One of the creative things possible in earlier versions was to fill an autoshape (circle, rectangle, triangle, etc.) with an image. This required:
– creating the autoshape
– go through 4-7 steps to fill shape with the photo
But now things are MUCH EASIER!
– Insert photo
– With photo selected choose any autoshape
– Done!
In less than 1 minute all of these custom images were created:
– Troy @ TLC
Needless to say, but I am able to spend more time in PowerPoint than with any previous version. Here is another reason – the Soft Edge feature! Previously I would work with an image in Photoshop, save it out as a .png and then insert into the presentation. Here is our sample image with a soft edge applied:
AND a key with the softedges, drop shadows, and glows is that all add transparency. This means the images can easily be layered on top of other images or textured backgrounds.
The presets are setup in how much is feathered away, which is measured in Points.
The only downside to this feature is that the image must have a uniform soft edge all the way around it – no on just a few sides…. back to Photoshop when this is needed.
– Troy @ TLC
One of the current design crazes is the subtle mirrored reflection of an image. With PowerPoint 2007 you can be a hip and trendy designer effortlessly with its built in reflection features!
There are a number of preset reflections which vary the intensity of the reflection as well as the distance between the bottom edge and start of reflection.
– Troy @ TLC
Here again, is a great feature that eliminates time spent in Photoshop prepping images! A variety of bevel effects can be applied to any image – here are two:
A variety of bevel effects can instantly be applied with the presets:
I am going to cover the advanced settings in detail a bit later, but the bevel feature really lends itself to using the advanced settings, which is the menu opened when the “3D Options” is selected. It offers lots of customization options:
– Troy @ TLC
A glow is similiar to a drop shadow – soft feathered edge, any color, etc. The difference is a glow uniformly goes around the entire image vs. offset on 1 or 2 sides. Here is our sample image with a blue glow applied.
– Troy @ TLC
One of the great decisions on the Microsoft design team was to make most features have a set of presets – the most common ways to use that feature (of course the better would be to allow the user to also develop and add their own creations to the presets).
To access the shadow presets:
Select an image >> go to the FORMAT tab >> PICTURE EFFECTS >> SHADOW
– Troy @ TLC
As shown a few posts ago on text, PowerPoint 2007 has vastily improved drop shadows! Now we are able to create a nice “photoshop” feathered shadow. Here is our sample image with drop shadow applied:
This is a true soft feathered edge shadow:
With this one feature I have eliminated lots of time preparing images in PhotoShop!
– Troy @ TLC
Well I just finished a series on lots of the great things that can be done with text in PowerPoint 2007. Next up is a series of posts on what can be accomplished with imported photos!
And as a sneak peak, here is the image everything is going to happen to:
– Troy @ TLC
The Z-Axis is a common item in 3D applications. It is one of the axes in a three dimensional system that gives things a 3D perspective. Now PowerPoint has some z-axis features, which Microsoft refers to as ‘3D Rotation.’ All three of these text boxes were created from the same one. The top one shows the visual effect applied to the text (bevel and reflection). The bottom two apply 3D Rotation for some GREAT Visual effects!
And all of these remain editable text.
– Troy @ TLC
If you have used desktop publishing software you are familiar with the concept of kerning. With (variable width) fonts, different pairs of characters are spaced differently. Kerning is the adjustment of spacing between letters to obtain a more pleasing appearance. The great news is that PowerPoint now has some basic kerning capabilities. Microsoft calls it ‘Character Spacing’ and here is the quick menu.
We can also get more fine control over the Character Spacing by opening the Character Spacing dialog window.
Here are a few examples of kerning in use. The top text is the standard, or normal, kerning. The second one is expanded and the third is condensed. All is still editable text and can be applied to select text within a single text box.
– Troy @ TLC