With the exception of text boxes (covered in Chapter 9) placeholders are where you create the elements of your presentation. They contain text, drawings, pictures, charts, and more. Placeholders provide an easy way to arrange the components of each slide, and because they come with certain predesigned formatting, they make adding everything from a bulleted list to a chart easy. By selecting a placeholder (made easier with the new Selection and Visibility pane in PowerPoint 2007), you can align the contents of placeholders and format their backgrounds and borders.
Use the Selection and Visibility Pane
Display the slide you want to work on in Normal view and click the Home tab on the ribbon.
Click the Select button in the Editing group and choose Selection Pane.
Tip
In addition to the Selection and Visibility task pane to help you select objects, you can click the Arrange button on the Home tab and use the Bring to Front and Send to Back buttons to push a selected item in a stack of items to be in front of or in back of others.
In the Selection and Visibility task pane that appears, do any of the following:
Click on an item in the list of Shapes On This Slide to select the object.
Click the Visibility button to hide any item.
Click the Visibility button again to display the item.
Tip
If you click on an object, the Format tab appears on the ribbon. This tab also contains the Arrange group of tools, including the Selection Pane, Bring to Front, and Send to Back buttons.
See Also
For more information about working with objects on your slides, see Chapter 9.
Align Placeholder Contents
Click on the placeholder containing the text you want to align and click the Home tab.
If you only want to align one line of several, select the text you want to align.
Click any of the alignment buttons, and the text shifts accordingly.
Caution
Themes that you apply to your slides provide a certain design balance to elements on the page. Be sure that if you shift the alignment of text in placeholders that the text is balanced on the slide against any graphics or master elements such as footers.
Tip
Use centered text for emphasis for a single line of text. If working with bulleted lists, typically you should use left or justified alignment so each bulleted item begins at the same place, making the list easier to follow.
Formatting Placeholders
Right-click the placeholder and choose Format Shape from the shortcut menu.
Click a category on the left.
Choose settings to add fill color, add and adjust a border line, or add a shadow or 3-D effect. Notice that whatever settings you make are previewed on the placeholder.
Click Close to apply your new settings.
Caution
Don’t go overboard adding effects to placeholders, especially if your slide contains a lot of graphics and text. Let the text be the important element on any slide to help get your message across.
Tip
After you have applied a fill color to a placeholder, a quick way to change the fill color is to click the Colors button on the Design tab and choose a new color scheme for the presentation.
Display the slide you want to work on in Normal view and click the Home tab on the ribbon.
Click the Select button in the Editing group and choose Selection Pane.
In the Selection and Visibility task pane that appears, do any of the following:
