[Tex/LaTex] Adding a “take away” box to a beamer slide

beamerformattingpositioning

In Powerpoint presentations (especially with slides produced by consultants), it's common to add a box at the bottom of a slide that indicates the main point.

What would be some LaTeX code for adding such a box? I would want it to have a fixed-position on the page and a colored fill with a constant font. Some like

enter image description here

Best Answer

Here's one possibility; the idea is to place a beamercolorbox at the desired fixed location, using TikZ. In every frame that should receive a "take away" box, simply use \insertimptext{<text>}:

\documentclass{beamer}
\usetheme{CambridgeUS}
\usepackage{tikz}

\makeatletter
\newcommand\insertimptext[1]{
\begin{tikzpicture}[remember picture,overlay]
\node[inner sep=0pt,outer sep=0pt,anchor=south] at ([yshift=20pt]current page.south)
{\begin{beamercolorbox}[wd=0.65\paperwidth,ht=3ex,dp=2ex,center]{author in head/foot}
\hfill\parbox[c][7ex][c]{0.6\paperwidth}{\centering\footnotesize#1}\hfill\null
\end{beamercolorbox}
};
\end{tikzpicture}%
}
\makeatother

\begin{document}

\begin{frame}
\frametitle{Test frame with box}
\insertimptext{Some important text associated with this frame. \\ Short texts are better}
\end{frame}

\begin{frame}
\frametitle{Test frame without box}
\end{frame}

\end{document}

enter image description here

Feel free to make the necessary adjustments according to your needs.

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