IMPORTING TEXT

[Jim_bob]

Version: 2008 I WANT TO IMPORT A LARGE LUMP OF TEXT AND FORMAT IT OVER A NUMBER OF SLIDES. IS THERE AN EASY WAY OF DOING THIS

 

[David Marcovitz]

Version: 2008 I WANT TO IMPORT A LARGE LUMP OF TEXT AND FORMAT IT OVER A
NUMBER OF SLIDES. IS THERE AN EASY WAY OF DOING THIS

You could do this by importing from Word. As I recall, you want to set your
slide titles to the style Heading 1 and the text to Heading 2. You can then
send it to PowerPoint and have it chopped up into slides.

--David
--
David M. Marcovitz
Author of _Powerful PowerPoint for Educators_
http://www.PowerfulPowerPoint.com/
Microsoft PowerPoint MVP
Associate Professor, Loyola University Maryland

 

[CyberTaz]

The process does work a little differently in the Mac version of PPT...

The document does have to be created as an outline (preferably using Word),
but the items do not have to be formatted using Heading 1 - Heading 5 Styles
as long as the styles you do use include Levels 1-5 (such as List, List 2,
etc.). However, the biggest difference is that the file *must* be saved in
RTF format. Mac PPT cannot import the outline if it is saved as .doc or
..docx -- go figure For more info see PPT Help on the topic:

Create slides by using an existing outline

However, you can also *send* the files from Word to PPT using File> Send To>
PowerPoint. This is in PPT Help as well under the topic:

Create a PowerPoint slide from existing text

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

The document does have to be created as an outline (preferably using Word),

but the items do not have to be formatted using Heading 1 - Heading 5 Styles
as long as the styles you do use include Levels 1-5 (such as List, List 2,
etc.). However, the biggest difference is that the file *must* be saved in
RTF format. Mac PPT cannot import the outline if it is saved as .doc or
..docx -- go figure For more info see PPT Help on the topic:

The Win version has always been able to import a plain ascii text file; I
expect the Mac version will as well. Try like so:

This will become the title of Slide 1
This will become the title of Slide 2
<tab>Bullet level 1
<tab><tab>Bullet level 2
<tab><tab>Bullet level 2 again
<tab><tab><tab>Bullet level 3
<tab><tab>Bullet level 2 again
This is the title of Slide 3


Replace <tab> with a tab character, natch.

Save it as a text file, then open it from within PPT.

 

[CyberTaz]

Hi Steve;

Yeah, ASCII will also work, but it doesn't preserve any of the formatting. I
think that's the main reason that Help recommends RTF.

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

Hi Steve;

Yeah, ASCII will also work, but it doesn't preserve any of the formatting. I
think that's the main reason that Help recommends RTF.

Yep. Horses for courses. If you want the text to assume the formatting of the
slide master, ascii's fine. If you need to control it externally, RTF's the
thing.

 

[Jim Gordon Mac MVP]

I might as well chime in, too. My preference is to create an outline in
Word, then use Save As and choose Outline as the file format. PowerPoint
seems to like that a lot.

-Jim

 

[CyberTaz]

Hi Jim;

Exactly what version of Word are you finding a file format option of
"Outline"? I don't remember ever having seen that choice & I just verified
that it doesn't appear in the Save As - Format: list in Word 2004 or 2008...
Nor do I see it anywhere else in the File menu, the Save As dialog or the
Save Options. Can you bee more explicit?

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[Jim Gordon Mac MVP]

You caught me typing while sleepy again. Let me quote the Dummies book,
which has it right. On Page 524 of Office 2008 for Mac All-in-One For
Dummies:

"Having content in a Microsoft Word document can save a lot of time.
Open your document in Microsoft Word. From Word’s View menu, choose
Outline to use Word’s Outline view. If you think your outline is good
enough to work from, you can send it right into PowerPoint from Word by
using Word’s File menu and choosing Send To and then Microsoft
PowerPoint from the submenu. If you like working with outlines in
PowerPoint, you can click the Outline button above the slide preview to
use an outline to build your slide show. If you prefer working in Word,
PowerPoint can send your presentation’s outline directly to Word by
using the File menu and choosing Send To and then Microsoft Word from
the submenu. Another way to share an outline is to use PowerPoint’s
capability to save in outline format using the File menu and choosing
Save As; then click the Format pop-up menu to choose Outline / Rich Text
Format (.rtf)"

The key points:
Working in Word's Outline View and PowerPoint's Outline View
Using .rtf to move between Word and PowerPoint with the option to use
the File > Send To feature to go back and forth

Sorry for being too sleepy to remember that the word Outline only
appears in the PowerPoint Save As dialog when saving in .rtf.

-Jim