Everyone here uses PowerPoint, but how many have explored the PowerPoint section of the Microsoft website?
Amongst the advertising, hype and standard Microsoft info is a lot of good information, tips, and files. Click here to go straight to the PowerPoint homepage.
– Troy @ TLC
When developing a presentaion the real text is often not available for the first proof. So what do you do? I add “greeking” or lorum ipsum text.
Should you need some professional greeking text all you need to do is head over to www.lipsum.com and use the quick wizard to create the amount of text needed. Then just copy and paste into the presentation. And as a bonus you can also read the history of Lorum Ipsum text!
– Troy @ TLC
A perfect compliment to any version of PowerPoint is PPTXtreme’s Color Picker. The great thing about this sample slide is the text and box fills are the exact same color and colors pulled from the logo. No guessing, just point and click to select the exact color!
When one of the Color Picker tools is selected a small information window opens and wherever your cursor is, the color is displayed. Click on anything on your monitor and that color is selected.
Color Picker can select the color for Text:
For Autoshape Fills:
For Lines:
It also works with selecting dropshadows. At $20 this is an invaluable tool to add to PowerPoint.
– Troy @ TLC
With creative use of PPTXtreme’s SoftShadow add-in instanst “Soft-Glows” can be created. If you have not checked out this very useful add-in go here.
(1) Select text, autoshape or image. Here are my setting for adding a white drop-shadow.
(2) Select the object again and apply a second softshadow. Note the negative (-5 and -5) X and Y positions, so the 2nd softshadow is positioned in the upper left. Here are my settings for this second softshadow.
(3) The result is a photoshop quality glow.
– Troy @ TLC
Countdown timers can be created fairly easy in PowerPoint. There are lots of needs for timers and I recently had a client call me from there event (that was already underway) asking for a countdown timer to run for the breaks.
Microsoft has some good resources available on its website. I simply emailed a link to the Microsoft Online where they have a few dozen ready-made countdown timers. My client found one they liked, added their logo to the master slide and was ready to go in less than 15 minutes.
To check out the countdown timer presentations Microsoft has available (for free), click here.
– Troy @ TLC
There is a big difference between hearing a PowerPoint skill explained – having it demonstrated – and being able to do it hands-on.
Here is a photo of a recent hands-on training session that I developed the training course materials for (of course setting up the rental computer settings made for a very early morning before attendees arrived).
– Troy @ TLC
Sometimes you don’t want to give away to much information. And when an Excel chart or movie is inserted you are giving away information about your network/file structure.
As example, right click on a movie that is inserted into PowerPoint and choose EDIT.
The movie information includes the path where it came from.
To eliminate this information I use the Fix Links Pro add-in (website is here).
(1) Open Fix Links Pro and choose REPAIR
(2) It generates a report about all multimedia and embedded files in the presentation. The key is where the report says “now path-free”.
(3) Now right click the movie, choose EDIT and see that the path information has been removed
– Troy @ TLC
Often you have a nice, well designed slide such as this title slide. It does not really need any images or animation, but it would be nice to give it a bit of depth.
Adding a soft, PhotoShop, drop shadow to the title text helps the slide differentiate itself from the “standard” PowerPoint content and add some depth and appeal.
This effect was created in less than 4 seconds using PPTXtreme‘s SoftShadow add-in. I selected the text box and clicked on the QuickShadow button.
Looking closer you can see the smooth feathered black shadow that was applied to each letter. Something that helps the text float above the background artwork.
– Troy @ TLC
Thanks to Brad Hagen, owner of Video Resources, for showing me this nifty shortcut! On a recent project I was responsible for setting up an event’s internet cafe. Set up a wireless network, configure the dozen computers and set up with custom wallpaper, set the browser homepage, etc.
Here is how to set the browser homepage in three easy steps:
(1) Browse to URL you want to be the home page
(2) Click-and-drag the webpage icon in the address bar
and drag on top of the “Home” icon
(3) Click “Yes” to the dialog. Done!
-Troy @ TLC
