PowerPoint Tips & Tutorials

Creating a grid for perfect layout

1. Choose View>Guides. 
2. To add additional guides, press CTRL and drag the vertical guide to the left or right. PowerPoint displays the distance between the guides as you drag, so you can set them up evenly. 
3. Continue with up to eight guides. 
4. Do the same with the horizontal guide. 

For more control, you can create your own grid on the slide master using the Line tool on the Drawing toolbar. 

1. Open the Slide Master.
2. Draw a line.
3. Press CTRL-D to duplicate the line. 
4. Drag the new line to a new position. 
5. Continue until you have a grid. 
6. You can also use the Rectangle tool to create a frame around the edge of the slide so that you don't place text or graphics too close to the edge of the slide. 
7. Select all the lines and the rectangle and group them. When you return to your presentation, you will see this grid on all your slides. Use it to help you lay out your slides. 
8. When you're done, simply return to the slide master and delete the grid. 

Tip on the Tip: Save this grid as a template and use it for all your presentations.

For PowerPoint 2002 and 2003: A new feature of 2002 lets you display a visible grid. Choose Draw > Grid and Guides. In the Grid and Guides dialog box, check Display grid on screen. You can also set the spacing of the grid. Then click OK. However, if you want a more customized grid, you can still use the procedure listed above.

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