Fixing PowerPoint Annoyances

Book description

If you're vexed and perplexed by PowerPoint, pick up a copy of Fixing PowerPoint Annoyances. This funny, and often opinionated, guide is chock full of tools and techniques for eliminating all the problems that drive audiences and presenters crazy.

There's nothing more discouraging than an unresponsive audience--or worse, one that snickers at your slides. And there's nothing more maddening than technical glitches that turn your carefully planned slide show into a car wreck. Envious when you see other presenters effectively use nifty features that you've never been able to get to work right? Suffer no more! Fixing PowerPoint Annoyances by Microsoft PowerPoint MVP Echo Swinford rides to the rescue.

Microsoft PowerPoint is the most popular presentation software on the planet, with an estimated 30 million presentations given each day. So no matter how frustrated you get, you're not about to chuck the program in the Recycle Bin. Fixing PowerPoint Annoyances, presents smart solutions to a variety of all-too-familiar, real-world annoyances.

The book is divided into big categories, with annoyances grouped by topic. You can read it cover to cover or simply jump to the chapter or section most relevant to you. Inside its pages you'll learn how to create your own templates, work with multiple masters and slide layouts, and take advantage of various alignment and formatting tools. You'll also learn how to import Excel data; insert graphics, PDF, and Word content; create, edit, and format organization charts and diagrams; use action settings and hyperlinks to jump to other slides; and add sound, video, and other types of multimedia to spark up your presentations.

Entertaining and informative, Fixing PowerPoint Annoyances is filled with humorous illustrations and packed with sidebars, tips, and tricks, as well as links to cool resources on the Web.

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Table of contents

  1. A Note Regarding Supplemental Files
  2. Copyright
  3. Introduction
    1. Do You Need This Book?
    2. What’s Covered in This Book?
    3. “You Haven’t Covered My Pet Annoyance”
    4. Conventions Used in This Book
    5. Safari®Enabled
    6. Acknowledgments
  4. 1. Presenting Your Presentation
    1. 1.1. SETTING UP YOUR EQUIPMENT
      1. 1.1.1. The Slides Look Crooked
      2. 1.1.2. The Slides Look All Skinny on the Bottom
      3. 1.1.3. I Can’t Hear the Sound
      4. 1.1.4. Slides Won’t Move Forward
      5. 1.1.5. Silence Is Golden
      6. 1.1.6. Image Doesn’t Show on Projector
    2. 1.2. VIEWING YOUR PRESENTATION
      1. 1.2.1. Presentation Keeps Locking Up
      2. 1.2.2. Video Doesn’t Show on Projector
      3. 1.2.3. PowerPoint Opens Minimized
      4. 1.2.4. Use White Backgrounds for Acetates
      5. 1.2.5. Use Contrasting Text and Backgrounds
      6. 1.2.6. Learn How to Navigate Your Presentation
      7. 1.2.7. Navigating to Hidden Slides
      8. 1.2.8. Back Up During the Presentation
      9. 1.2.9. Get Rid of Slide Show Starting Screen
      10. 1.2.10. Get Rid of End of Slide Show Screen
      11. 1.2.11. Hide the Arrow
      12. 1.2.12. Draw Straight Lines with the Pen
      13. 1.2.13. Access Files from Your Presentation
      14. 1.2.14. Avoid the Hyperlinked Files Message
    3. 1.3. THINGS THAT DRIVE PRESENTERS CRAZY
      1. 1.3.1. Change Note Size in Presenter View
      2. 1.3.2. Practice with Only One Monitor
      3. 1.3.3. Start Slide Show from the Current Slide
      4. 1.3.4. Create a Self-Running Presentation
      5. 1.3.5. Kiosk Mode Is Broken
      6. 1.3.6. Loop Your Presentation Continuously
      7. 1.3.7. Show a Range of Slides
      8. 1.3.8. Add Current Date and Time
  5. 2. Dumb Defaults
    1. 2.1. STUFF KEEPS MOVING AROUND
      1. 2.1.1. Turn Off AutoFit Body Text to Placeholder
      2. 2.1.2. Inserted Pictures Change the Layout
      3. 2.1.3. Reverse Flipped Images
      4. 2.1.4. Prevent Text from Moving Around
      5. 2.1.5. Force Complete Menus
      6. 2.1.6. Make Toolbar Icons Stay in One Place
    2. 2.2. CUSTOMIZE POWER POINT TO SUIT YOUR NEEDS
      1. 2.2.1. Restore Missing Images and Charts
      2. 2.2.2. Restore Grayed-Out Commands
      3. 2.2.3. Restore New Animations
      4. 2.2.4. Bring Back Color Views
      5. 2.2.5. Make Sure You Have a Qualifying Product
      6. 2.2.6. Change the Username in Comments
      7. 2.2.7. Avoid Saving in Notes Page View
      8. 2.2.8. Add Save as HTML to the Menu
      9. 2.2.9. Outline View Icon Gone
    3. 2.3. WHAT’S GOING ON WITH THESE FILE SIZES?
      1. 2.3.1. Turn Off Fast Saves Feature
      2. 2.3.2. Choose the Correct “Save as type” Option
      3. 2.3.3. Ungroup Your Excel Charts After Pasting
    4. 2.4. SLIDES, TEMPLATES, AND OTHER RELATED DEFAULTS
      1. 2.4.1. Specify a Default Template
      2. 2.4.2. Specify a Default Slide Layout
      3. 2.4.3. Create a Default Chart Style
      4. 2.4.4. Add a Placeholder to the Slide Layout
      5. 2.4.5. Find a Template on the Task Pane
      6. 2.4.6. File → New Doesn’t Do Anything
      7. 2.4.7. Turn Off Snap to Grid
      8. 2.4.8. Make PowerPoint Rulers Show Centimeters
    5. 2.5. ACTIVATION, VERSIONS, AND CORRUPTION
      1. 2.5.1. Transfer Your Settings to a New Computer
      2. 2.5.2. Office Tells Me to Reactivate
      3. 2.5.3. Edit PPS Files
      4. 2.5.4. Help Files Only Available Online
      5. 2.5.5. Understand the Background Printing Setting
      6. 2.5.6. Dealing with Different Versions of PowerPoint
      7. 2.5.7. Password-Protect Your Presentations
      8. 2.5.8. My Presentation Is Corrupt
  6. 3. Formatting and Editing
    1. 3.1. TEMPLATES AND MASTERS
      1. 3.1.1. Locate Your Templates
      2. 3.1.2. Force Templates to Show in the Task Pane
      3. 3.1.3. Find More Templates
      4. 3.1.4. Create a Template
      5. 3.1.5. Add a Title Master
      6. 3.1.6. Slide Thumbnail View Disappears
      7. 3.1.7. Create Multiple Masters
      8. 3.1.8. Distinguish One Master from Another
      9. 3.1.9. Apply a Template to Only a Few Slides
      10. 3.1.10. Masters Disappear from the Presentation
      11. 3.1.11. Deleting Slide Masters
      12. 3.1.12. Font Size Changes on Title Master
      13. 3.1.13. Add Placeholders to the Masters
      14. 3.1.14. Add a Color Scheme to a Template
      15. 3.1.15. Add Color Schemes Without Applying Color Schemes
      16. 3.1.16. Apply Multiple Masters in a Presentation
      17. 3.1.17. Determine Which Master Will Apply
      18. 3.1.18. Can’t See Text When You Type
      19. 3.1.19. The Automatic Contrast Is Ugly
      20. 3.1.20. Set a New Default Template
      21. 3.1.21. Set a New Default Master Slide
      22. 3.1.22. Set Default Graphs and Org Charts
      23. 3.1.23. Determine Default Colors for Charts
      24. 3.1.24. Add Filename to Every Slide
      25. 3.1.25. Number Slides XX of YY
      26. 3.1.26. Numbers Still Show on Title Slide
      27. 3.1.27. Add Slide Numbers
    2. 3.2. FORMATTING
      1. 3.2.1. Move Slide Layouts
      2. 3.2.2. Reapply a Slide Layout
      3. 3.2.3. Set Default Font
      4. 3.2.4. Set Default Text Box and AutoShape Settings
      5. 3.2.5. When You Draw a Line or a Rectangle, Nothing Shows Up
      6. 3.2.6. Not All Slides Appear After You Paste
      7. 3.2.7. Changing Font Locks PowerPoint
      8. 3.2.8. Group Objects
      9. 3.2.9. Align Objects
      10. 3.2.10. Make Grid Visible
      11. 3.2.11. Change the Grid Setting in PowerPoint 97 and 2000
      12. 3.2.12. Arrow Keys Jump by Leaps and Bounds
      13. 3.2.13. Text Ends Up in Placeholder
      14. 3.2.14. Change Text Case
      15. 3.2.15. Change Text Case Adds Strange Capitalization
      16. 3.2.16. Go from Word to PowerPoint
      17. 3.2.17. Set Hanging Indents on Bulleted Text
      18. 3.2.18. Using Bulleted and Non-Bulleted Text Together
      19. 3.2.19. Create Small Caps
      20. 3.2.20. Line Spacing Cuts Off Text
      21. 3.2.21. Set Font Size Increments
      22. 3.2.22. Set Tabs on a Slide
  7. 4. Importing
    1. 4.1. GRAPHICS
      1. 4.1.1. Don’t Drag and Drop or Paste Graphics
      2. 4.1.2. My Presentation Tries to Connect to the Internet
      3. 4.1.3. Inserted Pictures Are Really Big
      4. 4.1.4. Can’t Make Part of a Picture Transparent
      5. 4.1.5. Too Much of the Picture Is Transparent
      6. 4.1.6. Transparent Parts Turn Black
      7. 4.1.7. Rotate Images
      8. 4.1.8. Batch Import Images
      9. 4.1.9. Crop Images Before Insertion
      10. 4.1.10. Add Pictures to a Photo Album
      11. 4.1.11. Flippin’ Graphics Flip
    2. 4.2. EXCEL
      1. 4.2.1. Excel Data Cut Off
      2. 4.2.2. Colored Text Turns Black
      3. 4.2.3. Get Rid of Gridlines
      4. 4.2.4. Extract Data from an Embedded Excel Chart
      5. 4.2.5. Paste the Whole Workbook with the Chart
      6. 4.2.6. Font Size Goes Wacky When I Resize
      7. 4.2.7. Create Separate Chartsheets
      8. 4.2.8. Fonts on Chart Not Visible
      9. 4.2.9. Excel Headers and Footers Don’t Transfer
    3. 4.3. CLIP ART
      1. 4.3.1. Clip Art Task Pane Doesn’t Show Clips
      2. 4.3.2. Clips Take Forever to Load
      3. 4.3.3. Recolor a Clip
      4. 4.3.4. Search Just Black and White Clips
      5. 4.3.5. Inserted Clips Look Fuzzy
      6. 4.3.6. Nothing Happens When I Click Properties in an basket, or see the properties of the clip. Online Clip
    4. 4.4. WORD, PDFS, AND STUFF FROM THE WEB
      1. 4.4.1. Change the Default Paste Action
      2. 4.4.2. Use Animations from the Web
      3. 4.4.3. What Does the Little Blue Circle with a Question Mark Mean?
      4. 4.4.4. Pasted Buttons Don’t Work
      5. 4.4.5. Use Animated GIFs
      6. 4.4.6. Import a Word Outline
      7. 4.4.7. Insert a Gantt Chart from Microsoft Project
      8. 4.4.8. Import PDFs into PowerPoint
  8. 5. Organization Charts, Diagrams, and Drawing Tools
    1. 5.1. ORGANIZATION CHARTS
      1. 5.1.1. Edit Existing Org Charts
      2. 5.1.2. Out-of-Memory Errors
      3. 5.1.3. Add More Lines to a Box in an Org Chart
      4. 5.1.4. Add Another Head Honcho
      5. 5.1.5. Organization Chart Exceeds Limit
    2. 5.2. DIAGRAMS
      1. 5.2.1. Change Fonts and Other Formatting
      2. 5.2.2. Ungroup Objects in Your Diagram
      3. 5.2.3. Diagram Change Erases Customizations
      4. 5.2.4. Move Text Boxes in a Diagram
      5. 5.2.5. Add Arrows to the Cycle Diagram
    3. 5.3. OTHER DRAWING TOOLS
      1. 5.3.1. Connect Connectors
      2. 5.3.2. Make Selected Tool “Sticky”
      3. 5.3.3. Draw a Half-Circle
      4. 5.3.4. Edit Points Refines Drawings
      5. 5.3.5. Edit Points Not Available
      6. 5.3.6. Alignment Tools Are Grayed Out
      7. 5.3.7. Use Alignment Tools to Distribute Objects
      8. 5.3.8. Rotate Objects with Precision
      9. 5.3.9. Rotate Objects on the Fly
      10. 5.3.10. Format One Object in a Group
      11. 5.3.11. Spellcheck WordArt Objects
      12. 5.3.12. Where Are Outlined Fonts?
      13. 5.3.13. Create Mirrored Text
      14. 5.3.14. Word Wrap Around an AutoShape
      15. 5.3.15. Change the Color of a Shadow
      16. 5.3.16. Give a Photo Soft Edges
      17. 5.3.17. Add a Watermark to a Slide
      18. 5.3.18. Create a 3D Object
      19. 5.3.19. Fill an AutoShape with the Slide Background
      20. 5.3.20. Save Drawings for Later
      21. 5.3.21. Make Overlapping Pieces Transparent
  9. 6. Charts and Graphs
    1. 6.1. TEXT ISSUES
      1. 6.1.1. Y-Axis Titles Truncated
      2. 6.1.2. Control Axis Label Line Breaks
      3. 6.1.3. Axis Labels Missing
      4. 6.1.4. Align Axis Labels
      5. 6.1.5. Fonts Appear Distorted I
      6. 6.1.6. Fonts Appear Distorted II
      7. 6.1.7. Keep Chart Font Sizes the Same
      8. 6.1.8. Pie Charts Appear Jagged
      9. 6.1.9. Fonts Appear Jagged
      10. 6.1.10. Change the Datasheet Font
      11. 6.1.11. Font Changes on a Pasted Excel Chart
      12. 6.1.12. Default Chart Font Is Wrong
    2. 6.2. CREATING AND FORMATTING CHARTS
      1. 6.2.1. Use Dates on the X-Axis
      2. 6.2.2. Create a Combination Chart
      3. 6.2.3. Create a Secondary Axis
      4. 6.2.4. Add Error Bars to Data Points
      5. 6.2.5. Create an Axis Break
      6. 6.2.6. Remove Percent Markers from Y-Axis
      7. 6.2.7. Add Percent Markers to the Y-Axis
      8. 6.2.8. Reverse Order of Categories
      9. 6.2.9. Insert Picture Fills
      10. 6.2.10. Change Chart Colors
      11. 6.2.11. Create a Default Chart
      12. 6.2.12. Reset the Default Chart Style
      13. 6.2.13. Charts Recolor When Pasted into Presentations
      14. 6.2.14. Change Settings for Printing in Black and White
      15. 6.2.15. Charts Appear Flipped
      16. 6.2.16. Charts Resize When Opened
    3. 6.3. DATA
      1. 6.3.1. Pie Chart Totals Less Than 100%
      2. 6.3.2. Change Data Plot from Rows to Columns
      3. 6.3.3. Hide Data on Your Datasheet
      4. 6.3.4. Interpolate Lines with Missing Data
      5. 6.3.5. The Datasheet Is Just a Datasheet
    4. 6.4. EXCEL CHARTS
      1. 6.4.1. Import Excel Charts
      2. 6.4.2. Pasted Charts Cause File Size Increase
      3. 6.4.3. Update Links Automatically
      4. 6.4.4. Prevent Linked Charts from Updating
  10. 7. Animations, Action Settings, and Hyperlinks
    1. 7.1. ANIMATIONS AND TRANSITIONS
      1. 7.1.1. Animation Plays Differently in Different Versions
      2. 7.1.2. Animate Individual Bullet Points
      3. 7.1.3. Make the First Bullet Visible
      4. 7.1.4. Apply Options to Animation Effects
      5. 7.1.5. Animate Text by Levels
      6. 7.1.6. Apply More Than One Animation to an Object
      7. 7.1.7. Objects with Motion Paths Animate Twice
      8. 7.1.8. Edit Motion Paths
      9. 7.1.9. Object Jumps Before Starting Motion Path Animation
      10. 7.1.10. Unlock a Motion Path
      11. 7.1.11. Find the End of a Motion Path
      12. 7.1.12. Animate a Chart by Series or Category
      13. 7.1.13. Limits to Credit Animations
      14. 7.1.14. Exit Objects in PowerPoint 97 and 2000
      15. 7.1.15. Animate Two Objects at Once
      16. 7.1.16. Reapply Animations
      17. 7.1.17. Dealing with Way Too Many Objects on a Slide
      18. 7.1.18. Determine Which Objects Are Animated
      19. 7.1.19. Input a Custom Spin Angle
      20. 7.1.20. Change the Fulcrum of a Spin
      21. 7.1.21. Animate One Word in a Text Box
      22. 7.1.22. Show a Formula During a Presentation
      23. 7.1.23. Repeat a Sequence of Animations
      24. 7.1.24. Go from Animation to Transition
      25. 7.1.25. Keep Slide on Screen After Animation
      26. 7.1.26. Slide Transitions Don’t Work Right
      27. 7.1.27. Show Advanced Animation Timeline
      28. 7.1.28. Change After Previous to With Previous
      29. 7.1.29. Honey, I Shrunk the Pictures
      30. 7.1.30. Zoom In on an Area
    2. 7.2. ACTION SETTINGS AND HYPERLINKS
      1. 7.2.1. Remove Underline from Hyperlinked Text
      2. 7.2.2. Hyperlinked Text Changes Color
      3. 7.2.3. Slides Don’t Animate on Return
      4. 7.2.4. Slides Don’t Appear When Linking
      5. 7.2.5. Hyperlinks Stop Working
      6. 7.2.6. Absolute Versus Relative Links
      7. 7.2.7. Hyperlinks Don’t Work in PowerPoint Viewer 97
      8. 7.2.8. Hyperlinks Don’t Work in PowerPoint Viewer 2003
      9. 7.2.9. Force Navigation Via Buttons
      10. 7.2.10. Kiosk Mode Doesn’t Reset
  11. 8. Sound and Video
    1. 8.1. SOUND
      1. 8.1.1. Hide the Sound Icon
      2. 8.1.2. CD Track Doesn’t Play
      3. 8.1.3. CD Track No Longer Plays
      4. 8.1.4. Sound Disappears When I Email My Presentation
      5. 8.1.5. WAV File Not Embedded
      6. 8.1.6. Shrink Your WAV File
      7. 8.1.7. Add Sound from iTunes
      8. 8.1.8. Add Sound from Clip Organizer
      9. 8.1.9. Add Background Music
      10. 8.1.10. Use CD Tracks for Background Music
      11. 8.1.11. Start Sound Partway Through
      12. 8.1.12. Background Sound Won’t Play in PowerPoint Viewer 2003
      13. 8.1.13. Sound Starts Over When Slides Advance
      14. 8.1.14. Change the Sound Volume
      15. 8.1.15. Synchronizing Sound
      16. 8.1.16. Extract Sound from PowerPoint Files
    2. 8.2. WEB PAGES AND FLASH
      1. 8.2.1. Sound Doesn’t Play on the Web
      2. 8.2.2. Show a Web Page on a Slide
      3. 8.2.3. Play Flash SWF Files in PowerPoint
      4. 8.2.4. Make Flash SWF Files Rewind
      5. 8.2.5. Sounds and Videos Play Only Once
      6. 8.2.6. Links to Sound and Video Break When I Move a Presentation
      7. 8.2.7. Path Length Is Too Long
    3. 8.3. VIDEO
      1. 8.3.1. My Old Video Won’t Play on My New Computer
      2. 8.3.2. Put Text on Top of Movies
      3. 8.3.3. Use Video in the Background
      4. 8.3.4. Controls for Video Show on Slide
      5. 8.3.5. Click to Pause Movie
      6. 8.3.6. Play Movie Across Multiple Slides
      7. 8.3.7. Mouse Dies When Playing MPEGs
      8. 8.3.8. Play MPEG-2 Files in PowerPoint
      9. 8.3.9. Insert Video from a Digital Camera
      10. 8.3.10. White Box Shows Instead of Video
      11. 8.3.11. Play QuickTime Files
    4. 8.4. VIDEO AND PROJECTORS
      1. 8.4.1. Video Jumps to Full Screen When Projected
      2. 8.4.2. Video Doesn’t Play When Projected
    5. 8.5. OTHER VIDEO STUFF
      1. 8.5.1. Play a DVD in PowerPoint
      2. 8.5.2. Turn PowerPoint into Video
      3. 8.5.3. Turn PowerPoint into Flash
  12. 9. Printing and Distribution
    1. 9.1. PRINTING
      1. 9.1.1. Print Button Grayed Out in PowerPoint 2002 and 2003
      2. 9.1.2. Print Password-Protected Files
      3. 9.1.3. Pictures Print Twice
      4. 9.1.4. Landscape File Prints Portrait
      5. 9.1.5. Margin Prints Around Slides
      6. 9.1.6. Print Slides in the Center of the Page
      7. 9.1.7. Print Slides on Notes Pages
      8. 9.1.8. Stubborn Slide Refuses to Print
      9. 9.1.9. Gradient Transparency Won’t Print
      10. 9.1.10. Print Spool Becomes Huge
      11. 9.1.11. Turn Off Background Printing
      12. 9.1.12. Print from PowerPoint Viewer
      13. 9.1.13. Print Posters from PowerPoint
      14. 9.1.14. Specify Global Print Settings
      15. 9.1.15. Pattern Fills Don’t Print
      16. 9.1.16. Print Slides Plus Notes
      17. 9.1.17. Update Page Numbers
      18. 9.1.18. Number Slides on Printouts
      19. 9.1.19. Omit Objects from Slides When Printing
      20. 9.1.20. Print Animated Objects
      21. 9.1.21. Line Prints on Filled Text Box
      22. 9.1.22. Send Black and White Slide Thumbnails to Word
      23. 9.1.23. Create PDFs from PowerPoint
    2. 9.2. IMAGES
      1. 9.2.1. Extract Images from a PowerPoint File
      2. 9.2.2. Increase the Resolution of Exported Slide Images
      3. 9.2.3. Create Black and White Slide Images
      4. 9.2.4. Create EPS Images
    3. 9.3. VIDEO, DVDS, AND FLASH
      1. 9.3.1. Convert PowerPoint File to Video File
      2. 9.3.2. Record Presentation to VHS
      3. 9.3.3. Create a DVD
    4. 9.4. WEB PAGES
      1. 9.4.1. Save as HTML
      2. 9.4.2. Get Rid of Slide List
      3. 9.4.3. Get Rid of Frames
      4. 9.4.4. Put Your PowerPoint File on the Web
      5. 9.4.5. Make PowerPoint Open in PowerPoint
      6. 9.4.6. Slide Titles Missing in Navigation Pane
      7. 9.4.7. Charts Look Awful When Saved as Web Page
      8. 9.4.8. Add Video to Slides on the Web
    5. 9.5. PACK AND GO
      1. 9.5.1. Open PPZ Files
    6. 9.6. CDS
      1. 9.6.1. Package for CD Uses Incorrect Drive
      2. 9.6.2. Make an Autorun CD
        1. 9.6.2.1. PowerPoint 2003
        2. 9.6.2.2. PowerPoint 97 and 2000 with PowerPoint Viewer 97
        3. 9.6.2.3. PowerPoint 2002 with PowerPoint Viewer 2003
      3. 9.6.3. Make an EXE File
  13. About the Author
  14. About the Author
  15. Colophon
  16. Copyright

Product information

  • Title: Fixing PowerPoint Annoyances
  • Author(s): Echo Swinford
  • Release date: February 2006
  • Publisher(s): O'Reilly Media, Inc.
  • ISBN: 9780596100049