Setting PowerPoint Options


PowerPoint lets you change many basic options, such as how you edit, save, or print your presentations, as well as how you view PowerPoint screens.

NOTE

Changes you make in the Options dialog box become your new default settings until you change them again.


TIP

Whenever you use a new program or an update to a program, your first inclination is to try to make the program do things the old way or the way you're used to doing them. Although it can be tempting to jump right in and make changes to PowerPoint's default settings, you probably should use PowerPoint as is at least until you decide whether those default settings might actually be better.


To access the Options dialog box, choose Tools, Options (see Figure 21.30).

Figure 21.30. The Options dialog box is used to change many of PowerPoint's default settings.

graphics/21fig30.gif

Setting View Options

Click the View tab to display options that affect what you see as you create and edit a slideshow, as well as what you see when you play the slideshow.

Show options include the following:

  • Startup Task Pane ” Displays the task pane when PowerPoint starts.

  • Slide Layout Task Pane When Inserting New Slides ” Displays the Slide Layout task pane when you insert a new slide in to your presentation.

  • Status Bar ” Displays the status bar at the bottom of the PowerPoint window. Although the status bar takes up a bit of territory, it shows you which slide you're editing and the design you're using. Also, the spelling icon appears with a red x if anything on the current slide is misspelled .

    NOTE

    If you double-click the design name on the status bar, PowerPoint displays the Slide Design task pane, letting you quickly change the design template. Double-clicking the spelling button runs the spell checker.


  • Vertical Ruler ” Displays a vertical ruler along with the horizontal ruler if you choose to display rulers (View, Ruler).

  • Windows in Taskbar ” Displays a separate Taskbar icon for each open Office window. If you deselect this check box, only a single icon appears.

Slide Show options include the following:

  • Popup Menu on Right Mouse Click ” When presenting a slideshow, you sometimes need an easy way to access navigation and other options. When this check box is selected, you can right-click on the slide to display a menu of options.

  • Show Popup Menu Button ” By default, when you play a PowerPoint slideshow, PowerPoint displays a small button at the lower-left corner of the slide. Clicking this button gives you the same menu as the one you get when you right-click the slide. If you don't want this button on the screen, deselect this option.

  • End with Black Slide ” If you deselect this option, PowerPoint returns to the PowerPoint editing screen when you conclude your slideshow. Leaving this option active makes for a cleaner ending.

You can also specify your default view from the Open All Documents Using This View drop-down list. Options include the following:

  • The View Saved in the File

  • Normal ” Outline, Notes, and Slide

  • Normal ” Thumbnails, Notes, and Slide

  • Normal ” Outline and Slide

  • Normal ” Thumbnails and Slide

  • Normal ” Notes and Slide

  • Normal ” Slide Only

  • Outline Only

  • Slide Sorter

  • Notes

Setting General Options

Click the General tab to change information about yourself and other items not easily grouped into a specific category (see Figure 21.31). General options include the following:

  • Provide Feedback with Sound to Screen Elements ” Select this option to add sound effects for menus , buttons , and other screen elements.

    NOTE

    Changing this option in PowerPoint changes it for all Office applications. However, you might have to restart Windows for this option to take effect. Also, you might find that other sound schemes take precedence over these sound effects.


  • Recently Used File List: N Entries ” By default, PowerPoint displays the four most recently opened files at the bottom of the File menu. You can increase this number up to nine or reduce it to none.

  • Link Sounds with File Size Greater than NN Kb ” PowerPoint normally saves sound files as part of the presentation itself. However, large sound files can make a presentation unwieldy. Selecting this option means that files larger than the size specified are not included with the slideshow, but instead are linked from their current file location.

  • Name ” Whenever you use options that require your name, such as in the Properties Summary (File, Properties), PowerPoint uses the name found here.

  • Initials ” Whenever user initials are required ”for example, during a NetMeeting ”PowerPoint uses the initials found here.

  • Web Options ” Opens the Web Options dialog box where you can set various Web output options, including formatting, graphic formats, and the like.

    For more information on Web options, see Chapter 16, p. 341 .


  • Service Options graphics/new_icon.jpg Opens the Service Options dialog box, which lets you set preferences for showing content and links from the Office Online Web site, for working in shared workspaces, and for joining Microsoft's Customer Experience Improvement Program.

Figure 21.31. The General tab of the Options dialog box offers miscellaneous PowerPoint settings.

graphics/21fig31.gif

Setting Edit Options

Click the Edit tab to change options for editing text and charts (see Figure 21.32). These options include the following:

  • Show Paste Options Buttons ” Displays a Paste Options button that lets you make choices about how you want to paste a copied object or text, such as whether to keep source or target design template formatting.

  • Use Smart Cut and Paste ” When you paste text, PowerPoint makes sure that there's one space before and after the text and that there are no spaces before the end punctuation if you paste the text at the end of a sentence . If you don't want this, deselect this check box.

  • When Selecting, Automatically Select Entire Word ” If you want to select only portions of words when using a mouse, deselect this check box.

  • Drag-and-Drop Text Editing ” Clicking selected text and dragging it to a new location is the same as cutting and pasting. If you find that this happens accidentally too often, deselect this check box.

  • New Charts Take on PowerPoint Font ” If you clear this check box, charts use a generic default font such as Arial instead of the slide's font and style.

    TIP

    Although it might seem like a good idea to use the default PowerPoint fonts when creating a new chart, more generic fonts may actually look better. You might want to create test charts using both font methods before actually developing the data or making other modifications.


  • Maximum Number of Undos: NN ” By default, you can undo the last 20 actions. You can decrease the number of undos to as few as 3 or increase it to as many as 150.

    CAUTION

    Increasing the number of undos increases the size of your document and also increases the risk of corrupting your document. Unless you really need more, stay with the default number, or fewer.


    graphics/troubleshoot_icon.jpg

    Taking too long to save or perform other tasks ? See the " Troubleshooting " section near the end of this chapter.


  • New Animation Effects ” Disables the animation effects added in PowerPoint. This is useful if you're going to share presentations with users of older versions of PowerPoint who use a different kind of animation effects.

  • Multiple Masters ” Disables the use of multiple slide masters that can cause problems when opened with versions of PowerPoint before 2002.

  • Password Protection ” Disables the use of password protection so that users of PowerPoint versions before 2002, which don't support password protection, can still open your presentations.

Figure 21.32. The Edit tab of the Options dialog box offers options for text and chart editing.

graphics/21fig32.gif

Changing Print Options

To change general printing defaults or to change settings for the current document only, click the Print tab (see Figure 21.33).

Figure 21.33. The Print tab of the Options dialog box offers several printing options.

graphics/21fig33.gif

For details on printing PowerPoint presentations, see Chapter 10, "Creating and Printing Presentation Materials," p. 199 .


General printing options include the following:

  • Background Printing ” If your printer doesn't have its own background-printing feature, this option lets you continue working on your slide presentation while PowerPoint prints slides in the background. If your printer has a background-printing feature and it's turned on, your printer prints in the background regardless of your selection here.

  • Print TrueType Fonts As Graphics ” If your printer has trouble printing the fonts used in your presentation, it could be that your printer can't recognize them or you are using too many fonts for your printer to keep track of. Choosing this option sends text to the printer as graphics, which avoids the problem. However, this option generally slows printing.

  • Print Inserted Objects at Printer Resolution ” This helps match graphic resolutions to the printer that's printing them. For example, your graphic image might have been created at only 72 dots per inch (dpi), but your printer can print at a much crisper 600 dpi. Selecting this option might slow printing.

When you print your current document using the Print button on the Standard toolbar, by default you use the most recently used PowerPoint print settings. You can also choose to use the following print settings:

  • Print What ” Lets you choose exactly what you want to print and its format. Options include

    • Slides ” This is the default printing format.

    • Handouts ” You can print two, three, or six slides per page.

    • Notes Pages ” This prints a small version of the slide, along with any speaker notes you might have created.

    • Outline View ” This printout appears exactly as it does in PowerPoint's Outline view.

  • Color /grayscale ” Lets you choose the color option for print. Choices include Color, Grayscale, or Pure Black and White.

    NOTE

    To preview your printout in another color format, click the Color/Grayscale button on the Standard toolbar and choose Color, Grayscale, or Pure Black and White from the menu.


  • Scale to Fit Paper ” If you're using paper other than the standard size, this option scales the slides to fit that size paper.

  • Frame Slides ” This option places a single, thin-line border around the entire printed slide.

  • Print Hidden Slides ” If you have hidden slides in your presentation, you can choose to include them in the printed version.

NOTE

Don't forget that print options selected from the Options menu apply only when you click the Print button on the Standard toolbar. Choosing File, Print still lets you choose print options before printing.


For details on printing PowerPoint presentations, see Chapter 10, p. 199 .


Setting Save Options

Click the Save tab to view and change Save options (see Figure 21.34).

Figure 21.34. The Save tab of the Options dialog box helps change default file saving options.

graphics/21fig34.gif

These include

  • Allow Fast Saves ” By default, when you save a presentation, PowerPoint saves only the changes you made since you last saved it. This takes less time than saving the full presentation. However, this also requires more disk space, so if your computer is already fast enough, you might want to consider deselecting this option.

  • Prompt for File Properties ” Summary, Found in File, Properties helps document the authorship and revision history of your slide presentation. If this is important to you, select this option, which automatically brings up the Properties screen the first time you save the presentation or whenever you save it with a different name.

  • Save AutoRecover Info Every NN Minutes ” This automatic backup provision saves a temporary copy of your presentation (typically in the \Windows\Temp folder) as frequently as you specify with this option. If you exit your document properly, the automatic backup file is erased. If you don't exit properly (for example, because of a power failure), PowerPoint opens this file the next time you use PowerPoint so that you can determine whether it contains changes you didn't save.

  • Convert Charts When Saving As Previous Version ” When saving the presentation to an earlier version of PowerPoint, use this option to convert charts to a format that version recognizes.

  • Save PowerPoint Files As ” By default, PowerPoint saves its files in the PowerPoint presentation format, which can't be opened in versions of PowerPoint earlier than PowerPoint 97.

    If you work in an environment in which some people use old versions of PowerPoint, you might need to agree on a common format for everyone to use. Then, change this option to one of the following formats:

    • PowerPoint Presentation, which can be opened and edited in PowerPoint 2003, 2002, 2000, or 97.

    • PowerPoint 97 “2003 & 95 Presentation

    • PowerPoint 95 Presentation

    • Single File Web Page

    • Web Page

    CAUTION

    Saving a PowerPoint presentation in an earlier format might result in the loss of certain features available only in more recent versions.


  • Default File Location ” PowerPoint saves your presentations in the folder you specify. Initially this is usually your My Documents folder ( C:\Documents and Settings\your-username\My Documents ), but that can vary depending on how PowerPoint was installed.

  • Embed TrueType Fonts ” Select this option if you want to embed TrueType fonts in the current document. Options include embedding only characters in use to reduce file size or embedding all characters so that others can edit the presentation.

Setting Security Options

The Security tab (see Figure 21.35) lets you set a variety of security options for PowerPoint, which can be useful if you share your presentations with other users or place them on a net work, an intranet, or the Internet.

Figure 21.35. Protect your presentations using the Security tab.

graphics/21fig35.gif

Options include the following:

  • Password to Open ” Protect your file by typing a password. You, or anyone else, need to enter this password to open the file again. To set encryption options, click the Advanced button.

  • Password to Modify ” If you want anyone to be able to open the presentation but prevent them from changing it, type a password in this field.

    CAUTION

    If you forget your password, you will no longer be able to open or modify your presentation, so choose a password that's easy for you to remember or write it down in a secure location.


  • Digital Signatures ” If you plan to use digital signatures with your presentations, click this button. PowerPoint enables digital signatures using a digital certificate. A digital signature is an electronic, encrypted signature stamp that's attached in a certificate to vouch for its authenticity. The average PowerPoint user won't normally set up digital certificates; this is the domain of an organization's IT department.

  • Remove Personal Information from File Properties on Save ” If you're very concerned about privacy, check this box for PowerPoint to remove any personal information (such as your name) when you save the file. Note that this option doesn't remove personal information you add to your presentation yourself (for example, entering your name and address on a slide), but information PowerPoint stores by default.

  • Macro Security ” If you regularly receive presentations that include macros, you might want to set special security options to protect yourself from macro viruses. You can choose whether to accept only signed macros from sources you specify, to accept files with macros, or to disable macro protection. Macros aren't as commonly used with PowerPoint as they are with other Office programs, but you should still set at least some form of macro protection if you're going to share files with others.

Setting Spelling and Style Options

Click the Spelling and Style tab to change default spelling and style options.

For detailed information on checking spelling and style, see "Checking Spelling and Style" in Chapter 3, "Working with Text," p. 74 .




Special Edition Using Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003
Special Edition Using Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003
ISBN: 0789729571
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 261

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