Caveats About Masters in PowerPoint 2003 for Windows

While all the Masters that PowerPoint 2003 provides can make it easier for you to create consistent looking slides, there may be times when these Masters will not live up to your expectations. And it is important for you to be aware of these "caveats", so that you don't run into big problems without being aware!

Here's a list of some caveats:

1. When saved as POT files (PowerPoint templates), you will lose any customizations made in the Handout and Notes Masters. So, always make sure that you save any such file as a PPT file (PowerPoint presentation).
2. You cannot add a new Title Master without adding a new Slide Master. Thus, the Title Master is a subset of the Slide Master.
3. Although you can have multiple Slide Masters (and Title Masters), you are limited to just one each of the Handout and Notes Masters.
4. If you open and edit slides created using Masters in PowerPoint 2003 within a later version (PowerPoint 2007 or upwards), some elements including Footers may not work as you expect them to.

Once we find more caveats, we will update this list. You are welcome to share any information with us to make this list more helpful.