Resource/Misc

Design Idea – Image Fill Text (Part 1)

The previous post walked through how to “knock out” text from a shape. One negative to that technique is the text is no longer editable. In this post, we are adding a visual styling to text AND keeping it editable. All text can have a color fill, gradient fill, texture fill or PHOTO/IMAGE fill.

Here is my sample text slide, one a black background to help the fill options display.

Image Fill Text 1

1. Select the text to fill (*Tip: It does not have to be all of the text in a text box, select just the text you want – this can be a great solution for adding accent focus on specific text).

2. Go to FORMAT >> WORDART STYLES section >> FORMAT TEXT EFFECTS to open the FORMAT SHAPE pane to the text formatting tab.

Image Fill Text6

3a. Select PICTURE OR TEXTURE FILL.

Image Fill Text 8

3b. This defaults to filling text with the first texture in the Microsoft library.

Image Fill Text 2

4. Click FILE.

5. Select an image to use as the fill – I am using an abstract image.

Image Fill Text 12

And here is the stylized text, which is editable (change the font, size, text, etc.) and can have any PowerPoint styling options applied (drop shadow, bevel, glow, etc.).

Image Fill Text 3

 

– Troy @ TLC

 

 

By |2016-08-10T09:09:38-07:00February 18th, 2015|Resource/Misc, Tutorial|

Slide Design Idea – Negative Space Text

A very nice design strategy used in print design is creating callouts and bold graphics with text created from the negative space.

Negative Space Text-7

This same style is easily created within PowerPoint for slide design. The above example image was created in PowerPoint 2013 – here is how (thanks to Michelle on the TLC Creative design team for this tutorial).

By using PowerPoint Combine Shapes tools (Combine, Intersect, Fragment, Subtract), the process is pretty easy.

1. Add a shape of your choice – I am using a tall vertical bar.

Negative Space Text-1

2. Add a separate text box with the text of your choice and format as desired – I am using “TLC Creative” in a typography styled stacked layout.

Negative Space Text-2

3. Select both objects – Note: Select the RECTANGLE first.

4. With both objects selected, go to FORMAT >> Merge Shapes >> Combine

Negative Space Text-3

Negative Space Text-4

5. The text is “cut out” of the rectangle. Note: The text is no longer editable as it has been converted to a custom vector shape.

Negativce Space Text-5

6. The shape is editable, like any other shape. All shaping styling options are available: fill color, gradient fill, transparency, bevel, drop shadow and more.

To really see the effects, place an image behind the new shape. A few examples:

Negative Space Text-11Negative Space Text-9NegSpaceText-8

By |2016-08-10T09:09:57-07:00February 16th, 2015|Resource/Misc, Tutorial|

Microsoft Office 365 Video – What We Know So Far

Microsoft recently unveiled a new video sharing system that will be hosted on Office 365 accounts called “Office 365 Video.” Think of it as a business’s private YouTube for their videos. And there are some references to PowerPoint and Office App integration (which is the part that really got my attention!).

 

Office 365 Video

 

 Technical:

Office 365 Video is cloud based (ie. videos are not stored on your computer) and the streaming technology optimizes playback for each end users connection speed and viewing device. Microsoft is bringing its cloud based power with Azure’s Media Services, which was used by NBC for its Winter Olympics online video. By being a part of the Office 365 ecosystem, video content will encrypted and secure by following the established Office 365 Trust Center guidelines, something YouTube and Vimeo can’t provide such strict assurances of. The video format support covers all of the industry standard codecs; H.264, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 v2, VC-1, Windows Media Video, DV and Grass Valley HQ. And more video formats than Office apps support; .3pg, .3g2, .3gp2, .asf, .mts, .m2ts, .avi, .mod, .ts, .vob, .xesc, .mp4, .mpg, .mpeg, .m2v, .ismv and .wmv. It is easy to use with drag-and-drop video uploads.

One big limitation is that Office 365 Video currently uses Adobe Flash Player. The Adobe Flash Player needs to be installed to view a video, so no Apple IOS devices are going to be able to use it at this time.

Who and When:

This new corporate video portal started its roll out in November 2014 and extends into early 2015. Currently it is only available a select Office 365 user (First Release customers) and expanding to Enterprise and Academic plans. Business plan users (which TLC Creative operates on) do not have an option yet… This is an add-on service to plans at $8 user/month with an annual commitment.

Summary:

This is just my personal opinion, based on a very limited look at Office 365 Video, and I am excited about it. The option to seamlessly integrate web-based video content into PowerPoint presentations is an exciting concept. Corporate clients are going to embrace Office 365 Video because it gives them an secure platform to roll out video content within their enterprise. Having a corporate library of video content for presentations, that is searchable and easy to add to slides is going to be a great presentation tool.

The Microsoft info page (ignore the ‘compare plans and pricing’ link, it does not include Office 365 video options as of now) is here.

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-08-10T09:12:19-07:00December 26th, 2014|Resource/Misc|

Replace Font Dialog Update

Back on October 10, I did a post about a key feature missing in PowerPoint 2013 “Replace Font Dialog, PowerPoint 2010 vs. 2013.” Unfortunately, no solution has been added to PowerPoint 2013, the font type icons are still missing.

PowerPoint 2010 has font type icons (with no icon indicating the font is not installed on the computer):[br]
ReplaceFont-2010

PowerPoint 2013 does not have the font type icons:
ReplaceFont-2013

One area I did not include in the original post – and the reason for this post – is that the font type icons have not been completely removed from PowerPoint 2013. The font type icons can be seen in the Font drop down menu on the Home tab.[br]

Font_icon_1

That’s all. Just a clarification to the earlier post. Hopefully in the near future I can do another post on this same topic showing that the font type icons have been restored to the Replace Fonts dialog.

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-08-10T09:14:24-07:00December 19th, 2014|Resource/Misc|

PowerPoint Shows in Barcelona and Lisbon

In November, Lori and I were happy to support one of our great clients at their Barcelona, Spain and Lisbon, Portugal international sales meetings. TLC developed the event PowerPoint templates, coordinated all presenter support needs, worked with the local in-country AV and assisted the meeting planning group – plus, we enjoyed a few days of amazing site seeing after each event.

Barcelona-Spain

Troy and crew in Barcelona, Lori in Lisbon, Video wall, solid stage set, being tourists in Sintra.

 

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-08-10T09:14:56-07:00December 17th, 2014|Personal, Resource/Misc|

Olaf PowerPoint Slide

Special recognition to TLC designer Jennifer for this wonderful 3D illustration all developed in PowerPoint 2013!

Olaf-1

The video shows the development of Olaf in flip-book style animation. The first part of the video is a fast animation, followed by a slower version that shows each design step. Enjoy!

In addition to the obvious PowerPoint 3D and shadow options, most of the development relied on PowerPoint’s Merge Shapes tools.

Olaf-4

– Troy @ TLC

By |2025-04-02T12:40:37-07:00December 15th, 2014|Portfolio, PowerPoint, Resource/Misc|

Image + PowerPoint Graphic for Complete Slide Message

This is a slide from a recent project that I think is a good demonstration of seamlessly integrating PowerPoint content and graphics with photos. We developed from a script, so no design was done before our design team created the presentation – but I can easily see something like this being the “standard” PowerPoint slide:

CloudData1

Here is the TLC Creative Services slide for the presentation:

Complete Slide Message 2

Here is the development process for the complete slide message:

1. Review script, understand message, outline needed slide content to support message.

2. Research images, or develop image. For this slide we used this stock image:

CloudData3

3. Develop a cloud graphic in PowerPoint to animate and carry the message.

4. Use a combination of PowerPoint shapes and custom shapes that will become our PowerPoint cloud:

CloudData4

5. Turn all of the shapes into a single cloud using the MERGE SHAPES tool:

CloudData5

5. Adjust the color and fill/outline options:

CloudData6

6. Add the text (direct in the cloud shape):

CloudData7

7. Final step is to add an animated entrance effect:

CloudData8

Download the final slide here: CloudData

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-08-10T09:16:06-07:00December 8th, 2014|Personal, Resource/Misc|
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