Computer Info – January 21, 2004

 

This Week’s Meeting

            We will again start with a question and answer session followed by a refresh of the information that has been in the handouts for the past month that we didn’t get to last week.  We will try to get questions from newcomers first.  If we have time, we will start on helpful tips with using PowerPoint.

            The next meeting will be February 4th, 2004.

 

File Compatibility – PowerPoint

            You don’t have to worry about file compatibility between PowerPoint 2003 and previous versions.  The 2003 version opens files from Office XP, Office 2000, and Office 97.  The older Office versions can generally open Office 2003 files, although features introduced in 2003 won’t be supported in the older programs.

            Because of this, your presentation could have some unpredictable appearances, so always test the files in older versions of PowerPoint before distributing them to an audience running mixed versions.

 

Which View – PowerPoint

            Normal – This is the place for most prep work.  This view shows you the entire slide, as well as all the toolbars, menus, and other items you need to work with the information and graphics on slides.  On the left side of the screen, tabs let you see thumbnails of all slides or an outline overview in which slides are broken down into titles and bullet points.

            Slide Sorter – Shows thumbnails of all the slides in the presentation.  This is the place to drag slides around when you need to reorder them.

            Slide Show  --  Shows the finished product in full-screen mode just as the audience will see them.

 

Copy Formatting – PowerPoint

            Ok, you know how to copy and paste.  But did you know how to only copy the formatting of a block of text and apply it to a different block?  Highlight the text that has the formatting you want to copy and press CTRL-SHIFT-C.  Now highlight the text that you would like to apply this formatting to – and press CTRL-SHIFT-V.  The font, font size, color and other settings of the text that you copied will be applied – but the actual words won’t change.

 

Embed the font – PowerPoint

            Did you ever take your PowerPoint presentation to someone else’s computer and try to demonstrate – only to find that the font that you used on your computer doesn’t seem to be the same on your friend’s computer?  The problem would be that the computer your friend is using doesn’t support the fonts you created the presentation with.  To solve this problem – embed the fonts when you create the slides.  Be sure to use only TrueType fonts (indicated with a TT by their names in the Fonts list).  Then choose File, Save As, and click the Tools button in the upper-right corner of the dialog box.  Choose Save Options and click the Embed TrueType Fonts box, then make sure to select the Embed All Characters button.

 

Decide to Use Another Font – PowerPoint

            If you have finish your slides and then decide to change any slide that uses a particular font (ex. Ariel) – you can easily change all the slides with that font to another font.

            Choose FORMAT – REPLACE FONTS.  In the Replace box, select the font that you want to replace – and in the With box, select the new font you want to use.  Click Replace to update the fonts throughout your presentation.

 

Fast Photo Presentation – PowerPoint

            When your presentation is all about pictures, the Photo Album feature provides the easiest way to assemble it.  Choose Insert, Picture, New Photo Album.  Here you can quickly arrange various numbers of photos on a slide, do some basic photo editing, add borders, etc.

 

Custom Animation – PowerPoint

            Jazz up your object’s entry by making up your own animation path.  Try this.  In the Normal View, click the object you want to animate.  Click Slide Show, Custom Animation.  Click Add Effect and select Motion Paths.  Point to Draw Custom Path and choose a tool for setting the object’s animated course.  The Line, Curve, Freeform, and Scribble tools let you drag the mouse to describe any flight path you want for the object.

 

Straight Lines and Round Circles – PowerPoint

            To make a circle round – choose the Oval and hold down the SHIFT key while drawing the object.  To make a straight line – choose the Line and hold down the SHIFT key while drawing the object.

 

Changing Colors of ClipArt – PowerPoint

            After you have insert a clipart picture on your slide – you can change the colors of it to match your design.  When you click on the inserted clipart, the Picture Toolbar is displayed.  On the Picture Toolbar is an icon called Recolor Picture.  From here you can change ALL of the different colors that are in the clipart picture.

 

Arrange Objects – PowerPoint

            You can quickly arrange or evenly align your objects on a slide by ----  clicking on each one while holding down the SHIFT key.  Then click the Draw toolbar’s Draw button, select Align or Distribute.

            By clicking the Relative to Slide option -- any choice you make from the Align or Distribute menu will align or distribute your selected objects to the slide (ex. Align top – will align all of your selected objects with the top of the slide).

            By un-clicking the Relative to Slide option – any choice you make from the Align or Distribute menu will align or distribute your selected objects to one of the selected objects (ex. Align top – will align all of your selected objects in a straight line with whichever object was the closest to the top of the slide).

 

Lines – PowerPoint

            Of course, a line is easy to place on a slide in PowerPoint.  Your Draw toolbar should be displayed at the bottom of your PowerPoint window.  Click on AutoShapes and then Lines for a choice of different styles.  To make your line straight – hold down the SHIFT key while you draw it.

            Once you have drawn your line, you can right-click on it and choose Format AutoShape.  Here you can change the color of the line, the width of the line, what the ends of the line look like, etc.

 

Summary Slide – PowerPoint

            If you use titles for your slides, you can easily create a summary slide – to show a quick view of what your presentation will offer.  When you are in the VIEW – SLIDE SORTER – hold down the CTRL key and select which slides you want to use.  Now on the toolbar, click on SUMMARY SLIDE.  A new slide will be created before the first slide that you select and it will list the titles of the slides that you selected.

 

Pause Your Slide Show – PowerPoint

            An easy way to pause your slideshow and have the attention focused on you rather than the last slide – is to hit B (to pause the show with a black screen) or hit W (to pause the show with a white screen).  Hitting any key will resume your show.