Best way to setup for multiple people?

[Stijl]

Hi All,

this is a companion question to my other one concerning PNG and
transparency. I am designing a seminar that will be copied and passed on to
other people who will be its presenters. At present, I do not know the
memory or graphics capabilities of their laptops. I also have no idea how
old/which version of PPT that they have on their systems. Is there a 'best'
way to set up for use one multiple computers/multiple versions of software?

I am concerned that anything I design in PPT 2003 may look totally
different, or goof up, when its transferred to another computer with an
unknown version of software. I want to eliminate the chance that images
won't display, fonts might be messed up, video won't play, etc.

I see that PPT 2007 allows you to package te presentation to minimize this.
I would consider the upgrade for myself, but if I pass the seminar on to
someone with a lower version, won't we run into the same problems?

Thank You

 

[Echo S]

PPT 2003 also has Package for CD, and in fact, I think it's more reliable
than PPT 2007's version. So you should be good to go.

PNG images shouldn't be a problem, and images are embedded in presentations
by default when you insert them via Insert | Picture | From File. So they'll
travel with the file and should show up on the other end.

As for fonts, stick with Arial and you won't go wrong. That's really the
advice we give people who need to distribute presentations. Well, you could
also use Times New Roman, but I think the serifs get lost on many screens.

If you're relying on the installed version of PPT on the recipients'
machines, then when you create the animations, mostly just make sure to not
use emphasis or exit or motion paths. Just stick with entrances. That will
accommodate the people using PPT 2000. You can also go to Tools | Options
and turn off the new animation effects in 2003 so you're actually using the
2000 animation capabilities. Then when you're finished, turn the animation
effects back on so you can replicate what most 2002/2003 users will have,
and test the presentation to see how it plays both ways.

Video could be an issue -- it's a hassle to distribute files with video
because you never know if they're going to play correctly on the other
machines. (And that's not just because of the links.) If you use Package for
CD, it will package your presentation and the linked video and resolve all
the links -- you can opt to include the PPT Viewer and create the autorun CD
files or not. I'd use WMV files for the video. You might want to grab PFC
Media or PFC Pro from http://www.playsforcertain.com and let it do that for
you.

A word of warning. Even if you use Package for CD and include the Viewer and
make an autorun CD, users always (I see it ALL the time) drag the PPT file
to their computer and run it from there. That tends to break the links to
the video. They don't understand that the video and PPT file need to be in
the same folder. Or they just double-click the PPT file on the CD to run it,
rather than letting the autorun kick in. If they do that, it opens PPT in
whatever version of PPT they have installed on their systems. So
distributing an autorun CD won't necessarily solve all the problems. I tell
users to double-click PLAY or PLAY.BAT to start the Viewer and the
presentation, but many just disregard instructions...so you still want to
design for the lowest common denominator.

See also
Distributing PPTs - Pitfalls, Panics & Pleasures
http://www.pptfaq.com/FAQ00559.htm