When PowerPoint 2003 is launched, or when you create a new presentation, you typically see the first slide of the
presentation, as shown in Figure 1. This slide is known as the Title slide -- it contains
placeholders for the slide title and the slide subtitle. Note that this layout is different from other slides which typically
have a title placeholder with another placeholder for bulleted text (or a chart, graphic, etc.). All these other slides are
influenced by the Slide Master, which governs
their appearance and layout. The appearance and look of the Title Slide is influenced by the Title Master --
this is a separate Master that is a subset of the Slide Master.
Figure 1: The first slide of a new presentation is usually a Title slide
To access the Title Master you first need to get into the Master editing mode. Follow these steps to learn
more:
- Launch PowerPoint 2003 and choose the View | Master | Slide Master menu
option, as shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2: Slide Master option within the Master sub-menu of View menu
- This opens the Slide Master view, as shown in Figure 3.
- As you can see, there's a solitary slide preview in the Slides pane (highlighted in blue in
Figure 3). If you find a similar, single slide within the Slides pane, choose the Insert |
New Title Master menu option (highlighted in red in Figure 3).
Figure 3: New Title Master menu option within Insert menu of Slide Master view
- On the other hand, if you see two interlinked slides in the Slides pane as shown in Figure 4 below -- then
you need not insert a new Title Master. Either way you will end up with a Title Master
(highlighted in red in Figure 4). This is placed right below the
Slide Master within slide pane -- also note the connector between the Slide Master and
Title Master. Click the Title Master thumbnail in the Slides pane to view it as the active
Master slide.
Figure 4: Title Master added within the Slide Master view- Within the Title Master you'll find several placeholders:
A. Title Placeholder
- Influences the look, position, and formatting of your slide title.
B. Subtitle Placeholder
- Influences the look, position, and formatting of your subtitle.
C. Date
- Format how the date appears on your title slide (most of the time, this is not
visible).
D. Footer
- Format how you want your footer text to look.
E. Slide Number
- Format the appearance, font, and position of the slide number.
Tip: Just because you format your Date, Footer, and Slide Number placeholders, do not expect them to show on
your Title slide. The Title Master only changes their appearance -- you have to individually make these three
placeholders visible on your slides.
- Once you have made the changes in the Master view, you can go back to Normal view choosing any of these options:
- a. Click the Close Master View button (highlighted in red in
Figure 5 below) within Slide Master View toolbar.
Figure 5: Close Master View button within Slide Master View toolbar
- b. Select the View | Normal menu option.
- c. Click the Normal View button, the first button among the three view buttons located
right beneath the Slides and Outline pane within
PowerPoint 2003 interface.
- Always remember to save your presentation.
Note: The title layout, influenced by the Title Master is not only limited to your first slide.
You can use it several times in a presentation to lead off new sections, and you can even change the look of these slides by
adding graphics, changing a font style, changing the background color, etc. Make these changes in the Title Master to see the
change reflected on all title slides.
Remember: The text on the Title Master is only for styling; actual slide text, such as the
title and subtitle should be typed on the slide itself in Normal view.
Releated Links:
Text Placeholders vs. Text Boxes
