Tutorial

VIsta & PPT 2003 Adv. Animation Pane

This one almost had me uninstalling Vista. this one invovles the Custom Animation pane open and set to view the Advanced Animation view (where the animations are shown on the timeline).

The problem (seen on multiple computers) is when you click and drag the animation bar to a new position, it basically disapears until you unclick. The result is loosing all ability to easily and accurately fine tune animations.

Again, there is a solution which is in the next post 🙂

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-11-17T15:57:58-08:00May 11th, 2007|Tutorial|

PPT 2003 and Vista

I am now feeling confident running Vista and all of my applications. But it may not be my recommendation for the person unwilling to research hacks and settings to overcome the many situations that come up. On my primary system I have all versions of PowerPoint installed. In many instances client needs determine the software used. Although PowerPoint 2007 is wonderful, I am living in a PowerPoint XP-2003 world.

So if you have upgraded to Windows Vista and use PPT 2003, I have a few fixes to problems. The next two posts will explain usability problems and the third will cure both!

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-11-17T15:57:26-08:00May 9th, 2007|Tutorial|

PPT 2003 to 2007 Commands

If you have installed PowerPoint 2007, you know the User Interface with its new Ribbon layout is very different! Keep this Microsoft website handy as you begin to relearn how to do everything.

This interactive Flash page allows you to click and choose almost any feature in a PPT 2003 simulation and then it shows where to find the same command in PPT 2007. Click here to try it.

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-11-17T15:56:05-08:00April 12th, 2007|Software/Add-Ins, Tutorial|

Existing Presentation to Widescreen (pt 2)

For the best quality layout and graphics when converting an existing presentation to widescreen I go through several steps. Note: 1-4 assure that new widescreen presentation maintains all formatting such as fonts, custom bullets, default color scheme, header/footer, etc.

1. Open existing presentation

2. Save As (name)_WideScreen.ppt

3. Delete all slides

4. Change page size to needed widescreen size

2. If background artwork is developed in Photoshop, modify in Photoshop to create new version of artwork that is setup for new widescreen aspect ratio

3. Update the master slide(s) with modified artwork and adjust formatting to fit widescreen layout

Now I have a widescreen template of my presentation.

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-11-17T15:54:14-08:00April 6th, 2007|Tutorial|

Existing Presentation to Widescreen

So you have an existing presentation, created as a standard 4×3 aspect ratio (10″x7.5″). But you have a wide screen for your next meeting. EASY, from the previous post you know to go to FILE >> PAGE SETUP and modify the size — DOHHH, everything is messed up now!

Here is a standard 4×3 presentation (10″x7.5″)

After changing the Page Setup to 16″x9″ you end up with this

Note:
– Imported graphics and autoshapes all distort
– Standard PowerPoint text keeps its aspect ratio

There is no instant or easy way to do this… but in the next post I will give a few suggestions.

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-11-17T15:53:22-08:00April 4th, 2007|Tutorial|

Other Widescreen Page Setup Options

Depending on some variables such as client preference or AV equipment available, I go with 1 of 3 options when developing a widescreen presentation.

Option 1:
– Page setup = 16”x9”
– This is the easiest to work with and tends to be the least confusing for people inexperienced with widescreen shows
– Problem is all graphics should be created at full size, not upsized from an existing 4×3 presentation

Option 2:
– Page setup = 10”x5.63” (or 8”x4.5”)
– Best size to use if have to use existing graphics from a 4×3 presentation and if client wants to reuse elements in their (4×3) presentations
– Problem is it really confuses people unfamiliar with widescreen shows and aspect ratios

Option 3:
– Page setup = 10”x7.5” (standard 4×3 presentation)
– Add black letterbox bars to top and bottom leaving a 16×9 “active” area
– Again, good for using existing 4×3 presentation graphics or need to supply images for client to repurpose into their presentations
– Also good for multi-source shows as lower letterbox area can contain quick reference syncing information (eg. L1, C1, R2 (left 1, Center 1, Right 1))
– Problem is needs to have real scaler that can cut off unused portion sent to project and a good projector as not all pixels are being used

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-11-17T15:52:46-08:00April 2nd, 2007|Tutorial|

Going Wide Screen

The era of the wide screen presentation is here. Computer monitors are wide screen, plasma and lcd TVs are wide screen, and wide screen projectors have dropped in price. So how do you create a widescreen presentation to use all of this great “realestate”?

1) Open a new presentation

2) Go to FILE >> PAGE SETUP

3) Here is the standard, 4×3 aspect ratio, presentation

4) Change the 10″ x 7.5″ to 16″ x 9″

Now you have a wide screen presentation set to fit the industry standard 16×9 aspect ratio.

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-11-17T15:52:25-08:00March 31st, 2007|Tutorial|

Small Can Be Better

Here is a common element that really does not get much attention. Note the “(cont)” at the end of the header.

It is the same font, same color, same size as the rest of the headline. But it really is not a part of the headline content. When I need to add this to a presentation header I do a little formatting like this

The additional item is now non-bold and several font sizes smaller. It conveys the needed information (that this is the same topic continued onto another slide), but is less obtrusive and does not compete with, or alter the header message.

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-11-17T15:51:33-08:00March 29th, 2007|Tutorial|

Oh ,The Colors

It is often beneficial to color code the data. But sometimes to much color makes things difficult to interpret and ends up looking like the circus has arrived. Here is a great diagram that provides a lot of vital information – it just gets lost in all of the colors and shapes.

My goal was to minimize the distracting colors, make the diagram fit within the slide and emphasis the relation and process. Here is the revised diagram:

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-11-17T15:46:07-08:00March 7th, 2007|Portfolio, Tutorial|

Great Graphic – For an Engineer

Here is the original graphic provided. It has all the needed information, is nicely balanced, has good contrast – and has all the factors an engineer would appreciate.

Taking the same content, basic layout, and even color scheme, here the revised version of the diagram developed for the (16×9, widescreen) presentation.

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-11-17T15:45:31-08:00March 5th, 2007|Portfolio, Tutorial|
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