Illustration: Andy Wolber/TechRepublic

Google Slides not only lets you lot select and apply any of the congenital-in presentation themes, but as well lets you customize the expect and layout of your slides with the Theme Builder. Much similar paragraph styles in a Google Doc standardize text formatting (e.g., title, subtitle, heading 1, heading ii, normal text, etc.), a theme standardizes the organization and default display of Google Slides.

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When used by many people for many presentations, a theme can help give your presentations a consistent visual identity. A theme reduces the need for people to manually select the right font, font size or logo to be used in each presentation. Instead, the theme handles all of that. Build your theme once, and so use information technology whenever you demand it to create presentations in your preferred visual style. Here's how to get started with themes in Google Slides.

How to select a theme in Google slides

As of early August 2021, you may utilise whatsoever of the 23 pre-built, Google-provided slide themes to your presentation in Slides on the web, as well as in the Slides mobile apps on Android, iPhone and iPad.

On the web, choose Slide | Change Theme (or select the Theme push button from the icon menu) and so bachelor themes display on a side panel (Figure A). Click on a theme to apply it to your presentation slides.

Figure A

On the web, select Slide | Change to access pre-built themes in a side panel.

In the Google Slides app on iPhone and iPad, tap the three-horizontal-dot card (upper right) | Change Theme | From Google to display built-in themes (Figure B). Tap the theme you desire.

Figure B

You too may modify themes in the Google Slides app on iPhone and iPad.

In the Google Slides app on Android, while in slide edit mode, tap the three-vertical-dot carte du jour (upper correct) | Alter Theme | From Google to brandish congenital-in themes (Effigy C). Tap the theme you want.

Figure C

The Android Google Slides app as well offers access to the standard set of themes.

To become familiar with all of the options, I suggest you make a re-create of an existing presentation you lot take that has many (east.chiliad., 20+) slides with different layouts. Apply one of the pre-built themes, so whorl through your slides to appraise the changes. If you have time, repeat the process for each of the available pre-built themes.

How to import a theme in Google Slides

Google Slides on the web also lets you import themes from other presentations. In your browser, with your presentation open, choose Slide | Change Theme (or select the Theme push from the icon menu) so select Import Theme (lower right, at the bottom of the Themes sidebar). Adjacent, select the presentation that contains the themes y'all want to import. The file might be another Google Slide presentation or a Microsoft PowerPoint file. Once selected, the arrangement displays the themes in the file available for import (Figure D). Click (or tap) on the one y'all desire, then Import Theme. Access imported themes in the list as covered in the above "Select a theme" section.

Figure D

On the web, access the Alter theme side panel, and so select Import Theme. This allows you lot to select another presentation from which to import themes.

How to customize your theme in Google Slides

The Theme Architect inside Google Slides lets you control the default arrangement of text, images, colors and fonts for various slide types (eastward.yard., Title slide, Title and content, Title and body, Master point, explanation, etc.). To access the theme builder while in your presentation, select Slide | Edit Theme (or select View | Theme Builder). The theme architect displays equally shown in Effigy East.

Changes you make within the theme builder may be applied to every slide of that blazon within your presentation. A business organization might customize colors (e.g., text, background) and add images (east.grand., logo) or text—optionally, along with web links—according to the arrangement'southward visual identity standards or guidelines.

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For example, you might insert a logo in the lower left corner of your Title slide layout. Additionally, you could select the prototype, and then add together a link to your organization's spider web folio. (To use such a change, make certain to select the Reapply To All push when finished editing the theme in the architect.) When editing slides, this logo will display on every slide with the Title slide layout. The link volition work when selected during a presentation, merely the person editing the slide won't be able to make changes while simply editing the slide: Instead, they'd need to enter Edit Theme mode. The epitome (and related link) brandish as uneditable portions of the folio outside of the Theme builder.

Chiefly, the Theme Architect likewise lets yous fix default fonts and font sizes. I strongly recommend you configure your theme to use few, large and legible fonts. That phrase—few, large and legible—summarizes three pattern choices to keep in mind as you lot adjust font settings in your Google Slides theme.

Effigy E

Customize the default layout and expect of presentations with the Google Slides Theme Architect. One time configured, apply the theme to all of your presentations to present a standardized look to viewers.

Offset, minimize the number of different default fonts used. One font? First-class. Two fonts? 1 for headers, i for body text. Also excellent. 3 fonts? Workable (eastward.g., title, content, callout). Iv or more than? Exercise farthermost caution and pare downwardly the number of fonts, unless you're a pattern professional and accept idea advisedly almost your multi-font usage.

Second, in most cases, you should make default fonts adequately large. Remember, if y'all present slides in a large room, you want to minimize visibility challenges for people in the back of the space. Short of actually testing your slides in a large space, I frequently suggest that people install the Slides mobile app on a phone. Agree your phone at arm's length and review your slides. Adapt the font sizes larger until all the text is piece of cake to read for a person with standard, corrected vision. And then make it a flake bigger.

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Third, if your organization's design department recommends specific fonts, use those in the style prescribed. Otherwise, explore Lexend and Atkinson Hyperlegible fonts, which are available in Google Workspace apps (Docs, Sheets, Slides). The Atkinson Hyperlegible font, named after the Braille Found'south founder, was developed to be of use past people with low vision, while the Lexend font offers varied grapheme spacing widths intended to aid reading proficiency. To change to either of these fonts, first add the font (e.thousand., with the general method described in How to use the Lexend font in Grand Suite), then select that font for title, content or department text in the Theme Builder.

What's your experience?

How ofttimes do you rely on custom themes in Google Slides? Have y'all—or someone in your organization—edited a theme to reflect your organization's colors, fonts or logo usage? How well have themes that you lot've imported worked? Permit me know your experience with Google Slides themes and the theme builder, either in the comments below or on Twitter (@awolber).