Video: Customize colors and save the theme

How do you change only one color of the current color scheme, rather than the entire color scheme, and change things like the color of your hyperlinked text? Watch this video to find out.

Save your custom theme

Save the changes that you make to the colors, fonts, or/and effects as a theme (.thmx file). That way you can apply this new theme to your other presentations.

1. Click VIEW > SLIDE MASTER > Themes.

2. Click Save Current Theme.

3. In the File name box, type an appropriate name for the theme, and click Save. The revised theme is saved as a .thmx file in the Document Themes folder on your local drive and it is automatically added to the list of custom themes on the DESIGN tab in the Themes group.

Want more?

Add color and design to your slides with themes

Apply multiple slide designs (themes) to one presentation

Save a slide design (theme) as a template

So far, in modifying the Office theme, I have changed the background from white to dark blue, and I adjusted its gradient shading.

Now, I have found a text color that I want to change.

This hyperlinked text, in dark blue, is too dark against the background.

How do I make it lighter and more readable?

It is not a matter of just selecting the text and changing the font color because PowerPoint applied this color automatically.

Let's back up a couple of steps and see how the color was applied.

Here's the slide before I created the hyperlink.

It was when I created the hyperlink-- when I selected the text and right-clicked, chose Hyperlink, and pasted in the web address-- that PowerPoint changed the text color to blue.

It did that because this blue is part of the Office theme's color scheme: it is designated for any hyperlink text.

So, to change the color, we are going to alter the color scheme.

This is a useful thing to know how to do.

We start by clicking theDESIGN tab.

Then, we click theMore arrow in Variants and point to Colors.

In the list of color schemes, the Office theme colors are at the top.

They are selected, which means that they are currently applied.

All these other sets of colors are alternative color schemes.

But I don't want to change the whole color scheme, only one color of the current scheme.

To do that I use the command, at the bottom of this menu, called Customize Colors.

This opens a detailed picture of the current color scheme and shows me which color is used for which things on the slide.

The samples, here, are snapshots of the color scheme, showing the colors for both a dark and a light background.

Under Theme colors, these top four represent alternatives for light and dark backgrounds and light and dark text.

These Accent colors are used for shapes and other graphics.

These two colors, at the bottom, are the ones used for hyperlinks -- the text color of the link, and the text color after you click the link.

Looking again at the snapshots, I can see that the colors for hyperlinks work well on the light background, but not so well on the dark background.

So, let's change the hyperlink colors.

I click the arrow next to Hyperlink and see the Office theme colors in various shades.

The color currently being used is selected, over here.

I'll look for a lighter blue. How about this one?

The snapshots update to show the changed hyperlink color.

That looks better.

Next to Followed Hyperlink, I am going to make the same change.

I'll click to open the colors and select the same blue because I don't want the color to change when I click the link.

These are my new hyperlink colors.

Now, I want to save this customized color scheme with a new name.

I'll call it Office Blue, and click Save.

The new hyperlink color is automatically applied to the hyperlink on the slide.

When I open theColors menu, I see that the new custom color scheme is there, at the top, and it is selected, showing that it is applied.

Finally, I want to save this theme with the background and colors I have chosen, so I can use it again.

To do that, I open the Themes gallery and click Save Current Theme.

I'll call it Office Blue, and click Save.

Later, for other presentations,the Office Blue theme will be available in the Themes gallery.

Now that you know how to apply, customize, and save a theme, you'll design your presentations with confidence and flair.

To learn more, read the course summary, and experiment on your own.