PowerPoint

Gmail’s PPT Viewer

Ever been on a computer that did not have PPT installed (it’s rare, but does happen). You can install the PPT Viewer from Microsoft or if the presentation is simple you can just send it to a gmail account.

Within Gmail (Google’s email application) an email with a PowerPoint presentation can now open PowerPoint attachments as slideshows, without having to download anything. Just click “View as slideshow” next to the .ppt attachment you want to preview. It only views the legacy format .ppt, so no PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) presentations yet.

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-11-17T13:05:47-08:00May 7th, 2008|PowerPoint, Resource/Misc|

Animated Object Goes Opaque (2)

Another emphasis animation that just does not work with images that have transparent, or semi-transparent areas is the VERTICAL HIGHLIGHT. Here is our sample image, which as a nice drop shadow and no background so it will work on any color background.

We then apply the VERTICAL EMPHASIS animation:

But when animated the nice transparent background becomes opacue/solid:

An alternative is to create the same effect with some advanced animation. First is to apply a GROW/SHRINK animation:

In the animation setting on the EFFECTS tab we need to:

1. Size needs to be greater than 100, how much will depend on your slide
2. Turn on SMOOTH START
3. Turn on SMOOTH END
4. Turn on AUTO REVERSE

The key to this effect is to use the drop-down and change the animation from BOTH to VERTICAL only:

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-11-17T13:07:12-08:00April 30th, 2008|PowerPoint, Tutorial|

Animated Object Goes Opaque (1)

Many of the emphasis animations do not respect the transparent properties of an image – whether it be a .png with alpha channel transparency or an image where PPT ‘Set Transparent Color’ tool was used. In most cases you can use some more advanced animation to create the same effect and not have the opacity problems.

Here is our image. It is a .png image created in Photoshop and it has no background.

But if we apply the TEETER emphasis animation

When animated the background changes from transparent to a solid color (blue in this instance)

We can create the same effect with some custom settings on the SPIN emphasis animation. So the first step is to apply the SPIN emphasis.

Then go into the animation properties and on the EFFECT tab change:
1. Amount from 360 to 5
2. Turn on Smooth Start
3. Turn on Smooth End

Then in the TIMING tab change:
1. The speed to VERY FAST (or faster)
2. Repeat to 3 times

Now the object will “teeter” and maintain its transparent background!

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-11-17T13:07:45-08:00April 28th, 2008|PowerPoint, Tutorial|

Color for the Medical Template

To help a medical device company stand out I introduced some bold coloring. I also used shadowing, bevels and negative space to create the content area. Here is the template developed for medical device maker, Zylon.

1. Theme Graphic
2. Title Slide
3. Content Slide

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-11-17T13:08:08-08:00April 25th, 2008|Portfolio, PowerPoint|

Dark Knight PPT

I recently had a project with the upcoming Batman movie, The Dark Knight. Had a lot of fun getting sneak peaks at images and footage of the movie. I was tasked with developing a PowerPoint template that carried the dark color scheme and edgyness of the movie. Of course using an all black color pallette is not that easy, but it did prove to be a fun challenge! Here are the 3 slide layouts used for the template:

1. Theme Graphic
2. Title Slide
3. Content Slide

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-11-17T13:09:20-08:00April 23rd, 2008|Portfolio, PowerPoint|

Quick Before-&-After slide

Much of my time is spent interpretting information and creating a visual design that simplifies and makes it look ‘nifty’. Here is a quick before-&-after from a recent presentation.

Before:

After:

– Note: slide loses a bit of visual aesthetics as client content and template removed. Also, the animation is not seen, which helped emphasize the yellow section remained consistent over the 2 years. My slide was also built using PPT2007 visual effects.

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-11-17T13:11:47-08:00April 8th, 2008|PowerPoint, Tutorial|

ESCape Key as an Instant Undo (CTRL Z)

Another nifty keyboard shortcut is like an instanteous undo. Say you are adjusting the size of an image and while adjusting you see it really is not what you want to do.

At this moment you have 3 choices:
1. Try to resize to the original and then unclick
2. Unclick and use the Undo button or CTRL+Z to undo the resizing
3. Click the ESCape key while still holding your mouse click. Whatever action you started (move object, resize object, crop object, etc.) is ended you are instantly back where you started before the mouse click!

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-11-17T13:12:45-08:00April 4th, 2008|PowerPoint, Tutorial|

Use Space Bar to Stop Actions (PPT 2007)

I made reference to this in the previous posts “option 2” solution. A way to stop many editing actions at the exact point you want is to use the space bar.

Adding or adjusting a line can be tricky right now in PowerPoint 2007. Because some mice tend to be a bit jumpy when you release the click the line has moved a bit from your ideal location.

What you can do is click and drag to the length you want (can be longer or shorter). Then press the space bar. Using the space bar is the same as releasing, or unclicking.

Also works with adjusting images or autoshapes size, including using the crop tool.

It is bit difficult to figure this action out without doing it. Open PowerPoint 2007 and try using the space bar instead of unclicking.

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-11-17T13:14:16-08:00April 2nd, 2008|PowerPoint, Tutorial|

To Infinity and Beyond! (PPT2007 Lines)

To Infinity and Beyond! or at least that may be what the programmer was thinking when it comes to adjusting straight lines in PowerPoint 2007.

If you have not experienced this bug, here a quick overview:
– Add a straight line to slide

– Hold down shift key (to keep it on a 90′ axis) and click the end point.
– ZOOM, the line immediately extends forever

But there are solutions! Note: be sure all updates to Office 2007 are installed. A fairly recent update/hotfix has made the below solutions work. So if they do not work on your computer, you may be missing an update.

Option 1 – Get on the Line
– If working with thicker lines this bug does not act as “buggy”.
– Continue to hold down the click when you try to extend a line and it has shot off into the next universe
– Carefully postion the cursor at the desired length and exactly in the middle of the width of the line it will snap back to the cursor
– Thicker lines are easier to position cursor in the middle, thin lines have a smaller middle and are more difficult
– This is much easier when using a trackball style mouse where you can maintain the click and not have the cursor move even 1 pixel as long as the trackball is not touched. I do this fairly easily with my LogicTech Trackman, but almost impossible with my Wacom tablet

Option 2 – Space Bar
Many thanks to PPT MVP Jean-Pierre for getting my brain wrapped around this work around. Here is what you do:
– Add a straight line to slide

– Hold down shift key (to keep it on a 90′ axis) and click the end point and ignore it zooming off into infinity

– Don’t let go of your mouse/unclick!
– Position cursor to where you want the lines new length to be
– Press the SPACE BAR and the line snaps to that position!

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-11-17T13:14:37-08:00March 31st, 2008|PowerPoint, Tutorial|

Get Rid of That Mouse

Recently while watching a presentation here is one of those little pet peeves that I just experienced. A movie plays on a slide and the computer mouse appears onscreen – usually sitting right on top of the movie.

Don’t panic, just click the “A” key to quickly and gracefully make it disappear. The “A” stands for Appear, or in this case disAppear.

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-11-17T13:15:24-08:00March 28th, 2008|PowerPoint, Tutorial|
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