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The PowerPoint Ezine - 03
by Geetesh Bajaj
Issue 03
Welcome to a new issue of the PowerPoint Ezine - a look at what's
new, expected and established in the world of PowerPoint.
We begin by looking back at a time not so long ago - yet forgotten!
It's about an initiative to collect all information possible to
create a PowerPoint Memorabilia collection. Then we explore
a great new impending PowerPoint add-in - the Image Importer
Wizard. Next there's a spotlight on Austin Myer's new
multimedia treatise for PowerPoint users. Finally, there will
be a 'Goodies' section with every issue - this time there are free Marbled
Backgrounds!
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PowerPoint Memorabilia Project
PowerPoint version 1 made its debut in September 1987 - it was
developed initially for the Apple Macintosh platform. In May 1990,
Microsoft released PowerPoint 2 for Windows - the first Windows
version.
Across deadlines and milestones - the PowerPoint juggernaut rolled
on. The current PowerPoint version for Windows is PowerPoint 2000.
For Mac users, there's the new PowerPoint on the block - PowerPoint
2001. And there's a newer version for Windows undergoing its development
cycles. It's a great time to look back fondly at past versions.
I'm sure many of you are longtime PowerPoint users and have many
memories slashed away somewhere in a part of your brain, on a piece
of paper, or elsewhere. Those memories are important.
Indezine is launching the PowerPoint Memorabilia Project - which
will strive to collect input from all of you. Such input will result
in a web page at Indezine - designed like a walk down memory lane.
Several such projects are planned - these include a screen saver,
a chronology, sample presentations, an art gallery, and more...
Every mail can help. Every contribution will be credited. I'll
post more information in the next issue of this ezine.
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Image Importer Wizard
On the anvil of release anytime now, the Image Importer Wizard (hereafter,
IIW) is a result of Shyam Pillai's initiative and insight.
As the name suggests, IIW imports visual formats like JPG, BMP,
et al into a PowerPoint presentation. I'm sure that sounds like
a very basic description - but what makes this add-in special is
the amount of customization and automation it provides in the entire
importing process.
The interface is a series of five screens in a wizard style -
not unlike PowerPoint's own auto content wizard.
Initial screens allow you to choose input into a single or multiple
slides and to decide scaling, resize and positional aspects. Many
of these settings can be saved for future use.
IIW also allows you to search a folder with/without spanning sub
folders for graphic files. Graphic imports handled include JPG,
GIF, BMP, PNG, TIF, WMF, EMF and EPS - not as wide a range as PowerPoint
allows, but sufficient indeed to cover all bases.
You can further refine such searches to only choose images you
can select - for final import into a new or existing PowerPoint
presentation. The entire process is painless and intuitive.
Watch out for more details!
Shyam Pillai is a Microsoft PowerPoint MVP renowned for his expertise
in combining PowerPoint with VBA programming. His site is an excellent
resource and a 'must-visit' for anyone interested in PowerPoint
VBA programming:
http://officetips.homepage.com/
Shyam has permitted me to allow a direct email contact here, so
you can send an email to:
Shyam@Asia.com
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PowerPoint And Multimedia
Austin Myers has written his long awaited multimedia treatise
for PowerPoint users. The tutorial makes a great reading material
- and is penned in a lucid, informal style. It covers multimedia
players, codecs, initialization files, great tips, ideas and more...
It is available online at more than one place, including the Indezine
site. The URL:
http://www.indezine.com/.../ppmultimedia.html
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Marbled Backgrounds
Years ago, I remember spilling paints on a tub of water -making
patterns with the paint - hoping the designs thus created do not
disintegrate! And finally, passing a sheet of white paper underneath
to capture the design on the medium.
I tried to emulate the patterns on a virtual canvas this time
- and the results are a series of 10 exclusive PowerPoint backgrounds
- free to download - for all of you.
http://www.indezine.com/stuff/indezine01.zip
 
These are free to use as you please, but read more details in
a document which is part of the downloaded archive.
I hope to provide new freebies with every subsequent issue of
the PowerPoint Ezine. Do let me know about how you used them -
or any other experience you would like to share!
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