Understanding Placeholders
Layouts use placeholders to indicate elements that are going to be assigned on a slide-by-slide basis. For example, a layout might have a text placeholder and an image placeholder. Once you assign that layout to a slide, you would fill in the title and image for that particular slide. You might use the same layout on the next slide, but you would fill in a different title and a different image. Here's how to work with placeholders:
- Click the "Theme & Layouts" button in the lower-right to edit the current theme.
- We're going to create a brand new layout, so click the "Layouts" button and then click the "New Layout" button.
- Make sure that your new layout is created (remember that you can rename it by double-clicking its name, displayed in the top-right corner of the interface right below the "Preview Animations" button).
- The Add Placeholder button only appears when you are editing layouts and backgrounds (backgrounds may have placeholders and other elements as well, they don't just have to be colors or images). Click the Add Placeholder button and you have the option of adding a Text Placeholder or an Asset Placeholder.
- Here we've added one of each type of placeholder: text and asset.
- When you select a placeholder you can edit all of its properties and assign effects and builds which will carry through to each slide that uses this layout.
- You can lock placeholder attributes so that they cannot be edited at the slide level.
- Lock Position: Can this element be moved and resized on slides that use this layout?
- Lock Styles & Effects: Can the color, fill, etc. as well as effects be changed for this element at the slide level?
- Lock Builds: Can animated builds be assigned to this element at the slide level?
Here we've locked the position of the title text placeholder so that it may not be moved on the slides that use this layout.
