PowerPoint and Presentation News - Issue 050

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50 Issues: Looking Back, Looking Ahead

This is the 50th issue of this ezine! I wish to thank you all for travelling with me on this amazing journey. And now about other matters.

2004 was a nice year but it ended with a tsunami that killed hundreds of thousands. Many more were rendered homeless and helpless. Two weeks before the tsunami, I sent out holiday cards to all my friends and several of them responded to tell that the words in the cards were so relevant for everyone who suffered from the tsunami. So here are the words, for you and for everyone on this planet:

May 2005 show us the path to lasting peace through equity and harmony amongst the people of the world.

2005 is already part of our lives and the year promises so much. As for all of us, this will be another year of interaction, sharing ideas, tips and other stuff.

AbsolutVision's "end-of-the-year" sale ends on January 9th, 2005. If you use any sort of visual content, you'll love their $49.90 annual discounted subscription. To order, simply visit their online store before January 9th, 2005 and enter absoluthoho as the promotional code.

Learn to create organization charts in the new SmartDraw 7, and then use them in PowerPoint.

Also look at my recent articles on other sites:

See how Take-off DataPoint integrates PowerPoint with databases.

Learn how you can use any picture as a PowerPoint background.

PowerPoint to DVD

Starting 2005 with a bang is Betsy Weber's exclusive article for Indezine that shows how anyone can use their Camtasia product to create a DVD from a PowerPoint presentation. I have read Betsy's article so many times and it indeed it includes the most detailed PowerPoint to DVD information you'll find anywhere in print or the web.

Betsy has also promised two free copies of their $400 Camtasia product. All you need to do is fill in this form to enter the sweepstakes. Mention "Camtasia Sweepstakes" in the Comments field.

PowerPoint to BlackBerry

The last few days witnessed the launch of a new product that allows you to convert all your PowerPoint presentations to the BlackBerry format. The new version of Impatica for PowerPoint includes this ability in addition to the add-in existing repertoire of features. Michael Doyle and Catherine Cormier showed me a preview of this version at last year's PowerPoint Live in San Diego.

Fills & Lines - Part III

Part I of this series can be found within issue 48 of the PowerPoint Ezine.
Part II of this series can be found within issue 49 of the PowerPoint Ezine.

Fill Effects

All fills other than solid colors can be accessed from the Fill Effects dialog box:

1. Select the AutoShape.
2. On the Fill Color toolbar, choose Fill Effects...
3. This will open the Fill Effects dialog box.

The Fill Effects dialog box contains four tabs – Gradient, Texture, Pattern and Picture. Let’s take a detailed look at these tabs.

Gradient Fills

Here’s how you change or apply a gradient fill:

1. Select the AutoShape.
2. On the Fill Color toolbar, choose Fill Effects... and open the Gradient tab in the Fill Effects dialog box.

PowerPoint allows an amazing amount of flexibility in applying gradient fills. At times, you might imagine you are using an illustration package rather than a presentation program.

• You can create gradients from three color systems: one color, two color, and presets.
• One Color gradients allow you to use a graduated fill that merges between one color and either black (dark) or white (light).
• Two Color gradients allow you to merge shades between any two colors.
• Presets are gradients that are part of PowerPoint's fill engine. Some of these gradients use more than two colors. You cannot save or edit any presets.
• In addition to colors, you can choose the direction of the gradient from Horizontal, Vertical, Diagonal up, Diagonal down, From corner and From Center.
• You can also choose a transparency level for each gradient.

Here are some sample gradients:

We'll continue this series in the next issue of this ezine.

End Note

More PowerPoint related info on the PowerPoint Blog and PowerPoint Notes. And PowerPoint templates for all of you.

Until next time - have a nice day. And keep the feedback coming.