PowerPoint Important Terms

Presentation software

A computer program used to organize and present information to others.

Copyright law

A type of intellectual property law that protects works of authorship, including books, Web pages, computer games, music, artwork, and photographs.

Fair use

An exception to copyright that permits the public to use copyrighted material for certain purposes without obtaining prior consent from the owner.

Intellectual property

Any idea or creation of the human mind

Object

Any item on a slide that can be modified.

Text Placeholders

Boxes with dotted borders, where text is entered.

View Shortcuts

Buttons on the status bar that allow you to switch quickly between PowerPoint views.

Slide pane

Displays the current slide in a presentation.

Status bar

Located at the bottom of the PowerPoint window, this bar shows messages about what you are doing and seeing in PowerPoint, including which slide you are viewing and the total number of slides.

Slide thumbnails

Small images viewed in the left pane in Normal view.

Subtitle text placeholder

The bottom text placeholder on the title slide labeled "Click and add subtitle".

Panes

The name for the two areas normal view is divided into.

Thumbnails pane

The pane on the left in Normal view, which displays the slides of a presentation.

Normal view

The primary view used to write, edit, and design your presentation.

Title placeholder

The top text placeholder on the title slide that is labeled "Click to add title".

Copyright infringement

The unauthorized use of protected work, that can result in legal action.

Sizing handles

These appear around the border of the selection box, allowing you to change it's shape or size by dragging one of them.

AutoFit Options Button

This button indicates that PowerPoint has automatically decreased the font size of all the text in the text object so it fits inside the text object.

Comments button

This button on the status bar opens the Comments pane.

Notes button

This button on the status bar opens the Notes pane.

Content placeholder

This can be used to insert text or objects such as tables, charts, or pictures.

Slide layout

This contains text and object placeholders that are arranged in a specific way on the slide.

Selection box

This has a dashed line border and appears around the placeholder, indicating that it is selected and ready to accept text.

Theme

This includes colors, fonts, and theme effects to create a cohesive look.