PowerPoint Designer in PowerPoint 365 for Windows

PowerPoint design is a field of design that's different from the design of brochures, web sites, and even Word documents. It affords opportunities that these other media do not, and it also does not provide some options you may be used to, especially if you are a print designer. So, what if PowerPoint itself showcased these presentations-specific design opportunities or design possibilities for you? You could then choose to apply a possibility with one click, or ignore—it's your decision. Wouldn't that be awesome?

PowerPoint Designer is exactly this option, and it lets you choose an alternative slide layout, choose a template when you begin creating a new deck, or even create infographics for you. In this tutorial, we will give you an introduction to the PowerPoint Designer feature.

1. Let's see what happens when you load up PowerPoint 365 for Windows. PowerPoint shows Backstage view, and you choose the Blank Presentation option, highlighted in red within Figure 1, below.
2. 
   Figure 1: Blank Presentation
2. As soon as you see the new blank presentation, you will also see the Design Ideas Task Pane on the right, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 2, below. In this Design Ideas Task Pane, you will see thumbnails of some template designs that can replace the conventional white background and black text slide deck that you see leftwards of the Design Ideas Task Pane in Figure 2.
3. 
   Figure 2: Design Ideas Task Pane with template ideas
3. Click on any of the thumbnails in the Design Ideas Task Pane to apply the new template to your new presentation. We clicked the bottom-most of the three thumbnails shown in Figure 2, and you can see the template applied in Figure 3, below.
4. 
   Figure 3: Template from the Design Ideas Task Pane applied
4. If you are happy with your existing design and do not want to see the Design Ideas Task Pane, you can simply click the X button on the top-right of the pane to dismiss it, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 4, below.
5. 
   Figure 4: Close the Design Ideas Task Pane

If you want to summon the Design Ideas Task Pane again, just visit the Design tab of the Ribbon, and click the Design Ideas button, shown highlighted in red within Figure 5, below. This button is a toggle, so you can click it again to send away the Design Ideas Task Pane.

Figure 5: Open the Design Ideas Task Pane

What we just learned was via a small walkthrough. In other tutorials, we explore more that you can do with PowerPoint Designer:

Working with Pictures within PowerPoint Designer

Editing Picture Slides Created within PowerPoint Designer

Creating Timelines with PowerPoint Designer

Add Photos and Layouts to Title Slides with PowerPoint Designer

SmartArt With Icons from PowerPoint Designer