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Perspector 4 Pro
by Geetesh Bajaj, Nov 21st 2007
Introduction
About Perspector 4
New Features
Using Perspector 4
Pricing and Support
Conclusion
Introduction
PowerPoint makes it easy to insert pictures, shapes, text, and
multimedia -- and the new PowerPoint 2007 adds ample improvements
by way of effects and themes. Yet PowerPoint's 3D abilities still
require some assistance from add-ins like Perspector.
Now in version 4, Perspector helps you do more 3D stuff
inside PowerPoint -- this review will explore more...
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About Perspector 4
Perspector is from Visual Exemplars Ltd, a company based
in Edinburgh, UK. You can learn more about Visual Exemplars
and download the free trial version of Perspector
4 here...
Perspector 4 is the newest version with added features -- you'll
find a review of the earlier Perspector version here...
My contact at Perspector for this review was George
McCaskill -
thank you, George.
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New Features
The new feature in Perspector 4 include:
- 3D Lists: These are really quick to play with, and provide
awesome results.
- 3D Charts: You can now insert
3D charts into PowerPoint presentations -- these charts can be
set up from a PowerPoint table or an Excel spreadsheet. Just
select the data and chart types from a series of thumbnail previews
in the Perspector 4 panel, and the 3D chart appears on
your slide. The charts are fully editable in 3 dimensions, and
the display properties can be changed via a properties panel.
Perspector charts also have an international character sets
for users not producing presentations in English.
- Slide and Image Layouts: All of these layouts are available in Perspector Professional Edition only. You can place images from picture files, and images of your other slides, into these placeholders.
- Library Images: All of these 3D objects are available in the Perspector Library that is installed with Perspector
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Using Perspector 4
When installed, the add-in creates:
- A Perspector
toolbar within PowerPoint 2003 and earlier (see Figure
1 )
- A Perspector group in PowerPoint 2007 (see Figure
1 )
Figure 1: Perspector toolbar and group
To learn how you can create a 3D list in PowerPoint 2007 using
Perspector 4.0, look here...
Follow these steps to create a chart with Perspector 4:
- Within PowerPoint, insert a new slide with the blank layout.
- Choose the third button (Insert Chart) in the Perspector toolbar
or group (refer to Figure 1).
- This will open the Perspector Panel on the right side of the
PowerPoint interface as shown in Figure 2 .
Figure 2: Perspector Panel
Here you will find various options for inserting
data into the chart -- choose as required.
- This brings up the Chart Type options that
you can see in Figure
3.
Figure 3: Chart Type
Click to choose the Chart Type; each chart type has
more categories, choose the chart style you want to insert
on the PowerPoint slide.
- This opens the Perspector 4 interface, as shown in Figure
4
Figure 4: Perspector 4 interface
- You can edit the charts in the Chart properties window (see Figure
5).
Figure 5: Chart Properties
- Once done click the OK button to get back to PowerPoint.
- Rendering the chart in the slide may take some time. Once
done, the slide will show the chart, as shown in Figure
6.
Figure 3: Inserted Chart
- If you still want to edit it, just double click on the chart
which will open the familiar Perspector interface and chart properties
windows.
Perspector 4 provides many more new features -- their
site has more information...
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Pricing and Support
Perspector 4 has two versions:
- The Standard version costs $149.00,
and
- The Professional version is for $299.00.
Support is through email, online knowledge base, and manuals.
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Conclusion
Perspector 4 is a mature and capable product that opens up new
possibilities in the PowerPoint interface -- Perspector's own user
screens mimic the PowerPoint dialog boxes -- so that really reduces
the learning curve. The price is right too, and the results can
be awesome.
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