PowerPoint

Create a Picture Frame Using a Video

Here’s how we created a Video Picture Frame in PowerPoint

My example is a standard 4×3 slide. The goal was to create a picture frame that was full slide size and for the picture frame to have motion. By layering a video under the photo and sizing it to the same aspect ratio as the photo, the result is a dynamic motion picture frame. The steps to make it happen are pretty easy.

Step 1

Add the photo to the slide (we prepped this image in Photoshop by making it semi-transparent and saving out as a .png).

Video Picture image 01

Step 2

Add the video to the slide, send to back, resize and crop to proportionally be a bit larger than the photo.

Video Picture Frame-centered

 

Step 3

Fine tune position of video and photo. Select both and use the ARRANGE > ALIGN > ALIGN CENTER and ALIGN MIDDLE to make them exactly centered on each other.

Video Picture image 03

Step 4

Set video animation. Select the video, remove the current trigger animation, add a new PLAY animation set to WITH PREVIOUS.

VideoFrame Animation

Step 5

Set video to loop. Select video, go to PLAYBACK > VIDEO OPTIONS > LOOP UNTIL STOPPED.

Powerpoint Video Picture Frame 6

Step 6

Stylize video with an outline and drop shadow. Stylize photo with an outline and inner shadow.

Video Picture Frame with Shadow

Step 7

View in slide show!

[KGVID]https://thepowerpointblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/unnamed-file-1.mp4[/KGVID]

-Troy @ TLC

 

 

By |2019-11-15T09:42:16-07:00February 22nd, 2016|PowerPoint, Tutorial|

How to Turn Off PowerPoint 2016 Auto Layout Designer

PowerPoint 2016 Auto Layout Designer is a new feature in this version. I wrote a post earlier this month with a review and example. It really is a great feature.

PowerPoint 2016 Auto Layout Designer 1

But, if you do not use Microsoft templates (or themes) for your presentations, the Designer tool is not helpful. Using a custom template does not stop Designer from popping open its action pane and offering to help design slides (even though it currently cannot). I have opted to turn off the Designer feature – at least until it has expanded use to work with custom templates.

Here’s how to turn Designer on/off

1. Go to FILE > Options > General Tab > PowerPoint Designer

2. Check or Uncheck to turn on or off

3. Click OK

PowerPoint 2016 Auto Layout Designer 2

-Troy @ TLC
By |2016-08-10T08:38:00-07:00February 19th, 2016|PowerPoint|

New Chart Types in Powerpoint 2016

How to insert New Chart Types in Powerpoint 2016

New Chart Types in Powerpoint 2016 for subscription users of Office 365 are being automatically added to your app (Note: This is only in subscription users of Office 365, PowerPoint 2016, and I have only looked at the Windows version).

There is bigger news than just some new styles. Microsoft is moving all charting to a new charting engine, and these new charts are coded with this new engine. Eventually, all legacy charts will be ported to the new charting engine, and, fortunately, this is still an in-process engine development (I am certain everyone will encounter a chart limitation depending on their chart data and the way they create charts) – so my take on things is “Yay new charts! But the new charting engine is not fully functional, so some options in the new charts are not fully functional yet.”

The good news is even though only subscription users can create these charts, all versions of Powerpoint (dating back to 2010 and Mac versions) can display chart types – editing and animation is somewhat limited when using previous versions…

Here are 4 of the new chart types currently available (we will continue to see more chart variations added over time, look for another new chart type in the February updates).

Follow these Steps:

Go to INSERT > CHART

New Chart Types in Powerpoint 2016

 

The Column Bar Chart

A standard Chart.

New Chart Types in Powerpoint 2016

1. Radar Chart

That same data in the Bar Chart can instantly be updated.

 

New Chart Types in Powerpoint 2016

2. Sunburst Chart

This a great addition to the native PowerPoint chart options vs. going to external charting apps to develop.

 

New Chart Types in Powerpoint 2016

3. Treemap Chart

This Chart is new to PowerPoint 2016 native chart options.

New Chart Types in Powerpoint 2016

4. Waterfall Chart

This standard Column chart with negative data.

New Chart Types in Powerpoint 2016

 

-Troy @ TLC

By |2016-08-10T08:38:26-07:00February 17th, 2016|PowerPoint|

PowerPoint 2016 User Interface Color Options

How to change your User Interface Colors in Powerpoint

PowerPoint 2016 User Interface Color Options allow you to modify your interface by choosing up to 3 preset color schemes: Colorful (Orange), Dark Grey, White. You can change the ribbon, border and canvas area outside the slide.

Ideally, we, the users, could modify the color scheme to meet our needs – but that’s not something available. All three options are available and can be changed at any time. (Note: This is an Office wide update, so all other Office apps such as Outlook, Word, Excel, etc. will also get the same User Interface color scheme.)

Here’s how to Personalize your PowerPoint 2016 User Interface Color Options

To adjust, go to FILE > OPTIONS > GENERAL tab. Then, go to OFFICE THEME drop down menu.

PowerPoint 2016 User Interface Color Options 1

Colorful (Orange on light grey):

PowerPoint 2016 User Interface Color Options 2

Dark Grey (Only option with no orange):

PowerPoint 2016 User Interface Color Options 3

White (Less Orange on White):

PowerPoint 2016 User Interface Color Options 4

 

 

-Troy@TLC

By |2016-08-10T08:38:46-07:00February 15th, 2016|PowerPoint|

Powerpoint 2016 Image Export Improvements

Two ways to export images from PowerPoint 2016

Image Export Improvements in Powerpoint 2016 have made things more interesting. Depending on previous version used, this may have been an okay result to a not-so-good result. But that has changed for the better with PowerPoint 2016.

Image Export Improvements Option 1

Here is my sample slide to demo the PowerPoint 2016 image export. Single widescreen slide  (13.33″x7.5″) with a full frame image.
Powerpoint 2016 with Image Export Improvements 1

The original image inserted was very large (for PowerPoint needs) at 5184x3456px.
Powerpoint 2016 with Image Export Improvements 2

A great way to export a number of slides as images is through the SAVE AS option. This export option can be used for a single slide, a selection of slides, or an entire presentation.

Go to FILE > SAVE AS > and click the SAVE TO TYPE drop down.
Powerpoint 2016 with Image Export Improvements 3

From the available list, select .PNG or .JPG format (personal preference).
Powerpoint 2016 with Image Export Improvements 4

Exporting this way creates good image at 1280×720 – the low end of HD resolution.
Powerpoint 2016 with Image Export Improvements 5

 

Image Export Improvements Option 2

To export a single image, not a full slide, multiple images or slides. The advantage is a much higher resolution image.

Select the image, right click and select SAVE AS PICTURE.
Powerpoint 2016 with Image Export Improvements 6

Exporting this way creates a much higher resolution image (depending on the original image size). This image exported to 2000x1122px.
Powerpoint 2016 with Image Export Improvements 7

 

Conclusion

The 2 options are available and use based on what is needed. I will also say that when working with very unique page sizes (e.g. 50″x 9″), slide export as images do a much better job than previous versions.  Note: there are several 3rd party add-ins that export slides as images in a variety of formats and to any pixel size needed (Here at TLC Creative, all computers have PPTools Image Export installed).

 

-Troy@TLC

 

By |2016-08-10T08:39:10-07:00February 12th, 2016|PowerPoint|

Video Export Size (HD!)

Another behind the scenes upgrade in PowerPoint 2016 is the video export size options. Now true, 1920×1080 HD video can be exported from PowerPoint.

Go to FILE > EXPORT > CREATE A VIDEO
Video Export Size 1

The export size options have been revised to 1920×1080, 1280×720 (the PPT 2013 highest res option), and 852×480.

Video Export Size 2

 

-Troy @ TLC

By |2016-08-10T08:39:43-07:00February 10th, 2016|PowerPoint, Software/Add-Ins|

New Auto Layout Designer

Another new feature of PowerPoint 2016, only available to subscription users, is DESIGNER, which is an automatic layout tool. Here is an example of how it works.

  1. Start with a blank slide – on a Microsoft supplied template (I am using the standard white background new presentation)
    Designer 1
  2. I entered some text in the title placeholder and used the Insert Image option for the content placeholder
    Designer 2
  3. Go to the DESIGN tab and click the new DESIGN IDEAS button
    Designer 3
  4. The right action pane opens the DESIGN IDEAS interface, click LET’S GO
    Designer 4
  5. The Design Ideas pane displays a number of layout options
    Designer 5
  6. Scroll through the options, select any to see and use, these layouts (and several others) were automatically created with a simple click
    Designer 6

Fantastic feature for both the designer and non-designer! But at this stage there are a few downsides to the new DESIGNER tool.

  • The biggest downside is if you do not have PowerPoint 2016, and a subscription version (eg. Office 365), Designer is not available in PowerPoint.
  • The biggest limitation is that it will only work with Microsoft supplied templates. Open the DESIGN tool on a custom template and get the message below.
  • If you do not use layout placeholders (eg. add your own text boxes and insert images not through a placeholder insert image icon), and you get the message below.

Designer 7

Overall, a great idea and smooth implementation. But because TLC virtually never uses a Microsoft template (or theme), this feature has very limited use for us – but I am hopeful Designer will continue to expand its capabilities.

 

-Troy @ TLC

By |2016-08-10T08:41:53-07:00February 5th, 2016|PowerPoint, Software/Add-Ins|

MORPH Now Available in PowerPoint 2016!

Office 365 subscription users have a new feature in PowerPoint called Morph, which was automatically added* (and you may not even know it is there). There is a long list of animation requests, but this feature is a slide transition that creates animation visuals, all without looking at the animation tab. Here is an example animation that took less than 3 minutes to create.

Morph Demo:

[KGVID]https://thepowerpointblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/unnamed-file-2.mp4[/KGVID]

The process is easy. If you have used Mac Keynote’s Magic Move, the concept is similar – but PowerPoint’s Morph has a few distinctions. Slide setup is easy. For this sample, I added an arrow to the first slide, duplicated that slide and moved the arrow to a new position. Then, I duplicated that slide and re-positioned the arrow, flipped it, and recolored it. Finally, I duplicated the slide 1 last time and added in a collection of additional arrows. No animation.

Morph 1

After designing the 4 slides, it just needed to have a few slide transitions. To find Morph, go to the slide transition tab and look for the new transition option.
Morph 2

(1.) Slide 1 = Fade slide transition

(2.) Slide 2 = Morph slide transition

(3.) Slide 3 = Morph slide transition

(4.) Slide 4 = Wipe from Right slide transition

Again, all of this motion is achieved with no animation!

Morph 3

Download this Sample Animation.

*Morph is available as of this post to Office 365 subscription users that has opted in for the Insiders Program (basically Microsoft’s Beta release program).

-Troy @ TLC

By |2019-10-31T22:16:49-07:00February 3rd, 2016|PowerPoint|

Office 2016 Subscription or Not?

office 2016

Microsoft has released Office 2016, but saying “PowerPoint 2016” can mean several things…

I am sure the goal for Microsoft is to make things simple, so using one name for all platforms made sense – on paper.

Here are a few of the variations:

  • Office 2016 Windows Desktop
  • Office 2016 Mac
  • Office 2016 subscription (Office 365)
  • Office 2016 perpetual license (purchased)

Which are you using? Which is best? How do we let someone helping with troubleshooting know what variation is being used? All important because every variation has slightly different features, limitations, bugs, etc.

The biggest decision is Subscription or Perpetual License (I make this assumption, because if you use a Windows computer you are going to get the Windows version, and if you use a Mac you are going to get the Mac version – I am not saying which platform is best). There are some disadvantages to each option. But there is one advantage to the subscription option that makes it, for me, the better option.

Office365 Logo

Microsoft and Adobe (Creative Cloud) are now offering feature improvements and additions to only their subscription versions. So, if you purchase Office 2016, that is the feature set you will have. Microsoft will continue to update it with security and compatibility items, but new or improved features are not going to show up in a perpetual license version. Very quickly PowerPoint 2016 perpetual and PowerPoint 2016 subscription are going to be very different applications. And I can confidently say, the PowerPoint development team has more exciting features cued up for the next year than we have seen in the past (big number) years.

The next post demo’s one of the new subscription only features!

-Troy @ TLC

By |2016-08-10T08:42:16-07:00February 1st, 2016|PowerPoint|

UltraWide Projections

Corporate meetings have continued to expand the use of super wide screens and projections.

TLC Creative Services has worked on several design templates for events throughout the year where the standard 16×9 PowerPoint leads the design. Once the design is approved, we move into creating the UltraWide template using PowerPoint. The layout of Ultrawide projections can be 40ft high to 250ft wide!

These events are a group effort; we work closely with the AV production team to know the technical specs before developing the UltraWide template. For this particular show, we had two widths built in, the active pixel (visible to audience) and full pixel width (for the slide/computer sizing). We also had IMAG (Image Magnification) or live camera of the presenter. PowerPoint doesn’t control IMAG, but it is important to plan the design to visually fit.

Ultrawide projections 1

Here’s a video to show an example.

[KGVID]https://thepowerpointblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/unnamed-file-2.mp4[/KGVID]

-Troy @ TLC

By |2019-10-31T22:18:00-07:00January 28th, 2016|PowerPoint|
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