"Inserting a New Slide in a Presentation" in Chapter 17 explained how to create a new slide with one of PowerPoint's preformatted layouts. You can save yourself a lot of work by choosing a preformatted slide. Suppose, however, that you choose the wrong format. Does PowerPoint in its benevolence let you apply a new format to a slide you already created? Indeed it does. Follow these steps to apply a new format to an old slide:
1. In Slide view, display the slide that is to be given a new layout.
2. Click the Common Tasks button and choose Slide Layout, or choose Format | Slide Layout. You see the Slide Layout dialog box shown in Figure 18-1. The layout in the blue box is the one that has been selected for the slide.
3. Click a new layout in the Slide Layout dialog box.
4. Click the Apply button.
You likely have to do a bit of reformatting after a slide is given a new layout. To do that, use the tools on the Formatting toolbar.
TIP: If you regret the formatting changes you make to a slide, you can get the original format back. To do so, click the Slide Layout button, click the Reapply button in the Slide Layout dialog box, and click OK.
As you know if you created your presentation with a template or the AutoContent Wizard, PowerPoint offers many designs for slide presentations. You can choose one of PowerPoint's designs and apply it to a finished presentation in about a second flat. And PowerPoint gives you the opportunity to look over the designs before you choose one.
HEADSTART: You can also use a PowerPoint template from the CD that comes with this book to change the design of a presentation. See Appendix E.
Follow these steps to choose one of PowerPoint's designs for all the slides in a presentation:
1. Open one of the slides in a presentation in Slide view.
2. Click the Common Tasks button and choose Apply Design Template, or choose Format | Apply Design Template. You see the Apply Design Template dialog box shown in Figure 18-2.
3. Click a design name in the box on the left and then glance at the preview box. Keep clicking design names until you find a suitable design.
4. Click the Apply button.
NOTE: You can also use the Common Tasks button to insert a new slide in a presentation rather than push Insert | New Slide