Office 2004, 2007, 2003 Powerpoint Chart Hell

[Bill Weylock]

I¹m hoping someone has a bright idea for us.

We do marketing research and usually generate reports in PowerPoint. I
usually do my work in 2004 and everyone else works in 2003/PC. There usually
are no serious problems, but sometimes there are differences in chart
alignment. I am usually blamed for anything that goes wrong. Often I go so
far as to transfer the file to 2003 myself (have a notebook PC) and save in
Windows.

On a recent and very large quantitative project we worked with a client who
collaborated with us on the report. At first they loved the look of 2007
charts, but later decided that they needed everything in 2003 formats.

Somewhere along the line (very possibly because the Mac was involved) charts
inserted into PowerPoint from Excel became very ill-mannered. They look all
right until you click one. As soon as you do, fonts bunch up. Quite a few of
them immediately expand to a truly horrendous size ­ easily 5 or 6 times the
size of the slide itself.

I know this is vague and all, but does this ring a bell with anyone? Is it
my fault somehow for using a Mac on the deck even though most work was done
in either 2003 or 2007?

Is there a way to stabilize charts once they begin to behave like this?

Do we have to recreate the entire (145 slides) report?

Help?

Thanks!



Best,

Bill
Imac 2.8Ghz -10.5.1
Office 2008/2003 - Windows XP Pro SP2

 

[Jim Gordon MVP]

Hi Bill,

The 2003/2004 chart scenario is well established and as you note is mostly
trouble-free. The entire chart drawing engine was changed for Office 2007,
as was font handling. I¹d be pointing my finger at 2007 touching the files
and causing problems, not 2004.

Do you have any custom chart formats saved? Have you tried applying a
custom format to the troublesome charts?

-Jim

I¹m hoping someone has a bright idea for us.

We do marketing research and usually generate reports in PowerPoint. I usually
do my work in 2004 and everyone else works in 2003/PC. There usually are no
serious problems, but sometimes there are differences in chart alignment. I am
usually blamed for anything that goes wrong. Often I go so far as to transfer
the file to 2003 myself (have a notebook PC) and save in Windows.

On a recent and very large quantitative project we worked with a client who
collaborated with us on the report. At first they loved the look of 2007
charts, but later decided that they needed everything in 2003 formats.

Somewhere along the line (very possibly because the Mac was involved) charts
inserted into PowerPoint from Excel became very ill-mannered. They look all
right until you click one. As soon as you do, fonts bunch up. Quite a few of
them immediately expand to a truly horrendous size ­ easily 5 or 6 times the
size of the slide itself.

I know this is vague and all, but does this ring a bell with anyone? Is it my
fault somehow for using a Mac on the deck even though most work was done in
either 2003 or 2007?

Is there a way to stabilize charts once they begin to behave like this?

Do we have to recreate the entire (145 slides) report?

Help?

Thanks!



Best,

Bill
Imac 2.8Ghz -10.5.1
Office 2008/2003 - Windows XP Pro SP2

--
Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

MVPs are not Microsoft Employees
MVP info

 

[Bill Weylock]

Jim -


Thanks so much for answering. This one is really giving us fits and is
damaging a client relationship that we have worked really hard to nurture
(successfully up to now).

The fact is that we really don¹t know what to do apart from starting over,
and we can¹t really afford the time and energy because of other business.

There are several different kinds of charts involved. Most are straight bar
charts, and the problem (to my eye) seems to be font compatibility as much
as anything. When I click on the chart in either 2008 or 2007 (I no longer
have 2003/4), the fonts immediately look as if they are proportionally
spaced but with no kerning... T¹s and l¹s clump together.. That sort of
thing. The bottom one or two bars will also disappear under the bottom
border of the graphics window.

I would love to try applying custom formats. Would you recommend trying to
get them back into Excel to do that or attempting it within PowerPoint. I¹m
hoping the latter.

Thanks again.


Best,


- Bill

Hi Bill,

The 2003/2004 chart scenario is well established and as you note is mostly
trouble-free. The entire chart drawing engine was changed for Office 2007, as
was font handling. I¹d be pointing my finger at 2007 touching the files and
causing problems, not 2004.

Do you have any custom chart formats saved? Have you tried applying a custom
format to the troublesome charts?

-Jim

Best,

Bill
Imac 2.8Ghz -10.5.1
Office 2008/2003 - Windows XP Pro SP2

 

[Jim Gordon MVP]

Bill,

Here¹s something from MacTopia:

If you open a document that contains charts that were created in a previous
version of Office, and then you save the document in an XML-based file
format, some of the charts might not convert to the new chart format. You
cannot edit the unconverted charts the next time you open the saved file. To
convert the other charts in the document, drag each chart to a new location,
and then drag the chart back to its original location. When selected,
converted charts show a thick blue border, and unconverted charts show a
thin black border.

The chart engine is the same for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. It¹s part of
the ³Office Core.² The core drawing engine was re-vamped for 2007/2008 and
font handling was changed, too. A lot of people really like the changes, but
I am not among them.

Another option to try is open the files in Sun Microsystem¹s OpenOffce (free
from http://www.openoffice.org) and see how they behave there.

-Jim

Jim -


Thanks so much for answering. This one is really giving us fits and is
damaging a client relationship that we have worked really hard to nurture
(successfully up to now).

The fact is that we really don¹t know what to do apart from starting over, and
we can¹t really afford the time and energy because of other business.

There are several different kinds of charts involved. Most are straight bar
charts, and the problem (to my eye) seems to be font compatibility as much as
anything. When I click on the chart in either 2008 or 2007 (I no longer have
2003/4), the fonts immediately look as if they are proportionally spaced but
with no kerning... T¹s and l¹s clump together.. That sort of thing. The bottom
one or two bars will also disappear under the bottom border of the graphics
window.

I would love to try applying custom formats. Would you recommend trying to get
them back into Excel to do that or attempting it within PowerPoint. I¹m hoping
the latter.

Thanks again.


Best,


- Bill




Best,

Bill
Imac 2.8Ghz -10.5.1
Office 2008/2003 - Windows XP Pro SP2

--
Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

MVPs are not Microsoft Employees
MVP info

 

[Bill Weylock]

I love it! Thanks. I actually do have OpenOffice but haven¹t tried it yet.
I¹ll let you know if there is any help.


Best,


- Bill

Bill,

Here¹s something from MacTopia:

If you open a document that contains charts that were created in a previous
version of Office, and then you save the document in an XML-based file format,
some of the charts might not convert to the new chart format. You cannot edit
the unconverted charts the next time you open the saved file. To convert the
other charts in the document, drag each chart to a new location, and then drag
the chart back to its original location. When selected, converted charts show
a thick blue border, and unconverted charts show a thin black border.

The chart engine is the same for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. It¹s part of the
³Office Core.² The core drawing engine was re-vamped for 2007/2008 and font
handling was changed, too. A lot of people really like the changes, but I am
not among them.

Another option to try is open the files in Sun Microsystem¹s OpenOffce (free
from http://www.openoffice.org) and see how they behave there.

-Jim

Jim -


Thanks so much for answering. This one is really giving us fits and is
damaging a client relationship that we have worked really hard to nurture
(successfully up to now).

The fact is that we really don¹t know what to do apart from starting over,
and we can¹t really afford the time and energy because of other business.

There are several different kinds of charts involved. Most are straight bar
charts, and the problem (to my eye) seems to be font compatibility as much as
anything. When I click on the chart in either 2008 or 2007 (I no longer have
2003/4), the fonts immediately look as if they are proportionally spaced but
with no kerning... T¹s and l¹s clump together.. That sort of thing. The
bottom one or two bars will also disappear under the bottom border of the
graphics window.

I would love to try applying custom formats. Would you recommend trying to
get them back into Excel to do that or attempting it within PowerPoint. I¹m
hoping the latter.

Thanks again.


Best,


- Bill

Hi Bill,

The 2003/2004 chart scenario is well established and as you note is mostly
trouble-free. The entire chart drawing engine was changed for Office 2007,
as was font handling. I¹d be pointing my finger at 2007 touching the files
and causing problems, not 2004.

Do you have any custom chart formats saved? Have you tried applying a
custom format to the troublesome charts?

-Jim


Quoting from "Bill Weylock" <[email protected]>, in article
C3D1FE2C.520DF%[email protected], on [DATE:

I¹m hoping someone has a bright idea for us.

We do marketing research and usually generate reports in PowerPoint. I
usually do my work in 2004 and everyone else works in 2003/PC. There
usually are no serious problems, but sometimes there are differences in
chart alignment. I am usually blamed for anything that goes wrong. Often I
go so far as to transfer the file to 2003 myself (have a notebook PC) and
save in Windows.

On a recent and very large quantitative project we worked with a client who
collaborated with us on the report. At first they loved the look of 2007
charts, but later decided that they needed everything in 2003 formats.

Somewhere along the line (very possibly because the Mac was involved)
charts inserted into PowerPoint from Excel became very ill-mannered. They
look all right until you click one. As soon as you do, fonts bunch up.
Quite a few of them immediately expand to a truly horrendous size ­ easily
5 or 6 times the size of the slide itself.

I know this is vague and all, but does this ring a bell with anyone? Is it
my fault somehow for using a Mac on the deck even though most work was done
in either 2003 or 2007?

Is there a way to stabilize charts once they begin to behave like this?

Do we have to recreate the entire (145 slides) report?

Help?

Thanks!



Best,

Bill
Imac 2.8Ghz -10.5.1
Office 2008/2003 - Windows XP Pro SP2

Best,

Bill
Imac 2.8Ghz -10.5.1
Office 2008/2003 - Windows XP Pro SP2

Best,

Bill
Imac 2.8Ghz -10.5.1
Office 2008/2003 - Windows XP Pro SP2

 

[Bill Weylock]

Jim -


Yep, that made it all worse!

I had hopes, but certainly no easy fix with OpenOffice.

Sure does make MS look good though.

Thanks!


Best,


- Bill

Bill,

Here¹s something from MacTopia:

If you open a document that contains charts that were created in a previous
version of Office, and then you save the document in an XML-based file format,
some of the charts might not convert to the new chart format. You cannot edit
the unconverted charts the next time you open the saved file. To convert the
other charts in the document, drag each chart to a new location, and then drag
the chart back to its original location. When selected, converted charts show
a thick blue border, and unconverted charts show a thin black border.

The chart engine is the same for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. It¹s part of the
³Office Core.² The core drawing engine was re-vamped for 2007/2008 and font
handling was changed, too. A lot of people really like the changes, but I am
not among them.

Another option to try is open the files in Sun Microsystem¹s OpenOffce (free
from http://www.openoffice.org) and see how they behave there.

-Jim

Jim -


Thanks so much for answering. This one is really giving us fits and is
damaging a client relationship that we have worked really hard to nurture
(successfully up to now).

The fact is that we really don¹t know what to do apart from starting over,
and we can¹t really afford the time and energy because of other business.

There are several different kinds of charts involved. Most are straight bar
charts, and the problem (to my eye) seems to be font compatibility as much as
anything. When I click on the chart in either 2008 or 2007 (I no longer have
2003/4), the fonts immediately look as if they are proportionally spaced but
with no kerning... T¹s and l¹s clump together.. That sort of thing. The
bottom one or two bars will also disappear under the bottom border of the
graphics window.

I would love to try applying custom formats. Would you recommend trying to
get them back into Excel to do that or attempting it within PowerPoint. I¹m
hoping the latter.

Thanks again.


Best,


- Bill

Hi Bill,

The 2003/2004 chart scenario is well established and as you note is mostly
trouble-free. The entire chart drawing engine was changed for Office 2007,
as was font handling. I¹d be pointing my finger at 2007 touching the files
and causing problems, not 2004.

Do you have any custom chart formats saved? Have you tried applying a
custom format to the troublesome charts?

-Jim


Quoting from "Bill Weylock" <[email protected]>, in article
C3D1FE2C.520DF%[email protected], on [DATE:

I¹m hoping someone has a bright idea for us.

We do marketing research and usually generate reports in PowerPoint. I
usually do my work in 2004 and everyone else works in 2003/PC. There
usually are no serious problems, but sometimes there are differences in
chart alignment. I am usually blamed for anything that goes wrong. Often I
go so far as to transfer the file to 2003 myself (have a notebook PC) and
save in Windows.

On a recent and very large quantitative project we worked with a client who
collaborated with us on the report. At first they loved the look of 2007
charts, but later decided that they needed everything in 2003 formats.

Somewhere along the line (very possibly because the Mac was involved)
charts inserted into PowerPoint from Excel became very ill-mannered. They
look all right until you click one. As soon as you do, fonts bunch up.
Quite a few of them immediately expand to a truly horrendous size ­ easily
5 or 6 times the size of the slide itself.

I know this is vague and all, but does this ring a bell with anyone? Is it
my fault somehow for using a Mac on the deck even though most work was done
in either 2003 or 2007?

Is there a way to stabilize charts once they begin to behave like this?

Do we have to recreate the entire (145 slides) report?

Help?

Thanks!



Best,

Bill
Imac 2.8Ghz -10.5.1
Office 2008/2003 - Windows XP Pro SP2

Best,

Bill
Imac 2.8Ghz -10.5.1
Office 2008/2003 - Windows XP Pro SP2

Best,

Bill
Imac 2.8Ghz -10.5.1
Office 2008/2003 - Windows XP Pro SP2

 

[Jim Gordon MVP]

Hi Bill,

Sorry that the OpenOffice suggestion didn¹t work out. Sometimes running a
file through various translators can purge it of idiosyncrasies. Not always,
though.

About the best I can suggest to you is to send feedback to Microsoft that
their current offerings are just not acceptable. Explain in specific detail
the problems you are experiencing.
http://www.microsoft.com/mac/suggestions.mspx?product=excel

It would seem a virtualization product such as Parallels is the only way to
go for your situation.

-Jim

Jim -


Yep, that made it all worse!

I had hopes, but certainly no easy fix with OpenOffice.

Sure does make MS look good though.

Thanks!


Best,


- Bill

Bill,

Here¹s something from MacTopia:

If you open a document that contains charts that were created in a previous
version of Office, and then you save the document in an XML-based file
format, some of the charts might not convert to the new chart format. You
cannot edit the unconverted charts the next time you open the saved file. To
convert the other charts in the document, drag each chart to a new location,
and then drag the chart back to its original location. When selected,
converted charts show a thick blue border, and unconverted charts show a thin
black border.

The chart engine is the same for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. It¹s part of
the ³Office Core.² The core drawing engine was re-vamped for 2007/2008 and
font handling was changed, too. A lot of people really like the changes, but
I am not among them.

Another option to try is open the files in Sun Microsystem¹s OpenOffce (free
from http://www.openoffice.org) and see how they behave there.

-Jim

Jim -


Thanks so much for answering. This one is really giving us fits and is
damaging a client relationship that we have worked really hard to nurture
(successfully up to now).

The fact is that we really don¹t know what to do apart from starting over,
and we can¹t really afford the time and energy because of other business.

There are several different kinds of charts involved. Most are straight bar
charts, and the problem (to my eye) seems to be font compatibility as much
as anything. When I click on the chart in either 2008 or 2007 (I no longer
have 2003/4), the fonts immediately look as if they are proportionally
spaced but with no kerning... T¹s and l¹s clump together.. That sort of
thing. The bottom one or two bars will also disappear under the bottom
border of the graphics window.

I would love to try applying custom formats. Would you recommend trying to
get them back into Excel to do that or attempting it within PowerPoint. I¹m
hoping the latter.

Thanks again.


Best,


- Bill


On 2/8/08 4:55 PM, in article
C3D26417.28FBC%[email protected], "Jim Gordon MVP"

Hi Bill,

The 2003/2004 chart scenario is well established and as you note is mostly
trouble-free. The entire chart drawing engine was changed for Office 2007,
as was font handling. I¹d be pointing my finger at 2007 touching the files
and causing problems, not 2004.

Do you have any custom chart formats saved? Have you tried applying a
custom format to the troublesome charts?

-Jim


Quoting from "Bill Weylock" <[email protected]>, in article
C3D1FE2C.520DF%[email protected], on [DATE:

I¹m hoping someone has a bright idea for us.

We do marketing research and usually generate reports in PowerPoint. I
usually do my work in 2004 and everyone else works in 2003/PC. There
usually are no serious problems, but sometimes there are differences in
chart alignment. I am usually blamed for anything that goes wrong. Often I
go so far as to transfer the file to 2003 myself (have a notebook PC) and
save in Windows.

On a recent and very large quantitative project we worked with a client
who collaborated with us on the report. At first they loved the look of
2007 charts, but later decided that they needed everything in 2003
formats.

Somewhere along the line (very possibly because the Mac was involved)
charts inserted into PowerPoint from Excel became very ill-mannered. They
look all right until you click one. As soon as you do, fonts bunch up.
Quite a few of them immediately expand to a truly horrendous size ­ easily
5 or 6 times the size of the slide itself.

I know this is vague and all, but does this ring a bell with anyone? Is it
my fault somehow for using a Mac on the deck even though most work was
done in either 2003 or 2007?

Is there a way to stabilize charts once they begin to behave like this?

Do we have to recreate the entire (145 slides) report?

Help?

Thanks!



Best,

Bill
Imac 2.8Ghz -10.5.1
Office 2008/2003 - Windows XP Pro SP2





Best,

Bill
Imac 2.8Ghz -10.5.1
Office 2008/2003 - Windows XP Pro SP2

Best,

Bill
Imac 2.8Ghz -10.5.1
Office 2008/2003 - Windows XP Pro SP2

--
Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

MVPs are not Microsoft Employees
MVP info

 

[Bill Weylock]

Thanks, Jim.

We were actually reduced to giving the clients an Excel document with all of
the data used to build each chart. That way they can generate their own if
they don¹t like ours. Ours are all right as long as they don¹t try to edit
them. Then they turn into monstrosities.

The truth is that the PowerPoint went back and forth between us and the
clients (yes several different players on both sides) and was translated at
different times from Office 2003 to Office 2007 to Office 2004.... As if
that alone weren¹t bad enough, I¹m sure people had different font setups and
possibly screen resolution issues.

We have (I have) just set firm policy that we will never again exchange a
master file with a client. We keep one intact that stays on one machine and
is edited in response to notes, not over-written.

It¹s a pain of course, since accepting and rejecting revisions is the only
sane approach to collaboration. But it¹s worth it to ensure this never
happens again.


Best,


- Bill

Hi Bill,

Sorry that the OpenOffice suggestion didn¹t work out. Sometimes running a
file through various translators can purge it of idiosyncrasies. Not always,
though.

About the best I can suggest to you is to send feedback to Microsoft that
their current offerings are just not acceptable. Explain in specific detail
the problems you are experiencing.
http://www.microsoft.com/mac/suggestions.mspx?product=excel

It would seem a virtualization product such as Parallels is the only way to go
for your situation.

-Jim

Jim -


Yep, that made it all worse!

I had hopes, but certainly no easy fix with OpenOffice.

Sure does make MS look good though.

Thanks!


Best,


- Bill

Bill,

Here¹s something from MacTopia:

If you open a document that contains charts that were created in a previous
version of Office, and then you save the document in an XML-based file
format, some of the charts might not convert to the new chart format. You
cannot edit the unconverted charts the next time you open the saved file. To
convert the other charts in the document, drag each chart to a new location,
and then drag the chart back to its original location. When selected,
converted charts show a thick blue border, and unconverted charts show a
thin black border.

The chart engine is the same for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. It¹s part of
the ³Office Core.² The core drawing engine was re-vamped for 2007/2008 and
font handling was changed, too. A lot of people really like the changes, but
I am not among them.

Another option to try is open the files in Sun Microsystem¹s OpenOffce (free
from http://www.openoffice.org) and see how they behave there.

-Jim




Quoting from "Bill Weylock" <[email protected]>, in article
C3D32165.5216A%[email protected], on [DATE:

Jim -


Thanks so much for answering. This one is really giving us fits and is
damaging a client relationship that we have worked really hard to nurture
(successfully up to now).

The fact is that we really don¹t know what to do apart from starting over,
and we can¹t really afford the time and energy because of other business.

There are several different kinds of charts involved. Most are straight bar
charts, and the problem (to my eye) seems to be font compatibility as much
as anything. When I click on the chart in either 2008 or 2007 (I no longer
have 2003/4), the fonts immediately look as if they are proportionally
spaced but with no kerning... T¹s and l¹s clump together.. That sort of
thing. The bottom one or two bars will also disappear under the bottom
border of the graphics window.

I would love to try applying custom formats. Would you recommend trying to
get them back into Excel to do that or attempting it within PowerPoint. I¹m
hoping the latter.

Thanks again.


Best,


- Bill


On 2/8/08 4:55 PM, in article
C3D26417.28FBC%[email protected], "Jim Gordon MVP"

Hi Bill,

The 2003/2004 chart scenario is well established and as you note is mostly
trouble-free. The entire chart drawing engine was changed for Office
2007, as was font handling. I¹d be pointing my finger at 2007 touching the
files and causing problems, not 2004.

Do you have any custom chart formats saved? Have you tried applying a
custom format to the troublesome charts?

-Jim


Quoting from "Bill Weylock" <[email protected]>, in article
C3D1FE2C.520DF%[email protected], on [DATE:

I¹m hoping someone has a bright idea for us.

We do marketing research and usually generate reports in PowerPoint. I
usually do my work in 2004 and everyone else works in 2003/PC. There
usually are no serious problems, but sometimes there are differences in
chart alignment. I am usually blamed for anything that goes wrong. Often
I go so far as to transfer the file to 2003 myself (have a notebook PC)
and save in Windows.

On a recent and very large quantitative project we worked with a client
who collaborated with us on the report. At first they loved the look of
2007 charts, but later decided that they needed everything in 2003
formats.

Somewhere along the line (very possibly because the Mac was involved)
charts inserted into PowerPoint from Excel became very ill-mannered. They
look all right until you click one. As soon as you do, fonts bunch up.
Quite a few of them immediately expand to a truly horrendous size ­
easily 5 or 6 times the size of the slide itself.

I know this is vague and all, but does this ring a bell with anyone? Is
it my fault somehow for using a Mac on the deck even though most work was
done in either 2003 or 2007?

Is there a way to stabilize charts once they begin to behave like this?

Do we have to recreate the entire (145 slides) report?

Help?

Thanks!



Best,

Bill
Imac 2.8Ghz -10.5.1
Office 2008/2003 - Windows XP Pro SP2





Best,

Bill
Imac 2.8Ghz -10.5.1
Office 2008/2003 - Windows XP Pro SP2





Best,

Bill
Imac 2.8Ghz -10.5.1
Office 2008/2003 - Windows XP Pro SP2

Best,

Bill
Imac 2.8Ghz -10.5.1
Office 2008/2003 - Windows XP Pro SP2

 

[Jim Gordon MVP]

Hi Bill,

That¹s a sane policy (for your own sake!). Unfortunately, in your case,
reality is the opposite of the Microsoft hype about file compatibility being
good. Your approach is sensible.

-Jim

Thanks, Jim.

We were actually reduced to giving the clients an Excel document with all of
the data used to build each chart. That way they can generate their own if
they don¹t like ours. Ours are all right as long as they don¹t try to edit
them. Then they turn into monstrosities.

The truth is that the PowerPoint went back and forth between us and the
clients (yes several different players on both sides) and was translated at
different times from Office 2003 to Office 2007 to Office 2004.... As if that
alone weren¹t bad enough, I¹m sure people had different font setups and
possibly screen resolution issues.

We have (I have) just set firm policy that we will never again exchange a
master file with a client. We keep one intact that stays on one machine and is
edited in response to notes, not over-written.

It¹s a pain of course, since accepting and rejecting revisions is the only
sane approach to collaboration. But it¹s worth it to ensure this never happens
again.


Best,


- Bill

Hi Bill,

Sorry that the OpenOffice suggestion didn¹t work out. Sometimes running a
file through various translators can purge it of idiosyncrasies. Not always,
though.

About the best I can suggest to you is to send feedback to Microsoft that
their current offerings are just not acceptable. Explain in specific detail
the problems you are experiencing.
http://www.microsoft.com/mac/suggestions.mspx?product=excel

It would seem a virtualization product such as Parallels is the only way to
go for your situation.

-Jim

Jim -


Yep, that made it all worse!

I had hopes, but certainly no easy fix with OpenOffice.

Sure does make MS look good though.

Thanks!


Best,


- Bill


On 2/9/08 12:19 PM, in article
C3D374F0.2905A%[email protected], "Jim Gordon MVP"

Bill,

Here¹s something from MacTopia:

If you open a document that contains charts that were created in a previous
version of Office, and then you save the document in an XML-based file
format, some of the charts might not convert to the new chart format. You
cannot edit the unconverted charts the next time you open the saved file.
To convert the other charts in the document, drag each chart to a new
location, and then drag the chart back to its original location. When
selected, converted charts show a thick blue border, and unconverted charts
show a thin black border.

The chart engine is the same for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. It¹s part of
the ³Office Core.² The core drawing engine was re-vamped for 2007/2008 and
font handling was changed, too. A lot of people really like the changes,
but I am not among them.

Another option to try is open the files in Sun Microsystem¹s OpenOffce
(free from http://www.openoffice.org) and see how they behave there.

-Jim




Quoting from "Bill Weylock" <[email protected]>, in article
C3D32165.5216A%[email protected], on [DATE:

Jim -


Thanks so much for answering. This one is really giving us fits and is
damaging a client relationship that we have worked really hard to nurture
(successfully up to now).

The fact is that we really don¹t know what to do apart from starting over,
and we can¹t really afford the time and energy because of other business.

There are several different kinds of charts involved. Most are straight
bar charts, and the problem (to my eye) seems to be font compatibility as
much as anything. When I click on the chart in either 2008 or 2007 (I no
longer have 2003/4), the fonts immediately look as if they are
proportionally spaced but with no kerning... T¹s and l¹s clump together..
That sort of thing. The bottom one or two bars will also disappear under
the bottom border of the graphics window.

I would love to try applying custom formats. Would you recommend trying to
get them back into Excel to do that or attempting it within PowerPoint.
I¹m hoping the latter.

Thanks again.


Best,


- Bill


On 2/8/08 4:55 PM, in article
C3D26417.28FBC%[email protected], "Jim Gordon MVP"

Hi Bill,

The 2003/2004 chart scenario is well established and as you note is
mostly trouble-free. The entire chart drawing engine was changed for
Office 2007, as was font handling. I¹d be pointing my finger at 2007
touching the files and causing problems, not 2004.

Do you have any custom chart formats saved? Have you tried applying a
custom format to the troublesome charts?

-Jim


Quoting from "Bill Weylock" <[email protected]>, in article
C3D1FE2C.520DF%[email protected], on [DATE:

I¹m hoping someone has a bright idea for us.

We do marketing research and usually generate reports in PowerPoint. I
usually do my work in 2004 and everyone else works in 2003/PC. There
usually are no serious problems, but sometimes there are differences in
chart alignment. I am usually blamed for anything that goes wrong. Often
I go so far as to transfer the file to 2003 myself (have a notebook PC)
and save in Windows.

On a recent and very large quantitative project we worked with a client
who collaborated with us on the report. At first they loved the look of
2007 charts, but later decided that they needed everything in 2003
formats.

Somewhere along the line (very possibly because the Mac was involved)
charts inserted into PowerPoint from Excel became very ill-mannered.
They look all right until you click one. As soon as you do, fonts bunch
up. Quite a few of them immediately expand to a truly horrendous size ­
easily 5 or 6 times the size of the slide itself.

I know this is vague and all, but does this ring a bell with anyone? Is
it my fault somehow for using a Mac on the deck even though most work
was done in either 2003 or 2007?

Is there a way to stabilize charts once they begin to behave like this?

Do we have to recreate the entire (145 slides) report?

Help?

Thanks!



Best,

Bill
Imac 2.8Ghz -10.5.1
Office 2008/2003 - Windows XP Pro SP2





Best,

Bill
Imac 2.8Ghz -10.5.1
Office 2008/2003 - Windows XP Pro SP2





Best,

Bill
Imac 2.8Ghz -10.5.1
Office 2008/2003 - Windows XP Pro SP2

Best,

Bill
Imac 2.8Ghz -10.5.1
Office 2008/2003 - Windows XP Pro SP2

--
Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

MVPs are not Microsoft Employees
MVP info

 

[Bill Weylock]

Jim -


I think PowerPoint remains the least stable and most quirky piece of the
suite.

But you know the really sad thing? I am gradually being converted to a
Windows user through all of this.

Everything in Office Windows is so much better engineered and thought out...
Although I can¹t say I love having functions hidden under tabs ...


Best,


- Bill

Hi Bill,

That¹s a sane policy (for your own sake!). Unfortunately, in your case,
reality is the opposite of the Microsoft hype about file compatibility being
good. Your approach is sensible.

-Jim

Thanks, Jim.

We were actually reduced to giving the clients an Excel document with all of
the data used to build each chart. That way they can generate their own if
they don¹t like ours. Ours are all right as long as they don¹t try to edit
them. Then they turn into monstrosities.

The truth is that the PowerPoint went back and forth between us and the
clients (yes several different players on both sides) and was translated at
different times from Office 2003 to Office 2007 to Office 2004.... As if that
alone weren¹t bad enough, I¹m sure people had different font setups and
possibly screen resolution issues.

We have (I have) just set firm policy that we will never again exchange a
master file with a client. We keep one intact that stays on one machine and
is edited in response to notes, not over-written.

It¹s a pain of course, since accepting and rejecting revisions is the only
sane approach to collaboration. But it¹s worth it to ensure this never
happens again.


Best,


- Bill

Hi Bill,

Sorry that the OpenOffice suggestion didn¹t work out. Sometimes running a
file through various translators can purge it of idiosyncrasies. Not always,
though.

About the best I can suggest to you is to send feedback to Microsoft that
their current offerings are just not acceptable. Explain in specific detail
the problems you are experiencing.
http://www.microsoft.com/mac/suggestions.mspx?product=excel

It would seem a virtualization product such as Parallels is the only way to
go for your situation.

-Jim


Quoting from "Bill Weylock" <[email protected]>, in article
C3D4B146.52523%[email protected], on [DATE:

Jim -


Yep, that made it all worse!

I had hopes, but certainly no easy fix with OpenOffice.

Sure does make MS look good though.

Thanks!


Best,


- Bill


On 2/9/08 12:19 PM, in article
C3D374F0.2905A%[email protected], "Jim Gordon MVP"

Bill,

Here¹s something from MacTopia:

If you open a document that contains charts that were created in a
previous version of Office, and then you save the document in an XML-based
file format, some of the charts might not convert to the new chart format.
You cannot edit the unconverted charts the next time you open the saved
file. To convert the other charts in the document, drag each chart to a
new loca tion, and then drag the chart back to its original location. When
selected, converted charts show a thick blue border, and unconverted
charts show a thin black border.

The chart engine is the same for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. It¹s part of
the ³Office Core.² The core drawing engine was re-vamped for 2007/2008 and
font handling was changed, too. A lot of people really like the changes,
but I am not among them.

Another option to try is open the files in Sun Microsystem¹s OpenOffce
(free from http://www.openoffice.org) and see how they behave there.

-Jim




Quoting from "Bill Weylock" <[email protected]>, in article
C3D32165.5216A%[email protected], on [DATE:

Jim -


Thanks so much for answering. This one is really giving us fits and is
damaging a client relationship that we have worked really hard to nurture
(successfully up to now).

The fact is that we really don¹t know what to do apart from starting
over, and we can¹t really afford the time and energy because of other
business.

There are several different kinds of charts involved. Most are straight
bar charts, and the problem (to my eye) seems to be font compatibility as
much as anything. When I click on the chart in either 2008 or 2007 (I no
longer have 2003/4), the fonts immediately look as if they are
proportionally spaced but with no kerning... T¹s and l¹s clump together..
That sort of thing. The bottom one or two bars will also disappear under
the bottom border of the graphics window.

I would love to try applying custom formats. Would you recommend trying
to get them back into Excel to do that or attempting it within
PowerPoint. I¹m hoping the latter.

Thanks again.


Best,


- Bill


On 2/8/08 4:55 PM, in article
C3D26417.28FBC%[email protected], "Jim Gordon MVP"

Hi Bill,

The 2003/2004 chart scenario is well established and as you note is
mostly trouble-free. The entire chart drawing engine was changed for
Office 2007, as was font handling. I¹d be pointing my finger at 2007
touching the files and causing problems, not 2004.

Do you have any custom chart formats saved? Have you tried applying a
custom format to the troublesome charts?

-Jim


Quoting from "Bill Weylock" <[email protected]>, in article
C3D1FE2C.520DF%[email protected], on [DATE:

I¹m hoping someone has a bright idea for us.

We do marketing research and usually generate reports in PowerPoint. I
usually do my work in 2004 and everyone else works in 2003/PC. There usually
are no serious problems, but sometimes there are differences in chart
alignment. I am usually blamed for anything that goes wrong. Often I go so
far as to transfer the file to 2003 myself (have a notebook PC) and save in
Windows.

On a recent and very large quantitative project we worked with a client who
collaborated with us on the report. At first they loved the look of 2007
charts, but later decided that they needed everything in 2003 formats.

Somewhere along the line (very possibly because the Mac was involved) charts
inserted into PowerPoint from Excel became very ill-mannered. They look all
right until you click one. As soon as you do, fonts bunch up. Quite a few of
them immediately expand to a truly horrendous size ­ easily 5 or 6 times the
size of the slide itself.

I know this is vague and all, but does this ring a bell with anyone? Is it my
fault somehow for using a Mac on the deck even though most work was done in
either 2003 or 2007?

Is there a way to stabilize charts once they begin to behave like this?

Do we have to recreate the entire (145 slides) report?

Help?

Thanks!



Best,

Bill
Imac 2.8Ghz -10.5.1
Office 2008/2003 - Windows XP Pro SP2

Best,

Bill
Imac 2.8Ghz -10.5.1
Office 2008/2003 - Windows XP Pro SP2





Best,

Bill
Imac 2.8Ghz -10.5.1
Office 2008/2003 - Windows XP Pro SP2





Best,

Bill
Imac 2.8Ghz -10.5.1
Office 2008/2003 - Windows XP Pro SP2

Best,

Bill
Imac 2.8Ghz -10.5.1
Office 2008/2003 - Windows XP Pro SP2

 

[Jim Gordon MVP]

Bill,

Office is such a comprehensive collection of features and functions it¹s
hard to say which version is best. Each organization and individual has to
make an assessment and make decisions.

Generalizations are nearly impossible, but I¹ll give you my own impression.
To me, on the whole the best version of any office product on Macs or PCs is
Microsoft Office 2004 on the Mac. I think it is the most reliable, best set
of features, best UI, and is the best cross-platform (far from perfect, mind
you) version of anything produced so far on either platform.

Each current version of office on the market right now has aspects at which
it excels and aspects at which I find them to be deficient or behave in ways
I consider objectionable. There¹s no single product that has everything, or
even most of the things I think most people would consider important,
³right.²

Everyone¹s situation is different. I can see why a lot of people love Office
2008 and 2007. I¹m not among them. My needs are not met by these products.
OpenOffice and NeoOffice have grown to be outstanding competitors to
Microsoft¹s product. A year ago I would have called them unusable.

I¹ve thought about trying to put together some sort of chart to point out
the strengths and weaknesses of each suite or cross-platform pair
(2003/2004, OpenOffice/NeoOffice, 2007/2008), but there are so many factors
that it¹s an impossible task.

I¹m frustrated by the situation that I think there is not a product for the
Mac that is compatible enough with windows office. My friends at Microsoft
will probably disagree and point out many ways in which Office 2008 is
compatible. For a large percentage of people 2008 will be fine, but not for
me.

For you, I¹d recommend settling on a single version of Office to use
throughout your collaboration circle. It will probably be a challenge to get
agreement as to which brand and version is the ³best² one even if you decide
to be on a single platform.

-Jim

Jim -


I think PowerPoint remains the least stable and most quirky piece of the
suite.

But you know the really sad thing? I am gradually being converted to a Windows
user through all of this.

Everything in Office Windows is so much better engineered and thought out...
Although I can¹t say I love having functions hidden under tabs ...

Best,


- Bill

Hi Bill,

That¹s a sane policy (for your own sake!). Unfortunately, in your case,
reality is the opposite of the Microsoft hype about file compatibility being
good. Your approach is sensible.

-Jim

Thanks, Jim.

We were actually reduced to giving the clients an Excel document with all of
the data used to build each chart. That way they can generate their own if
they don¹t like ours. Ours are all right as long as they don¹t try to edit
them. Then they turn into monstrosities.

The truth is that the PowerPoint went back and forth between us and the
clients (yes several different players on both sides) and was translated at
different times from Office 2003 to Office 2007 to Office 2004.... As if
that alone weren¹t bad enough, I¹m sure people had different font setups and
possibly screen resolution issues.

We have (I have) just set firm policy that we will never again exchange a
master file with a client. We keep one intact that stays on one machine and
is edited in response to notes, not over-written.

It¹s a pain of course, since accepting and rejecting revisions is the only
sane approach to collaboration. But it¹s worth it to ensure this never
happens again.


Best,


- Bill


On 2/11/08 7:01 PM, in article
C3D67639.29265%[email protected], "Jim Gordon MVP"

Hi Bill,

Sorry that the OpenOffice suggestion didn¹t work out. Sometimes running a
file through various translators can purge it of idiosyncrasies. Not
always, though.

About the best I can suggest to you is to send feedback to Microsoft that
their current offerings are just not acceptable. Explain in specific detail
the problems you are experiencing.
http://www.microsoft.com/mac/suggestions.mspx?product=excel

It would seem a virtualization product such as Parallels is the only way to
go for your situation.

-Jim


Quoting from "Bill Weylock" <[email protected]>, in article
C3D4B146.52523%[email protected], on [DATE:

Jim -


Yep, that made it all worse!

I had hopes, but certainly no easy fix with OpenOffice.

Sure does make MS look good though.

Thanks!


Best,


- Bill


On 2/9/08 12:19 PM, in article
C3D374F0.2905A%[email protected], "Jim Gordon MVP"

Bill,

Here¹s something from MacTopia:

If you open a document that contains charts that were created in a
previous version of Office, and then you save the document in an
XML-based file format, some of the charts might not convert to the new
chart format. You cannot edit the unconverted charts the next time you
open the saved file. To convert the other charts in the document, drag
each chart to a new loca tion, and then drag the chart back to its
original location. When selected, converted charts show a thick blue
border, and unconverted charts show a thin black border.

The chart engine is the same for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. It¹s part
of the ³Office Core.² The core drawing engine was re-vamped for 2007/2008
and font handling was changed, too. A lot of people really like the
changes, but I am not among them.

Another option to try is open the files in Sun Microsystem¹s OpenOffce
(free from http://www.openoffice.org) and see how they behave there.

-Jim




Quoting from "Bill Weylock" <[email protected]>, in article
C3D32165.5216A%[email protected], on [DATE:

Jim -


Thanks so much for answering. This one is really giving us fits and is
damaging a client relationship that we have worked really hard to
nurture (successfully up to now).

The fact is that we really don¹t know what to do apart from starting
over, and we can¹t really afford the time and energy because of other
business.

There are several different kinds of charts involved. Most are straight
bar charts, and the problem (to my eye) seems to be font compatibility
as much as anything. When I click on the chart in either 2008 or 2007 (I
no longer have 2003/4), the fonts immediately look as if they are
proportionally spaced but with no kerning... T¹s and l¹s clump
together.. That sort of thing. The bottom one or two bars will also
disappear under the bottom border of the graphics window.

I would love to try applying custom formats. Would you recommend trying
to get them back into Excel to do that or attempting it within
PowerPoint. I¹m hoping the latter.

Thanks again.


Best,


- Bill


On 2/8/08 4:55 PM, in article
C3D26417.28FBC%[email protected], "Jim Gordon MVP"

Hi Bill,

The 2003/2004 chart scenario is well established and as you note is mostly
trouble-free. The entire chart drawing engine was changed for Office 2007,
as was font handling. I¹d be pointing my finger at 2007 touching the files
and causing problems, not 2004.

Do you have any custom chart formats saved? Have you tried applying a
custom format to the troublesome charts?

-Jim

I¹m hoping someone has a bright idea for us.

We do marketing research and usually generate reports in PowerPoint. I usually
do my work in 2004 and everyone else works in 2003/PC. There usually are no
serious problems, but sometimes there are differences in chart alignment. I am
usually blamed for anything that goes wrong. Often I go so far as to transfer
the file to 2003 myself (have a notebook PC) and save in Windows.

On a recent and very large quantitative project we worked with a client who
collaborated with us on the report. At first they loved the look of 2007
charts, but later decided that they needed everything in 2003 formats.

Somewhere along the line (very possibly because the Mac was involved) charts
inserted into PowerPoint from Excel became very ill-mannered. They look all
right until you click one. As soon as you do, fonts bunch up. Quite a few of
them immediately expand to a truly horrendous size ­ easily 5 or 6 times the
size of the slide itself.

I know this is vague and all, but does this ring a bell with anyone? Is it my
fault somehow for using a Mac on the deck even though most work was done in
either 2003 or 2007?

Is there a way to stabilize charts once they begin to behave like this?

Do we have to recreate the entire (145 slides) report?

Help?

Thanks!



Best,

Bill
Imac 2.8Ghz -10.5.1
Office 2008/2003 - Windows XP Pro SP2




Best,

Bill
Imac 2.8Ghz -10.5.1
Office 2008/2003 - Windows XP Pro SP2

--
Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

MVPs are not Microsoft Employees
MVP info