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Category Archives: PowerPoint 2007

How to Set the Default View in PowerPoint 2007

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The default for PowerPoint is Normal view, but once you save a file, PowerPoint will open that file in the view last saved. Do you really want PowerPoint deciding which view to use when you open a file? It may make good sense but it shouldn’t it ultimately be your choice?

Follow the steps below to reset the default view:

  1. Click the Office button | PowerPoint Options.
  2. Select Advanced in the left-hand pane.
  3. Select the option most suited to your liking from the Open all Documents Using This View drop-down in the Display section.
  4. Click OK.

Change a Slide’s Orientation in PowerPoint 2007

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I think you all know that you can use portrait or landscape orientation in Word and Excel documents. What you may not know however, is that you can apply the exact same orientation setting to your PowerPoint 2007 slides. You can change this orientation from slide to slide, as you would do with pages in an MS Word document or Excel report.

In PowerPoint, slides are set to landscape as a default. As a part of your design process when creating your presentation, you can choose to change that default. If you wait until you are finished and then start changing slide orientation, it seldom produces the results you had in mind.

Follow the steps below to learn how to change your slide orientation:

  1. Click on the Design tab of the Ribbon.
  2. In the Page Setup group, click the Slide Orientation drop-down and select an option.

If you change the orientation of a slide, be sure to test it in as many scenarios as possible as it may look good on your system but look terrible on another.

How to Add Slide Numbers in PowerPoint 2007

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A reader recently wrote to me inquiring how to have her PowerPoint slides show the slide numbers in an x of y format

Of course, this is absolutely doable and without a lot of fuss and muss either.

For those of you who do not already know how to insert slide numbers, follow the steps below:

  1. In PowerPoint 2007 click on the first slide in your presentation and on the Insert tab, click Slide Number to open the Header and Footer dialog box on the Slide tab.
  2. Select the slide number and click Apply to All.

The steps above will insert a basic slide number at the bottom of each of your slides. Should you want to have your slide numbers display as x of y, as the person who inquired, you will need to do it a little differently.

Follow the steps below to learn how:

  1. In PowerPoint 2007 select Slide Master on the View tab.
  2. In the lower right-hand corner you will see a placeholder with <#> in it. following that, key in of x with the x being the total number of slides in your presentation. If your presentation had 15 slides, it would look like this: <#> of 15.

Now, in Normal view, you will see the slide number and the total number of slides in your footer.

Be aware that should you add or delete slides in your presentation, you will have to change the number of pages in the Slide Master so that they view correctly.

Add a Decimal Tab to a Single Table Cell in PowerPoint 2007

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To align a number to a decimal tab in a table cell, you must insert a tab character before the number in a PowerPoint 2007 table.

Follow the steps below to learn how:

  1. In the Navigation pane, click the slide that you want to edit.
  2. If you do not see the Ruler, click to select the Ruler check box in the Show/Hide group on the View tab.
  3. Position the cursor in front of the number that you want to align in the table.
  4. Click CTRL + Tab to insert a tab character before the number.
  5. On the left-hand side of the horizontal ruler, click Left Tab three times to change to Decimal Tab.
  6. On the horizontal ruler, click the location where you want to place the tab.

How to Compress Pictures in PowerPoint 2007

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If your PowerPoint presentation is filled with pictures, it can severely bloat your file, which can make it more difficult to e-mail it to someone or take a longer than usual time to load when you want to show it.

MS PowerPoint knows this can happen and so they have a nice feature that can rectify the situation for you as well. It is named Compress Picture.

To determine the size of your PowerPoint presentation file follow the steps below:

  1. Click the Office button.
  2. Select Prepare.
  3. Click on Properties.
  4. Select Document Properties in the Properties pane.
  5. Select Advanced Properties.

Should you find that your file is very bloated, you can use the Compress Picture feature to slim it down. Follow the steps below to learn how:

  1. Once your presentation is completely edited and saved, click on any picture in your presentation.
  2. This will activate the Picture Tools tab.
  3. Click Compress Pictures.
  4. Deselect Apply to Selected Pictures Only.
  5. Click the Options button.
  6. Select the E-mail option under Target Output.
  7. Click OK.

I think you will be pleased with the results.

Use Slide Finder Feature in PowerPoint 2007

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I think PowerPoint is a fun application. It can be a lot of fun to prepare eye-catching slides for your presentation. You can add bullets, numbers, and graphics and you can even use clever animation for your slides’ transition.

Having said that, why do it several times? Once you have created these nifty slides, it would be a shame to have to re-invent the wheel again the next time you do a presentation. A prime example would be when I am asked to make a presentation on MS Word, etc. Sure, I personalize my presentations for each client, but more often than not, I can use a slide or two that I have previously prepared to a different presentation and you know me – I love to save time and keystrokes!

Follow the steps below to learn how to use those slides more than once:

  1. Open the presentation to which you would like to add a slide.
  2. On the Home tab, in the Slides group, use the drop-down arrow under New Slide and select Reuse Slides.
  3. In the Reuse Slides pane, in the Insert slide from box, enter the location of the presentation or browse to find the one with slides you would like to reuse.
  4. To add more slides, simply follow the same steps above.

Waste not, want not, right?

Action Links in PowerPoint 2007

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PowerPoint gives users the flexible option to add links to their presentation that will open on demand without distracting the audience.

Using acting links can save time while improving the flow of your entire presentaiton. Action links can be set up to open another presentation, files, programs, URL’s, or to reference another slide within the instant presentation.

To add an action link, follow the steps below:

  1. Select the text to add a link to.
  2. Click on the Insert tab located on the Ribbon.
  3. Click on the Action icon under the links heading.
  4. A window should appear and give the option for the link to open by Mouse Click or Mouse Over (moving themouse over the link without clicking). Click on the tab you prefer.
  5. Once the tab is selected, the option is provided to select Hyperlink or Run Program.
  6. Click on Hyperlink or Run Program and follow the information below:

If Hyperlink:

  • Choose one of the options available from the drop-down menu.
  • If File is chosen, find the file in the directory and press OK.
  • If URL is chosen, enter the URL directly into the box in proper format.
  • Press OK.
  • If a Slide is chosen, click the title slide in the box provided and press OK.
  • If another presentation is chosen, find the file that contains the presentation in the directory and click OK.

If Run Program:

  • Click the Browse button next to the text box under Run Program.
  • Select the program in the directory and click OK.
  • Click the OK button one more and the link should be ready to run within your presentation.

Depending upon your security settings, you may be asked to approve content before the file, program or URL will open.

Align Numbers in a Table with a Decimal Tab in PowerPoint 2007

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Sometimes you want to use numbers in a table, but darn! you want to use currency numbers and it takes forever and a day to tab and space in a table in PowerPoint!

Well guess what? Your troubles are over because I am going to tell you how to accomplish this! To align a number to a decimal tab in a table cell, you must insert a tab character before the number in a PowerPoint 2007 table.

Follow the steps below to learn how:

Add a Decimal Tab to a Single Table Cell:

  1. In the Navigation pane, click the slide that you would like to edit.
  2. If you do not see the Ruler, click to select the Ruler check box in the Show/Hide group on the View tab.
  3. Position your cursor in front of the number that you want to align in your table.
  4. Click CTRL + Tab to insert a tab character before the number.
  5. On the left side of the horizontal ruler, click Left Tab three times to change it to Decimal Tab.
  6. On the horizontal ruler, click the location where you want to position the tab.

Add a Decimal Tab to Multiple Table Cells:

To align numbers to a decimal tab in multiple table cells, follow these steps:

  1. Select the range of table cells that you want to format.
  2. In the Home tab, click the Paragraph Dialog Box Launcher.
  3. Click Tabs.
  4. In the Tab stop position box, set the value that you want for the tab.
  5. Click Decimal under Alignment.
  6. Click Set.
  7. Click OK twice.

For each cell that contains numbers that you want to align to the decimal tab, follow these steps:

a. Position the cursor in front of the number that you want to align in the table.

b. Click CTRL + TAB to insert a tab character before the number.

That wasn’t so difficult was it?

Show the Ruler in PowerPoint 2007

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To adjust indents for individual paragraphs on a PowerPoint slide, first make the rulers visible. Follow the steps below to learn how:

  1. Click on View | Ruler.
  2. Select the paragraphs you would like to change.
  3. Drag on the First Line Indent and Left Indent markers on the ruler to change your indents.

Pretty easy huh?