PowerPoint 2007 Problem

[Vance Renninger]

I have a PowerPoint slide-show (coldmkt.ppt) that was created using
PowerPoint 2003. The file views correctly (in both edit mode & slideshow
mode) in PowerPoint 2000, PowerPoint 2002(xp), and PowerPoint 2003. Three
different version, on three different computers.

However, when I view the document (in either edit-mode, or slideshow mode)
in PowerPoint 2007 (on a 4th machine), the text for the various text-boxes
are all over the place. Most of the time, the text is above the text-box
(when in edit-mode). When switched to slide-show mode, the text displayed
above the text-box is cut-off.

I have tried changing the internal margins of the text-box, adjusting the
paragraph spacing, etc., to no avail. The closest I get is the document
looks fine in edit-mode, but when viewed in slide-show mode, the text is
again cut off.

I am using Arial for my text-box font, which is pretty standard.

Now, here is what really is bazaar. I can open the slide-show in PowerPoint
2007, package the slideshow into a folder, and then using the PowerPoint
viewer (that is stored in the folder) to view the slide-show. And everything
looks as it should. On the same machine.

I have tried saving and converting the file to the new format, back to the
old format, etc., and nothing seams to correct the viewing issue.

I don't care how it looks on my machine, I just want it to be viewed
"consistently" (regardless of the version of Powerpoint) when sent (as a .ppt
file) to our customers, suppliers, etc.

Any ideas on what setting I may need to change within the document itself to
get it to view correctly in PowerPoint 2007?

 

[Echo S]

Hi, Vance -- I'd love to see a sample of the presentation if you can email
it. I'd like to open it in the various viewers and PPT and see what all
differs.

I don't know that I'll be able to come up with anything for you, but it may
be worth a shot. Email address is echos at indy dot net

Oh, and the reason the Package for CD thing makes it work is Package for CD
in 2007 actually converts the file to a 97-2003 format file and opens it with
the equivalent of the 2003 Viewer.

 

[Vance Renninger]

Yes. This would be very helpful!

Please post your e-mail address so I can forward you a copy of the
slide-show. Or, if you rather, send an e-mail to my address at
(e-mail address removed) and I will perform a direct reply with
Powerpoint as the attachment.

Hi, Vance -- I'd love to see a sample of the presentation if you can email
it. I'd like to open it in the various viewers and PPT and see what all
differs.

I don't know that I'll be able to come up with anything for you, but it may
be worth a shot. Email address is echos at indy dot net

Oh, and the reason the Package for CD thing makes it work is Package for CD
in 2007 actually converts the file to a 97-2003 format file and opens it with
the equivalent of the 2003 Viewer.

--
Echo [MS PPT MVP] http://www.echosvoice.com
Fixing PowerPoint Annoyances http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/powerpointannoy/
PPTLive! San Diego, September 17-20 http://www.pptlive.com

I have a PowerPoint slide-show (coldmkt.ppt) that was created using
PowerPoint 2003. The file views correctly (in both edit mode & slideshow
mode) in PowerPoint 2000, PowerPoint 2002(xp), and PowerPoint 2003. Three
different version, on three different computers.

However, when I view the document (in either edit-mode, or slideshow mode)
in PowerPoint 2007 (on a 4th machine), the text for the various text-boxes
are all over the place. Most of the time, the text is above the text-box
(when in edit-mode). When switched to slide-show mode, the text displayed
above the text-box is cut-off.

I have tried changing the internal margins of the text-box, adjusting the
paragraph spacing, etc., to no avail. The closest I get is the document
looks fine in edit-mode, but when viewed in slide-show mode, the text is
again cut off.

I am using Arial for my text-box font, which is pretty standard.

Now, here is what really is bazaar. I can open the slide-show in PowerPoint
2007, package the slideshow into a folder, and then using the PowerPoint
viewer (that is stored in the folder) to view the slide-show. And everything
looks as it should. On the same machine.

I have tried saving and converting the file to the new format, back to the
old format, etc., and nothing seams to correct the viewing issue.

I don't care how it looks on my machine, I just want it to be viewed
"consistently" (regardless of the version of Powerpoint) when sent (as a .ppt
file) to our customers, suppliers, etc.

Any ideas on what setting I may need to change within the document itself to
get it to view correctly in PowerPoint 2007?

 

[Echo S]

I did post it below.

Email address is echos at indy dot net

Of course, you need to replace "at" with @ and "dot" with a period.

--
Echo [MS PPT MVP] http://www.echosvoice.com
What's new in PPT 2007? http://www.echosvoice.com/2007.htm
Fixing PowerPoint Annoyances http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/powerpointannoy/

Yes. This would be very helpful!

Please post your e-mail address so I can forward you a copy of the
slide-show. Or, if you rather, send an e-mail to my address at
(e-mail address removed) and I will perform a direct reply with
Powerpoint as the attachment.

Hi, Vance -- I'd love to see a sample of the presentation if you can
email
it. I'd like to open it in the various viewers and PPT and see what all
differs.

I don't know that I'll be able to come up with anything for you, but it
may
be worth a shot. Email address is echos at indy dot net

Oh, and the reason the Package for CD thing makes it work is Package for
CD
in 2007 actually converts the file to a 97-2003 format file and opens it
with
the equivalent of the 2003 Viewer.

--
Echo [MS PPT MVP] http://www.echosvoice.com
Fixing PowerPoint Annoyances
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/powerpointannoy/
PPTLive! San Diego, September 17-20 http://www.pptlive.com

I have a PowerPoint slide-show (coldmkt.ppt) that was created using
PowerPoint 2003. The file views correctly (in both edit mode &
slideshow
mode) in PowerPoint 2000, PowerPoint 2002(xp), and PowerPoint 2003.
Three
different version, on three different computers.

However, when I view the document (in either edit-mode, or slideshow
mode)
in PowerPoint 2007 (on a 4th machine), the text for the various
text-boxes
are all over the place. Most of the time, the text is above the
text-box
(when in edit-mode). When switched to slide-show mode, the text
displayed
above the text-box is cut-off.

I have tried changing the internal margins of the text-box, adjusting
the
paragraph spacing, etc., to no avail. The closest I get is the
document
looks fine in edit-mode, but when viewed in slide-show mode, the text
is
again cut off.

I am using Arial for my text-box font, which is pretty standard.

Now, here is what really is bazaar. I can open the slide-show in
PowerPoint
2007, package the slideshow into a folder, and then using the
PowerPoint
viewer (that is stored in the folder) to view the slide-show. And
everything
looks as it should. On the same machine.

I have tried saving and converting the file to the new format, back to
the
old format, etc., and nothing seams to correct the viewing issue.

I don't care how it looks on my machine, I just want it to be viewed
"consistently" (regardless of the version of Powerpoint) when sent (as
a .ppt
file) to our customers, suppliers, etc.

Any ideas on what setting I may need to change within the document
itself to
get it to view correctly in PowerPoint 2007?

 

[lewishooper]

I did post it below.

Email address is echos at indy dot net

Of course, you need to replace "at" with @ and "dot" with a period.

--
Echo [MS PPT MVP]http://www.echosvoice.com
What's new in PPT 2007?http://www.echosvoice.com/2007.htm
Fixing PowerPoint Annoyanceshttp://www.oreilly.com/catalog/powerpointannoy/

Yes. This would be very helpful!

Please post your e-mail address so I can forward you a copy of the
slide-show. Or, if you rather, send an e-mail to my address at
(e-mail address removed) and I will perform a direct reply with
Powerpoint as the attachment.

Hi, Vance -- I'd love to see a sample of the presentation if you can
email
it. I'd like to open it in the various viewers and PPT and see what all
differs.
I don't know that I'll be able to come up with anything for you, but it
may
be worth a shot. Email address is echos at indy dot net
Oh, and the reason the Package for CD thing makes it work is Package for
CD
in 2007 actually converts the file to a 97-2003 format file and opens it
with
the equivalent of the 2003 Viewer.
--
Echo [MS PPT MVP]http://www.echosvoice.com
Fixing PowerPoint Annoyances
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/powerpointannoy/
PPTLive! San Diego, September 17-20http://www.pptlive.com
:
I have a PowerPoint slide-show (coldmkt.ppt) that was created using
PowerPoint 2003. The file views correctly (in both edit mode &
slideshow
mode) in PowerPoint 2000, PowerPoint 2002(xp), and PowerPoint 2003.
Three
different version, on three different computers.
However, when I view the document (in either edit-mode, or slideshow
mode)
in PowerPoint 2007 (on a 4th machine), the text for the various
text-boxes
are all over the place. Most of the time, the text is above the
text-box
(when in edit-mode). When switched to slide-show mode, the text
displayed
above the text-box is cut-off.
I have tried changing the internal margins of the text-box, adjusting
the
paragraph spacing, etc., to no avail. The closest I get is the
document
looks fine in edit-mode, but when viewed in slide-show mode, the text
is
again cut off.
I am using Arial for my text-box font, which is pretty standard.
Now, here is what really is bazaar. I can open the slide-show in
PowerPoint
2007, package the slideshow into a folder, and then using the
PowerPoint
viewer (that is stored in the folder) to view the slide-show. And
everything
looks as it should. On the same machine.
I have tried saving and converting the file to the new format, back to
the
old format, etc., and nothing seams to correct the viewing issue.
I don't care how it looks on my machine, I just want it to be viewed
"consistently" (regardless of the version of Powerpoint) when sent (as
a .ppt
file) to our customers, suppliers, etc.
Any ideas on what setting I may need to change within the document
itself to
get it to view correctly in PowerPoint 2007?

I have a similar problem particularly for slides coming from either
Powerpoint 2003 or from MindJet MindManager, but I have a work arround
for the MindManager problem.

If you select all the slides and then hit the reset button on the home
ribbon. The erroneous alignment corrects itself.

this is not as successful in correcting problems from Powerpoint 2003.
But it gets some of the issues, and more can be fixed by using the
master slide
Anything reasonable creative in 2003 seems to get distorted in 2007

 

[Echo S]

I have a similar problem particularly for slides coming from either
Powerpoint 2003 or from MindJet MindManager, but I have a work arround
for the MindManager problem.

If you select all the slides and then hit the reset button on the home
ribbon. The erroneous alignment corrects itself.

this is not as successful in correcting problems from Powerpoint 2003.
But it gets some of the issues, and more can be fixed by using the
master slide
Anything reasonable creative in 2003 seems to get distorted in 2007

Ah, very interesting -- thanks for posting it!

Just as an aside...

One thing to note is we're seeing a bunch of similar-sounding threads that
actually discuss different problems. There are some display issues that seem
to come to light when older files are opened in PPT 2007. There are some
different ones that come to light when an older-version file is viewed with
the PPT 2007 Viewer, and possibly others when a 2007 file is backsaved and
viewed in the 2003 Viewer. And there may be yet more when a 2007 file is
packaged for CD, because that backsaves the file as a 2003 format and uses
yet a different PPT 2007 Viewer to run the file. (Yes, it makes my head
spin. When I start spewing pea soup, run for your life!)

For PPT 2007 display issues, you first want to update the printer driver to
a certified driver. It sounds weird, I know, but apparently PPT 2007 relies
on the printer driver more heavily than previous versions of PPT did. See
PowerPoint 2007 text, print, crash problems
http://www.pptfaq.com/FAQ00850.htm for info on this.

If you're opening an older file in the PPT 2007 Viewer, first make sure you
have the latest Viewer downloaded and installed. (This isn't the same one
that shipped with PowerPoint 2007.) Get it here:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...40-14E1-467D-8DCA-19D2A8FD7485&displaylang=en
If the file is still displaying oddly (usually manifested as missing
graphics or text), then open the file in PPT 2003 and round-trip it through
HTML as described here: http://www.pptworkbench.com/html/round_trip.htm
(Basically, save as HTML to your harddrive, then open the HTM file and
re-save as a PPT file.) This seems to clear out some oddball issues and let
the older file display properly in the 2007 Viewer.

As for the package for CD, I'm not sure there's a good resolution for that
one yet. I babbled about it a bit here:
http://groups.google.com/group/micr...5e2f6ed3e69?lnk=st&q=&rnum=2#5116d5e2f6ed3e69

 

[Chile Duck]

OK I have the exact same problem and it has taken me quite a lot of searching
to find this discussed anywhere in the Microsoft help world. I used the
various suggestions and it turned out to be the default printer driver
compatibility problem. All I can say is "UNBELIEVABLE". I spent many many
hours trying to fix old 2003 presentations and my "fixes" would often then
embarrass me when displayed back on the earlier version.

I'm amazed that this problem isn't better documented or better yet, why
isn't a warning issued when it detects a non-compatible printer driver?

Anyway thanks for the the help.

 

[Echo S]

That's a good question, Chile Duck. There may be a MS Knowledgebase article
about it, but unless you know it's printer-driver related, it may not turn
up in your search results! It's frustrating, I know.

I think the lack of a warning is probably because the list of compatible
printer drivers changes daily as more and more printer manufacturers release
drivers.

Anyway, I'm really glad to hear you got your problem resolved finally.

 

[Chile Duck]

It's not that PPT detects an incompatible driver and decides to trash your
presentation as punishment.

It's more that an incompatible driver hands bad information off to PPT and that
makes PPT do crazy stuff. PPT can only work with what it's handed.

Sorta like wanting the lights on your car's dashboard to give you a warning when
there are tacks in the road ahead that'll make your tires go flat. The best they
can do is tell you "Sir or Madam, your tires are badly underinflated".

Still, it should be a LOT easier to come by info about driver problems

I'm not suggesting intent to punish, but I don't agree with your "road
tacks" warning analogy, either. Since the system gives warnings when
non-certified printer drivers are installed, it is reasonable to assume this
information can in principle be known by PPT.

However, we all agree that it should be a LOT easier to to find out about
the printer driver dependencies. After telling my story now to my UI design
class and several other colleagues, I have yet to find a person who is not
surprised to hear of this dependency in PPT 2007. The overwhelming
expectation, given experience with earlier versions, is that PPT would have
it's own display drivers and IF there was a dependency on printer drivers, it
would at least check to see if it had the right stuff.