Hello again, Sunshine,
Glad to see that most of your problems were resolved...
° Regarding a line "going off into outer-space" what I meant was that if I
activate the line tool and click once, rather than dragging, it puts a default
line in place at an arbitrary angle. Of course, just as in PP 2000 (Windows),
I need to drag the line into position in order to place it, so I'm afraid my
concern was extraneous.
Now I understand. I was able to duplicate this. When you select a line and
then just click on the slide, you get a one-inch line going down 45 degrees.
Doesn't seem too helpful, eh. But the line tool wasn't meant to be used this
way, anyway, as you related - you have to click, drag and then release to
create a line segment.
° By blue ghost I really meant the blue area that shows up when you drag the
cursor over an area when you want to highlight objects. The problem I was
having was it seemed to be turning on without any intent on my part - for
example, when I tried to move a line, the blue box opened up as I moved it.
Once again, that's not happening anymore. Is that also possibly due to my
turning the "snap" commands off?
Ah, I think you're referring to the dynamic guides function, which is
accessible view the View > Guides menu. This function displays those little
blue lines as you draw or move shapes, to help you place them better. I've
found that this feature can be good when you're lining things up with
precision on the slide. But it can just as easily be turned off, as you've
found, if you don't need it. (Actually, it only works when you've got a
shape selected, or when you're drawing a new shape.)
By the way, regarding the "automatic style"
for objects and lines, I also think it's presumptuous. I know that I can
change the default, but only for the piece I am working on. I would like to
change the default for all future jobs I may open - but apparently there is no
way to do that.
There is a way to change the default style, if you'd like to create your own
blank template. Here are the steps:
1. Open a blank presentation.
2. Draw a line and a shape, set them each to the default styles that you
want, and set each one as the default by doing a right-click and selecting
"Use as Default". Erase the shapes if you like (if you don't want to see
them on every presentation you create from now on!).
3. Do a File > Save As... and save the presentation as a PowerPoint template
(.potx) by changing the Format box. It should automatically open up your "My
Templates" folder. Give your new template a name, and save. If the
Properties dialog shows up, click OK to close.
4. Whenever you want to open a new presentation that uses your styles, go to
File > Project Gallery, and click on the My Templates category. All of your
templates should be in there. Double-click the one you want to open.
Not too painful, eh? ;-)
° Regarding editing points, if I create a freeform object and control-click it
to go to the "edit points" command, I find that when I grab a black point to
move it, it creates two new hollow points on each side of the black point I
have grabbed and creates a very odd shape to the figure. This is very
different from my experience with PP 2000 for Windows which simply lets you
grab a point and move it wherever you wish. I'd like to know how to solve that
problem if it is possible.
Ah, yes, the beloved Bezier line tool... In Edit Points mode, doing a
Control+click on a black point (vertex) should bring up a submenu, that lets
you select Smooth Point, Straight Point, or Corner Point. Do you see that
one? If you select Smooth Point, you will get two control handles coming out
of the vertex. This may also alter the paths of your shape... literally
curving them or smoothing them out. At any rate, when you click on a vertex,
do you see the directional handle lines that end in hollow squares? Perhaps
you're moving the handles instead of the vertexes, which is confusing you.
There's a nice tutorial on editing freeform shapes and using the Edit Points
feature at the following URL:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/powerpoint/HA102392301033.aspx
It applies to PPT 2007 for Windows, but the steps are mostly the same.
There are other differences between this new program and the one I used and
loved in the past - PP 2000 for Windows. For example, you can no longer fill
an object with a pattern.
Yes, the "fill with pattern" feature, eh... That was uniformly ditched in
Office 2007/2008, probably because it didn't get a lot of user requests or
support when they planned the new version. Come to think of it, there wasn't
much that you could do with pattern fills that you can't do with Picture
fills anyway, although it is a shame to see that functionality go. You can
simulate the Pattern fill functionality in Office 2008 like this:
1. Create and save your own pattern image (you can do this in PowerPoint,
Photoshop, or any program that can save an image as JPEG, GIF, or PNG).
2. Double-click on the shape you want to add a pattern to, select the Fill
pane, and click on the Picture tab.
3. Click "Choose a Picture..." select the pattern image you saved and click
OK.
4. Finally, click on the Tile checkbox, and OK your way out of there.
You can even recolor the picture fill without editing and messing with your
original image. Double-click on the shape, click on the Picture category,
and use the Recolor function in the Image Control section to get the colors
you want. You can use the brightness and contrast controls for more fine
tuning.
Let us know how you're coming along!
Jeff Chapman
