Multiple Masters for PPT 2002 and 2003

Multiple masters are only available in PPT 2002 (aka PPT XP) and 2003. However, if you apply this feature in PPT 2002 or 2003, the slide masters are all still there when you open the file in PPT 2000. In PPT 97 only some of the various slide masters may be available.

It was brought to my attention that in PPT 2002 and 2003, it's impossible to change the color scheme for just one slide as we used to be able to do in previous versions of PPT. The workaround for this, if indeed it is actually a workaround and not the design intent of the PPT developers, is to create a new slide master with the appropriate color scheme and apply that master to the appropriate slide(s).

It's really not that hard, but it can be confusing. I'll attempt to make it less so. If you're already familiar with multiple masters and color schemes in PPT, skip to step 6.

1. Make sure Multiple Masters haven't been disabled. (Tools-->Options-->Edit, clear the checkbox under "Disable New Features")

2. Start in "Master" view. View-->Master-->Slide Master. 

3. Go to the menubar and select Format/Slide Design. The design layout taskpane will pop up, and your screen will look something like the image just below.

4. Click on a design template in the task pane on the right. I used "competition.pot" for the image below. 

Note that if you use a professionally designed template (including those from Microsoft), it will more than likely have a title master which will be added automatically when you click on the design template in the task pane. 

If you are using a design template which does not have a collateral title master, you can add one yourself by going to Insert-->New Title Master. You will need to be in Master View in order for this option to be available. You cannot insert new title masters while you're in PPT's "Normal" edit view.

5. Now click on another design template in the taskpane on the right. The masters associated with that template will show up in the slide pane on the left. You can see below where I clicked on "digital dots.pot," and it appeared in the master thumbnails on the left.

If you click on the arrow next to the design template, you have some options: Replace All Designs, Replace Selected Designs, or Add Design. (See image below.) By default, clicking on the design template thumbnail will add the design to your presentation. 

6. Now we're going to get into the color schemes. Select the Competition.POT master(s) in the thumbnail pane on the left. Your task pane on the right will display the design templates used in this presentation as well as those recently used and even more which are available for use.

Right above that is a link which says "Color Schemes." Click that. (There's a red box around it in the image below.)

You will see something like the image below. 

Note that the color scheme which is currently applied to the design template is highlighted in the taskpane. 

7. If one of the other color schemes that comes with this template is one you can use or would be easily modified to suit your taste, simply click on it. That color scheme will be applied to that slide master by default.

Experiment for a minute with the arrow next to the color scheme on the right. You have options here, too: Apply to All Masters (which does exactly what you'd expect), and Apply to Selected Masters.

What's really interesting is that the color scheme doesn't automatically apply itself to the associated title master when you click the color scheme. 

If you want the title master to also have that color scheme, you have to select it in the thumbnails on the left before clicking on the color scheme in the taskpane on the right. Or you can select it in the thumbnails on the left and use the "Apply to Selected Masters" option on the color scheme taskpane.

You can hold down your CTRL or Shift buttons when selecting slides in the thumbnails pane on the left. CTRL lets you select noncontiguous slides. Shift lets you select a range of slides. 

If you select slides with different design templates, the number of color schemes in the taskpane will change to reflect all the different color options those design templates offer. Then you apply the color scheme you want by either clicking the color scheme in the taskpane or clicking the arrow beside the color scheme and using "Apply to Selected Masters."

In the image just below, I applied a green color scheme to the slide master for Competition.pot and the slide master for Digital Dots.pot. I left the title master for each design template the way it was.

8. "So where's all this going?" you're probably asking by now. Good question. 

The reason I started this thing in the first place is that Steve Rindsberg wanted me to demonstrate how to create a master with a modified color scheme in order to change the color of followed hyperlinks -- without it affecting the rest of your presentation. So here goes.

You're in Master View with the Color Schemes pane visible. (About where we were in step 6 above.) In my case, I'm working with Competition.pot, and I'm using the orange color scheme. 

9. Right-click the competition.pot master in the thumbnail pane on the left and choose Copy. Then right-click lower in that thumbnail pane on the left and choose Paste.

You don't have to select both the slide and title masters for competition.pot, as both the slide and title master will come along for the ride regardless.

10. With the copy of competition.pot selected on the left, click the "edit color schemes" button at the bottom of the color scheme task pane on the right. A dialog box will pop up.

We want to change the color of a followed hyperlink, so click on that last chip labeled, appropriately enough, "Accent and Followed Hyperlink." Then click the Change Color button.

Choose a new color in the color wheel and click OK.

Here's what the new color scheme will look like.

12. Click "Apply." The new color scheme will be added to the color scheme taskpane on the left, and it will have been applied to the copy of competition.pot in the thumbnails list on the left.

You can tell that this is so, because the new color scheme is highlighted in the color scheme task pane when the master thumbnail is selected in the thumbnail list on the left. Choose other masters in the thumbnail list on the left to see how the color schemes change and which is highlighted when.

13. Take a second to rename your new master so you can distinguish it from the original when you're in PPT's "Normal" edit view. (The name of the template shows up as a tool tip when you hover your arrow over the design templates in the taskpane in Normal View.)

Rename the master on the Slide Master View toolbar which is available when you're in Master View.

14. Now that you have a master that's had its color scheme modified appropriately, let's see what happens back in Normal View. Click View-->Normal on the toolbar, or simply click the "Close Master View" on the Slide Master View Toolbar.

Also click the "design templates" link at the top of the taskpane on the right.

My presentation has Digital Dots.pot applied to the first two slides and Competition.pot applied to slides 3 through 7. I will select slides 5 through 7 in the thumbnails list on the left and then click the "blue hyperlink" master I made in the design templates taskpane on the right. This will apply the new "blue hyperlink template" to slides 5-7.

You won't really see much of -- if any -- a difference when you apply the modified design template. That's how we want it!

You may see some of the objects on your slides change colors when you apply the modified template. If this happens, see my tutorial on color schemes to understand why. 

15. So now we'll look at the followed hyperlinks on the slides based on competition.pot (which has a yellow swatch for "accent and followed hyperlink") ...

and on blue hyperlink.pot (which is the same as competition.pot but with a blue swatch for "accent and followed hyperlink") ...

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