Documentation/How Tos/Creating More Than one Master Page

Master pages are the backgrounds for your presentations. A template or presentation might have one or more master pages in it.

All right. So you want to create a new master page. Go ahead, but you need to care for it very carefully. Here is the short version. Create a new master page under View > Master > Slide Master by right-clicking in the lefthand pane, creating a new master page, and designing it. Then choose View > Normal to go back. Now, you MUST apply that new master page to at LEAST one slide, or your wonderful new master page will disappear. Also, choose File > Templates > Save and save whatever document you created the master page in. Then the master page(s) in that presentation will be available in all future presentations you create or edit.

Now, here is the detail.

To Create a Master Page From Scratch

You want to create your own master page from scratch, to format presentations exactly the way you want? Here is how.

1. Open or create your presentation or template.
2. Choose View > Master > Slide Master.
   Now you are in the master page view.
3. Right-click in the left hand pane and choose to rename the default new master page. Not required but it is nice when you have a lot of them later.
4. Give it a name and click OK.
   It is renamed.
5. Format your master page. Choose Format > Page, Background tab to change the background color. Add graphics, right-click on each and choose Arrange > Send to Back to put them in the background behind the text. Whatever you want.
6. Choose View > Normal to go back to normal view.
   You see your master page.

The Disappearing Act

Now, what if you now think, hey, I like this thing I designed, but for the first few slides that I have here, I am going to apply this other master page. You might do this by right-clicking on another master page over there in the right-hand pane, and choosing Apply to All Slides.

Guess what. Your beautiful master page that you worked so hard on is gone. Yes, even if you saved the presentation.

To Prevent the Disappearing Act

1. You MUST apply that new master page to at LEAST one slide, and keep it applied. Or your wonderful new master page will disappear. So even if you do not intend to apply your new master page to the first slide, keep it applied there until you apply it to other slides.
2. Also, as soon as you have created your master page, choose File > Templates > Save and save whatever document you created the master page in.

Then the master page(s) in that presentation will be available in all future presentations you create or edit.

This How To comes from Solveig Haugland's Blog

Content on this page is licensed under the Public Documentation License (PDL).