The PowerPoint® Blog

I work with PowerPoint on a daily basis and I am very honored to be a Microsoft PowerPoint MVP. We have a talented team of presentation designers at TLC Creative Services and ThePowerPointBlog is our area to highlight PowerPoint tips, tricks, examples and tutorials. Enjoy! Troy Chollar

PowerPoint 2010 Viewer

The new PPT viewer was released last week and I have spent some time testing presentations with it.

First, this is not a light weight, quick download – but a full application at 60MB! It also needs to be truly installed vs. the previous versions that could be run directly from a CDROM or USB drive.

Aside from those two factors there is nothing but praise for the viewer at this point! It handles ALL animations, transitions, trigger events, media, etc. From what I have tested, it runs everything that the full application runs – yeah!

I do not have a KB article or other official document to verify this, but I was told the PPT 2010 viewer is basically the full PowerPoint application when it comes to viewing a slide show (hence the large install file). This allows the viewer to play everything the full application does AND it does all the backend stuff like hardware acceleration (not available in any previous viewer).

Get it from Microsoft, free here.

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-08-16T11:35:12-07:00May 20th, 2010|Software/Add-Ins|

Move Your Custom QAT To Any PPT 2010 Machine

In PPT 2007 the QAT (Quick Access Toolbar) was the only customization option for the ribbon. In PPT 2010 the ability to customize the ribbons has been added, but the QAT is still the best resource for having always needed tools always available.

Here is my QAT, which I detailed in this post.

PPT 2010 adds a new feature to the QAT setup. Here is the QAT dialog in the Options area.

In the lower right is a new Import/Export option.

If you have customized your QAT, use the Export option to save a data file with all of your customization options. This can be used to setup your QAT on another computer or if something happens to your current computer you can quickly get your familiar work enviroment back.

If you have a QAT data file, click ‘Import Customization File’ and go find the data file.

You will see a warning dialog that existing toolbar setup will be overwritten – say ‘Yes’ to install the new QAT.

Now the QAT column will show all of the tools/buttons added (compare to first dialog image above that showed default 4 tools).

Last, if you would like to setup your QAT with the tools I have, my QAT toolbar data file can be downloaded here (850K).

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-08-16T11:35:30-07:00May 18th, 2010|Resource/Misc, Tutorial|

Office 2010 Officially Launched (to large corporate clients)

Last week Microsoft officially rolled out Office 2010 (and SharePoint 2010) is in big staged event. Don’t get to excited, it is the official launch/release to large corporate clients not the general public. Next month in June it will be available to everyone. I have been running Office 2010 for several months (one of the perks of being a Microsoft MVP) and HIGHLY recomend new verion over any previous version – it is really that good.

There is a good article at BetaNews about the launch event. Microsoft as a whole has changed a lot of its development focus and marketing strategies. Earlier this year at the MVP Summit hosted at Microsoft in Redmond, WA they had several MVPs (ie. not employees) demo Office 2010 and give their real-world use opinion of it (which was refreshing from scripted marketing speak by a spokesperson). It obviously was well received as Microsoft did the same thing at the official launch, letting real clients explain their reasons for moving to Office 2010.

(Office MVP Beth Melton on stage at the 2010 MVP Summit talking about PPT 2010)

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-08-16T11:35:56-07:00May 16th, 2010|Resource/Misc|

Where Are The File Properties in PPT 2010?

While much of the interface is the same as PPT 2007, some items are new – especially in the Backoffice area.

To view the file properties:
File >> Info >> Right side

To edit the File Properties there are 2 options, both accessible by clicking ‘Properties’ to open a drop down menu.

‘Show Document Panel’ opens the file properties under the ribbon.

‘Advanced Properties’ opens the traditional dialog and offers a few additional properties.

If you are looking for the File Properties in PPT 2007, go to this blog post.

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-08-16T11:36:15-07:00May 14th, 2010|Tutorial|

PPT 2010 – Is My Video Going To Be Embedded or Linked?

Inserting a video with PowerPoint 2010 starts the same as PPT 2007. Insert >> Video >> Video From File.

And we still get the same dialog window to choose the video to insert. But the drop down menu is now very important.

If ‘Insert’ is selected the video will be embedded.

If ‘Link to File’ is selected it will be linked to an external file.

Note: find and select video first, then use the Link dropdown because selecting the dropdown is the same as clicking it.

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-08-16T11:36:34-07:00May 12th, 2010|Tutorial|

Animation Pane is Smart Enough To Disappear

With PPT 2010 the animation has a new trick. When editing a slide the Animation Pane can be opened in its standard right-side position.

But when switching to Slide Sorter view it automatically closes.

It is a minor thing, but the animation pane is of no use in slide sorter view. In all early versions it remained open/visible just taking up screen realestate. And when you go back to editing a slide it appears open again until you close it.

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-08-16T11:36:55-07:00May 10th, 2010|Software/Add-Ins|

Get Office 2010 for $59 – really

Read about this deal at Techinch which is a great deal – if you are a college/university student or faculty.

To summarize the deal:
– Purchase Office 2007 at super price at Ultimate Steal here. Need a valid .edu (education) email address to purchase
– When Office 2010 is released in June, use Microsoft’s free upgrade offer

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-08-16T11:37:34-07:00May 4th, 2010|PowerPoint|

3D Metalic Text Style (Update)

Earlier this month I showed an example of PowerPoint 3D metallic text I stylized for a presentation. Recently Matthew T. added a Bronze color to the mix and sent it back to me.

First, thanks Matthew for sharing your efforts! The updated slide can be downloaded here.

Second, for the awards show I created the effect for there was only Gold and Silver awards. So Bronze is perfect – just not needed when I created…

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-08-16T11:37:53-07:00May 2nd, 2010|Portfolio|

Defending PPT – Easy When This is the Sample Slide

Recent headlines quote Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who heads U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, criticizing PowerPoint presentations for creating “the illusion of understanding and the illusion of control. Some problems in the world are not bullet-izable.” When I looked a bit further I found this is the slide being referenced as not providing clear information.

hmmm…… I think action should be taken – and it has nothing to do with PowerPoint as an application, but against the company that decided this was worthy of being included in a presentation.

The offending “slide” was sourced from MSNBC. And I am confident it was not created in PPT, but by another application and imported as a graphic. Last, here is a really good webpage with a lot of people’s comments in defense of PPT. Among my favorites are:

“This tool is highly misused and abused by presenters, secretaries and supposed PowerPoint ‘experts.’“

“It’s not the tool on the computer, it’s the tool AT the computer“

“I think a good strategy is to drop old PowerPoint slides from military briefings behind enemy lines. This should really confuse them…”

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-08-16T11:38:31-07:00April 30th, 2010|Resource/Misc|
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