Section 13.4. Installing Add-Ins


13.4. Installing Add-Ins

A PowerPoint add-in is a third-party program you can install on your computer to add new buttons and options to PowerPoint. Add-ins don't take over or rearrange the PowerPoint interface, but they do add to it (hence the name ). There are add-ins that let you save your presentation as a Flash animation file, add-ins that beef up PowerPoint's charting and drawing tools, and many, many more.

For example, say you want to add a fancy slide transition to your slideshow. You surf the Web for a PowerPoint add-in that lets you create the transition, pay for it, download it, and install it. Then, the next time you run PowerPoint, the Add-Ins tab appears (Figure 13-30). Click this tab, and you see a host of options courtesy of your newly installed add-in.

Figure 13-30. The Add-Ins tab doesn't appear until you've installed at least one add-in. To make sure that add-ins developed for menu-and-toolbar-driven PowerPoint 2003 work in PowerPoint 2007, the Add-Ins tab organizes add-ins in two sectionsMenu commands (stocked here with three menu commands) and Custom Toolbar commands.



Note: Depending on the add-in you want to install, you may have to lower PowerPoint's security settings to enable all macros, then close PowerPoint. Then you can install the add-in, and then reset your security settings, as described on page 406. Figure 13-31 shows you how to find your add-in after installation.

Figure 13-31. After you've installed an add-in, you can choose Office button PowerPoint Options Add-Ins to see the particulars.


You can find dozens of add-ins by searching for PowerPoint add-in in your favorite search engine. Here's a list of popular add-ins to whet your appetite:

  • PowerPlugs for PowerPoint. Effects such as 3D transitions, intros, animations, templates, video backgrounds, and more. Point your browser to www.crystalgraphics.com.

  • FlashPoint. Lets you save your PowerPoint presentation as an optimized Flash animation file. Find it at www.justdosoft.com/powerpoint-to-flash.

  • Camtasia Studio. Lets you record your presentation (including audio) for easy distribution. Find it at www.techsmith.com.

  • PowerSearch Plug-In. Lets you search presentations for individual slides containing a certain word or phrase. Find it at www. accent -technologies.com/products/powersearch.asp.

  • Photoshop Import. Lets you import Adobe Photoshop image files with layers intact. Visit www.pptxtreme.com.

POWER USERS' CLINIC
Do-It-Yourself Add-In Installation

Most commercial add-ins come with automatic download-and-install routines. All you do (after you whip out your credit card) is click a button, and the add-in automatically downloads to your computer and installs itself. The next time you launch PowerPoint, you see it on the Add-Ins tab. But if you opt to download an add-in produced by a tiny one-person shopand that describes quite a few useful add-insyou may have to install it yourself:

  1. Download (or otherwise copy) the add-in file to your computer.

  2. Select Office button PowerPoint Options.

  3. Head to the bottom of the dialog box and, from the Manage drop-down menu, choose PowerPoint Add-Ins; then click Go.

  4. In the Add-Ins dialog box that pops up, click Add New.

  5. In the Add New PowerPoint Add-In dialog box that appears, surf your computer for the add-in file you downloaded in step 1, click to select it, and then click OK.





PowerPoint 2007
PowerPoint 2007
ISBN: 1555583148
EAN: N/A
Year: 2006
Pages: 129

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