setting default indents in a text box

[Guest]

How do I set default indents in a text box so that subsequent text boxes will
have the newly set indents?

 

[Troy @ TLC Creative]

Adjust the text box on the Master Slide. Then all new text boxes, created
from the Master Slide text boxes, will have the same formatting.

Go to VIEW >> MASTER >> SLIDE MASTER

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the quick response Troy, but I have tried your suggestion and the
changes are not persistant. When I bring up another text box even on the
master, the changes are not there.

 

[Echo S]

Are you using textboxes (placeholders) where it says "click to add text," or
are you clicking on the text tool on the Drawing toolbar and creating manual
textboxes?

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

As Echo and Troy mention, this is pretty easy to do when you're working with
placeholder text.

If you want to set indent defaults for regular text boxes ... well ... best
advice I can give you is find something else to want instead. PowerPoint
doesn't want to play along.

Instead, create a text box, add "dummy" text at each indent level, format it as
desired, then copy/paste it to other slides as needed.

 

[Guest]

Thanks Steve,

I figured powerpoint doesn't want to play but it sure makes things hard when
you want common indents on free form text boxes of varying sizes and shapes
are used throughout apresentation. Gotta do it ugly and reset each separately

 

[Guest]

Hey Echo,

Free form text boxes from either the drawing tool bar or the insert button.
Boxes are varying size shapes but I want a "fixed" indent and the default
setting is too much

Are you using textboxes (placeholders) where it says "click to add text," or
are you clicking on the text tool on the Drawing toolbar and creating manual
textboxes?

--
Echo [MS PPT MVP]http://www.echosvoice.com
Fixing PowerPoint Annoyances http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/powerpointannoy/
How to Prevent PowerPoint Overload (March 23 webcast)
http://tinyurl.com/bp2h8

Thanks for the quick response Troy, but I have tried your suggestion and
the
changes are not persistant. When I bring up another text box even on the
master, the changes are not there.

 

[Echo S]

Yeah. You can set the first one by turning on the ruler and dragging the
caret to the appropriate spot. (Press CTRL while dragging to give your self
more control over the placement.) Then right-click and choose Set Autoshape
Defaults.

After that, you'll want to draw a line, give it a color, and choose Set
Autoshape Defaults again, otherwise your real autoshapes (squares, lines,
circles) will have no fill and no line, so they'll be invisible when you
first draw them!

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

I figured powerpoint doesn't want to play but it sure makes things hard when

you want common indents on free form text boxes of varying sizes and shapes
are used throughout apresentation. Gotta do it ugly and reset each separately

Another trick: start with a text placeholder, duplicate it (Edit, Duplicate)
That gives you a plain text box with the same attributes as your text placeholder.

Or get one formatted the way you want and use the Formatting paintbrush to pick up
its formatting and apply it to other text boxes.

Ah. Or there's ShapeStyles. http://shapestyles.pptools.com

It'll let you grab the styling from one text box, save it as a style, then apply it
to any other text boxes you like, one click. The free demo lets you create up to
five styles.

PowerPoint's a bit weird about applying text formatting to text that isn't there ...
enter your text first, then apply the style.

 

[Guest]

Hey Steve,

The style paintbrush does not pick up the changed indents as it remains at
default settings. It does pick up all other text box attributes

Thanks
Jeff

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

Hey Steve,

The style paintbrush does not pick up the changed indents as it remains at
default settings.

Actually, it does, but it follows its own odd set of rules.
Plain text boxes don't normally indent the way placeholder text does. If you press tab,
you get a tab, not an indent. If you use AltShift+Rightarrow to indent the text, then
when you apply the format with the format painter, it works.

You also need to pick up the formatting of the text BOX, not the text in it.
Click in the text box then press ESC, THEN pick up the formatting with the format brush.

Intuitive? No ... I never promised intuitive. <g>

 

[Guest]

You are THE Man! It works just as advertised and so very easy to understand!

Thanks for all the assist. Next time I have a drink with Uncle Bill I will
sing your praises.

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

You are THE Man! It works just as advertised and so very easy to understand!

Waitaminnit ... you think this is easy to understand???

Dude ... that's scary! ;-)

But as long as it makes some kind of sense to ya, we're good.