|
The PowerPoint Ezine -05
by Geetesh Bajaj
Issue 05
The Start of 2001 - This is the first issue of this ezine
to be published in 2001 - here's wishing you all a great new year.
We begin by looking at Crystal Graphics' new PowerPoint plug-in
- PowerPlugs Headings. The PowerPoint MVP Team has unearthed
a few of PowerPoint's lesser known virtues with their Notetaker demonstration.
We also examine the advantages of using PowerPoint with Adobe
Photoshop - there's a new list of links to Photoshop resources
as also a new tutorial on creating reticulated PowerPoint backgrounds in
Photoshop. A set of 10 such free backgrounds form the goodies
component to accompany this issue of the PowerPoint Ezine. And
there's a gratis professional image editor from Serif.
Back
PowerPlugs Headings
Crystal Graphics has announced a new PowerPoint plug-in - PowerPlugs
Headings. PowerPlugs is a blanket term for a range of PowerPoint
plug-ins from Crystal Graphics. PowerPlugs Headings is the eighth
product in this line - a full review is available elsewhere on
this site:
PowerPlugs Headings: The Indezine
Review
PowerPlugs Headings is a huge repository of pre-rendered PNG files
with sophisticated alpha channels. The end result on a PowerPoint
presentation is akin to a three dimensional veil.
Crystal Graphics has not posted a trial or sampler version of
PowerPlugs Headings at their site as yet. For more information,
visit:
PowerPlugs
Headings: Homepage
PowerPlugs Headings is also available as a component of the PowerPlugs
Combo - a complete range of eight PowerPoint plug-ins with a unified
installation procedure.
Back
Photoshop and PowerPoint
Many PowerPoint users also work with Photoshop - Adobe's flagship
image editor. Now in it's sixth incarnation, Photoshop is easier
and more capable than ever before. To help you learn more about
Photoshop including links to techniques, tips, filters, plug-ins,
brushes, actions and more, I've put up a Photoshop
links page. This follows a style similar to the PowerPoint links
page and can be accessed from:
Indezine Photoshop Links
If you have any favourite link to any Photoshop stuff to be included
on this page, do
There's also a Photoshop tutorial on creating reticulated backgrounds
for PowerPoint. This can be found at:
Reticulation Tutorial
Photoshop can be used to create many elements for a PowerPoint
presentation - such as backgrounds, info-graphics, navigation bars,
headings, pictures, special effects, etc. Adobe's Photoshop page
is at:
http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop
Back
Notetaker - from the PowerPoint MVP Team
The PowerPoint MVP team have been busy creating Notetaker. Well,
what's Notetaker?
Notetaker is a sample PowerPoint presentation which allows you
to take down notes in real-time. The descriptions below speak for
themselves:
- I've had a number of users ask me for a way to take notes "real
time" during a presentation. The "meeting minder" function
isn't what they want because the notes disappear as soon as you
end the show.
- So I worked out a different (better?) way to do this. I've
put together a small PPS to demonstrate how it works.
- It's in the PPS format so that it will run when clicked. On
slides 1,2,3 you can click on "Take Notes" at any time.
Further:
- It's an advanced feature and not suited for beginners.
- Imagination and creativity can make it useful for more situations
than we can think of.
- We would love to hear from users about how they've used it.
They can use the email button on the website below to tell us
all about their success.
- It will not work in the Viewer, so it is not suited to a distributed
presentation unless all users have PowerPoint installed.
Notetaker is a small download - you could visit the following
URL below to learn more about Notetaker as well as to download
a copy of the sample file:
http://www.soniacoleman.com/.../notes_page.htm
Back
PhotoPlus 5 - Gratis from Serif
This is not Photoshop - although it comes close to Photoshop in
a few aspects like editable text, layers, shapes, etc. However,
it certainly is the best image editor being given out free!
PhotoPlus is a professional tool - it opens files in many formats,
comes with a PDF manual and even handles CMYK. It slices your graphics
and has web optimization features which are not second to anything
else - you couldn't go wrong downloading this one.
The download is broken into components - the core component includes
normal functions. For CMYK support, PSD import and documentation,
you'll need to download further patches. And a one-time free registration
is required to activate your copy. And did I forget - PhotoPlus
5 works great with PowerPoint.
http://www.serif.com/photoplus5/
Back
Reticulated Backgrounds
 We
mentioned a Photoshop Reticulation tutorial earlier in this issue
of the ezine. This month's goodies have been created using techniques
illustrated in that tutorial.
These backgrounds are available as a part of PowerPoint design
templates which you are invited to download from:
http://powerpointed.20m.com/
 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!
Back
Until Next Time...
If you have any information to share about anything to do with
PowerPoint and would like to include it in the next issue of this
ezine,
Back
|
