Today’s tip is all about creating your own Custom Theme in Google Slides. Whether you’re designing presentations for your classroom, professional meetings, or digital work for your classroom, custom themes ensure consistency, efficiency, and a polished final product. Let’s dive in!
Why Use a Custom Theme?
Custom themes offer several benefits:
- Consistent design across all slides.
- Easy to replicate layouts for multiple presentations.
- Prevent accidental changes by students in classroom settings.
- Save time with reusable templates.
Accessing the Theme Editor
- Open a Google Slides presentation.
- Go to Slide > Edit Theme.
- This opens the Theme Editor, where you can customize layouts, fonts, and colors.
Customizing Fonts and Layouts
- Select a layout from the left panel.
- Click on any text element and change the font (e.g., Montserrat).
- Changes will apply to all slides using that layout.
Pro Tip: Stick to 1-2 fonts for a clean, professional look.
Adding Design Elements to Layouts
- Use shapes (e.g., circles, rectangles) for design consistency.
- Customize with gradient backgrounds and border styles.
- Duplicate shapes and align them for a cohesive layout.
Creating Print-Ready Templates
- Choose a Blank Slide Layout.
- Use shapes and lines to design specific templates (e.g., Freyer models).
- Customize with placeholders for consistent structure.
Adding Placeholders
Placeholders define editable and non-editable areas:
- Text Placeholder: Editable text areas for user input.
- Text Box: Static text areas for instructions or headers.
To add a placeholder:
- Go to Slide > Edit Theme.
- Choose Insert Placeholder from the toolbar.
- Adjust its position and size.
Creating a Student-Friendly Template
For classroom activities:
- Lock instructional text and static design elements.
- Create editable sections only where students need to type.
- Use gridlines for models (e.g., area models).
Final Touches and Testing
- Switch to the normal slide view. Select a slide from the left panel.
- Test your template by adding a new slide.
- Verify that only editable placeholders are modifiable.
Creating custom themes in Google Slides is an excellent way to save time, maintain consistency, and improve the quality of your presentations and worksheets. Explore text and image placeholders in upcoming videos!
If you found this guide helpful, don’t forget to check out my YouTube channel for more tips. Happy designing, and see you soon!
Nowa Techie 