The Selection and Visibility Pane is an extremely useful feature in PowerPoint 2007/2010. So useful, in fact, that you may wonder how you ever worked without it. The Selection Pane keeps track of everything on the slide in a task pane on the right side of the desktop. View the Selection Pane: On the Home […]
PowerPoint
PowerPoint 2007 Special Effects Uneditable in PowerPoint 2003
PowerPoint 2007-10 offers many new graphic features, including SmartArt (preformatted shapes in various configurations with editable text) and sophisticated special effects that can be applied to shapes and text. The special effects include reflections, shadows, glows, bevels and soft edges that previously only could be done with Photoshop or other photo-editing software. Here’s what happens […]
Corrupted Templates and Master Slides
Like many of you, we’ve run across a number of problems when moving files back and forth between PowerPoint 97-2003 and PowerPoint 2007-10. One of the most obvious issues concerns changes to the templates and master slides. Here, we’ll take a look at what kind of changes to expect and how to deal with them. […]
Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for PowerPoint 2007-10
A number of PowerPoint users have moved on to PowerPoint 2007 (or 2010 Beta), but many still work with PowerPoint 97-2003 or move files back and forth between versions. If you plan to work with both versions, you should install the free Office Compatibility Pack at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads. The Compatibility Pack enforces compatibility between Office 2003 […]
Slide Aspect Ratios: What You Need to Know
Many PowerPoint presentations are formatted at the default 4:3 aspect ratio, which is the display size used by older TV screens and projectors. Widescreen shows, with a 16:9 aspect ratio, are becoming more and more common. Keynote conferences and other high-end events will likely be displayed in widescreen environments. For smaller venues, widescreen HD-capable DLP chip projectors are now very […]
Experiencing Blurry Images with PowerPoint 2007?
If you place high resolution images in PowerPoint 2007 presentations (say, above 220 dpi*), save the file and then reopen it, you may notice that the photos or graphics no longer appear as sharp as they should. This is because PowerPoint 2007 automatically compresses images down to 96 dpi, the resolution of projected slideshows. Animated […]
PowerPoint 2003: Dealing with the Paste Bug
Prior to PowerPoint 2003, when you copied and pasted text into a new location, the pasted text retained the formatting of the original text. In PowerPoint 2003, however, pasted text automatically takes on default text formatting, which is not necessarily what you’re looking for. There is no way to turn off this feature and therein lies […]
PowerPoint — PC/MAC Version Compatibility
Bluewave performed general tests for PowerPoint version compatibility on both Mac and PC platforms. Here’s what we learned: Opening PC PowerPoint 2003 files in Mac PowerPoint 2004 or 2008 Fonts can be a problem. While easily fixed, it’s best to check each slide carefully. PowerPoint gradients become separate lines of color instead of a solid […]
Reduce File Size in PowerPoint 2003 — Compress Pictures
Here is another quick fix for PowerPoint files that may have grown too large and sluggish due to all the snazzy imported images and graphics. The change in file size can be dramatic, depending on the images. Right-click any picture in your presentation and select Format picture from the drop-down menu. Under the Picture tab, […]
Reduce File Size in PowerPoint 2003 — Turn Off Fast Save
So. You’ve created a megawatt, massive presentation in PowerPoint 2003 and find it’s grown just a tad too big now that the impressive grahics and Flash files are embedded. There are a number of steps you can take to reduce file size in PowerPoint 2003. First, try this quick fix: On the Tools menu, select Options […]