Inserting multiple pictures

[duffedboy]

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

Is there a way to insert a selection of pictures into separate slides with one action or do they have to be inserted one by one into each slide??

 

[neurofungus]

I know that there IS a way to do it on the latest PPT for PC, but I, personally, I haven't figured a way to do it on MAC. I do wish this was possible!

 

[CyberTaz]

I don't believe it can be done through the insert method - whether that's a
limitation imposed by the OS or simply not implemented in Office I'm not
sure, but multiple selections other than in the Open dialog can't be made.

There is a workaround if you have a program that supports layers, such as
Photoshop. Import the images as separate layers, save in .psd format, then
click the Treat Picture Layers as Separate Objects checkbox in the Insert
Picture dialog... But that may be more trouble than it's worth

It may also be something scriptable in Apple Script if all the images are in
the same folder & the folder has no other content.

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

 

[Jim Gordon MVP]

I know that there IS a way to do it on the latest PPT for PC, but I, personally, I haven't figured a way to do it on MAC. I do wish this was possible!

Hi,

It is possible for PowerPoint versions 2001, v.X and 2004 on the Mac
using VBA or a VBA add-in. It is not possible at this time for
PowerPoint 2008 because 2008 does not have VBA.

VBA will return with the next version of PowerPoint Mac, so the 2008
version is the only one without the feature you desire.

-Jim

--
Jim Gordon
Mac MVP


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[Jenn Acosta]

What is VBA? I'm sitting here with a mac and a dell and the dell has the
"insert photoalbum" option, which seems to be taking a long time...will the
images be scaled down automatically with this method?

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

What is VBA?

VBA = Visual Basic for Applications. It's a programming language that's
been built into every version of PowerPoint (and the other Office apps)
since Office 97 on Windows, Office 98 on Mac. It allows people like Jim to
write add-ins that do useful things like inserting whole folders full of
photos automatically into PPT.

Mac Office 2008 doesn't have VBA, unfortunately, so none of these handy
add-ins work with it.

I'm sitting here with a mac and a dell and the dell has the

"insert photoalbum" option, which seems to be taking a long time...will the
images be scaled down automatically with this method?

Scaled down as in downsampled to a reasonable number of pixels for the
size? No, I don't think so.


personally, I haven't figured a way to do it on MAC. I do wish this was
possible!
================================================
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================

 

[Jason Andersen [MSFT]]

An easy way to do this in Applescript is the following:

In ScriptEditor (or any other Applescript editing application), type the
following:

-----
tell application "Finder" to set picFolder to every file in folder "<drag
the folder containing your pictures here>"

repeat with xName in picFolder
tell application "Microsoft PowerPoint" to make new picture at end of slide
1 of active presentation with properties {file name: (xName as text)}
end repeat
-----

Now, with PowerPoint open and with a presentation up (and with a slide in
it), you can run the script and it will insert all the pictures.

A few caveats (that can be solved with a bit of additional scripting, if
desired):
1. All the files in the folder MUST be image files, or else you will get an
error trying to insert the non-picture and the script will stop.
2. If Powerpoint isn't open, it will be launched. The script could fail
depending on if the Gallery is set to come up by default or not.
3. The first line telling the finder to get every file in a folder can take
a LONG time if the folder contains a lot of items (like a thousand or more).
The script may likely time out trying to get them all, and it will tie up
your machine unnecessarily. For best results don't try this with a folder
with a lot of images in it (less than one hundred is ideal). You can always
run the script multiple times - it's faster for the Finder to get 100 files
10 times than it is trying to get 1000 files 1 time.

Of course, you can also modify the script to specify picture sizes, a
different slide to insert them on, etc. You could even insert them each onto
their own slide with the addition of a "make new slide" line in the repeat
loop.

But the above script will at least get all the pictures INTO the
presentation all at once. Hope it helps you out!

- Jason