MS PowerPoint
🔒 Log in to trackViews, slide master, transitions vs animations
🔒 Log in to trackPowerPoint shows a presentation in six views. Normal is the default. A transition is how one slide replaces the next. An animation moves an object on a slide. Exams often ask you to tell these apart.
The views
Choose a view from the View tab or from the buttons on the status bar.
| View | Use |
|---|---|
| Normal | The default view. Thumbnails, slide pane and notes pane together |
| Outline | Shows only the text of all slides in a list |
| Slide Sorter | Shows all slides as small pictures. Best for reordering and deleting |
| Notes Page | Shows one slide with its speaker notes |
| Reading View | A window-sized show for reading, with a taskbar still visible |
| Slide Show | Full-screen show for the audience |
Rule: For "reorder or rearrange slides", the answer is Slide Sorter.
Other view tools
- Zoom enlarges or shrinks the slide on screen.
- Fit to Window sizes the slide to fill the pane.
- Gridlines and Guides help you line up objects.
- Ruler shows margins and tab stops.
- Color, Grayscale and Black and White show how a deck will print.
Which view for which job
- Edit one slide in detail: Normal.
- Write or check the flow of text: Outline.
- Move many slides: Slide Sorter.
- Add speaker notes: Notes Page or the Notes pane.
- Run the show: Slide Show.
Transition vs animation
This pair is a favourite exam trap.
| Transition | Animation | |
|---|---|---|
| Applies to | The slide as a whole | An object on a slide (text, picture, shape) |
| Happens | Between two slides | Within a slide |
| Tab | Transitions | Animations |
| Examples | Fade, Push, Wipe | Fly In, Zoom, Spin |
Animation has four groups.
- Entrance: the object arrives.
- Emphasis: the object stands out while it stays.
- Exit: the object leaves.
- Motion Path: the object moves along a line you draw.
Tip: Entrance is usually green, Emphasis is yellow and Exit is red in the Animation gallery.
Timing and rehearsal
- Advance slide can be On Mouse Click or After a set time.
- Rehearse Timings records how long you speak on each slide.
- Duration sets how long a transition or animation runs.
- Animation Pane lists every animation in order and lets you change the order.
- Animation Painter copies an animation to another object.
Slide Show settings
The Slide Show tab holds From Beginning, From Current Slide, Custom Slide Show, Set Up Slide Show and Hide Slide. A hidden slide stays in the file but is skipped in the show.
Note: Presenter View shows your notes and the next slide on your screen. The audience sees only the current slide.
Question types you will see
Each type: how to recognise it, the method step by step, and one question to try.
Identify the view
The question describes what the screen shows and asks for the view.
Thumbnails, slide and notes together mean Normal.
Small pictures of all slides mean Slide Sorter.
Only text in a list means Outline.
Full screen for the audience means Slide Show.
Each view has a unique screen layout.
Which view shows all slides as small pictures, best for rearranging them?
Show solutionHide solution
Many small pictures are shown.
That view is for rearranging.
It is Slide Sorter.
Slide Sorter
Default view
The question asks for the view PowerPoint opens in.
Normal view opens by default.
It mixes thumbnails, slide pane and notes pane.
Slide Show must be started on purpose.
The default view is a fixed fact.
The default view of MS PowerPoint is:
Show solutionHide solution
The view for editing opens first.
It is Normal view.
Normal view
Transition vs animation
The question describes an effect and asks whether it is a transition or an animation.
Ask what it applies to: a slide or an object.
Effects between two slides are transitions.
Effects on text or pictures are animations.
Both are motion effects, but they act on different things.
Fade between Slide 2 and Slide 3 is an example of a:
Show solutionHide solution
It happens between slides.
So it is not an animation.
It is a transition.
Transition
Animation categories
The question describes how an object behaves and asks for its category.
Arriving is Entrance.
Standing out while staying is Emphasis.
Leaving is Exit.
Moving along a line is Motion Path.
The four names describe the object's life on the slide.
Which animation type moves an object along a drawn line?
Show solutionHide solution
The path is drawn by the user.
The type is named for the path.
Motion Path
Rehearse timings and hidden slides
The question asks how to time a talk or how to skip a slide in the show.
Rehearse Timings records the time on each slide.
Hide Slide skips a slide in the show.
Both are on the Slide Show tab.
The Slide Show tab holds the tools for running the talk.
Which tool records how long you speak on each slide?
Show solutionHide solution
It records time while you practise.
It is Rehearse Timings.
Rehearse Timings
Shortcuts that save time
Transition happens between slides. Animation happens within a slide, on an object.
Entrance brings an object in, Emphasis makes it stand out, Exit takes it away, Motion Path moves it along a line.
An object flies onto the slide when you click. Which animation type is this?
Show solutionHide solution
The object is arriving.
Arrival is an Entrance effect.
Entrance
Mistakes to avoid
Where most students lose marks on this subtopic.
Calling the effect between slides an animation.
It is a transition. Animation acts on objects inside a slide.
Using Normal view to reorder many slides.
Slide Sorter is best for reordering.
Saying Slide Show is the default view.
Normal is the default view.
Putting Transitions on the Animations tab.
Transitions has its own tab, next to Design.
Thinking a hidden slide is deleted.
A hidden slide stays in the file and is only skipped in the show.
Quick revision
Read this the night before the exam.
Views: Normal (default), Outline, Slide Sorter, Notes Page, Reading View, Slide Show.
Slide Sorter is best for reordering or deleting slides.
Transition is between slides. Animation is on an object within a slide.
Animation types: Entrance, Emphasis, Exit, Motion Path.
Rehearse Timings records the time spent on each slide.
A hidden slide stays in the file and is skipped in the show.
Practice: 17 questions
Sets of 10, mixed across the question types above. Every answer has a step-by-step explanation.
Topic test · 10 questions
Suggested time 5 min · wrong answers go to your mistake notebook automatically.