Font mess - cannot edit any existing presentations

[Axial]

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: Intel

I have a problem that makes PowerPoint 2008 completely unusable except for creating new presentations from scratch.

Whenever I want to edit the existing text, in a presentation created in whichever version of PowerPoint (including 2008 on another Mac, the font changes from whatever it is to "(Body)" at insertion point and everything I type is in a different font than its surroundings.

- It does not work to change the font after I have typed it.

- All the required fonts are in proper locations and available to both Ppt and other applications.

- Shutting down the computer (completely) and restarting it, or rebuilding the font cache manually, does not do anything.

I have Office 2008 with all available patches applied so far. Please help - I cannot do practically anything with existing slides at the moment.

(I still have the Office 2004 on the same computer, which works as it should. I do not know if it can cause any clashes, but this should not happen.)

 

[traceyknapp]

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: Intel

I have a problem that makes PowerPoint 2008 completely unusable except for creating new presentations from scratch.

Whenever I want to edit the existing text, in a presentation created in whichever version of PowerPoint (including 2008 on another Mac, the font changes from whatever it is to "(Body)" at insertion point and everything I type is in a different font than its surroundings.

- It does not work to change the font after I have typed it.

- All the required fonts are in proper locations and available to both Ppt and other applications.

- Shutting down the computer (completely) and restarting it, or rebuilding the font cache manually, does not do anything.

I have Office 2008 with all available patches applied so far. Please help- I cannot do practically anything with existing slides at the moment.

(I still have the Office 2004 on the same computer, which works as it should. I do not know if it can cause any clashes, but this should not happen.)

I've had a similar problem with trying to grab a group of text boxes
from 2008 and drop them in a 2004 document-- it turns everything into
a PNG, because it is like a snapshot of what I just copied out of the
2008 document. Infuriating!!!!

 

[Axial]

OK, nobody from Microsoft reads this, or they have no clue what's going on. There is a similar question here that that has been unanswered since June. Well done, Mac BU.

 

[Jim Gordon MVP]

OK, nobody from Microsoft reads this, or they have no clue what's going on. There is a similar question here that that has been unanswered since June. Well done, Mac BU.

Hi,

You are correct about the "nobody from Microsoft reads this." They'are
not supposed to. This is "community" support. You, me, and anyone who
wants to post questions, comments, and answers. Those who want to help
chip in. Those who only want to take and not be part of the community
take. Some, complain wildly without making much sense. Others post
questions to which no one has a ready answer or even a suggestion to
offer, so sometimes there's no response.

I admit to being clueless about the problem you refer to. "Font mess"
means nothing to me except that someone had a problem they thought had
something to do with fonts. That's not much to go on. Sorry.

-Jim
can
--
Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

MVPs are independent experts who are not affiliated with Microsoft.


Visit my blog
http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-i7JMeio7cqvhotIUwCzaJWq9

 

[Jim Gordon MVP]

OK, nobody from Microsoft reads this, or they have no clue what's going on. There is a similar question here that that has been unanswered since June. Well done, Mac BU.

OK - I've read the entire thread now.

Let's start with missing information.

Have all the Office updates been applied? Which exact version of
PowerPoint are we talking about?

Is this on a PowerPC or Intel based Mac?

Has Apple's Disk Utility > Repair Permissions been done?

Has a disk checking utility (such as Alsoft DiskWarrior or TechTools)
been run on the hard drive?

Has a font checking utility been used to check for font corruption?

If you have the problem now and one of the above corrects the problem,
would you please post that information to this thread?

Thanks.

-Jim

--
Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

MVPs are independent experts who are not affiliated with Microsoft.


Visit my blog
http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-i7JMeio7cqvhotIUwCzaJWq9

 

[Axial]

Let's start with missing information.

Sure, why not.

Have all the Office updates been applied? Which exact version of
PowerPoint are we talking about?

Yes (I said so already). 12.1.2.

Is this on a PowerPC or Intel based Mac?

Intel (it is written in my forum profile). (macbook with santa rosa chipset, 2GB RAM).

Has Apple's Disk Utility > Repair Permissions been done?

Yes. The problem remained.

Has a disk checking utility (such as Alsoft DiskWarrior or TechTools)
been run on the hard drive?

Yes. No errors found.

Has a font checking utility been used to check for font corruption?

Yes (FontBook). No corruption found.

If you have the problem now and one of the above corrects the problem,
would you please post that information to this thread?

None of the above corrected the problem. It is still a gory mess. Whatever the problem, it is not anything any of the other applications have any problem about (including other parts of the Office 2008 suite or the entire previous version, including PowerPoint 2004). In is an issue with PowerPoint 2008 and PowerPoint 2008 alone. And Microsoft wants to charge me for the privilege to obtain support on the matter. Wonderful.

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

Intel (it is written in my forum profile).

Just so you understand, the messages you see here live on a news server at
Microsoft.
People see them in different ways. Some use newsreaders, some use Microsoft's web
interface, some use Google Groups, some use any of several other web based forums
that "slurp" the messages from the MS newsgroup.

Some of them may have forum profiles, but those aren't necessarily accessible to
everybody. They're not for most visitors here, I'd bet.
matter. Wonderful.

Not necessarily. As it's been explained to me, you do have to supply a credit card
when you call. Depending on the issue, they may or may not charge anything to the
card and I'm fairly sure they'll notify you before doing so; at that point it's your
option to continue or not. I'd certainly ask them to verify that if/when you call,
though.

================================================
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================

 

[Axial]

Update: I have just installed the new 12.1.3 update, and the problem no longer seems to be there. Will report back if it reappears...