Powerpoint 2013 - create theme with shapes/images?

Question

Is it possible to create a theme that has objects in it? E.g. if I insert images (NOT stretched background images) and a solid rectangle? I don't want to manually copy the images/shapes into every single slide and leave them as editable.

I clicked view -> slide master to create a theme, but none of the shapes/images are saving, it's only saving the background colour/fonts.

Answer 1

It's not clear from your description exactly what you did but:

View | Slide Master Add your image(s)/shape(s) to either the slide master (the top slide in the thumbnails pane) or to any of the individual layouts.

Save As and choose PowerPoint Theme (THMX)

Save it to your desktop for now, or any other convenient location that you'll be able to find again easily.

Close the file you just saved.

Doubleclick the THMX you just saved. It'll have your images and such in place.

The key thing to remember is that THEMES contain the slide master & layouts and all their content but do not contain slides.

If you want to start a new presentation with ready-made slides, save as PowerPoint Template (POTX) instead.

Answer 2

As you described the problem it seems it's a very small perception error. You created the master slides and layouts in Slide Master view. Those layouts (with the shapes/images you created) are all visible only in Master Slide view. In the Normal view (aka when you open Powerpoint) you have to assign a layout to every slide/s. Just select the slide/s and go to Home-> Layout and pick one you created.

Master Slide View

The Master Slide is the slide that defines the basic formats/effects for a group of layouts. For example you set here the background color/image, footer and header. In a template you can create multiple master slides depending on your presentation.

A layout contains the formats of the Master Slide that is attached to and you can add extra elements for a specific type of slide, for example image/text placeholders, shapes, etc..

After you finish creating the master slides and layouts you close the master view ( Slide Master Tab-> Close Master View), Insert a New Slide and choose a layout for your slide (as shown above).