This is a very common question that we’ve encountered on many occasions. By default, the Ruler is not visible when PowerPoint is launched.
To see the Rulers, go to the View tab, Show section and turn on Ruler.
That’s it! Now the rulers will be visible automatically when PowerPoint is used.
-Troy @ TLC
Video in presentations has been something I have used for many years. PowerPoint has vastly improved its video features, but currently, and in all legacy versions, when a video is inserted, the default animation settings is a Trigger animation, which is something I am constantly disappointed by.
A trigger animation is “triggered” one of two ways, direct interaction (ie. move mouse on screen and click on the programmed item) or secondary action from a programmed animation (ie. when one item is animated, it activates the trigger animation).
So, when a video is inserted onto a slide and then present, the video will not play until you move the mouse cursor on the slide and click on the video. Obviously, for majority of my meetings, the goal is to hide PowerPoint (and hide any software) to create a seamless environment where things “just happen.” Seeing a mouse move across a screen is a bad thing.
Up next is a step-by-step tutorial on changing the video play animation settings to eliminate the need to see a cursor on the presentation screen.
– Troy @ TLC
PowerPoint and Photoshop each have their own way of changing the opacity of an element. The most confusing aspect is that each app defines 0% transparency different.
In PowerPoint, 0% Transparency means the shape is fully opaque/solid.
In PowerPoint, 100% Transparency means the shape is fully transparent/invisible.
On the other hand, Photoshop does the exact opposite.
In PhotoShop with 0% Transparency the shape is fully transparent/invisible.
In PhotoShop, 100% with Transparency the shape is fully opaque/solid.
– Troy @ TLC
The previous post showed how to find the security level settings in PPT 2007. Not to make things difficult, but all of the descriptions and names have changed.
In addition to the name changes, some are virtually the same and some don’t quite match up.
The HIGH and LOW settings from PPT 2003 have PPT 2007 settings that match up and accomplish the same thing:
The VERY HIGH PPT 2003 setting has been split into 2 settings in PPT 2007:
Finally the MEDIUM setting from PPT 2003 really has no equivalent in PPT 2007… And because here on ThePowerPointBlog and in PPT training programs I recommend changing the Macro Security to Medium, what do I recomend now?
I have setup all of the TLC computers and recommend (though it is not based on the same knowledge, understanding and confidence of Medium in PPT 2003) to use the 2nd setting – Disable All Macros With Notification.
– Troy @ TLC
When installing add-ins in PowerPoint, the macro security settings need to be lowered from the default setting of HIGH to MEDIUM or LOW. But how do you do this in PowerPoint 2007?
First the names have changed and second the where you find them is a bit difficult if you are not familiar with the new Ribbon layout.
1. Click the circle Office button in the upper left corner.
2. Click on POWERPOINT OPTIONS.
3. Go to TRUST CENTER in the left column.
4. Click on TRUST CENTER SETTINGS.
5. Adjust to needed setting, click OK and exit PowerPoint to save setting.
– Troy @ TLC
To insert an instance of Windows Media Player in PPT 2007 there are a few things that need to adjusted in the application first:
1. Office Button >> PowerPoint Options >> Popular Tab
2. Check SHOW DEVELOPER TAB IN RIBBON
3. Okay
Now your PPT 2007 ribbon has a new tab available – the Developer Tab
To insert Windows Media Player from PPT 2007:
– Go to the developer tab
– Click hammer icon
– Scroll to bottom of list and select windows media player
Drag a marque to the size and position you would like the media player (it can be adjusted after inserted) and slide will look like this:
– Troy @ TLC
I run multiple versions of PowerPoint on my systems – namely PPT 2003 and PPT 2007 (although a few have all versions from 97 to 2007). If you run multiple versions, then the new set of security updates from Microsoft yesterday probably changed your default application.
I still have PPT 2003 set as my default version of PPT. But the latest security updates change the default application to PPT 2007. So now when I double-click on a presentation file it opens in PPT 2007.
The fix is fairly simple – just click here for a post I made all the way back in ’06.
– Troy @ TLC
There are times when it looks like PowerPoint is to blame, but in reality it is a computer OS setting that is making PowerPoint appear to behave badly. An example of this that comes up often is running a presentation on a widescreen monitor.
Recent Post on the PowerPoint Forum:
I have a widescreen monitor powerpoint distorts graphs. The font becomes much larger and squished together. How do I stop the powerpoint from changing things?
My Response:
(on a pre-Vista OS) Go to START >> CONTROL PANEL >> DISPLAY >> SETTINGS tab >> ADVANCED button >> depending on which video card, find setting for MAINTAIN ASPECT RATIO. Now 4×3 presentations will display with black bars on the left/right so nothing is distorted on a widescreen monitor.
– Troy @ TLC