PowerPoint Transitions

Version note: This exercise uses PowerPoint 2016 project files and screenshots. Menu names and controls can differ in current versions. Keep the original file names and sample data when following the exercise; they are practice materials, not current business information.

Getting Started

1. If you have any presentations open, in PowerPoint, go to File > Close to close them. You may have to close more than one.

2. Still in PowerPoint, go to File > Open to open the next project.

3. Under Open, click on On my Mac or This PC.

4. Navigate to the Desktop > Class Files > yourname-PowerPoint 2016 Class folder.

5. Double–click Transitions.pptx to open it.

Apply a Transition to the Existing Slides

1. In Normal view, select the first slide.
2. Open the Transitions tab and choose Fade.
3. Set the duration and preview the effect. Keep On Mouse Click selected for presenter-controlled advancement.
4. Clear After if you do not want slides to advance automatically. Automatic advancement requires a timing setting; clearing On Mouse Click alone does not create one.
5. Choose Apply To All to copy the transition and timing settings to the existing slides.
6. Start the slide show and move through several slides to check the result. Review transition settings on any slides you add later.

See Microsoft's transition guide for version-specific instructions.

Change the Transition on One Slide

Fade is a nice transition, but we want a more exciting effect when the line chart transitions to the pie chart. Let's apply a different transition to the pie chart slide (in PowerPoint, we apply transitions to the slide we want to transition TO).

1. Press Esc to exit Slide Show View.

2. In the Slides list, navigate to the Coworking Demographics pie chart slide (Slide 5).

3. In the Transitions tab, select the fifth effect, Wipe. By default, this effect reveals the new content from right to left, wiping out the previous slide's content as the slide transitions.

NOTE: We can override the default direction, but we like it the way it is.

4. You'll see a brief preview of the new transition. Feel free to try out any of the other fun transition options, but make sure Wipe is selected before moving on.

5. In the Slides list, click on the previous slide (the line chart), then press Cmd–Return (Mac) or Shift–F5 (Windows) to preview again in Slide Show View from this current slide.

NOTE for Windows users: F5 previews from the first slide. Shift–F5 is handy in cases like this when you want to preview from a slide other than the first one.

6. Press the Down Arrow to see the wipe transition. Nice! This slide now uses Wipe instead of the Fade transition applied to the other slides.

7. Press Esc to exit Slide Show View and return to Normal View.

8. Save the file.

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