Archive for the 'Powerpoint' Category

You can use Powerpoint to edit your photographs with advanced features like transparency, masking, and custom borders. You can actually create some pretty stunning creations using your digital photos and auto shapes. The drawback to PowerPoint is that you are unable to accurately measure things. You can’t set the resolution or the actual graphic size by pixels.

Setting up Powerpoint for graphics editing

Under the view menu select grids and guides. Select snap objects to grid and select 1/16th as the grid size. Make sure the display grid on screen checkbox is checked. On the right side menu click the “blank” layout box (this gets the annoying text boxes out of your way)

Under the view menu select toolbars and make sure the drawing toolbar has a check mark next to it.

The drawing toolbar is where you will import your graphics, select AutoShapes, and select WordArt.

Importing Your Pictures

Once you have your screen setup you can import your first picture. To do this click on the insert picture icon from the drawing toolbar, select the picture file you want to import, and click OK. This will put your picture on the screen.

Click and drag the corner handles of the picture to resize it. Don’t use the center handles as this will distort the picture. Resize the picture to the size you want it. In the case of this tutorial I resized the picture to 2 grid blocks high by three grid blocks wide. In my version of Powerpoint, each grid box represents approximately 150 pixels, so my resized picture will be 300 pixels high by 450 pixels wide.

This is a good size for e-mail and the resulting file size will be much smaller than the original picture.

To Save The Resized Picture: Right click on your resized picture and click Save As Picture from the menu. For a finished picture that you want to e-mail or use on your website, chose the JPG format. This will result in the smallest file size. If you are going to bring your picture back into Powerpoint for use with AutoShapes, use the PNG or TIF format.

File Size Reduction: Resizing our picture from almost full screen to a 2×3 grid size resulted in a much reduced file size when saved as a JPG.

Original size: 600H x 900W = 256K 

Reduced size: 300H x 450W = 14K

When you send pictures by e-mail, a small file size is a must for people who have dial up internet connections. Using Powerpoint is a quick way to modify your large digital camera pics for sending by e-mail.

Adding a Border To Our Picture: To add a quick border to our picture, right click on your resized picture and click Format Picture. In the box that opens select the Colors & Lines tab. In the Line section, set the color, line type, and size in the boxes. Click OK.

You can create some interesting borders easily with this tool. Experiment with different colors and line sizes until you get the look you want. By clicking on the color box and selecting patterned lines, you can create all sorts of creative borders. Experiment and have fun with this tool.

Importing Pictures Into AutoShapes: You can easily import your pictures into different AutoShapes as a background for a lot of creative effects. Using the grid decide how big you want your final picture to be.

In the example above I resized my original picture to two grid blocks high by three grid blocks wide. I saved the reduced size picture as a PNG file to my computer.

I then created an AutoShape from the AutoShape menu (On the Drawing Toolbar) that was the same size. I dragged the AutoShape to two grid blocks high by three grid blocks wide. Now I had a picture and a shape that were both the same size.

To import my saved picture as a background, I right clicked on my AutoShape and clicked Format Auto Shape from the menu. In the box that comes up, click on the color box under the fill section . Then click on the Fill Effects selection. In the resulting box, click on the Picture tab. In the picture dialog box click the Select Picture box and select the reduced picture you saved to your computer above. Make sure to click a checkmark into the Lock Picture Aspect Ratio checkbox. Click OK.

Your picture will now be the background of your AutoShape. In our picture above you can see some of the great graphics you can create using this technique. Make sure you save the resulting pictures as PNG files so they will have transparent edges. You can use these great graphics on web pages, word documents, and objects in your next Powerpoint presentation.

Here is a full size example showing the transparent edges and great quality of the PNG file. Have fun with this and experiment with different AutoShapes, colors, and border effects.

Technorati Tags: Powerpoint, Web Graphics, Photo Editing

When we look at putting together a Powerpoint presentation we need to look at the structure of our slides and look at how they convey our message. We need to package this for the maximum impact for our audience. When we are through with our message our audience should take away our keys points and be motivated to do something with them.

In my experience with public speaking and developing interactive presentations I’ve found four main presentation goals that are paramount. If you cover these bases you’ll be on your way to a compelling performance. You can think of these as the Four H’s.

1. Head: Make your audience think.

2. Heart: Make your audience feel.
3. Hands: Compel your audience to do something.
4. Humor: Lighten things up with Laughter.

With our basic goals in mind we can get down to the specifics. We need to put together some building blocks that will make our presentation “Stick” in the minds of our audience. One of the best manuals on this subject is a book by Chip & Dan Heath entitled Made to Stick.

The Heath Brothers list six qualities that will help make our presentation memorable. They are..

1. Simplicity

2. Unexpectedness
3. Concreteness
4. Credibility
5. Emotional
6. Story

Over the next few days we’ll take these one at a time and see how they can be integrated into a Powerpoint presentation. We’ll develop a basic slide set that you can download and use, that will include all six qualities.

Up tomorrow… Simplicity.

Powerpoint Resources:

How To Do Everything With Powerpoint

Kingston Wireless Presenter

Portable Powerpoint

Other Powerpoint Posts:

Powerpoint Made Simple

Five Must Have Tools For Powerpoint

Do You Make These Mistakes With Powerpoint?

5 Quick Tips To a Better Powerpoint Presentation

Technorati Tags: Powerpoint, Presentations

Before we can create the ultimate Powerpoint presentation, we need to put together a useful toolkit. One that covers all the bases and will take our presentation to the next level. Over the years I have purchased many different tools in my quest for a better presentation. Some have worked wonders… and others have come up painfully short.

Here is my top-5 tool list for Powerpoint.

1. Instruction manual. Powerpoint is a very complex program and very powerful to boot. While the basics can be learned quickly, to really master the program you need to dig a little deeper. I have found the following two books to be invaluable for learning the ropes.

Powerpoint Step by Step is written by Microsoft and presents the user with a hands-on experience. Each chapter builds upon the next as you build a complete presentation. If you are a hands-on learner like myself, you’ll find this book easy to follow and the somewhat difficult concepts will come to life.

How to do everything with Microsoft Powerpoint by Ellen Finkelstein is the Powerpoint reference book you’ll want to purchase. She covers all the basics and even gives you an introduction into advanced programming concepts. Her writing style is clear and consise and she includes helpful advice on the fine points of graphic design and tips for delivering the presentation in front of an audience.

2. Professional Templates and Backgrounds. Why re-invent the wheel every time you have a new presentation to create. There are hundreds of different sources of great looking templates online. We’ll take a look at some of them in a future post, including price and functionality.

The basic idea here is to offer your audience something different from the limited choices bundled with Powerpoint. You can purchase individual slides all the way up to complete template solutions including fonts, backgrounds, and custom animation routines.

3. Creative Fonts. Your presentation is only as good as the typography that you use. Find a couple of fonts that match your message and include them in your presentation. There are many sources of free and low cost fonts online. The main thing to remember is that you’ll need to bring your fonts along when you save your presentation. Chances are they will not be available on the presentation computer and Powerpoint will default to the built in fonts (yuck!)

4. Memory Stick. You have created your ultimate presentation, with animations, video clips, and your custom template. You look at the file size and realize that this masterpiece will not fit on a standard CD. You’ll need some way to get this to your presentation computer. While you could save it to a DVD, it’s a good bet the presentation machine may not have a DVD player.

Your salvation will come in the form of a USB Flash Drive or portable micro drive. Now that memory is getting cheaper you can pick up a name brand unit at a reasonable price. I highly recommend buying a quality drive. I have had cheaper units scramble presentations and lose data. Some brands have problems with certain USB ports.

My current drive, a Sandisk Cruiser, has performed very well and since it is retractable you don’t have to worry about losing the end cap. With any memory stick, be sure to eject it from the tray icon in Windows when you are done to prevent data loss.

5. Wireless Presenter. The final thing we need that is becoming an absolute must for all presenters is a wireless device to allow you to advance your powerpoint slides. I have tried numerous units and some have failed miserably. This is one device where quality is paramount. Nothing will kill your presentation faster that a wireless presenter that doesn’t work.

After trying many different brands I can say the best by far are the units that use 2.4Ghz technology. I currently use a 2.4 Ghz unit from Kingston that works flawlessly across the room. There is nothing that instills confidence like one of these. There is absolutely no delay, and I know without looking at the screen that my slide has changed. The built in laser pointer is also very helpful.

In a following segment we’ll focus on the presentation itself. We’ll talk about removing the bullet points, adding pictures, and preparing a memorable presentation that inspires and motivates.

Powerpoint Resources:

How To Do Everything With Powerpoint

Kingston Wireless Presenter

Portable Powerpoint

Other Powerpoint Posts:

Powerpoint Made Simple

Powerpoint that Sticks

Do You Make These Mistakes With Powerpoint?

5 Quick Tips To a Better Powerpoint Presentation

Technorati Tags: Powerpoint, Presentations, Public Speaking