PowerPoint and Presenting Stuff

Insert Pictures Quickly in PowerPoint for the Mac

Microsoft MVP, Jim Gordon announced the new version of InsertPicturePPTX, a PowerPoint add-in that works on the Mac. As Jim adds The ability to do a bulk import has been added. The bulk import feature works in PowerPoint 2001 only. The bulk import feature will import a hundred 72-dpi pics into a presentation in just a few seconds.

Find more info about the InsertPicturePPTX add-in for Mac versions of PowerPoint on Jim’s site.

Filed Under: PowerPoint 2011
Tagged as: Add-in, James Gordon, PowerPoint for Mac

Autorun CD Using the New Viewer

PowerPoint MVP, Echo Swinford has put up a nice tutorial on using the new PowerPoint 2003 Viewer to create autorun CDs with PowerPoint 2002 and 2003.

Note: This is a very old article link, and many techniques explained may no longer be applicable. Read here.

Filed Under: Thoughts
Tagged as: Autorun, Echo Swinford, PowerPoint 2002, PowerPoint 2003

Bézier Curves in PowerPoint

A Bézier curve? What’s that? It’s a fancy French name for a simple curve, used in computer-based vector programs. These curves can be scaled indefinitely without losing their smoothness.

PowerPoint’s Line Tools

PowerPoint has four line-drawing tools. These are:

1. Line (Straight Line),
2. Curve,
3. Freeform, and
4. Scribble.

Which Line Tools Create the Best Bézier Curves?

So while the Curve tool creates the best Bézier curves, the Freeform tool can be used too. The Line tool, on the other hand, is best used for straight point-to-point lines, and the Scribble tool creates a complicated line that has too made vertexes. So although both the Line and Scribble tool may create Bézier curves, it’s best to use the Curve and Freeform line tools. But don’t ignore the Line or Scribble tools too.

You can also use Bézier curves to edit conventional PowerPoint shapes such as rectangles. In our Created Curved Shapes in PowerPoint tutorial, you will learn how you can use Bézier curves to tweak and make your shape look more organic.

PowerPoint MVP, Echo Swinford has a nice tutorial on using Bézier curves in PowerPoint on her site. While the tutorial was created for older versions of PowerPoint, the basic principles work the same in any version of PowerPoint.

Filed Under: Miscellaneous
Tagged as: Drawing, Echo Swinford, Graphics, PowerPoint

New York Times Article About PowerPoint Raises Storm

An article in New York Times blames PowerPoint for the Columbia space shuttle crash. Clive Thompson published 2003: THE 3rd Annual Year in Ideas; PowerPoint Makes You Dumb.

He says: “NASA, the board argued, had become too reliant on presenting complex information via PowerPoint, instead of by means of traditional ink-and-paper technical reports. When NASA engineers assessed possible wing damage during the mission, they presented the findings in a confusing PowerPoint slide — so crammed with nested bullet points and irregular short forms that it was nearly impossible to untangle.”

Clive does try to get support from Edward Tufte, the well-known PowerPoint critic. He adds, “This year, Edward Tufte — the famous theorist of information presentation — made precisely that argument in a blistering screed called The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint. In his slim 28-page pamphlet, Tufte claimed that Microsoft’s ubiquitous software forces people to mutilate data beyond comprehension.”

To balance his opinion, Clive adds, “And PowerPoint still has fans in the highest corridors of power: Colin Powell used a slideware presentation in February when he made his case to the United Nations that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction.”

Not to be left behind, there’s already a rejoinder to that article at the ADTMag site by Mike Gunderloy that says PowerPoint Doesn’t Make You Dumb.

Mike responds by stating, “If there’s a problem with PowerPoint, it’s not that it makes you dumb, it’s that Microsoft has never taken the time to show us how it can make you smart. Over the years, the company has shown a charming naivete towards the uses of its tools. The corporate attitude has apparently been that it’s enough to ship tools capable of world-class use, and then the customers will figure out how to use them. Instead, we thrash around, toss bullet points on slides, and never learn how to design an information-rich graphic.”

Mike concludes by providing a suggestion to Microsoft, “Heck, pay Edward Tufte to write a book about the effective use of PowerPoint and post it on the site. If Microsoft could add world-class training to world-class software, perhaps we’d start seeing articles on how PowerPoint makes you smart.”

You May Also Like: PowerPoint Insecurities

Filed Under: Thoughts
Tagged as: Death by PowerPoint, Killing PowerPoint, Opinion, PowerPoint, PowerPoint Makes You Dumb

Countdown Timers in PowerPoint

Creating countdown timer slides in PowerPoint is easy. You can use PowerPoint’s transition effects to quickly create such countdown slides in all versions of PowerPoint.

Learn how you can quickly create countdown timer slides in PowerPoint.

Learn how you can quickly create countdown timer slides in PowerPoint 2003 and earlier versions.

Are you looking for more version-specific tutorials? No problem, because we have you covered. Choose from any of these tutorials:

Slides with Countdown Timers in PowerPoint 2013 for Windows

Slides with Countdown Timers in PowerPoint 2010 for Windows

Slides with Countdown Timers in PowerPoint 2007 for Windows

Filed Under: PowerPoint 2003
Tagged as: Cool Stuff, Countdown, PowerPoint 2003, Timers, Tutorials