Welcome to Slides Fundamentals. In this section we will cover the following topics:
Create Presentations
Open a Presentation
File Management
Print Presentations
Getting Help
Create Presentations
Creating a new presentation is one of the most basic commands you’ll need in Google Slides. You can create a new, blank presentation, or create a new presentation based on a variety of pre-designed templates.
There are several ways to create a new Google Slide:
- The easiest is to go open a browser and type: “slide.new” into the address bar. If you’re logged into your Google account, Google Docs will open in your browser.
- Another way is to use the App Launcher icon (aka Waffle) and click on the Slides Icon.
- You can also create Slides using your Google Drive folder. See below.
Create a Blank Presentation
You can create new Google Slides presentations from within your Google Drive.
1. Open a folder in Google Drive.
2. Click the New button.
3. Select Google Slides.
A new, blank presentation is created.
Name a Spreadsheet
At first, your presentation won’t have a name, so you’ll have to give it one.
1. Click in the name field above the presentation.
2. Type a new name, then press Enter.
The file is renamed.
Save and Close
As long as you’re connected to the internet, Google Slides will automatically save your work.
1. Click on document status to make sure that changes have been saved.
2. Close the browser tab.
The presentation is saved and all of its data will appear the next time you open it.
Create a Presentation from a Template
Using a template allows you to begin with a presentation that has already been designed and formatted so you can just insert the information. This saves you time and you will end up with a professionally designed presentation.
1. Click New.
2. Click the > next to Google Slides.
3. Select “From a template“.
The Template gallery will appear, with a listing of recent presentations and a choice of template categories: Personal, Work, and Education.
4. Select a template.
A new presentation is created from the template. Fill in the placeholders to complete your document.
How to Open a Presentation
Opening a file allows you to continue working on a presentation that you have previously saved or that has been created and shared with you by someone else.
Open a Presentation from Google Drive
You can open Google Docs files from within a Google Drive window.
1. Navigate to the folder with the presentation you want to open.
2. Double-click the presentation.
The presentation will open in its own tab.
Open a Presentation from Google Slides
If you don’t have a Google Drive tab open, you can browse for and open presentations from within a Google Docs window.
1. Click File on the menu bar.
2. Select Open.
A dialog box will open and give you a few options for finding a presentation to open:
- Use the search field to search for a specific file name.
- Browse through the folders in your Google Drive.
- Click a tab to view the presentations that have been shared with you, that you have marked as a favorite, or that you have recently opened.
3. Navigate to (or search for) a presentation.
4. Select a presentation.
5. Click Open.
The selected presentation opens in its own tab.
How to Manage Google Slides Files
As you work with Google Slides, at some point you will need to do some file management to keep your presentations organized. You can usually manage your presentation in Google Drive, but you can also do some basic presentation management within Slides as well.
Rename a Presentation
1. Click the presentation name near the top of the screen.
2. Edit the presentation name.
3. Press Enter.
Even if you change a presentation’s name, its URL stays the same, so anyone you shared the presentation with won’t lose their access to it.
Star a Presentation
If you’re working with a lot of presentations, you can mark some presentations as more important than others.
1. Click the star icon next to the document name.
The presentation is marked with a star.
2. To remove any starred documents, simply click the star again and the star will be removed.
Copy a Presentation
If you want to use some of the content from an existing presentation, you can “make a copy” to create a new presentation
1. Click File from the menu bar.
2. Select Make a copy.
3. Enter a Name for the copied presentation.
4. (Optional) Specify the Folder where you want to save the copied presentation.
5. Click OK.
Google creates and displays the copied presentation.
Move a Presentation
You can also move a presentation to a new or different folder in Google Drive.
1. Click File from the menu bar
2. Select Move to.
3. Navigate to the desired folder.
4. Click Move here.
The presentation is moved to a new location.
Note: You can also move presentation by clicking the folder icon next to the presentation name.
Delete a Presentation
You can remove a presentation when you no longer need it by deleting it.
1. Click File from the menu bar.
2. Select Move to trash.
Google deletes the presentation and moves it to the trash in Google Drive.
How to Print Presentations
After creating a presentation, you can print a copy as long as your computer is connected to a printer. It is recommended to preview the presentation before printing to ensure it appears as you desire.
Print a Presentation
1. Click File from the menu bar.
2. Select Print.
The Print screen shows a preview of the file and some printing options.
3. Specify any print options
- Destination
- Pages
- Copies
4. Specify advanced printer settings.
You can choose to print one slide per page, with or without notes, or format the page as handouts displaying multiple slides per page. You can also change the page orientation, choose whether or not to print the background or skipped slides, or choose to download the printout PDF file instead of printing it.
5. Click Print.
The presentation is sent to the printer.
| Print Settings | |
|---|---|
| Pages | Print the whole document, a certain page, a page range, or a mix of pages and ranges (e.g. 1-5, 8, 11-13). |
| Paper Size | Select the size of paper you’re printing on. |
| Pages per sheet | Arrange multiple pages on a single sheet. |
| Margins | Adjust the margins between the edge of the page and the text. |
| Scale | Adjust the scale to make the content on the page larger or smaller when printed. |
Getting Help
There are many commands to remember in Google Slides. If you need assistance with any menu item, you can use the search function within the Slides application to find help.
1. Click Help from the menu bar.
2, Type the command you’re looking for in the Search field.
3. Click the desired command.
4. Google displays the Help topic.
Search for Help Topics
You can also use Help to search for basic instructions.
1. Click Help from the menu bar.
2. Type a keyword in the Search Help field.
3. Select the desired help topic.
4. Google displays the help topic.