PowerPoint 2010: Create a New Color Palette

by AJ George

Do you create a lot of presentations that use the same colors? Are you tired of having to go into old presentations to grab the colors? Creating a custom color palette is just the solution.

1. From the Design tab, choose Themes > Colors > Create New Theme Colors.
   
   
   
   The Create New Theme Colors dialog box will open.
   
   
2. Choose your new colors for your palette from the drop-down color selectors.
   
   The color application will appear in the Sample image to the right.
   
   
3. Type a name for the new color palette into the Name field and click the Save button.
   
   

You can edit your custom color palette at any time by right-clicking it in the Colors drop-down menu and choosing Edit.

I've been asked if there is a way to set your custom color palette as the default color palette when you start PowerPoint. As far as I can tell, you cannot. However, these is a quick way to get to your custom color palette. Update: I figured out how to do this--click here for the post on Changing the Defaul Theme.

Notice the Theme Color button in the Quick Access toolbar below? (It's the one with the colored blocks.)

To gain quick access to your custom color palette, simply click the Theme Color button.

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About the author: AJ George is IconLogic's lead Technical Communicator and author of both "PowerPoint 2007: The Essentials" and "PowerPoint 2008 for the Macintosh: The Essentials."