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Can't change default font in Slide Master

Anonymous
2013-12-02T12:07:02+00:00

Hello

I am creating a corporate Powerpoint template for a client and need to set the default Slide Master text to Helvetica. Also when the client adds text boxes, builds tables etc. on his own later on.

How do I set that?

I have browsed the web for an hour without finding an answer that works. Either it simply doesn't work, or I don't have the menus and functionalities mentioned in the tutorials.

I am on Mac OS X 10.9 and Powerpoint.mac 2011, version 14.13.9(131030)  (both 100% updated and I have repaired disk permission and rebooted.)

Regards/Trine

Microsoft 365 and Office | PowerPoint | For home | Windows

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Answer accepted by question author

Steve Rindsberg 99,166 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
2013-12-05T17:46:05+00:00

It turns out that it's not so difficult to modify existing Font themes.

They're stored in:

Macintosh HD:Applications:Microsoft Office 2011:Office:Media:Office Themes:Theme Fonts

Whew!

Make a copy of one of the existing XML files in that folder, then open the copy in any capable text editor.  I've added extra linebreaks to make it easier to read (this won't affect how it works in PPT).

First thing is to change name="XXX" to the new name for the font theme (it might have to match the file name; I wasn't sure but to save some dancing around in case it's important, I made them match).

Next, under both majorFont and minorFont, change <a:latin typeface="xxx"/> to make xxx whatever typeface name you want. It must be spelled correctly, of course.  If you want to change the typeface used in East Asian languages (Japanese, Chinese, Korean) you can also change <a:ea typeface="xxx"/> to something appropriate.

majorFont controls your heading fonts, minorFont controls other text.

Change nothing else, save the file.

If PPT was already running while you made these changes, you'll need to restart it to make it recognize the new theme file.

That's about all there is to it.  I now have two new themes, HorriblyUgly and OnlySlightlyUgly.  You don't even want to *know* what fonts the first one uses.  It'd burn your eyes.  ;-)

But here's an example, my brand new OnlySlightlyUgly font theme.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>

<a:fontScheme xmlns:a="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/drawingml/2006/main" name="OnlySlightlyUgly">

<a:majorFont>

<a:latin typeface="Arial"/>

<a:ea typeface="Arial Unicode MS"/>

<a:cs typeface=""/>

</a:majorFont>

<a:minorFont>

<a:latin typeface="Times New Roman"/>

<a:ea typeface="Arial Unicode MS"/>

<a:cs typeface=""/>

</a:minorFont>

</a:fontScheme>

Now in theory, you could also copy an existing THMX file, unzip it, find the bits inside that affect the fonts and edit those, it'd be tedious.  Instead, it seems that you can apply your edited font theme, as above, then use the Save Theme button to save as a new theme, which then appears on your Themes tab and voila, includes the fonts from the edited font theme xml file.

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  1. Steve Rindsberg 99,166 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2013-12-02T15:43:06+00:00

    The font/formatting of text boxes and other shapes that users add to a slide is not controlled by the slide master.  Instead, you'll need to do this:

    Add a text box, format the text (and fill/outline/etc) to your specifications.

    Click anywhere within the text box then press ESC.

    This selects the text BOX rather than the text within the box.

    Now Control+Click and choose Set as Default Text Box.

    Next, add a shape and repeat the process to set the default text for shapes other than text boxes.

    This doesn't seem to apply to tables/charts, and to tell you the truth, I'm not sure how you control the defaults for tables/charts.

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  2. Steve Rindsberg 99,166 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2013-12-03T16:53:21+00:00

    Thanks, Bob.

    Under Windows, one could edit the THMX files (they're actually XML) to change the fonts.  I'd guess  one could do the same on Mac with any decent text editor.

    I don't recall exactly what needs to be edited but could probably figure it out if need be.

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  3. Bob Jones AKA CyberTaz MVP 436K Reputation points
    2013-12-02T19:09:50+00:00

    Default fonts for Tables, Charts & SmartArt [as well as everything else :-)] are determined by the Font Scheme of the Theme being used. By using a Theme/Font Scheme that comprises the preferred Headings & Body fonts there's no need to modify Masters or individual components.

    Unfortunately, none of the Mac Office Themes employ Font Schemes that include the Helvetica font. I believe there may be one available in the later Windows versions of Office that could be copied over to a Mac. If not, the more current Windows versions allow the creation of fully Customized Themes including Font Schemes.

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