How to Make Your Own Google Slides Presentation Template

There's no need for all your Google Slides
presentations to look different. Save time and achieve a consistent
image by re-using the same Google Slides presentation template again and again.

One way to do this is to design and create your own
Google Slides presentation template. In this tutorial, we examine why you might
want to create a presentation template. We'll also explain what a master slide
and a master layout is. Finally, we'll present a step-by-step guide that
explains how to create your own Google Slides presentation template.

Why Create a Google Slides Presentation Template?

Your Google Slides template determines the
impression your presentation leaves in the minds of your viewers. While many
professional presentation templates are available, sometimes you need something a little
more unique.

When you want to use a presentation theme that you
know no one else is using, you can create your own reusable Google Slides
presentation template.

Be careful, though. Any theme you create needs to be
professional. The success of your presentation could depend on it. If your
organization uses a design team, consult with them during your
presentation template planning process.

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Now, let's take a closer look at how to create a
presentation template by first creating a master slide and master layouts. By
applying your masters to a sample presentation you'll create your Google Slide
template.

What Is a Master Slide and What Are Master Layouts?

The first thing you need to understand when creating
a presentation template is the concept of a master slide in Google Slides.
Simply put, the elements that you place on the master slide appear on every
slide in your presentation.

In contrast, a master layout defines the layout only
for the slides it is applied to. To create a master layout, you'll use a
combination of placeholders and graphic elements on each master layout. A
master layout can be used for one or more slides in your presentation, or it
may not be used at all.

Access the Master Slide tool by selecting Slide>Edit
Master from the main Google Slides menu. The master slide and master
layouts appear:

A change made to the master slide appears on all the
slides in the presentation, including the master layouts.

For example, I've added a vertical bar to the left
of the master slide. As you can see, the bar is automatically added to all the
master layouts:

Pro Tip: While design elements added to the
master slide appear on every slide in your presentation, you can cover a master
slide element on an individual slide by drawing a shape over it in a color that
matches the background of the slide.

How to Plan Your Own Google Slides Template

Before you create a Google Slides template,
first plan for it. Some questions to ask yourself include:

• What will I use this presentation template for?


• Who'll see the presentations created with this
  template?


• How can I make this template fit into my current
  marketing and branding?

To answer these questions, you need to consider the
following:

Step 1. Keep in Mind Your Audience

This step addressed the question: "Who'll see the presentations created with this template?"

The audience of the presentation(s) you'll create makes a
difference in what you put in your Google Slides template. Obviously, a
presentation template used by a teacher of elementary students needs to be
quite different from a presentation template used by the marketing department
of a company.

Also, ask yourself whether the presentation will be given by
a live presenter or accessed online through a site like SlideShare
by members of the target audience. If the presentation will be accessed online,
the first few slides are crucial to capturing the reader's attention. They need
to be eye-catching or your presentation will be ignored.

Once you've thought about your audience, it's time to move
on to planning the actual design.

Step 2. Consider Design Elements

Your Google Slides template is made of many components,
including:

• 
  Fonts.
  While there are many unusual and artistic fonts available, focus on using fonts
  that are highly readable. If your presentation will be viewed online, choose a
  commonly available font. Keep in mind that if the viewer doesn't have the font
  you choose on their machine, a font they do have will be substituted.


• 
  Colors.
  When choosing a color scheme for your branding and for your presentation
  template, remember that colors may symbolize different things depending on the
  culture of the person who sees it. Choose colors that have positive
  associations for your audience. Or, work with your company brand colors.


• 
  Images.
  It's best to keep your presentation template design simple. Add images
  and other graphic elements to the various presentation slides. You can even use
  them on your master layouts. But be sparing on the master slide.

The final template planning step is to plan the design
itself.

Step 3. Plan Your Template Design

In this step, you plan what types of slides you'll include
in your template. The types you decide upon become the master layouts of your
template.

Many professional designers create wireframes, which are
basically sketches, for each type of slide they would like to include in the
Google Slides template. Wireframing can be quite useful, since it provides a rough
visual of what your presentation is going to look like.

If you're not comfortable creating wireframes, create a list of the slide types you wish to include in your presentation. For
example:

• Title slide


• Intro slide (no images)


• Text and single image slide


• Columns slide


• Conclusion slide

Since you'll likely use the same type of slide layout more
than once in a presentation, you don't need to create a lot of master layouts.
Figure out the basic layouts you need and focus on those.

For another discussion of the presentation design process
(this time using Keynote), refer to:

• 
  Keynote
  
  
  How to Create a Keynote Presentation Template Design
  
  
  Sven Lenaerts

After the planning is done, you're ready to create your
Google Slides template.

How to Create Your Own Google Slides Template

Start by opening Google Drive. To open Google Slides, type https://drive.google.com in the Address field of your browser. Google
Drive opens.

Step 1. Create a New Google Slides Presentation

Once Google Drive is open, create a new Google Slides
presentation. Click the New button
in the upper left. Click Google Slides
from the drop-down menu. A blank presentation appears:

The presentation is assigned one of the Google Slides
default themes, but don't worry. We'll soon change that.

Rename your presentation by typing a new title in the upper
left.

Step 2. Create a Master Slide

We've already examined the master slide tool. It's time to
go back to it so we can define those elements that will appear on every slide.

1. Select Slide > Edit
master from the main menu:

We've already defined a vertical bar for the left of the
Google Slides Presentation. It's time to define the elements of the slide,
starting with the font.

Change the Font

1. Choose the font for the presentation by clicking in the text placeholder on the master slide
and selecting it. You'll notice the current font is defined as Arial:

Pro Tip: You'll find
unique fonts and other graphic elements in Envato
Elements.

2. To change the font for each text place holder, click the
down arrow to the right of the font name (Arial). For this presentation, we'll
use the common font, Georgia.

Pro Tip: You could also
change the font size and other font attributes by clicking the arrow to the
right of the word More next to the
font name.

3. Continue selecting the text in each placeholder on the master
slide to change the font at each level.

When you're done, the font Georgia will be used throughout
the entire presentation unless you manually change the font for an individual
slide.

Add a Graphic

You can also add a graphic element to your Google Slide
template. This element appears on every slide, so it's best to be subtle. In
this case, I'll add a logo. Here's how to do it:

1. Select the master slide:

2. Click the Insert
Image icon from the tool bar beneath the main menu. The Insert Image dialog box appears:

3. Drag an image from your desktop onto the dialog box or
click the Choose an image to upload
button to download an image from your computer. In this case, I download a logo
for my company:

4. Drag the image where you want it to appear on your
slides. In this case, I want the image to appear in the lower right corner:

We've just added a vertical blue bar, changed the font, and
added a logo to the master slide. These changes will be reflected on all the
slides in the presentation.

Note: There is a page
number beneath the logo on the master slide. We want this to appear on all the
slides in the presentation except the title slide, so it's important to leave
it here.

Step 3. Add Master Layouts

You're now ready to start adding your own master layouts
from within the master slide tool (Slide > Edit Master).

Remove Extra Layouts

To start, delete any current master layouts (left over from
the default template) that you don't need.

1. To delete a master layout click on it to select it and
right-click.

2. Choose the Delete
option from the popup menu:

Note: You must leave at
least one master layout in your template.

Modify a Master Layout

After you remove unwanted master layouts, you're ready to change
any layouts you left in the template to match your own layout design. In this
example, I'm going to change the master layout for the title slide to make the
text left-aligned. Let's get started

1. Click on the title slide master layout to select it:

2. To change the text alignment, select the text to be
changed.

3. Click the down arrow next to the More button in the Tools menu.
Then, click the Left Alignment
button. Here's what the title master layout slide looks like with the text left
aligned:

Each time you apply the title slide layout to a slide in
your Google Slides presentation, it'll look like your master layout.

Modify Another Master Layout

I've modified one more master layout as an example. Here's what I did:

1. To modify another master layout slide, select the slide
you want to change. 

2. Use the editing tools to delete any elements you don't
want to keep. (Remember, you won't be able to delete elements from the master
slide.) After removing the existing elements, you'll see a blank master layout
that looks something like this:

For the master layout I'm creating, I want to leave room for
an image on the left and insert a text placeholder on the right.

Note: There's currently
no way to insert an image placeholder in a master layout.

3. Leave space on the left of the slide for the image. When
we go back to the slide authoring mode, we'll draw a placeholder there that can
easily be removed so that the user of the template knows what to do.

4. To draw the placeholder, click the arrow to the right of
the Text Tool from the Tools menu. Select the Body text placeholder option from the
drop-down menu. Now the master layout looks like this:

Caution: If you use the Text Tool without choosing the
placeholder option, the text becomes an unchangeable part of the slide layout.

5. Use your cursor to draw the text box placeholder on the
master layout.

6. To add a subtitle placeholder, use the Subtitle placeholder option from the
drop-down menu:

Continue modifying existing layouts, or you can add
a new master layout slide through the Master Slide tool.

Add a New Master Layout

Here's how to add a new master layout to your Google Slides template:

1. Click on any master layout to select it.

2. Right-click to bring up the drop-down menu:

3. Select the New
Layout option from the drop-down menu. A new master layout slide appears
below the current master layout slide.

4. Modify the new master layout as needed using the previous
steps.

Apply the Masters to Your Google Slides Template

Once you've created all the master layouts you need, return
to the slide authoring view. Your template will be a sample presentation you build using the master slide and master layouts you just created. It can be modified when you
need it.

To start, all I've got in my Google Slides template is the
title slide:

1. To add another slide to your template, click the down
arrow next to the New slide button
in the upper left (it looks like a + symbol). A pop-up appears showing the
available master layouts:

2. Click on a slide layout to apply it to the presentation
template sample slide you are adding. In this example, I selected the Image with Text master layout.

3. Since you can't insert an image placeholder in a Google
Slides master layout, insert a text box in your template with instructions on
how the space is to be used:

For step-by-step instructions on how to add an image to a Google Slides
presentation, study:

• 
  Presentations
  
  
  How to Add Pictures and Backgrounds in Google Drive Slides
  
  
  Laura Spencer

4. Continue adding slides and applying master layouts and
sample text to template slides until your Google Slides template is done.

Step 4. Use the New Google Slides Template

Once you've completed your template, you're ready to use it.
You can do this by modifying the template example to create an actual presentation.

1. Make a copy of the template using the File > Make a copy option on the main
menu.

2. Rename the copy so you don't overwrite over your
template.

3. Right-click on any sample slides you intend to use more
than one and use the Copy command
from the pop-up menu to make a duplicate of it. Delete any template slides you don't need to use.

4. Move the slides into the order you want them to be
in your presentation by clicking on each slide and dragging it into position.

5. Type your information into the presentation. Add any
images that you need for the presentation.

For more information on how to create a Google Slides
presentation, review these tutorials:

• 
  Google Slides
  
  
  How to Create a Professional Google Slideshow Presentation
  
  
  Laura Spencer


• 
  Presentations
  
  
  How to Use Google Slides (Quick Start Guide)
  
  
  Rebecca Tarnopol

Templates for Google Slides

While we've just shown you how to create your own Google
Slides template, you'll save a lot of time by using a professionally designed presentation
template.

You can find professional presentation templates at EnvatoGraphicRiver and Envato Elements.
Here's an article that gives you a peek at some of the professional templates
and themes you'll find:

• 
  Google Slides
  
  
  17+ Cool Google Slides Themes (To Make Presentations in 2017)
  
  
  Sean Hodge

After you've chosen a Google Slides template, learn how to
download a professionally designed theme and use it in this tutorial:

• 
  Google Slides
  
  
  How to Quickly Change Themes For Google Slides (Download & Import)
  
  
  Laura Spencer

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Download our new eBook: The Complete Guide to Making Great Presentations. It's available for FREE with a subscription to the Tuts+ Business Newsletter. 

Conclusion

You've just learned how to create a Google Slides template
using master slides and master layouts. By using a template, you can make sure
that all the presentations your organization creates adhere to branding
standards and look consistent.

For even more information on how use Google
Slides, review our Google Slides learning guide How
to Use Google Slides (Ultimate Tutorial Guide).