Setting preferences for colors of lines & objects

[sunshine]

I continue to find the PP2008 for Mac extremely difficult to use with all kinds or quirks (by comparison, I can do anything with PP2000 for Windows), and the help files are useless. My latest problem is how do I set the default for the color of lines & object fill, other than the blue that comes with the program? Any help is much appreciated.

 

[Jason Andersen [MSFT]]

Just as in Win PPT, the way to set default line and fill color is to set the
default. You can do this in several ways, the easiest by far is to create a
shape with the fill and line colors you want, then right click (or
Ctrl+click if using a one button mouse) the shape and select "Set as Default
Shape".

Another way is to view the drawing toolbar, click on the command "well" on
the toolbar (that's the little black arrow at the bottom of the toolbar,
also known as "More buttons")., and then use "Set as Default Shape".

- Jason

 

[sunshine]

I've followed the procedures you outlined, and sure enough - all figures and lines created afterward in that particular job have the fill and/or line color I desire. However, the next time I open PP to do a new job, I'm back to the original fill color and line color that came with the product. What am I doing wrong?

 

[Jim Gordon MVP]

I've followed the procedures you outlined, and sure enough - all figures and lines created afterward in that particular job have the fill and/or line color I desire. However, the next time I open PP to do a new job, I'm back to the original fill color and line color that came with the product. What am I doing wrong?

Hi,

When you change the default colors, lines, etc that is the default for
the particular document.

Would you like to change them for all documents you create so that when
you choose to make a new document it already has a certain color scheme?

To do that in PowerPoint 2004 you start with a blank presentation,
customize it, then use File > Save As. Change the file type from
PowerPoint Presentation to Design Template. Next, navigate to the Office
2004 > Templates > Presentations > Designs folder and then click on the
presentation named Blank Presentation (that will change the name of the
Save As file name exactly as it should be), then click the Save button.

If you are not confident you want to forever blast away the default
blank template, before you begin the above steps use Finder and navigate
to Blank Template. Right click and choose to Duplicate the file. Then
replace Blank Template following the steps above.

-Jim

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

I've followed the procedures you outlined, and sure enough - all figures and

lines created afterward in that particular job have the fill and/or line color
I desire. However, the next time I open PP to do a new job, I'm back to the
original fill color and line color that came with the product. What am I doing
wrong?

It works the same as Windows versions of PowerPoint. Defaults are set on a
per-presentation basis, not as an application-level setting.

But most versions of PPT allow you to create a template that becomes your
default "blank" template instead of PPT's built-in defaults.

If you set the defaults you want before saving this blank template, then any
presentations that are created from this template later will inherit these
defaults. That's probably what you're seeing in PPT 2000.

I don't have PPT 2008 so I can't test this and tell you how to create your own
default blank template. While we're waiting for some kind soul to provide
that info, you might want to have a read here:

Create a default "blank" presentation with your own defaults
http://www.pptfaq.com/FAQ00245.htm



================================================
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

If you are not confident you want to forever blast away the default
blank template, before you begin the above steps use Finder and navigate
to Blank Template. Right click and choose to Duplicate the file. Then
replace Blank Template following the steps above.

Good idea, that. But FWIW, every version of PPT I've ever worked with has a
set of blank template defaults built-in; it'll use those if there's no Blank
Presentation file available.



================================================
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================