Add and edit master slides in Keynote on Mac
The slide layouts used in each Keynote theme are based on master slides. When you want to add a slide to your presentation that has particular elements—such as a title and subtitle, a bulleted list, or an image—you select the slide layout that most resembles the layout you want, then you replace the placeholder elements and make other changes as necessary. Only the slide in your presentation is changed; the master slide remains in its original state.
If you add new images, text, and other objects to a master, these objects become part of the slide background and aren’t editable in your presentation. If you want text, shapes, or images on a master slide to be editable in your presentation, you must add them as placeholders to the master slide.
You can make the same kinds of changes to a master slide that you make to a regular slide—for example, modify the appearance of text, change the slide background, and change the size of the images. The changes appear on every slide in the presentation that’s based on that master.
Add a new master slide
Click
in the toolbar, then choose Edit Master Slides.Do any of the following:
Click
in the toolbar, then click to select a master slide.In the slide navigator, click to select a slide with a layout similar to the layout you want, then press Return.
Double-click the name of the master slide in the slide navigator and type a new name.
Modify the slide however you like by adding text, images, shapes, placeholders, or other objects.
See “Add text and media placeholders,” below.
When you’re done editing, click Done at the bottom of the slide canvas, or click
in the toolbar, then choose Exit Master Slides.
Add text and media placeholders
Click
in the toolbar, then choose Edit Master Slides.Click to select the master slide you want to edit.
Do one of the following:
Create a text placeholder: Add a text box or add a shape.
Create a media placeholder: Add an image or add a video.
Change the item’s appearance however you like and drag it where you want it on the slide.
Click to select the object you added, then in the Format
sidebar, click the Style tab.Near the bottom, select Define as Text Placeholder or Define as Media Placeholder.
If you want slides based on this master to allow objects to be layered under master objects, click the background of the slide (so that nothing is selected), then select “Allow layering” in the Format
sidebar.To learn more about layers, see Layer, group, and lock objects in Keynote on Mac.
When you’re done editing, click Done at the bottom of the slide canvas, or click
in the toolbar, then choose Exit Master Slides.
Placeholders are automatically tagged according to type. The tags “tell” the content where to go when you apply a different master to a slide. For example, an image that’s in a placeholder with the tag “Media” is automatically added to a placeholder from the new master that also has the tag “Media.”
To change a tag, select the placeholder, then click the Style tab in the Format sidebar. In the text box next to Tag, delete the existing tag, then type your own.
Note: By default, placeholder text boxes that you add to a master slide have two control handles and the font size automatically changes to fit inside the text box. To manually adjust the font size, you need to first choose Format > Shapes and Lines > Reset Text and Object Handles (from the Format menu at the top of your screen) to convert the placeholder to an eight-handled text box.
Change a master slide’s placeholder text
You can change the placeholder text on a master slide for the title, subtitle, and more. This is especially useful if you want to create a theme to share with others.
If you change the placeholder text on a master slide, it applies to all slides in your presentation that use that master slide.
Click
in the toolbar, then choose Edit Master Slides.Click to select the master slide you want to edit.
Click the text you want to change, such as Slide Title or Slide Subtitle, then in the Format
sidebar, click the Style tab.In the text box next to Display, type what you want the display text to say.
For example, if you’re creating a theme for financial presentations, you might change “Presentation Subtitle” to “Quarter.”
You can also add one or more tags to the placeholder (optional).
When you’re done editing, click Done at the bottom of the slide canvas, or click
in the toolbar, then choose Exit Master Slides.
You can also create additional text placeholders with custom display text. See Replace placeholder text.
Add an object placeholder for a table, chart, or image gallery
A placeholder you can add a table, chart, or image gallery to is called an object placeholder. You can add only one object placeholder to a master slide.
Click
in the toolbar, then choose Edit Master Slides.Click to select the master slide you want to edit.
In the Format
sidebar, select the Object Placeholder checkbox.Resize the placeholder and position it where you want.
The first table, chart, or image gallery you add to any slide based on this master assumes the placeholder’s size and position.
If you want slides based on this master to allow objects to be layered under master objects, click the background of the slide (so that nothing is selected), then select “Allow layering” in the Format
sidebar.When you’re done editing, click Done at the bottom of the slide canvas, or click
in the toolbar, then choose Exit Master Slides.
Delete a master slide
Click
in the toolbar, then choose Edit Master Slides.In the sidebar on the left, Control-click the master slide thumbnail and choose Delete.
If slides in the presentation use this master slide, choose a new master slide for those slides in the dialog that appears, then click Choose.
Click Done at the bottom of the slide canvas.