PowerPoint and Presenting Stuff

Convert Text to Shapes by Intersecting in PowerPoint 2016 for Windows

PowerPoint has several features that may amaze you, but there’s nothing quite like what we will explore on this page—an option to convert regular text into a shape. First of all, this is an undocumented feature. And then, this is such an utterly useful option—people find all sorts of excuses to use this feature. For example, you can now easily create logos in PowerPoint without using any other application. Or use a fancy font and then share that presentation with others in the knowledge that recipients can see the font exactly as intended, even if it’s not installed on their computers.

Convert PowerPoint text into an editable shape using the Intersect command in PowerPoint 2016 for Windows.

Filed Under: PowerPoint 2016
Tagged as: Merge Shapes, Microsoft Windows, Office 2016, PowerPoint 2016, Shapes, Text, Tutorials

Nudge and Move Shapes in PowerPoint 2016 for Windows

Nudging a shape or any other slide object is essentially moving it just a wee bit, preferably using the arrow keys on your keyboard rather than the mouse. Now, nudging is also moving, but the larger Move option is different from a nudge. While nudging involves moving in increments, non-nudge options result in more creative freedom in moving. We will understand these concepts better in this tutorial. PowerPoint 2016 for Windows provides more than one way to nudge or move any selected shape or slide object.

Learn how to nudge or move shapes in PowerPoint 2016 for Windows.

Filed Under: PowerPoint 2016
Tagged as: Microsoft Windows, Move, Nudge, Office 2016, PowerPoint 2016, Shapes, Tutorials

Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 365: Conversation with Nova Fisher

  Nova Fisher has worked within communications with Xara for over 15 years. She has previously founded and managed some successful early-to-market businesses including an internet service provider (ISP) which was founded in 1994, and the creation of one of the earliest online web authoring solutions in 1996, that enabled anyone to create a professional website without the need for any design or technical skills.

In this interview, Nova talks about the new Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 365 product.

Geetesh: Nova, can you tell us more about the new Xara Photo & Graphic Designer product—and what is your favorite feature?

Nova: I’ve thought long about this, and I can’t isolate one favorite feature. However, I can narrow it down to my two favorite features which are the Photo Editor and the SmartShapes.

I have produced a quarterly 12-page magazine and many newsletters and leaflets using Xara Photo & Graphic Designer. I’m often given poor photos to work with and I just love the integrated, fast, non-destructive Photo Editor that enables me to do an automatic real-time photo enhance or adjust the photos manually (brightness, contrast, sharpen, blur, saturation, temperature, etc) plus real-time scaling and rotation. The magic erase makes it quick and easy to seamlessly erase unwanted objects from photos, such as telegraph poles, wires, and even people! I love the new Magnetic Lasso for quick and easy cutting out of any object in my photos. In my profile picture, I used this feature to cut out my face and then I was able to quickly adjust the brightness and transparency of the background to make it lighter. The panorama maker is impressive too – just drop a series of photos on the page and click one button to get a perfect, seamlessly joined panorama.

I find the SmartShapes extremely useful, in particular, the Text Panels and Photo Panels that contain text and photos. I just enter my text/photo, and the panel adjusts accordingly, or I can select one of the side or corner handles and stretch or reduce or change the shape and rotate it as required. The Speech Bubbles are really useful when annotating a document or drawing.

Geetesh: Unlike other graphic programs, Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 365 is a combined vector and bitmap editing solution. What is the advantage of using a combined solution?

Nova: Almost every modern creative document be it a website, poster, brochure, or a corporate report, consists of a combination of vector graphic design, that is illustration, and photos. It is very inefficient and far less productive to be required to use two separate programs to create one document.

At its heart, Xara Photo & Graphic Designer is a vector-based program and unusually uses vector graphics even for editing photos. This has significant benefits in that all the edits are retained, and everything is resolution-independent, and it is object-orientated editing.

Geetesh: Xara Photo & Graphic Designer seems to be a popular choice for illustrators. Why is that so?

Nova: Xara Photo & Graphic Designer started its life primarily as a vector illustration product. Although it has grown into something that encompasses all aspects of graphic design both vector and bitmap, as well as photo editing, it still retains a fan base of amazingly talented illustrators. It’s always inspiring to see their work, especially their love of cartoons.

The views and opinions expressed in this blog post or content are those of the authors or the interviewees and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer, or company.

See Also: Xara Product Reviews on Indezine

Filed Under: Interviews
Tagged as: Interviews, Nova Fisher, Xara

Shape Subtract Command in PowerPoint 2016 for Windows

PowerPoint 2016 for Windows lets you change the appearance of merged shapes. Don’t get fooled by how easy-to-use this is because the results you can end up with can be seriously impressive. In all, there are 5 options that let you merge shapes, and we have already explored 4 of them. In this tutorial, we’ll show you how you can use the Subtract option to subtract one shape (or even multiple shapes), from the first selected shape.

Learn how you can subtract shapes in PowerPoint 2016 for Windows.

Filed Under: PowerPoint 2016
Tagged as: Merge Shapes, Microsoft Windows, Office 2016, PowerPoint 2016, Shapes, Tutorials

Using Pictures in PowerPoint: Conversation with Ellen Finkelstein

    Ellen Finkelstein is a Microsoft PowerPoint MVP and author of several PowerPoint, Flash, and AutoCAD books. She also holds webinars on presenting skills on a regular basis.

In this interview, Ellen shares her thoughts about using pictures in PowerPoint.

Geetesh: Ellen, can you share your resources on getting great pictures that you use within your slides?

Ellen: The two websites I use most are Pixabay and Stockunlimited. Pixabay is free and offers public domain (CC0) images. Stockunlimited has a great lifetime price. Right now, it’s $89 and well worth it. You can get there by going here.

Geetesh: Do you edit your pictures in PowerPoint or within a dedicated graphic program? What is your favorite editing tip?

Ellen: I almost always edit my pictures in PowerPoint. My favorite editing tip is using the Remove Background feature (if the background is complex) or Transparent Color feature (for a solid background). This is called “isolating” an image and it usually looks very elegant on a slide.

The views and opinions expressed in this blog post or content are those of the authors or the interviewees and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer, or company.

Filed Under: Interviews
Tagged as: Ellen Finkelstein, Interviews, Opinion, Pictures, PowerPoint