Creating a theme for SharePoint 2010 using PowerPoint

Something that a “non web design savvy” administrator can do to “pretty” up their SharePoint 2010 site is to change the theme (the theme controls the fonts and colours of the site) and this is easily done with Microsoft PowerPoint.  It is very simple to do and it really helps when you cannot find one of the standard themes in SharePoint to fit your company / personal colours.

So Lets’ begin:

Step 1:
Open up MS PowerPoint and open up a blank presentation

Step 2:
In the ribbon: Click on the Design Tab

Step 3:
Next to the images of the preset themes you will see three menu items: Colours, Fonts and Effects. We are going to work on Colours first. So Click on the Colours menu item, and then choose “Create New Theme Colours..” at the bottom.

Step 4:
This will open up the Theme Colours window

Step 5:
Here you can play with the colours and get a preview of your theme.  For my theme, I decided on soft pastel colours. Once you are happy with your colours, type in a custom name for your theme. Make sure it is unique compared to the names of the standard SharePoint 2010 themes. Click Save once you are done.

Step 6:
Click on the Fonts Menu next. Click on “Create New Theme Fonts…” at the bottom

Step 7:
This will open up the Fonts Window

Step 8:
Choose the fonts you want. I would suggest going with standard ones like Calbri, Arial or Verdana. Using “obscure” fonts will make the site difficult to read, and the site will end up loosing favour with your users.  Choose a name for your Font set and click Save.

The following is a list of the standard fonts in SharePoint Server 2010: (taken from http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2215935 )

Step 13:
Your theme should show up in the gallery now, and it is ready to use!