Change a slide background in Keynote on iPad
You can change the background colour or image of individual slides in a presentation. You can also use a dynamic background that uses ambient animations to add movement to a slide.
Use a colour, gradient or image as a slide background
In the slide navigator, tap to select a slide or select multiple slides.
If you don’t see the slide navigator, pinch closed on the slide to zoom out.
Tap
, tap Background, then tap the Standard button at the top of the menu.Select one of the following:
A colour or gradient designed to go with the theme: Tap Preset, swipe left or right to see all choices, then tap a colour.
Any colour: Tap Colour, then tap a colour. To quickly preview what different colours look like on the slide, touch and hold a colour, then drag across the grid to view other colours. Release your finger to select a colour.
A two-colour gradient fill: Tap Gradient, tap Start Colour or End Colour, then tap a colour or swipe left to use the colour wheel. To switch the gradient direction, tap Flip Colour. To change the gradient angle, drag the Angle slider.
A colour from elsewhere on the slide: Tap Colour, then swipe left to the colour wheel. Tap
, then tap a colour on the slide. To preview colours on the slide, touch and hold a colour on the slide, then drag across other colours on the slide. Release your finger to select a colour.A custom colour: Tap Colour, swipe left to the colour wheel, then drag the slider around the wheel. To change colour brightness, drag the top horizontal slider. To change colour saturation, drag the bottom slider. To revert to the previous colour, tap the circle in the centre of the colour wheel (the left half shows the previous colour).
A recently created custom colour or a recently selected colour from elsewhere on the slide: Tap Colour, swipe left to the colour wheel, then tap a colour well to the right of
.An image: Tap Image, tap Change Image, then tap a photo; to insert an image from iCloud or another service, tap “Insert from”. To change how the image fills the slide background, tap an option:
Original Size: Places the image without altering the image’s original dimensions. To resize the image, drag the Scale slider.
Stretch: Resizes the image to fit the slide’s dimensions, which might change the image’s proportions.
Tile: Repeats the image in the slide background. To resize the image, drag the Scale slider.
Scale to Fill: Makes the image larger or smaller to leave no space around the image.
Scale to Fit: Resizes the image to fit the slide’s dimensions, but maintains the image’s proportions.
To create a tinted image, turn on Colour Overlay and tap Fill to select a tint colour. To make the tint more or less transparent, drag the Opacity slider.
Use a dynamic background that moves
Dynamic backgrounds are procedurally generated animations that add motion to slides without significantly increasing the size of your Keynote file. There are a variety of preset dynamic background styles you can choose and customise. If you use the same dynamic background style on more than one consecutive slide, the animation plays seamlessly when you change slides.
Tip: Use the Magic Move slide transition to seamlessly move between slides that use the same dynamic background style but with different appearance settings.
In the slide navigator, tap to select the slide or select multiple slides you want to edit.
If you don’t see the slide navigator, pinch closed the slide to zoom out.
To add a dynamic background to the selected slide or slides, tap
in the toolbar, then tap Background. Tap the Dynamic button at the top of the menu, then tap the dynamic background style you want to use. Swipe left or right to see more styles.Do any of the following:
Select a different dynamic background: Tap another style from the thumbnails below the Dynamic button.
Pause the dynamic background while you work: Turn off Preview Motion. The dynamic background still moves when you play the slideshow.
Change the colour of the dynamic background: Tap the Colours button in the Background menu. Tap one of the Colour buttons, then choose any colour.
To quickly preview what different colours look like on the slide, touch and hold a colour, then drag across the grid to view other colours. Release your finger to select a colour.
Customise a dynamic background style: Each dynamic background style has its own unique animation and appearance options you can change. To customise these options, such as the dynamic background’s speed, the distance between waves or how blurry the background appears, use the controls at the bottom of the menu.
When you change the background of a slide layout, it is applied to every slide that uses that layout.