Lighten the Entire Image for Text

Lighten the Entire Image for Text

1.  Select the image.

2.  Right-click on the image to bring up the help menu.

3.  Select Format Picture

4.  The Picture Tab is now active. The Picture Tab has a section labeled Image control. The default choice for Color under Image control is Automatic.

Press the down arrow for Color and change the selection from Automatic to Washout.

Click Preview to see how the image will look.

In most cases,  the image is light but it still needs minor adjusting to make it look 

more realistic.

5.  Reduce the Brightness a couple of percent. 

Click Preview to see the result. 

Repeat this step until you are happy with 

the way the image brightness looks.

6.  Increase the Contrast a couple of percent. 

Click Preview to see the result. Repeat this 

step until you are happy with the way the image

 contrast looks.

7.  Click OK to apply the Washout look to the image.

Reduce PowerPoint File Size

Reduce PowerPoint File Size

Compress Pictures tool to the Rescue

Adding images to a presentation makes the presentation better but the file size of a presentation grows as images are inserted.

Often the original image size is larger than PowerPoint requires and the image is sized to a reduced viewing size in the slide. 

Though the image now looks smaller than the larger original, the actual file size is the same. The more images in the presentation the larger the file size becomes.

To reduce the actual image file size to match its new viewing size use the Compress Picture tool. This tool was added to PowerPoint XP/2002 to optimize images within a presentation.

To use the Compress Pictures tool:
1. Select the image and the Picture tool bar is activated.

2. Select the Compress Pictures icon on the tool bar to activate its dialog box. It looks like the insert image icon with four arrows pointing to each corner.

In the Compress Pictures dialog box change the Change resolution option from Print to Web/Screen.

To reduce the file size of only the selected image, leave the Apply to option set to, Selected pictures.

To reduce the file size of all the images in the presentation, change the Apply to option to All pictures in document.

3. Click OK to apply the settings.

4. Click Apply to confirm the Compress Pictures operation.

The Compress Pictures tool only reduces the size of jpeg images. It does not change the original image, only the image in the presentation.

I tend to use this tool towards the end of the presentation build. If you add images after the Compress Pictures tool was used you will need to run Compress Pictures again (it will not alter images previously reduced).

Excel to PowerPoint

Excel to PowerPoint

Sharing Excel Data with
PowerPoint Presentation

Problem: You have information in Excel that needs to be presented in a
PowerPoint presentation. You want the Excel data to look good
in PowerPoint and you would like the slide information to be
updated when the Excel data is changed.

Solution: 

In PowerPoint use the Paste Special with the Paste link option.

The Steps:

1.  Select the Excel chart.

2.  Copy the chart to the clipboard (ctrl+C or Edit>Copy).

3.  Switch to PowerPoint and navigate to the slide the chart will reside.

4.  In PowerPoint, paste the chart from the clipboard by using
     Edit>Paste Special

     Paste Special has two options
     (My preference is option 2, Paste link):

     

      Option 1: Paste Picture (Windows Metafile) - this pastes a scalable
                         vector graphic of the clipboard item.

                        If Paste is used, the chart is rendered in PowerPoint as a
                        graphic. This graphic will not look crisp and its
                        appearance will degrade as the chart is enlarged. 

                        Graphics are not linked to the original Excel file.

                      

     Option 2: Paste link - this pastes a link to the original item in Excel. 

                        If the item is change in Excel, it will be automatically 

                        updated in PowerPoint.

                        When Paste link is used, if the PowerPoint presentation  

                        is not open when the Excel object is changed, the next 

                        time the presentation is opened, an alert message  

                        displays informing the viewer that the link needs to 

                        be updated.

                        The message gives the viewer three choices: 

                        1.Update Links, 2.Cancel or 3. Help. 

                         

Selecting Update Links will update the item in PowerPoint to match the Excel file and selecting Cancel opens the presentation without updating the chart. Don’t select the help option.

When using the Paste link option a dynamic link is created between the Excel workbook and the PowerPoint presentation. If any information in the linked data is changed the presentation will request a new update of the data.

Once a link is established, the PowerPoint presentation will always look in the place the Excel file was originally located. If you move the Excel file you lose the link. To changed a link use the Edit>Links option.

Presenter's Keyboard

Presenter's Keyboard

Small Wireless Keyboard for Presenting
This small wireless keyboard is perfect for training. It has a built-in TouchPad and Laser Pointer. I got mine at Amazon for less than $50.

• 3-in-1 multimedia wireless keyboard (Keyboard, TouchPad, Laser Pointer)
  

• Built-in rechargeable more staying power lithium-ion battery
  

• Wireless receiver supports a max distance ofaround 100 feet from the usb connected computer
  

• Back lit -  to help when using in low light
  

• Weighs a pound

PowerPoint Presenter View

PowerPoint Presenter View

Presenter View

If you add speaker notes to your presentation, PowerPoint has a viewing option that lets the speaker see the slide and the speaker notes while the audience only sees the slide. It is called Presenter View.

If the computer’s video card supports dual-monitors, PowerPoint can display on Monitor 1 the presentation and display on Monitor 2 a special speaker’s view (Presenter View).

The Presenter View option is found by selecting Slide Show>Setup Show and checking Show Presenter View.

Presenter View displays a large copy of the current slide, the speaker notes and the slide view list. The audience does not see this information. The audience sees a full-presentation view of the slide.

Presenter View does not support any screen drawing with the pointer tool.

Make a PowerPoint Summary Slide

Make a PowerPoint Summary Slide

Automatically Create a Summary Slide

1.  Change to Slide Sorter View

2.  Select the Slides You Want to Include

3.  Select the Summary Slide Option on the Slide Sorter toolbar

4.  PowerPoint creates a new slide and enters the slide titles from all the selected slides

Run PowerPoint on Another Computer

Run PowerPoint on Another Computer

PowerPoint On the Go

You need to deliver a copy of a presentation to another party or present the presentation on a different machine but the copied presentation was missing the movies. 

PowerPoint embeds images but links music and movies. If you copy the presentation, you don’t get the multi-media files. To copy the presentation and the multi-media files use Package for CD.

Package for CD copies presentations to a CD/folder for remote playing of the presentation. The copy can include all linked files and a free PowerPoint runtime viewer.

The Steps:

1.  Select File>Package for CD

2.  Click on Options
Check the boxes for Linked files, Embedded TrueType fonts and PowerPoint Viewer and then Click OK.

3.  Click on, Copy to Folder
Click on Browse and make a new folder to receive 

the presentation and its supporting files.

4.  Select the folder you just made.

5.  Click OK to start the copying.

Color Tips for PowerPoint

Dark Room vs. Lighted Room

If the front of the room can be completely dark, choose dark background colors (dark blue, dark purple, black, dark green) for your slides and choose a light color for your text (white, yellow, amber). For the viewer a dark background with light colored text offers the best viewing experience.

Unfortunately, dark colored slide backgrounds are difficult to view in moderate room lighting. This means the lighting around the screen must be completely off for slides with dark color backgrounds to work.

If the room lighting can’t be completely dark, choose a light color background (white, yellow, tan) for your slides and choose a dark color for your text (black is best).

If you are not sure of the room environment that the presentation is going to be viewed-in, play it safe and choose a slide background color that is light.

The 60-30-10 Color Mix

People learn better with color. Too many colors on the slide will make the presenter look like an amateur.

Adult audiences expect to see one color be the dominate color on a screen, around 60%. A second color is used around 30% of the time and a third color is used to direct attention to something about 10% of the time.

Set the Tone

Pick colors that influence the audience and help set the tone of your message.

Black text is the easiest text color to read on a light background color. This makes the color black your 60% color choice.

For your other two color choices, pick colors that help set your tone and may positively influence the audience. Colors are classified as warm or cool.

People see warm colors first and remember text in warm colors longer. Warm colors are red, yellow and orange.

Red can mean danger, excitement, passion or speed, Yellow can feel warm like the sun, make people cheerful or make people happy. Orange makes people feel warm or vibrant.

Cool colors make people feel calm. Cool colors are blue, green, black and purple. Blue is the most popular color. People see blue and feel trust, reliability and loyalty. Green is the color of nature. People feel less stress with green. Green is a good color to stimulate learning. Purple means royalty, spirituality and wealth.