Use the “Variants” option to customize the selected theme with different color schemes and font combinations.
- Use the “Customize” option to access advanced theme customization options, which may include modifying colors, fonts, and effects.
Adjust Slide Size and Page Setup:
- In the Slide Size and Page Setup groups, you can modify the dimensions, orientation, margins, and background of your slides.
- Use screen reader navigation to explore and adjust these settings as needed.
Arrange Objects:
- The Arrange group allows you to align, rotate, group, and layer objects on your slides.
- Use screen reader navigation to select objects and apply alignment or rotation.
- Use the “Group” option to group selected objects together.
- Use the “Bring Forward” or “Send Backward” options to adjust the layering of objects.
Slide Master (if needed):
- In the Slide Master group, you can access the Slide Master view to make global changes to slide layouts, fonts, and backgrounds.
- Use screen reader navigation to enter the Slide Master view if necessary.
Make Adjustments and Review:
After applying design changes, review your slides using the screen reader to ensure they appear as desired. Make any additional adjustments as needed.
Save Your Work:
Periodically save your presentation using the “Ctrl + S” keyboard shortcut or by navigating to the “File” tab and selecting “Save.”
Exit PowerPoint:
When you’re done working on your presentation, save your changes and exit PowerPoint using the screen reader commands or keyboard shortcuts.
Shortcut Key Commands:
Microsoft PowerPoint doesn’t have dedicated keyboard shortcuts for every function in the Design tab. However, many of the functions in the Design tab are closely related to themes and slide design, and you can access some of them through keyboard shortcuts and general PowerPoint functions. Here are some common keyboard shortcuts for tasks related to design in PowerPoint:
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Change Slide Theme:
To quickly change the slide theme, press Alt + G, then use the arrow keys to navigate through the available themes, and press Enter to select the desired theme.
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Access Theme Variants:
To access theme variants (variations in color and fonts for the selected theme), press Alt + G, then use the arrow keys to select the “Variants” option, and press Enter. You can then use arrow keys to navigate through the available variants and press Enter to select one.
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Customize Theme:
To customize the current theme further, including colors, fonts, and effects, you can press Alt + G, then use the arrow keys to select the “Customize” option, and press Enter.
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Change Slide Size:
To change the slide size, press Alt + G, then use the arrow keys to select the “Slide Size” option, and press Enter. You can then choose from available options like “Widescreen (16:9)” or “Standard (4:3).”
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Page Setup:
To access page setup options such as slide orientation, margins, and background, you can press Alt + G, then use the arrow keys to select the “Page Setup” option, and press Enter.
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Access Slide Master:
To access the Slide Master view for making global design changes, you can use the keyboard shortcut View > Slide Master. From there, you can use standard keyboard navigation to make changes to slide layouts, fonts, and backgrounds.
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Align Objects:
To align objects on a slide, first, select the objects using the arrow keys or other selection methods. Then, you can use the alignment shortcuts like Ctrl + L (left align), Ctrl + E (center align), and Ctrl + R (right align) to align the selected objects.