PowerPoint and Presenting Stuff

Mark as Final Option in PowerPoint 2007 for Windows

Once you create a presentation, you may need to share it. PowerPoint 2007 provides the Mark as Final option that makes your file read-only. We need to add that this is just a deterrent and nothing as restrictive as password-protecting a PowerPoint presentation. Mark as Final tries to prevent users from typing, editing commands, and proofing, all editing options are disabled or turned off.

Learn how to apply the Mark as Final option in PowerPoint 2007 for Windows.

Filed Under: PowerPoint 2007
Tagged as: Distribution, PowerPoint 2007, Share, Tutorials

Mark as Final Option in PowerPoint 2010 for Windows

Once you create a presentation, you may need to share it. PowerPoint 2010 (and PowerPoint 2007) provide the Mark as Final option that makes your file read-only. We need to add that this is just a deterrent and nothing as restrictive as password-protecting a PowerPoint presentation. Mark as Final tries to prevent users from typing, editing commands, and proofing. All editing options are disabled or turned off. However, do remember that Mark as Final is not a security feature, and can be easily reversed.

Learn how to apply the Mark as Final option in PowerPoint 2010 for Windows.

Filed Under: PowerPoint 2010
Tagged as: Distribution, PowerPoint 2010, Tutorials

VIOSO Presenter: Conversation with Emanuel Züger

Emanuel Zügeris is one of the founders of VIOSO GmbH and one of the managing directors, together with Benjamin Fritsch. VIOSO offers solutions for projections, enabling an easy way to create stunning projections on complex surfaces as well as dealing with common projector issues.

In this conversation, Emanuel discusses VIOSO Presenter, one of the products that VIOSO creates.

Geetesh: Is Vioso Presenter a playlist application that lets you combine PowerPoint presentations and other file formats? Also, what else does it do.

Emanuel: Yes, it is. You can combine images, videos, and even PowerPoint slides to one seamless presentation. PowerPoint-slides get converted into still images automatically as long as there is PowerPoint 2007 installed on the system as well.

General speaking, VIOSO Presenter is a presentation and projection solution for all Windows based systems. It combines different features to support every scenario from business presentation to home cinema evening. Everybody knows common problems such as blank screen; projector remote missing; no audio; distorted image on the wall; no playback of a video; discoloration, and so on. For all these all-day presentation situations, VIOSO Presenter comes up with a feature. Starting with an easy-to-handle user interface you don’t need to get used to, you see a drop box working like a playlist to combine nearly any file you can imagine. Directly from your PC, you are able to fit the image via movable control points to the background or simply create an even image with an unevenly placed projector. Optimize color, contrast via sliders, and view your content in a 3D visual effect with a self-made background image. Feel secure and benefit from a trouble-free presentation.

Geetesh: You have both a free and Pro version of Vioso Presenter – how do they differ?

Emanuel: Actually, we have three versions:

1. The free version lets people get a feel for the features. For small presentations, this might even be enough. The playlist is limited to 15 entries; you cannot save your settings, and there is a small watermark embedded in the presentation.
2. You can upgrade from the free version to the full version which does not have these limitations.
3. VIOSO Presenter Pro is intended for advanced users. It adds a mighty warping engine as well as our patented technology to project on unusual surfaces like brick walls, step-like surfaces, or colored wallpaper. The trick is to use a digital camera (camcorder, industrial camera, high-quality webcam, etc.), that is used by the software to scan the surface you want to project on.

Geetesh: Can you tell us more about your support infrastructure?

Emanuel: VIOSO currently has a team of 10 people itself and a widespread partner network to give support in almost any language. Partners are situated not only all over Germany, but also in Europe, Asia, and the US. Also, the software is self-explanatory and comes in 5 different languages including of an extensive manual. Customers are always welcome to call or send an email which get exhaustive answers free of charge.

Since we are selling software online, the licensing is no problem. Customers receive a license code automatically after ordering that turns any free or demo version into a fully licensed copy at once.

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: Emanuel Züger, Interviews, PowerPoint, Vioso

Live Preview in PowerPoint 2010 for Windows

Live Preview first made its debut in PowerPoint 2007 and continues being available in PowerPoint 2010 as well. Unfortunately, PowerPoint 2007 had no Live Previews for Chart Styles and that ability is not made available in PowerPoint 2010 for Windows. Live Preview allows you to see/preview how an actual change will look on the slide before you decide to accept or decline that change.

Learn about Live Preview in PowerPoint 2010 for Windows.

Filed Under: PowerPoint 2010
Tagged as: PowerPoint 2010, Tutorials

SlideDynamic: Conversation with Tim James

Tim James founded SlideDynamic in 2009 and now focuses on product management. Prior to the acquisition of Macromedia by Adobe in 2005, Tim held positions in product marketing and management at Macromedia. Over the past 5 years, he has worked in various consulting engagements for global organizations wishing to engage their online visitors with persuasive and compelling experiences using Adobe Flash and Flex applications.

The vision and mission at SlideDynamics is to define and lead the market in real-time PowerPoint experience management by delivering valuable presentation outcomes for PowerPoint presenters and their audiences.

Geetesh: Tell us what prompted you to create SlideDynamic, and how it works?

Tim: My entire career has been spent using PowerPoint as a tool for presenting to many of the world’s leading companies on the subject of online customer experience. However, because PowerPoint is sequential and linear by design, this presentation medium, by its own nature, offers little in terms of real-time content navigation, thus limiting an agile presentation experience for my audience. It was not only my first-hand experience of the inability to tailor the order in which slides are delivered within presentations, but also from feedback I received from senior executives from many of the organizations I presented to, whom when citing their own presentation style, identified that an interactive table of contents in PowerPoint would be extremely useful, that set me in pursuit of creating the SlideDynamic PowerPoint add-in, in order to achieve better productivity and a more persuasive, relevant, and timely presentation experience for an audience.

One example of how the SlideDynamic PowerPoint add-in helps deliver more valuable presentation outcomes for PowerPoint presenters and their audiences would be in the Q&A session often adopted by presenters at the end of their presentation or encouraged throughout; verbally answering questions from the audience can be quickly reinforced visually by effortlessly navigating to content to address the query, or just as seamlessly by selecting from an additional set of “what-if scenario” slides held in reserve.

The presentation community has gone through a significant inflection point where a more interactive style of presentation is generally expected by audiences; this also inspired me to commercialize the software.

The SlideDynamic PowerPoint add-in now enables the presenter with three capabilities:

1. Inconspicuous content navigation,
2. A browser (style) back button, and
3. The bookmark function

These features are used generally online on websites every day but are not possible natively within PowerPoint.

The SlideDynamic add-in works by automatically creating a Flash menu for non-linear style presenting and slide navigation from all or selected slides in a presentation using the slide title and an associated thumbnail image of the slide, an interactive table of contents. To not to distract the audience or consume valuable slide real estate, the Flash menu is only visible when dynamic slide navigation is required by the presenter. Regardless of how the presentation is delivered, whether sequentially, dynamically, or even with hyperlinks (although not needed), a reverse navigation button allows instant review of the slides in exactly the order they were presented. The Flash slide menu’s design can be quickly customized from the SlideDynamic PowerPoint add-in, and the entire automated process takes only a matter of seconds to complete. A presentation can recommence at any chosen slide even after PowerPoint has been closed, using the save and resume feature of the Flash menu.

Geetesh: SlideDynamic uses Flash to create the navigation and interactivity within PowerPoint slides – how much of a challenge was it to make sure that Flash worked in all versions of PowerPoint?

Tim: It is the foundation on which the SlideDynamic software is founded, and it consumed the most significant portion of the software’s development and rigorous testing phases. This robust interoperability between Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 and 2010 and the rich user interface of Adobe Flash with the SlideDynamic add-in provides a platform from which we are already planning new and exciting additional features to further enhance the dynamic possibilities for PowerPoint thus empowering presenters with greater presentation agility.

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: Add-in, Interviews, PowerPoint