Impractical – yes. A cool thing you can do in PowerPoint – yes!
Using the Zoom tool, you can create a slide that zooms into itself endlessly – an Inception effect. Here is my single slide presentation. First, I use the Zoom > Insert > Slide Zoom, and then I use the Drag-and-Drop way to make a slide a linked Zoom image (the music is what I hear when I think of an endless Inception loop).
-Troy @ TLC
Microsoft released Zoom with a lot of great formatting options and features for linked thumbnails. Here is a list of several tips & tricks we learned working with the Zoom thumbnails.
When creating a Slide Zoom (link to a specific slide, not a section), you can drag and drop a slide from the left navigation pane onto any slide!
Thumbnails have dynamic live content. For example:
Any Zoom thumbnail can use a different image. Much like a video Poster Frame image, a Zoom thumbnail can be set to any external image.
If the custom image is not wanted, it is easy to return the thumbnail to using the slide image. Just right click Zoom thumbnail and select CHANGE IMAGE > RESET IMAGE or go to FORMAT > ZOOM OPTIONS > CHANGE IMAGE > RESET IMAGE.
Also, any image styling options, such as drop shadows, outline, bevel, rotate, 3D perspective, etc., can be applied to a thumbnail. Note: 3D perspective is an example of a formatting option that can be applied, but does not always provide a nice transition effect.
Remove Background of thumbnails. This is a great design feature! Using the FORMAT > ZOOM OPTIONS section > ZOOM BACKGROUND and only the content on the slide will remain a part of the thumbnail. All slide master content (background image, logos, etc.) are removed from the thumbnail.
As example, here I have added a .png image of flower pots on the slide (and the flower background is set as the background image).
Next I added a SUMMARY ZOOM, which adds a new navigation slide with thumbnail navigation images of each slide selected.
Selecting the right thumbnail and going to FORMAT > ZOOM OPTIONS section > ZOOM BACKGROUND to do an image ‘remove background’ effect.
All content that is on the master layout and/or set background image are removed from the thumbnail and what is left on the navigation slide is a .png with transparent background that has only the content actually on the slide (this is great!!).
There are a lot of styling options and “hidden” features. Enjoy finding creative ways to develop non-linear presentations using Zoom!
-Troy @ TLC
The PowerPoint Ribbon is super helpful in being in the same place on all installs of PowerPoint. Sometimes, it uses valuable screen real estate. Luckily, it is easy to hide the Ribbon, just click the small upper arrow on the right.
When the Ribbon is turned off, PowerPoint frees up all that space just by displaying the menu bar (and on my install, the QAT that is below the menu bar).
Any time a menu item is clicked, the Ribbon temporarily displays.
To make the Ribbon stay visible, click any menu item, then click the small thumbtack icon on the right.
-Troy @ TLC
Inserting an image using the preset Picture Placeholders seems like a super shortcut, until things get frustrating with why images do not insert the same way every time a Picture Placeholder is used. The reason, almost always, is knowing there are two types of Placeholders – and each handles images differently.
Here is an explanation and example using a Content Placeholder vs. Picture Placeholder – and as a side note, neither option works the way I feel it really should…
CONTENT PLACEHOLDER
Inserting an image in the Content placeholder, identified by this icon, offers the option of inserting various elements: Tables, Charts, Smart Art, Video, and Images.
Inserting an image in the Content placeholder adjusts the layout to the size of the actual image. If you insert a small image, the placeholder shrinks to the small size image. If you insert a large image, the image will at maximum be the size of the slide and the placeholder will grow to that size. The downside is the preset position and size on the master layout is ignored and the slide content needs to be manually repositioned and sized.
PICTURE PLACEHOLDER
Inserting an image in the Picture placeholder adjusts image to fill the size of the layout. The downside here is the image is often cut off and needs to be repositioned and resized using the Crop tool.
While both Placeholder options are pro’s and con’s, at least now you have an idea of what PowerPoint is doing and what to expect.
-Troy @ TLC
The PowerPoint Morph transition is PowerPoint’s best new animation feature!
We have been leveraging the fantastic new transition in lots of presentation projects since its release, including using Morph for animations. Here is another example where we used Morph as the animation effect. Our client wanted to show the above three statements. The real request was to emphasize each as they were addressed. Our first step was to convert the provided bullet list into a dynamic visual; the end result was the above slide.
For the “emphasize each” request, using the Morph transition as our animation, we created a dynamic “flip” animation effect. It also was something that did not look like “PowerPoint.” Below is a video of the final animation effect:
[KGVID]https://thepowerpointblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/unnamed-file.mp4[/KGVID]
– Troy @ TLC
This month, I am focusing on PowerPoint add-ins because the ability to extend PowerPoint’s functionality is one of the biggest attributes that allows it to be a “professional” design tool. The first place to start is PowerPoint’s own extensibility with the QAT – Quick Access Toolbar.
I am a big fan of the Quick Access Toolbar. My first post about it was back in 2009. Then, less than a year later, I became an even bigger fan when PowerPoint 2010 added the ability to export and import pre-made QAT toolbar setups. More recently, at the end of 2015, I became distressed over the QAT when an update to PowerPoint 2016 essentially limited its functionality – which has happily been fixed by the Microsoft PowerPoint Dev team (YAY!!).
The first step in effectively using and setting up the QAT is to move it from above the menus to below. By default, it is above the menu bar (with FILE / HOME / INSERT / etc.) and only has a few buttons. Click the down arrow on the right and select SHOW BELOW THE RIBBON.
At TLC, we have a very customized QAT installed on all of our computers – and has 37 time saving, always available buttons! For this blog post, I am showing our version that only uses standard PowerPoint features (I do run a more customized version that also integrates some tools from 3rd party add-ins – many of which will be in posts this month).
Click HERE to download the TLC customized QAT (download .zip file, extract, then follow install information below).
To install:
– Go to FILE > OTPIONS
– In the POWERPOINT OPTIONS dialog, go to the QUICK ACCESS TOOLBAR tab
– In the lower right, click the ARROW on the Import/Export button
– Select IMPORT CUSTOMIZATION FILE
– In the FILE OPEN dialog, locate the custom QAT file and click OPEN
– At the warning dialog that existing toolbar setup will be overwritten, click YES
– Customized QAT is now installed!
– Troy @ TLC
A PDF of slides, or any document if in the correct aspect ratio, can be used for presentation slides. I am using Adobe Acrobat, but most PDF viewing apps have the same capability.
Here is my sample 16×9 presentation of 4 slides exported as a PDF, now open in Acrobat.
I have selected the first page vs. the Organize/Grid view.
Go to VIEW > FULL SCREEN MODE, or use the keyboard shortcut CTRL+L
The Acrobat tool bars disappear and the slide displays full screen. Using the arrow keys or Page Up/Down keys, you can go through the pages just like a presentation.
Notes:
-Troy @ TLC
Custom fonts can make a presentation unique, dynamic, align with corporate branding and many other fantastic things. But if a custom font is not installed on the device being used to show the presentation, the presentation may fail visually.
If your presentation is using a custom font, here is an overview on how to get that font installed on all the main device types – if it is possible to install.
Installing a custom font is a simple process on Windows.
Confirm the font files are copied to the computer (not on a portable drive or network folder). Right-Click the font file and select > Install. Windows will do everything and the font is now available to all programs on that computer.
Manually copy font files into the Windows Fonts folder. When a font file is copied into the Windows Font Folder it is automatically installed.
Windows 10: To see what fonts are installed, go to the Windows icon> Settings > type “Fonts” in the search bar on the top right. Your fonts folder should open, displaying currently installed fonts. Drag-and-drop, or copy/paste, font files to be installed.
Win XP, 7 and Win 8.1: To see what fonts are installed, go to Windows Start > Control Panel > Fonts, this will take you to a list of all fonts installed on your PC. Drag-and-drop, or copy/paste, font files to be installed.
A few notes about PowerPoint using custom fonts on Windows:
A few notes about PowerPoint and Keynote using custom fonts on the Mac OS:
Prezi is not a device, but because it can be used on all devices listed, here is basic overview of font use by Prezi.
-Troy @ TLC
Adding Google Fonts to your presentations is a good option, assuming you are prepared for managing Custom Fonts in a presentation and assuring everyone has knowledge of how to install custom fonts on a computer, has web access to get the font to install, and is prepared for things not displaying as designed if not installed. The other consideration is, do you need another font option? With our internal library of thousands of custom fonts, and the addition of Adobe Typekit providing its thousands of fonts to our design options, too many options can be more to manage and may provide more design options that are not really needed. But, Google Fonts is a great resource every presentation designer has available if needed.
-Troy @ TLC
Adobe Typekit is a combination between an online tool that previews fonts and an installer that adds them to a computer. Adobe TypeKit is included with Adobe Creative Cloud subscriptions.
Yes, if we are talking about desktop PowerPoint and Keynote. Once the Adobe Typekit font is selected and synced to the computer, the font is available in other applications. At TLC, we use PowerPoint for Windows and Mac and Apple Keynote – we can confirm Typekit fonts are available for all of them. Note: PowerPoint may need to be restarted for the font to become available in the font menu.
| Adobe Typekit | Windows | Mac |
| PowerPoint | YES | YES |
| Keynote | N/A | YES |
Adobe Typekit is a hybrid app that is web-based, and can also be viewed through the Adobe Creative Cloud app and most Adobe applications (PhotoShop, Illustrator, InDesign, etc.). For our example, we are looking at Typekit through a web browser, which has the most options. Select the font to use in your presentation by going through the font library, select by clicking +USE FONTS (there are a lot of ways to view and search for fonts, and there are thousands of fonts).
This is where things get a bit confusing. There are two options for using the font: (1) Web Sync, which will make the font available for web use (ie. a website), or (2) Creative Cloud Sync, which will make the font available for use in Desktop apps on a computer. We are installing fonts to a computer for use in PowerPoint.
After selecting fonts and use, click SYNC SELECTED FONTS and they will be installed on the computer.
The Creative Cloud Desktop application will open and prompt you to add fonts from Typekit. Below that is a list of all Adobe Typekit fonts currently available.
All Adobe Typekit fonts can be used by PowerPoint on both Windows and Mac, but there are some considerations:
All Adobe Typekit fonts can be used by Keynote, but there are some considerations: Keynote dynamically recognizes newly installed fonts, so there’s no need to restart it after fonts are installed (great!).
-Troy @ TLC