Create a product catalog with custom layouts

Sales reps can use PowerPoint to create a product catalog that they bring to potential customers. This catalog is easy to modify, even at the last minute. You can change photos, prices, descriptions, and so on.

From the point of view of the Sales Manager, PowerPoint product catalogs ensure that the catalog always looks professionally laid out and the content is always up to date. You accomplish this with a custom layout.

A custom layout creates a framework to the slide’s layout. You can then insert text in a text placeholder, a photo in an image placeholder, and it will always be formatted nicely and fit properly.

(There’s a link at the end for a similar tip that includes a workaround for creating a custom layout in PowerPoint 2003.)

Create a custom layout in PowerPoint 2007 and 2010

Click the View tab, then click the Slide Master button in the Presentation Views group. The slide master appears. Or simply click the Slide Master button at the lower-right corner of the screen.
You see all the layouts in the left pane. Scroll down and right-click the layout that is closest to the one you want. Choose Duplicate Layout.
Right-click the duplicate and choose Rename Layout. Give the layout a name that’s meaningful to you. Here you see my example.

A renamed custom layout in PowerPoint's Slide Master view

To delete placeholders that you don’t want, select them and press the Del key.
To insert a new placeholder, on the Slide Master tab, in the Master Layout group, click the Insert Placeholder button’s down arrow and choose one of the 8 placeholder types:

Content: Lets you insert any type of content, that is, any of the types listed below

Text

Picture

Chart

Table

SmartArt

Media

ClipArt

Drag to size and place the placeholder on the slide.
Place more placeholders, laying them out as needed.
Did you know that you can change the prompt text in a placeholder? For example, you can change “Picture” to “Insert a photo of a product here.”

A custom layout for a product catalog

The presentation now contains the new layout and you can choose it the same way you’d choose any of the standard layouts for any slide.

Choosing the custom layout

If you want to use the layout in the future, save the file as a template (.potx, or .potm if it contains macros) or theme (thmx).
To insert content, click a text prompt or click an icon. When you insert a picture, it automatically expands (or contracts) to fit the placeholder. While this might result in some distortion, the upside is that the slide always looks good. Here’s a sample slide:

A slide based on a custom layout

Related tips

Create a custom layout

Resetting a slide: A quick fix for awful slides

Ellen Finkelstein can train you or the presenters in your organization to create high-impact, engaging, professional presentations for training, sales, business, or education. For more information, please click here.