PowerPoint | What does a "clean" PowerPoint really mean? [Indentation]

Hello!
This is Sotto Neko.

When I'm fixing the design of a document, there are times when I open it and immediately brace myself, thinking, "Oh, this is one of those that needs to be handled carefully."

There are various reasons for this, but among them, one that appears with a high probability is...

Spaces

Honestly, when these are present, I go, "Ugh..."
Because I end up having to delete as many spaces as possible.

Everyone uses them often, so you might think, "Wait, are they bad?"
The spaces themselves might not even realize they are disliked.

But in the world of Office software and DTP, they are gently... no, quite firmly disliked.

There are various reasons why spaces are disliked, but to sum it up in one word, it's "because they are prone to accidents."

The layout is easily broken when spaces are inserted.

For example, when you want to make it look like this.

In times like this, how do you make it?
I bet many people make it like this, right?

Insert spaces at the left edge.
Maybe you even add line breaks so the spaces fit well.

I know this because I used to make it this way when I was in college.
It makes it look aligned, after all.

But actually, this method has a bit of a problem.
That happens when you make changes.

For example.
"Should I add a little more text?"

See, it breaks.

Or, "Should I shrink the width a little?"

It still breaks.

To fix this, you have to delete or add spaces and line breaks. While doing that, you might
accidentally delete necessary characters. It's risky. Dangerous.

Focus on creating things with fewer accidents

Redesigning documents is unique even within graphic design.

After it's finished, there's a possibility that someone other than yourself will edit the data.
Moreover, it's often the case that general employees, not designers, will make changes.

In other words, the premise is that the design will not be 100% completed by your own hands.

Ease of modification.
Ease of maintaining the design.
Low risk of accidents.
You have to create it with these things in mind.

The spaces from earlier are the same.
I don't want you to experience the trouble of re-inserting spaces every time you make a correction, and I want to eliminate the risk of accidentally deleting them.

Neko believes that this is where the true "clean" lies.

So, how do you align them?

Something to replace these spaces at the beginning of the line.
Or rather, this is the original method.

Indentation

There is a feature called this.

Heard of it for the first time?
Yes, it's terribly unknown.
A truly pitiful little thing.

But in the world of DTP, it's famous enough to be called a regular.

First of all, what is "indentation"?

Indentation means "to indent"... but.
There are a few types.

1. First-line indent
As seen in magazines and books, indenting the first character of the first line of a paragraph.

2. Hanging indent
A form of indentation where only the first line sticks out to the left, and the second and subsequent lines are indented.
This is what I wanted to do earlier.

How to specify indentation

To set indentation, select the text you want to set, or the entire text box.
"Home" tab > Click the arrow at the bottom right of "Paragraph"

Then, the "Paragraph" dialog box will appear.

You've been using this a lot lately, haven't you?
It's the same panel we used for line spacing and paragraphs.

Here, you'll find "Indentation".

1. First-line indent

First-line indent is simple.
Just select "First line" from the dropdown and enter the desired value.

The number of centimeters depends on the font size.
You can calculate it, but it's fine to just enter a value that looks like about one character's width and adjust it by eye.

2. Hanging indent

For this, select "Hanging" from the dropdown.
However, there is a trick to hanging indents.

Make sure to enter the same number for "By" as well.

Again, make fine adjustments so that the text aligns exactly where you want it to.

If you set this up properly with indentation, the indent will automatically follow even if you add, delete, or rewrite text.
You won't have to manually add or remove spaces every time.
It also makes errors less likely.

Conclusion

Indentation is pretty low-key, isn't it?

But even if it doesn't look much different from using spaces, the difference lies in whether it "breaks" or not.
Whether the underlying structure is sound saves time for your future self or someone else.

Ease of modification and ease of maintenance are also important.
Everyone is only concerned with making things look good, but I think this is what 'clean' really means.

This is the core of today's topic.
If this way of thinking gets across, then this talk is a huge success.
See you next time!

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