How to Change the Color of a Design Slide in PowerPoint

Changing the color of a design slide in PowerPoint can enhance the visual appeal of your presentation and better convey your message. This comprehensive guide will walk you through the steps to customize slide colors, including background, themes, and individual elements. We'll cover various methods, from using built-in PowerPoint features to incorporating custom color schemes. By following these instructions, you can create a visually striking presentation that stands out and effectively communicates your ideas.

Step-by-Step Guide:

1. Open PowerPoint and Select Your Slide Begin by opening your PowerPoint presentation. Navigate to the slide where you want to change the color. Click on the slide to select it. If you wish to apply color changes to multiple slides, you can select them all by holding down the Shift key while clicking each slide.

2. Changing the Background Color To change the background color of a slide:

• Go to the "Design" tab on the Ribbon.
• Click on "Format Background" in the "Customize" group.
• A pane will appear on the right side. Choose "Solid Fill" to select a single color or "Gradient Fill" for a gradient effect.
• Click on the color box to choose a color from the color palette or enter a specific color code if you have one.
• If you want to apply this color to all slides, click "Apply to All" at the bottom of the pane.

3. Using PowerPoint Themes PowerPoint themes can quickly change the color scheme across your presentation:

• Go to the "Design" tab on the Ribbon.
• In the "Themes" group, you can browse through the available themes. Each theme comes with its own color scheme.
• Hover over a theme to see a preview. Click on the theme to apply it to your presentation.
• To customize the colors of a theme, click on "Variants" in the "Design" tab, and then select "Colors" to choose a different color scheme.

4. Customizing Theme Colors To create a custom color scheme for your theme:

• Go to the "Design" tab and click on "Variants."
• Select "Colors," then click "Customize Colors" at the bottom of the drop-down menu.
• In the "Create New Theme Colors" dialog box, you can set colors for various elements like background, text, and accents.
• Name your custom color scheme and click "Save."

5. Changing Colors of Individual Elements To change the color of specific elements on a slide, such as text, shapes, or charts:

• Select the element you want to modify. For text, click on the text box. For shapes, click on the shape.
• Go to the "Format" tab on the Ribbon.
• Use the "Shape Fill" or "Text Fill" options to choose a new color for the selected element.
• For more advanced color options, click on "More Fill Colors" or "More Colors" to enter a specific color code.

6. Applying Color Schemes to Charts and Graphs To change the color scheme of charts or graphs:

• Click on the chart or graph to select it.
• Go to the "Chart Tools" tabs, which include "Design" and "Format."
• In the "Design" tab, use the "Change Colors" button to apply a different color scheme to your chart.
• For more detailed customization, click on "Format" to access individual element color options.

7. Preview and Adjust After making your color changes, preview your slides to ensure they look as intended. Adjust colors as needed to ensure that text remains readable and that the overall design is visually appealing.

8. Save Your Presentation Once you're satisfied with the color changes, save your presentation. Go to "File" and click "Save" or "Save As" to keep your updated presentation.

By following these steps, you can effectively change and customize the colors in your PowerPoint slides, making your presentations more engaging and visually coherent.