Add custom themes

If you create a presentation that you want to use again as a model for other presentations, you can save it as a theme. Creating your own theme can be as simple as adding your company logo to an existing theme, or you can design a completely new theme.

You can add your custom theme to the theme chooser, or save it as a file to share with others or to install and use on your iOS device. To install a custom theme on your iOS device, first save your theme to iCloud, iTunes, or a WebDAV server, or send it as an email attachment.

Save a presentation as a theme

Choose File > Save Theme (from the File menu at the top of your computer screen).
Click an option:
- Add to theme chooser: Type a name for the theme, then press Return. Your theme appears in the My Themes category in the theme chooser.
- Save: Type a name for the theme, then choose where you want to save it.
  If you save it to iCloud, the next time you open Keynote on your iOS device, the theme appears as a downloadable file in the presentation manager.

If you save a theme to a web server or upload it to web-based email, it must have the file extension .kth.zip to install and use it in Keynote on your iOS device.

Install a theme on your Mac

If you saved a custom theme or if someone sent you a theme, you need to install it so that you can use it in Keynote. Installing a theme adds it to the Theme Chooser. Skip this task if you choose Add to Theme Chooser when you saved the custom theme.

Double-click the theme file (it has the file extension “.kth”), then click Add to Theme Chooser.
You can set Keynote to always open a new presentation from the same theme instead of from the theme chooser. Choose Keynote > Preferences (from the Keynote menu at the top of your computer screen). In the General pane, select “Use theme,” then click Change Theme to select a theme.

Install a theme on your iOS device

If you save a theme to a web server or upload it to webmail, the theme file must have the file extension “.kth.zip” to install it and use it in Keynote on your iOS device. To compress a file (.zip is a compressed file), Control-click the theme file, then choose Compress from the shortcut menu.

On your iOS device, do any of the following to install a theme:

From iCloud: Your theme appears in the presentation manager and is identified by a theme badge. Tap the file (it has an identifying badge on it), then tap Install.
From a WebDAV server: Download the theme from the server, then tap the screen. Tap at the top of the screen, tap Open in Keynote, then tap Add.
From email: In Mail, tap the attachment, then tap the screen. Tap at the top of the screen, tap Open in Keynote, then tap Add.

Rename and delete a custom theme

In the theme chooser, Control-click the theme name, then choose Rename or Delete.
If you’re renaming, type a new name, then press Return.
Custom themes always appear in the My Themes category in the theme chooser, in the order in which they were added. You can’t rearrange them.

Edit a theme

You can’t edit a theme after you save it. However, you can create a new theme based on the old theme.

You need to install the custom theme first so that the theme appears in the theme chooser (see instructions above).

Choose File > New, then double-click the theme you want to edit. Custom themes are in the My Themes category in the theme chooser.
Make your changes, then save the presentation as a new theme.

You can delete the old theme after you create the new one.