You can imagine each slide as a creature. They are all born by a mother, and they all retain the genes handed down by their mothers, but they all have their own characteristics different from her. This mother is the master.
So obviously, if you want every slide to have the same characteristics, the quickest way is to modify the master (if you have 50 PPT pages, don't modify them page by page foolishly).
Let's give you an intuitive understanding through a simple example. Our task is to add the logo to the upper right corner of each slide. The operation is as follows:
First, click "Slide Master" on the View tab, and the effect after clicking is as follows:
On the left are thumbnails of the master and layout, which can be edited on the right after clicking. Let's first select the top masters and insert a logo.
After the logo is added to the master, it will appear in all layouts.
Now we can explain what format is. From the thumbnail on the left, you can see a two-layer structure, with the master above and the layout below. You can understand that a complete set of PPT is different, but it can still be classified. For example, add a column to the title, add two columns to the title, and so on. Each category is a format. We can apply a layout to each new PPT page, like this.
As you can see, each layout has a logo that we just added. When we modify the master, we modify all the layouts. We can also modify a specific layout, and all pages that use this layout will be modified.
The next time you do PPT, think about which formats are unchanged and write them in the master in advance, which can save a lot of work and facilitate modification.
Using masters to do PPT actually involves a mathematical concept-abstraction.
For the sake of understanding, give an example. The math problems in the first grade of primary school are all applied problems involving specific items, for example, three apples plus two apples equals five apples. In fact, so do pears, bananas and strawberries. So abstract 3+2 = 5. Senior students can even abstract X to refer to various numbers.
Back to the example of the master. The so-called "first-level title", "second-level title" and "third-level title" in PPT master are actually abstract concepts. Other features that you think have the same characteristics can be abstracted and defined in the master file. How to define it? Click to insert a placeholder in a specific page, which means to occupy a seat first. The size, shape and material of the seat are determined in advance, but who will sit on it has not been decided yet.
For example, I think there is a 36-square bold text at the bottom of every PPT page, with white characters on a blue background, to summarize the content of this PPT page. I can do this:
Let's create a new PPT and choose our new layout.
The following is the effect after choosing our custom layout.
At this time, as long as we "make a summary, sit down first", this passage will be automatically deleted and we can get into what we really want to say.
The purpose of Microsoft's main design function is to let everyone avoid duplication of work. It is also Microsoft's Office suite, and both Word and Excel have similar functions. We can set styles in Word. The application in Excel is more powerful. After maintaining a basic data table, you can use the PivotTable to generate all kinds of tables you want, without having to make them by hand again.
Besides Microsoft Office Suite, we can also use abstract thinking in our daily work and study. I think mathematics, economics, history and other disciplines are actually summarized by using abstract thinking. It is precisely because of these studies that the whole human development has taken many detours. When we are faced with specific tasks in our work, we can also think about how to abstract. The so-called "new retail" and "internet plus" put forward by Niuren are actually abstracted concepts after their thinking, and their guiding significance to work can be imagined.
At this point, the introduction of the master is basically completed. Finally, let's take a look at what a complete PPT production cycle can look like with a master.
Note the third point. Designers don't need to design every PPT, just design masters.
Let's work hard in this direction.