How to Make Four-Color Brochures in PowerPoint

PowerPoint is essentially a tool for presentation.

Microsoft PowerPoint is essentially presentation software, offering a range of ways to communicate information in colorful and animated ways. As such, it is not the ideal tool to use to make four-color brochures, lacking the brochure templates and precision color management tools of Microsoft Publisher. However, if you have to use it to make a four-color brochure, or wish to, certain work-arounds should help you produce a reasonable piece of work.

Instructions

1. Click "View" then "Normal" if this is not the current view.

2. Press "Ctrl" and "A" to select text boxes on slide. Press "Delete."

3. Click "Insert" and then "Table." Enter "Number of columns:" according to planned design. Enter "3" for a trifold brochure and change "Number of rows:" to 1. Click "OK."

4. Drag table out to fill slide. Insert text by clicking in a column and typing. Insert clip art by clicking "Insert Clip Art" icon. Insert pictures by clicking "Insert Picture" icon.

5. Click "File" and then "Print." Check that "Number of copies:" is set to "1," "Print what:" option is set to "Slides" and "Color/grayscale:" option is set to "Color." Click "OK." Check printout has acceptable color representation, and, if so, print required number of copies.

Tips & Warnings

• As Roger C. Parker points out: "On-screen colors usually bear little resemblance to printed colors." This is one reason why Publisher is a better choice for this task since you can "assign colors from a color model based on the technology you will be using to duplicate your publication."

References

• Microsoft Office: 12 Simple Rules for Working With Color

Resources

• Microsoft Office: Powerpoint Help and How-to