PowerPoint presentations are powerful tools for communicating difficult to understand concepts and theories. Therefore, it is important to present the textual content in a way that the audience is able to quickly comprehend the presentation’s intent. For this, it is vital that you should be aware of using fonts in PowerPoint before creating your presentations.
Here are 24point0’s top tips on using Fonts in PowerPoint:
Serif or Sans Serif? Choose the Right Font for Your PPT Presentation
Fonts can be divided into the following three categories: serif, sans serif and script. Serif fonts are those in which the characters have “feet” and “tails” – Times New Roman is a serif font. Sans serif fonts are stark, plain and without any element of decoration – Arial is a sans serif font.
There’s no fixed rule on when to use which type of font, but it is generally agreed that serif fonts would be better used in paragraphs and denser texts as the character designs aid readability. Sans serif fonts, with their stark shapes make headings and single line text stand out on the slide.
Never use script fonts such as Brush Script as these tend to be very difficult to read on computer monitors or even projected slides.
If you have difficulty in deciding which fonts should be used in your presentation, why not go for 24point0’s PowerPoint Design Services? 24point0’s expert team of designers can either integrate a corporate style guide to create a new presentation or design a template for your company from scratch.
Be Consistent with Fonts in PowerPoint Presentations
Remember that fonts should be consistent across the presentation. If you’re using Arial for headings and Times New Roman for body text, keep it consistent across the slides. Map the font for each text element in the Slide Master.
PowerPoint 2007 has a useful font menu in the View >Slide Master > Edit Theme option that gives you the best possible font combinations which you can apply to your presentation.
If you find that these don’t meet the needs for your presentation, then go for 24point0’s PowerPoint Concept to Creation production service. Leave the headache of choosing the best fonts and other visual design choices to 24point0’s expert graphic designers.
Use Commonly Available Fonts in PowerPoint Presentations
Use fonts that are commonly available on all computers. Go with the safer choice when it comes to fonts so as to avoid last minutes surprises and inconvenience. Arial and Times New Roman are available on almost all machines by default. Fonts such as Helvetica, though Sans Serif, can be difficult to find on all machines, so should be avoided unless you choose to embed it in your presentation.
Embed Fonts to Avoid Problems
One of the most common problems that PowerPoint users and presenters face is the substitution of fonts in your PPT presentation. You may have taken care to choose the best and most readable font combination while creating slides on your computer but when you transfer the file to another machine, you lose the fonts you’ve used. This usually happens when you choose fonts that are not available on all computers. To avoid such a scenario that can mess up even the best designed presentations, it is important to embed fonts once you’re done creating the PPT. However, only TrueType Fonts (the ones in the font list with TT next to their name) can be embedded in PPT files.
How to Embed Fonts in PowerPoint 2003
Go to File > Save As > Tools > Save Options. In the Save Options dialog box, check Embed TrueType Fonts. For smaller PPT files and to turn off editing on other machines, check the Embed characters in use only option. To ensure editing on other machines, check the Embed all characters option. This will, however, make the files bigger and should be avoided unless you really need the files to be editable.
How to Embed Fonts in PowerPoint 2007
Go to Save As>Tools>Save Options> Preserve fidelity when sharing this presentation. Check the Embed fonts in file option followed by either all characters or characters in use only depending on whether you need the file to be editable or not.
Use the Right Font Size to Ensure Readability
It is very difficult to judge exactly how readable projected text can be to an audience when preparing a presentation on a computer. As a general rule of thumb, never use font sizes below 12 points. Ideally body/ bulleted text should be 18 points and above. Headings and important words/ phrases should be 30 points and above.
Choose the Right Colors for Text in PowerPoint Presentations
The important thing to remember about the color of fonts is that they should be at high contrast with the background of the presentation slides. For example, use black text on white background and vice versa. This helps improve the readability of text. If you find it difficult to judge which font color goes with which background, look at the templates already available in PowerPoint and get a sense of the appropriate color palette.
PowerPoint 2007 and newer versions have a handy color chart (View > Slide Master > Edit Themes > Colors) which you can use to get the right color combinations for your presentation.
24point0 has a wide range of templates for various business needs available to buy and download. These templates have been designed keeping in mind aesthetics and readability.
Keep Font Stylization to a Minimum in PowerPoint Presentations
Avoid unnecessary font decoration gimmicks such as glows and drop-shadows as this leads to decreased readability. If you need to emphasize words or phrases, make them bold. Don’t underline, bold and italicize text all at once – choose one style go with it. Use these attributes sparingly or their effect will be lost. Also, it’s best to avoid italics in PowerPoint presentations as italicized text, like script fonts are hard to read.
Avoid Unnecessary Capitalization in PowerPoint Presentations
Avoid capitalizing whole sentences or headlines as this makes the audience uncomfortable – it’s the typographical equivalent of shouting and doesn’t help your presentation in any way. If you need to emphasize certain points or words, make the text bold. Ensure that you use the variations (normal/bold) of the same font for a visually appealing and consistent presentation.
Make Text More Readable with the Right Spacing
Other text attributes that can help make chunks of text more easily readable are leading or line spacing and character spacing. If you feel the text is too close together, increase the character spacing (Home>Font>Character Spacing) and line spacing (Home > Paragraph > Line Spacing).
Replace Fonts on all Slides with Ease
If you have imported or copied and pasted text from another source into your presentation, it is important to ensure that the new text is in the same font as the rest of the slides. To replace fonts in one go do the following:
In PowerPoint 2007:
Go to Home > Editing > Replace Fonts
In PowerPoint 2003:
Go to Format > Replace Fonts
If you have an old PowerPoint presentation which has to be updated, then go for 24point0’s Rapid Makeover service. 24point0’s presentation designers can help you modify your old PPTs and give them a professional makeover.
Change the Default Font in PowerPoint
In PowerPoint, the default font for any text is Arial, 18 points. If you need another font and don’t want to go through the hassle of having to select text each time and change the font, do the following:
In PowerPoint 2003:
Go to Format > Font > Choose the attributes and click on OK to save changes.
In PowerPoint 2007:
Go to Home > Shapes > Basic Shapes > Text Box. Draw a text box on the slide, choose font attributes and right click on the border of the text box and choose Set as Default Text Box from the menu. To ensure that this is the default for the presentation, do this before you start working on your presentation.
Written by Chillibreeze Writer
