Tutorial

Moving and Formatting 3D Models in PPT

The 3D models in PowerPoint are vector art, so they can be resized from very small to very large with no quality loss (just like PowerPoint shapes, text, .emf or .svg image). 3D models when selected have the standard resize and rotate action points, AND a new 3D rotation icon in the center.

3D Models in PPT

3D models are like a real physical model. They can be viewed from all sides – including from the top or from underneath. Using the new 3D rotation icon a 3D model can be rotated to any angle and view.

[KGVID]https://thepowerpointblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/unnamed-file-1.mp4[/KGVID]

The PowerPoint ribbon has a new tab just for 3D models. Select a 3D model on a slide and to go 3D MODEL TOOLS. Here are some of the new, and very useful options: 

3D Models in PPT

1. “3D Models” is the same as the option on the Insert tab to add new 3D models to a slide (so don’t get confused, it is typical Microsoft Office – multiple ways to do the same thing).

2. “Reset 3D Model” works the same as resetting photos version. Click the button and the model goes back to original view but keeps any resizing or repositioning. Click the down arrow and use RESET MODEL AND SIZE to go back to original inserted view and size.

3. Preset model angles/views. 18 preset views. These are fast to get close to the needed angle, or are great is setting the view of multiple models to all be from same vantage point.

4. The Z order and align buttons are the same tools as found on other tabs (TLC Creative has each of these on our custom QAT).

5. The Pan & Zoom. This one is important. It adds another icon to the selected 3D model.

The Pan & Zoom icon “zooms” in or out the 3D model inside its bounding box and also moves the 3D model within its bounding box.

To use, click and hold on the magnifier icon, then move up to zoom in/enlarge or move down to zoom out/shrink. This is different from resizing the 3D model shape because zooming in can make the 3D model too large to fit it bounding box and automatically crops it to the placeholder shape.

The Pan part of the Pan & Zoom tool is moving the 3D model within the placeholder. For example, if we click and drag a 3D model, the placeholder moves position. If we click the Pan & Zoom tool on the ribbon, then click the magnifier icon, then click and drag the 3D model and the model moves inside the placeholder while the placeholder stays in the same position.

[KGVID]https://thepowerpointblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/unnamed-file.mp4[/KGVID]

Troy @ TLC

By |2019-10-28T10:02:00-07:00January 8th, 2018|Tutorial|

Creating .SVG images in Adobe Illustrator for PowerPoint

Adobe Illustrator is most likely going to be where designers are creating .svg images. But the .svg format has a number of options, not all are currently recognized or supported by PowerPoint. Here are the Save As options we use for PowerPoint .SVG images:

  1. In Adobe Illustrator, go to FILE > SAVE AS
  2. Change the file to SVG in the drop down
  3. In the SAVE OPTIONS dialog, use these options
    1. SVG Profile = SVG 1.1.
    2. Fonts – Type = Convert to outline
    3. Fonts – Subsetting = None.
    4. Image Location = Embed.
    5. Preserve Illustrator Editing Capabilities = unchecked

For even more details on the SVG save options, we developed this PDF 1-sheet reference to all Illustrator SVG options and PowerPoint compatibility. Download Here.

If you need an .svg image to experiment with, click here to download the apple image used for this blog series.

Troy @ TLC

By |2020-04-01T10:03:14-07:00January 16th, 2017|PowerPoint, Tutorial|

Save AND Apply PowerPoint Chart Styles

Formatting the visual styling of charts can be… tedious. When a presentation has a number of charts, all needing the same visual styling, saving a chart template can be a huge time saver!

  1. Format a chart with all of the visual styling. Here is the sample stylized chart for this tutorial.

  2. Right click the chart and select SAVE AS TEMPLATE

  3. In the SAVE CHART TEMPLATE dialog, give the chart template a (short) name that helps identify the styling (ie. project name, type of chart, colors used, etc.). The Chart Template is automatically saved into the Microsoft/Templates/Charts folder (and must be in this folder for PowerPoint to use it).
  4. To apply the chart template styling to a chart, select a chart, right click and select CHANGE CHART TYPE
  5. In the Charts dialog, select TEMPLATES and the custom template to apply
  6. Click OK and done!

 

Here is an unformatted chart.

And here is the same chart with the above chart template (4 clicks and formatted!).

NOTES:

  • Chart Templates are local to a computer, they DO NOT travel with a presentation.
  • Chart Template thumbnails are very limited in the visual and description, so if you have many it can be difficult to tell them apart.
  • Right-click to Save Template was introduced with an Office365 PowerPoint 2016 update, I have not tested in previous versions. 

 

Troy @ TLC

By |2016-12-13T14:51:28-08:00December 21st, 2016|Tutorial|

Yes, We Can Copy PowerPoint SECTIONS!

PowerPoint’s Sections are not new (introduced with PowerPoint 2010), but they are very unutilized. Just this past month, the updates to PowerPoint (for Office 365 subscription version) included the ability to copy sections to another presentation, or different location in the same presentation. While there are more improvements needed to help PowerPoint Sections become a truly easy to use and helpful organization resource, this is a great improvement (and it lets us know the Microsoft Dev Teams are looking at Sections and making progress on improving them!).

As an example, if there are sections in the deck, copying the entire section is easy.

  • Find the Section name either in Slide Sorter View or the left thumbnail Panel
  • Click the section, which highlights all the slides in the selected section
  • CTRL + C to copy the section
  • Go to other presentation (or other location in same presentation) and CTRL + V to paste in the section name and all of its slides!

Here is my sample presentation with sections. I am going to copy the RED FLOWERS section into a new presentation.

PowerPoint Sections

PowerPoint Sections

Notes:

  • Right-click dialog on a section name does not have copy or paste commands, so must use keyboard shortcuts. But you can right-click the insert location and use the standard PASTE OPTIONS in the right-click dialog.
  • Drag-and-drop copying does not work (yet)
  • Currently only able to select one section at a time
  • If pasting into a presentation that does not have sections added, the pasted in section – and its name – are added to presentation and all slides above go into an automatically created section. But all slides after the insert point are added to the new (pasted in Section)

Troy @ TLC

By |2016-12-12T15:56:55-08:00December 12th, 2016|Tutorial|

PowerPoint Change Shape

All PPT shapes are vector (meaning they can be resized with no quality loss and are very small in file size). One great feature of PowerPoint (that has been in many versions but hasn’t been discovered by everyone), is the ability to change shape to any other shape – AND maintain all format styling and animation!

Here is an example, a rectangle with gradient fill, text styling and cast shadow.

1. Select any shape on a slide.

Change Shape 1

2. Go to the FORMAT TAB.

Change Shape 9

3. Click the EDIT SHAPE drop down menu.

Change Shape 8

4. Select the CHANGE SHAPE menu

Change Shape 7

5. From this PPT shape gallery, select the new desired shape – for this example, we are choosing the heart shape.

Change Shape 11

6. The rectangle changes to a heart shape – and the color file, drop shadow, gradient, text font-color-styling and animation are all still there!

Change Shape 2

-Troy @ TLC

By |2016-09-20T09:50:40-07:00November 18th, 2016|PowerPoint, Tutorial|

Office 365: Change to First Release Channel

The big, and confusing question, is how to change from CURRENT CHANNEL version of Office 365 to FIRST RELEASE version. This is accomplished in the Office 365 Admin Console – so you will most likely need to be an administrator on the account to access these options. One of the confusion points is Office 365 Admin Console itself. If you search the web for tutorials on where to find the settings, the older tutorials often reference an older build of Office 365, which shows how quickly Microsoft is changing and updating things. I have been using Office 365 to run TLC Creative Services since its release in 2011 and the Admin area has had many overhauls during that time, which makes things difficult to keep things running smooth when the entire interface changes.

Based on the 2016 Office 365, Business Premium account admin console, here are the steps to change which Office Channel you have:

  1. Log into your Office 365 account
  2. Click the “checker board” selection button in the upper left
    First Release Channel 3
  3. Find and click the ADMIN button
    First Release Channel 4
  4. In the Admin Center > HOME > OFFICE SOFTWARE > click SOFTWARE DOWNLOAD SETTINGS
    First Release Channel 5
  5. The SOFTWARE DOWNLOAD SETTINGS dialog will open. In the SOFTWARE FOR PC section, confirm 2016 VERSION is on, and the “How often do you want users to get feature updates for Office apps” is set to EVERY MONTH (CURRENT CHANNEL)
    First Release Channel 6
  6.  Click SAVE
  7. Someone with Admin Rights to the Office 365 needs to complete these next 3 steps
    1. Log into the Office 365 Account
    2. Go to SETTINGS > ORGANIZATION PROFILE
      First Release Channel 11
    3. In the RELEASE PREFERENCES section, click EDIT
      First Release Channel 12
    4. Select a RELEASE TRACK (a “track” is going to be the “channel” option) and go through the settings process
      First Release Channel 13
  8. When the above items are complete, go to this web page: https://portal.office.com/OLS/MySoftware.aspx
  9. Log into your Office 365 account
  10. If the above steps were completed, you will see this message that your Office 365 account can be changed to the FIRST RELEASE CHANNEL
    insider_7
  11. Note: if you already have Office 2016 installed (which I am guessing most everyone will), this next step is installing the First Release version, but it will not (at least from my testing and use) affect your current install – it automatically upgrades the current install and keeps all settings, files and data
  12. Close all Office apps (PowerPoint, Outlook, etc.)
  13. Click INSTALL
    First Release Channel 8
  14. The Office installer will run
    First Release Channel 9
  15. Open PowerPoint, go to FILE > ACCOUNT > OFFICE UPDATE and it should now list FIRST RELEASE
    First Release Channel 10

-Troy @ TLC

By |2016-11-07T15:34:57-08:00November 7th, 2016|Resource/Misc, Tutorial|

PowerPoint’s “What’s New” Dialog

The Office 365 version of Office Apps, including PowerPoint, is on a continuous update cycle. Often, it is difficult to know what is new. Well, there is a newer dialog option within all office apps to give you a summary of “What’s New.”

To see what the new features are in PPT, simply go to the file tab, scroll down to account, and click on the What’s New Dialog below the “Office Updates” box.

Once clicked, a window will pop up either asking the user to update PPT or simply show what new features have been added.

 

What's New Dialog 1

 

What's New Dialog 2

Click the LEARN MORE link to open a web browser and get the full details and history of all feature updates.

What's New Dialog 3

 

-Troy @ TLC

By |2016-09-20T09:28:11-07:00September 30th, 2016|Resource/Misc, Tutorial|

Vector Editing Inside PowerPoint for Text Boxes

In the previous portfolio sample of a recent PowerPoint template for HCV Treatment Research, the Section Divider layout had some customized formatting.

Vector Editing inside PowerPoint 1

One of the TLC Creative Design Team objectives is to do as much formatting within PowerPoint to preserve future editing options (vs. doing all design in external programs like Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator and importing  a series of uneditable images). The Section Divider in this template is a great example of our process of future proofing templates.

Vector Editing inside PowerPoint 2

  1. Photoshop developed background image
  2. PowerPoint color block
  3. PowerPoint shapes, with custom semi-transparent gradient fill, thick outline, and drop shadow effect
  4. Duplicate of #3, resized
  5. PowerPoint text box with semi-transparent fill, text formatting preset
  6. PowerPoint text box with semi-transparent fill, text formatting preset

The Hexagon accent title boxes actually have a lot of customized PowerPoint formatting in putting them together.

  • Add 2 PowerPoint text boxes, with semi-transparent fills and text formatting options preset (including a custom left margin to move text away from left edge).

Vector Editing inside PowerPoint 3 width=

  • Add PowerPoint hexagon shapes with semi-transparent gradient fill, thick outline, shadowing and other styling applied. The position and size was determined by the text boxes. Each was sized to have the outline within the text box shape.

Vector Editing inside PowerPoint 4

  • The dilemma is, even with the text boxes sent to back, the semi-transparent gradient fills of the hexagons show the text box edge.

Vector Editing inside PowerPoint 5

  • Using PowerPoint’s Vector Shape Editing capabilities, we can customize the text boxes further in order to meet the visual needs of the template. Step 1 is selecting a text box and EDIT the vector POINTS.

Vector Editing inside PowerPoint 6

  • The text boxes are simple rectangles with 4 points, these two are the ones we are customizing.

Vector Editing inside PowerPoint 7

  • Right-click the red shape outline and ADD 2 additional vector points to the vertical left of the rectangle (location is arbitrary).

Vector Editing inside PowerPoint 8

  • The thick (4.5 pt) shape outline was a nice styling accent, but it also makes this vector customization much easier by providing lots of area to “hide” the text box shape under. We moved the 2 new vector anchor point to sit in the middle of the hexagon outline and making the text box shape, when sent to back under the hexagon, hidden from view.

Vector Editing inside PowerPoint 9

  • Temporarily removing the hexagon shapes, here are the customized text box shapes with their new left edge.

Vector Editing inside PowerPoint 10

  • The end results, Title and Subtitle custom text boxes for the Section Divider layout, are all developed within PowerPoint and maintains template color scheme colors and editability.

Vector Editing inside PowerPoint 11

-Troy @ TLC

By |2016-09-19T15:09:09-07:00September 26th, 2016|Tutorial|

PowerPoint Layer Order Explained

How do you describe what is on top or bottom for slide content?

Z-ORDER_5

Let’s look at a simple explanation of 2D design. With presentation design, this is very easy to visualize by looking at a chart. A standard bar chart has two axes: left-right (X) and up-down (Y).

Z-ORDER_7

To expand on things, here is a simple explanation of 3D design. In 3D design, there are 3 axes; left-right (X), up-down (Y) and front-back (Z).

Z-ORDER_6

Similarly, PowerPoint slides can have 3 axes for content. Slide content is 2D, which is left-right and up-down. But, it can also be layered on top of each other, which is the Z-axis. So, content that is layered on top of each other is referred to as the “Z Order.” Here is an exploded view of a slide. The Z-order has the text on top, so no other slide content is going to block it – but the text may overlap other content.

Z-Order 02

Z-order is adjusted with PowerPoint’s ARRANGE > ORDER OBJECTS tools. These are the “bring to front” and “send to back” buttons. The SELECTION PANE shows all slide objects in their Z-order with items at the top of the list on top and items lower on the list having the other items on top of them.

Note: PowerPoint cannot have objects on the same layer, so as soon as there is 1 object on a slide, something is always layered on top.

Z-Order 4

-Troy @ TLC

By |2016-08-31T10:09:54-07:00September 8th, 2016|PowerPoint, Tutorial|

Section Zoom Photo Collage

One last Zoom demo to wrap up the month of August. Many thanks to Wanda, on the TLC design team, for taking my idea and turning it into a great presentation. Section Zoom 02

The concept is to create a Section Zoom, then stylize the each thumbnail into a photo collage layout.

Section Zoom 04

Here is the slide deck with sections for each photo gallery. It would be very easy to add photos to sections over time, or by multiple people.

Section Zoom 01

The presentation becomes an interactive digital photo album, and the same concept can easily be applied to touch enabled digital signage! Of course, when you see the layered thumbnail layout in action, it is (painfully) obvious there are some modifications needed to Zoom to make this great option actually usable…

-Troy @ TLC

 

By |2016-08-29T09:59:12-07:00August 31st, 2016|PowerPoint, Tutorial|
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