PowerPoint and Presentation News - Issue 052

Winners and Giveaways

The winners of the last ezine issue's Amazing Skies sweepstakes are Catherine Plunkett (USA), Fasha Hasmad (Malaysia), Jan Yoder (USA) and Jon Spain (UK) - congratulations to all of you.

Tommy Powell of Neuxpower is offering four copies of their NXPowerLite compression software for PowerPoint presentations. All you need to do is fill in this form to enter the sweepstakes. Mention "NXPowerLite" in the Comments field. The sweepstakes ends on February 10th, 2005.

Here are some new articles and happenings:

Ppted just announced the new Grunge & Geometry collection of PowerPoint templates. The entire set is a steal!

Nothing can shake up the world of PowerPoint like a good release of Apple Keynote. Michael J. Miller of PC Magazine says: "This more competitive software from Apple might finally get Microsoft to overhaul PowerPoint".

Read more in this other blog post. Make sure that you leave your comments on both the blog posts. I'll love to hear what you all think.

PowerCONVERTER XP

PresentationPro created one of the first PowerPoint to Flash based online rich media tools in 2001. The product was released around the same time as PowerPoint 2002 (XP) and did not include support for all the new transitions and animations that the new PowerPoint version introduced.

Since then, PresentationPro released a new updated version called PowerCONVERTER XP for users of PowerPoint 2002 and 2003. The older PowerCONVERTER product is still available for users of PowerPoint 97 and 2000.

PowerCONVERTER XP is priced at US$599. That's not a bargain but it's priced almost the same as other similar tools. Just before I released this ezine, Gary White of PresentationPRO announced a promotion rate of $399.

Read the full PowerCONVERTER XP review here.

Photoshop for PowerPoint?

Professional presentation designers who use Microsoft PowerPoint day in and out use one other application more than all other applications combined, and no marks for guessing that the application is Adobe Photoshop.

Here are some things to consider:

• There is a Photoshop plug-in from Ars Media that allows you to export your compositions with layers and transparency intact to a PowerPoint presentation.
• There is a PowerPoint add-in from pptXTREME that enables you to import Photoshop compositions inside PowerPoint, with layers and transparency intact.
• Many designers who create PowerPoint presentations use Adobe Photoshop as well.
• Both PowerPoint and Photoshop are cross-platform products.
• Adobe discontinued its Persuasion presentation program and none of Microsoft's imaging applications can be yet considered anything close to professional.
• Sometimes, PowerPoint seems to get along with those PNGs exported from Photoshop even better than Internet Explorer.

Fills & Lines - Part V

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.

Part III of this series can be found within issue 50 of the PowerPoint Ezine.

Part IV of this series can be found within issue 51 of the PowerPoint Ezine.

PowerPoint’s Lines

PowerPoint provides an amazing diversity of options in creating and editing lines. Look at these samples.

Unlike fills, line styles don’t require a closed area like a rectangle, circle or a background, they can be used in shapes that do not close like lines, drawings and arrows.

To apply or edit a line style:

1. Select the element (shape, drawing, line, etc.)
2. Choose a color for the line from the Line Color menu on the Drawing toolbar.
3. Choose a Line style from the Line Style menu on the Drawing toolbar. Choose More Lines if you want to tweak beyond the presets available.
4. Choose a dash style from the Dash Style menu on the Drawing toolbar if required.
5. Choose an arrow style from Arrow Style menu on the Drawing toolbar if required. You can choose the More Arrows option if you want larger or smaller arrowheads.

Patterned Lines

Patterned lines allow you to create lines with the same patterns used within the Pattern Fills options. Patterned lines look good only if you use lines with at least 10 point thickness and are ideally suited for creating quick frames for inserted pictures in PowerPoint.

This is the concluding part of this series.

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.