Slide Transition Effect Options in PowerPoint 2010 for Windows

By default, no transitions are applied to any slide. However, once you apply transition effects to your slides, you can tweak them aplenty. You can adjust the duration and timing of any transition, and even add a sound that will play while the slide transition happens. In addition, you can also play with some more options providing more control over the transition style applied to the slide. These are all placed in a single broad category called Effect Options. These Effect Options, as the very name indicates are related to the individual transition effects, and options may differ for each effect. Further, each transition effect may or may not provide Effect Options. These Effect Options enable you to have more control over the transition style applied to the slide.

Follow these steps to explore Effect Options for slide transitions in PowerPoint 2010 for Windows:

1. Navigate to a slide that already has a transition applied. Access the Transitions tab of the Ribbon, and click the Effect Options button, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 1, below.
2. 
   Figure 1: Effect Options button
2. Doing so brings up a drop-down gallery, as shown in Figure 2, below. Note that your Effect Options gallery may look different than what you see in Figure 2 because each transition effect has its own unique set of variations. For this tutorial, we chose a slide that had the Wipe transition effect applied. So, the 8 effect options you see in Figure 2 relate to that transition effect.
3. 
   Figure 2: Effect Options drop-down gallery

No Effect Options?

Depending on the slide transition effect applied, you may or may not see any Effect Options. Some transition effects like Flash, Dissolve, and Honeycomb provide no Effect Options, and will display a grayed out Effect Options button, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 3, below.


Figure 3: Effect Options grayed out
3. Select any of the options within the Effect Options drop-down gallery. PowerPoint will instantly preview the transition effect you clicked. Similarly, play with the different effect options to ascertain which one works best for you.
4. Save your presentation.