Learn step by step how to create a custom color in PowerPoint for Windows.
Let's get started.
Introduction
First you need the colors you want to use.
For your brand colors,
have either the RGB or HEX codes for each color.
You can also copy the codes from a color swatch or palette on a web generator site.
On most of these sites you can pick your own colors, view potential palettes, and generate a color palette from an image.
If you aren't sure where to start with choosing colors, watch my video on picking colors for a color scheme.
I like using the sites Coolors or Designs.AI to pick a color scheme.
The links are in the description below.
Display the codes so you can see them side by side with your PowerPoint window.
Or you can add them temporarily to a blank slide.
If you are using a Color Palette generator, you can often copy the codes direct from the web site.
Adding customized colors
In PowerPoint, from the Design tab,
Expand the Variants options by clicking the small down arrow,
Highlight Colors, and then click Customize Colors... at the bottom of the menu
The popup window shows the different colors of the current color scheme.
For the text/background colors, I usually leave those at the default.
Click the square for the first accent color
Choose More Colors... at the bottom of the pop-up menu
Click the color on the color palette image to copy it
or type in the HEX or RGB code
Click the OK button
As a side note: Accent 1 is the default shape color
Click the next square color and repeat until all the accent colors have been changed.
If you don't have 6 colors on your palette, a quick tip is to use a medium gray to fill the final color.
Naming and Saving the Color Palette
Give the color scheme a name.
Then click the Save button.
Delete the color codes if you added them to a slide
When you look at the new color scheme from the color option menu
PowerPoint automatically creates the different color saturations in the Color Fill menus.
The color scheme is also saved on the Colors menu from the Design tab. text here...
