Why is PowerPoint automatically resizing objects?

[Shelley]

We have a model PPT file that is linked to a model Excel file. We copy the
folder with these 2 files, edit the Excel file, and the PPT is automatically
updated. This works great when I do it. However, 2 other users have had
problems with PPT automatically resizing objects. I observed one person
going through this process and she is not even touching anything on the PPT
slide that has the resized object. One of the objects is a named range in
the Excel file, the other is just PPT shapes and text. I changed the user's
PPT options so that "Automatic layout for inserted objects" is NOT checked
and the problem still occurs. What else could cause this problem?

 

[Echo S]

This will sound like a stupid series of questions, but what version of
Windows are each of the users using, what version of PPT, and what is the
display size set to (like 800 x 600 vs 1024 x 768 or something different)?

Oh, heck -- here's what I'm wondering about

Excel info cut off or cropped when pasted into PowerPoint
http://www.pptfaq.com/FAQ00068.htm

I realize it's not exactly the same problem, but it may be related.

 

[Shelley]

Echo, those are great questions. My PC (the one with no problems) is XP
Professional, PPT 2003 (part of the Small Business Office edition), and it
doesn't look like a service pack is installed. My resolution is 1024 x 768.

I have somewhat easy access to 2 other PC's which both have problems. One
is also XP Pro, 1024 x 768, and the PPT is also 2003, but it's the "regular"
version. It has SP 1 installed. The other PC is running Win 2000, PPT 2003
(regular version) and it also has SP 1 installed. I think the res on that
machine is also 1024 x 768.

I have figured out a little more about the problem since my first post
(well, the symptoms). If I open up the PPT file and cancel rather than
updating the links, the range of cells from Excel looks fine. If I "update
links", the size does not change. If I do the exact same thing on one of the
other PC's (using the exact same file on the network), the object increases
in size by about 10%. I don't have access to the PC that had problems with
the PPT shapes that resized themselves.

I couldn't find anything in the other thread that you referenced. Perhaps I
am missing something. If so, please try again to point me in the right
direction. Any other ideas?
--
Shelley

This will sound like a stupid series of questions, but what version of
Windows are each of the users using, what version of PPT, and what is the
display size set to (like 800 x 600 vs 1024 x 768 or something different)?

Oh, heck -- here's what I'm wondering about

Excel info cut off or cropped when pasted into PowerPoint
http://www.pptfaq.com/FAQ00068.htm

I realize it's not exactly the same problem, but it may be related.

 

[Brian Reilly, MVP]

Shelley,
Echo is on right track here and this has been an issue for a while
between XL and PPT. I strongly believe, but can't prove it yet that it
is related to the zoom level in Excel and not the screen resolution.

I'm now focusing on identifying the cause of this and supplying a
series of workarounds which should be put on PPTFAQ.com and announced
here as well in August.

Brian Reilly, MVP