Friday, November 30, 2012

PowerPoint Presentations for Multiple Machines

PowerPoint Presentations for Multiple Machines
This article reprinted with permission from All 'Bout Computers.

You have this great idea for a PowerPoint presentation that you want to send out for friends and family members to see. You have worked for hours to get the timing of the animations and transitions just right. You selected just the right music to go with the pictures. You even created some great animated gifs to show how things work and some movies to show what people can do with your information.
You copy your presentation from your hard drive to a thumb drive so that you can take the presentation to your brother's house to test. You remember to put all the sounds, animations, and movies there also, because you remembered how much fun it wasn't to deal with those things last time. You even remember to put a copy of the Viewer on your thumb drive in case there isn't a copy of Powerpoint on the other machine. You are all set, or so you believe.
You get to your brother's house and discover that you may have a few problems to deal with. Luckily, his machine does have a USB port for your thumb drive. But, as he so nicely reminds you, Mom and Dad's machine doesn't have one. When you send it out, you will need to send it on CD instead. You have just hit the first of many problems that exist when you build a presentation that is going to run on many different machines.
What is going to happen next you wonder, as you open PowerPoint on your brother's machine and run your presentation? Suddenly, all your perfectly timed sounds, animations, and effects are running very strangely. You can't hear the sound effects - you only hear the music. Your slides change very slowly. Not all of your movies run. And most of your beautiful animation sequences just sit there!
What are you going to do? You are going to go back to the beginning and make some changes to how you put the presentation together to start with.

First: Think about the machines

Always develop on the oldest, slowest, and least powerful machine that you expect the presentation will be run on. If you develop on a high-powered machine, then run on a lower powered machine, you will have many problems. The USB capability is one of those things.
If you depend on multiple effects happening at certain speeds, PowerPoint will get you. As soon as you move to an older or less powerful machine, PowerPoint will have to do more with less. You won't like the results.
If you are concerned that your presentation is going to be a resource hog, make up a little cheat sheet for the people you are sending the presentation to. Tell them to:
  • Turn off all other programs running on their machine. This includes email and internet programs definitely, other programs if possible. In the most extreme cases you will need to figure out some way to prove to them that you don't have a virus embedded in the file, since they will need to turn of the virus checker as well.
  • Clean out their temporary space, their browser history, and to do other regular disk maintenance. The more hard drive and temporary space PowerPoint has to use, the faster it can run and the better it can meet your design.
  • Copy the presentation and linked files to the hard drive, instead of running from the CD or thumb drive. Hard drives are the fast things out there in terms of file access. Thumb drives come next. CD drives are the slowest of the three.

Second: Know what PowerPoint versions people are using

If you are doing all your development on PowerPoint 2002 or 2003, people with PowerPoint 97 and 2000 won't be able to see your presentation. While the newer versions of PowerPoint will handle the older animations, they will not look the same as they do on the older versions.
Be sure that you include the right viewer so that they can see your presentation the way you designed it. If you developed the file in PowerPoint 2002 or 2003, you should provide the link to the "new" or 2003 Viewer. If you developed the file in PowerPoint 97 or 2000, you should provide the link to the "old" or 1997 Viewer.
One last word of warning on PowerPoint versions: Animated Gifs don"t run at all in PowerPoint 97. They run with infinite looping in PowerPoint 2000. PowerPoint 2002 and PowerPoint 2003 do a good job of interpreting the header information, so those versions should be fine with the animated GIFs.

Third: Make your files small

The bigger your PowerPoint file, the more likely resource issues will impact how your presentation runs. You need to make sure that your files are the smallest size possible.
  1. Turn OFF fast saves (Tools--> Options--> Save tab, uncheck the box) and then save the presentation to a new name. If Fast Saves were on, this step alone will cut your presentation size by a good amount (usually 33-50%).
  2. Read up on how to make sure your files are as small as possible at the PPT FAQ. The biggest thing here is to make sure your graphics aren't overscanned or oversized and that you inserted them the right way. What's the right way? Insert--> Picture, Not copy and paste!
  3. Make sure your music is the minimum quality you can live with. There is no reason to distribute a sound file that is CD quality if the presentation is only ever going to be played over a mono-speaker on a laptop. Play around with the quality of your sound files and see what you can live with in the quality of sound vs. size of file battle.

Fourth: Use fonts wisely

If you are using any unusual fonts, embed them. If you used anything out of the ordinary and didn't embed them, PowerPoint on the other computers will have to to guess at the best possible match from the fonts on the machine. This makes it so that there is very little chance of everyone else seeing what you want them to see.
If you embed the fonts, you at least have a shot at them seeing what you want them to see. Since not all fonts are embeddable, you may still have some font problems, but they should be minimized. (Not sure if your fonts are embeddable? Go read my article on PowerPoint 2003. While the limitations on opening files with fonts in them is new to PowerPoint 2003, the information provided there on how to know if a font is embeddable is old news.)

Fifth: Know the multimedia capabilities of the other machines

You can't control what other computers have for speakers. Most machines won't play more than two sounds at a time. Most laptops will have problems playing more than one at a time. If you need to have multiple sounds to get your point across, you can forestall the problems by editting your sound files so that all the sounds are coming from one file. If that isn't an option, be sure that you tell people they won’t be getting the full effect without a somewhat fancy sound card.
If you are sharing presentations with movies, you need to be sure that you have created the movies with the most common CODECS (codecs are the files on your computer that tell the multimedia players how to compress and de-compress your movie files so that they can play).

Sixth: Distribute the presentation correctly

Send the sounds with the presentation. Make sure the links don't break when you move your presentation and the sound files around. Information on that problem is also on the PPT FAQ website. Make sure you save your presentation as a PowerPoint Show, so that it will play on a double click (instead of opening in PPT's edit mode).

Seventh: Relax

Even if you set all of the above up perfectly, your presentation is not going to run the same on any two machines. It probably won’t even run the same two times in a row on the same machine. The differences won’t be as noticeable on the same machine, but they are there.
If all else fails, and you need to have a perfectly timed, perfectly repeatable presentation, then it may be time to consider using another program to create or present your information. If you don’t want to loose all the work you have put into the presentation, then look into recoding your presentation or using Vic Ferri's service to create a self-contained presentation package

Fun and Holiday Party Powerpoint Templates

This is Fun and Holiday Party Powerpoint Design for Party Celebration. You can use party, holiday, funny etc.
File size: 1.45 KB.
Software: PowerPoint 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013
Page Size: 1024px x 768px


Free License
Feel free to download and use this item for both personal and etc. But isn't used for commercial projects.

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Pencil and Papers Backgrounds

Pencil and Papers Backgrounds is a PPT template with colored pencil over a light background that is very good for drawing PowerPoint or children draws as well as college and education practices on PowerPoint.
File size: 1.85 KB.
Software: PowerPoint 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013
Page Size: 1024px x 768px


Free License
Feel free to download and use this item for both personal and etc. But isn't used for commercial projects.

Pink Elegant Flowers Backgrounds

Pink Elegant Flowers Backgrounds is a PPT template with pink flowers over a light background that is very natural for drawing PowerPoint or nature flowers as well as college and design background practices on PowerPoint.
File size: 1.10 KB.
Software: PowerPoint 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013
Page Size: 1024px x 768px


Free License
Feel free to download and use this item for both personal and etc. But isn't used for commercial projects.

Abstract Gold Powerpoint Template

Abstract Gold Powerpoint Template with Abstract a light background that is very good for drawing PowerPoint or Golden as well as college and Texture Pattern on PowerPoint.
Software: PowerPoint 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013
File size: 1.25 KB.
Page Size: 1024px x 768px


Free License
Feel free to download and use this item for both personal and etc. But isn't used for commercial projects.

Simply Abstract Retro Backgrounds

Download and View - Simply Abstract Retro Backgrounds is a PPT template with simple cube a light background that is very good for drawing PowerPoint or Adobe as well as college and education practices on PowerPoint.
File size: 1.27 KB.
Software: PowerPoint 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013
Page Size: 1024px x 768px


Free License
Feel free to download and use this item for both personal and etc. But isn't used for commercial projects.

Doctor Patient Relationship Powerpoint Template

Doctor Patient Relationship Powerpoint Template with patient clipart a light background that is very good for relationship PowerPoint or hospital as well as college and education practices on PowerPoint.
File size: 1.25 KB.
Software: PowerPoint 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013
Page Size: 1024px x 768px



Free License
Feel free to download and use this item for both personal and etc. But isn't used for commercial projects.

American Presentation Template

Rectangular border resembling american flag.
American Presentation Background Design with american colors border a light background that is very good for Border PowerPoint or american flags as well as college and education practices on PowerPoint.
File size: 1.25 KB.
Software: PowerPoint 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013
Page Size: 1024px x 768px


Free License
Feel free to download and use this item for both personal and etc. But isn't used for commercial projects.

Photo Album Presentation Template

This is a free Photo album presentation template with an elegant silver background and white boroque design that you can download in a widescreen template with 16:9 format. By using the Photo Album feature you can create a nice Photo Album presentation in PowerPoint embedding your favorite photos and pictures.
File size: 1.38 KB.
Software: PowerPoint 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013
Page Size: 1024px x 768px


Free License
Feel free to download and use this item for both personal and etc. But isn't used for commercial projects.

World online tv channel Template for Powerpoint

The template contains a old fashion TV with violet color over a gray background with green border at bottom. Free World online tv channel ppt template for presentation.
File size: 1.35 KB.
Software: PowerPoint 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013
Page Size: 1024px x 768px


Free License
Feel free to download and use this item for both personal and etc. But isn't used for commercial projects.

The Lights Butterflies PPT Backgrounds

Free The Lights Butterflies Background for Powerpoint Slides
Here we provide you all the background, or owned by the founders of the templates and all rights are completely free.
File size: 895 KB.
Software: PowerPoint 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013
Page Size: 1024px x 768px


Free License
Feel free to download and use this item for both personal and etc. But isn't used for commercial projects.

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Info Graphic Powerpoint Backgrounds

Info Graphic Powerpoint Backgrounds in a colorful graphic backgrounds to report. animation download and use to prepare your report immediately. Free quality Info graphic postcard backgrounds.
File size: 589 KB.
Software: PowerPoint 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013
Page Size: 1024px x 768px


Free License
Feel free to download and use this item for both personal and etc. But isn't used for commercial projects.

Daisy Flowers for Love Backgrounds

Everyone likes flowers. Want to be cheerful flowered buggy and prepare presentations, presentations prepared for my beloved a nice background for the very high quality.
Daisy Flowers for Love backgrounds for powerpoint.
File size: 758 KB.
Software: PowerPoint 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013
Page Size: 1024px x 768px


Free License
Feel free to download and use this item for both personal and etc. But isn't used for commercial projects.

Red Decor and Butterflies Backgrounds

Free Red decor and butterflies ppt backgrounds.
Do you want free powerpoint backgrounds? the right place. Because PPT Backgrounds Template site offers you the highest quality of various backgrounds. Category you want to view and backgrounds that you want to be able to download the presentation as appropriate to your project.




File size: 1.85 KB.
Software: PowerPoint 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013
Page Size: 1024px x 768px
Free License
Feel free to download and use this item for both personal and etc. But isn't used for commercial projects. Download and use it.

Question Helps Powerpoint Backgrounds

Delivering customers a solution that is used for questions and answers to background problems. Powerpoint presentation visuals will be prepared with this background to the fore. free 3d business question helps backgrounds.
Download Free Question Helps Powerpoint Backgrounds for Templates.




File size: 589 KB.
Software: PowerPoint 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013
Page Size: 1024px x 768px
Free License
Feel free to download and use this item for both personal and etc. But isn't used for commercial projects. Download and use it.

Frame crafted textures powerpoint backgrounds

Frame crafted with embroidered textures backgrounds.. Prepare textures, or designs that you can use the framework contained in the tissues. Or dress up borders to your pictures.
A classic frame from a long time ago. The description disappeared a long time ago for some magic reason, so don't quite remember the source of this coolness.




File size: 1.65 KB.
Software: PowerPoint 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013
Page Size: 1024px x 768px
Free License
Feel free to download and use this item for both personal and etc. But isn't used for commercial projects. Download and use it.

Friday, January 6, 2012

Music Note Sheets PPT Backgrounds

Free Music Note Sheets PPT Backgrounds.
This professional design vector violin, key, sheet music ppt backgrounds image for powerpoint templates.




File size: 1.15 KB.
Software: PowerPoint 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013
Page Size: 1024px x 768px
Free License
Feel free to download and use this item for both personal and etc. But isn't used for commercial projects. Download and use it.

Sky And Flowers Backgrounds

This Sky And Flowers PPT Backgrounds for Templates - Green grass, blue sky and yellow flowers illustration suitable for use in making powerpoint and media slideshow presentations. There is a little glass with water and flowers design.
File size: 1.21 KB.
Software: PowerPoint 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013
Page Size: 1024px x 768px


Free License
Feel free to download and use this item for both personal and etc. But isn't used for commercial projects.

In Summer Heat Powerpoint Backgrounds

Free In Summer Heat Powerpoint Backgrounds to downloads.
Free summer heat cocktail drink glass blue drink ppt backgrounds for powerpoint templates.




File size: 385 KB.
Software: PowerPoint 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013
Page Size: 1024px x 768px
Free License
Feel free to download and use this item for both personal and etc. But isn't used for commercial projects. Download and use it.

Cartoon Animated Love PPT Background

Download free animated love ppt backgrounds love cartoons 2D Widescreen screen backgrounds for powerpoint templates. Click to here for Cartoon Animated Love PPT Background.




File size: 1.43 KB.
Software: PowerPoint 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013
Page Size: 1024px x 768px
Free License
Feel free to download and use this item for both personal and etc. But isn't used for commercial projects. Download and use it.

Cold Lemon Drink Cocktail Powerpoint

This backgrounds is 1600x1200 widescreen Cold lemon drink cocktails ppt backgrounds image for Powerpoint templates.
Very sweet coctails for summer.
File size: 1.85 KB.
Software: PowerPoint 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013
Page Size: 1024px x 768px


Free License
Feel free to download and use this item for both personal and etc. But isn't used for commercial projects.

Black Tree Leafs PPT Backgrounds

Free Illustration of red and gold leaves, black tree ppt backgrounds and grass over orange background vector art powerpoint backgrounds for Powerpoint templates.
File size: 1.10 KB.
Software: PowerPoint 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013
Page Size: 1024px x 768px



Free License
Feel free to download and use this item for both personal and etc. But isn't used for commercial projects.

Diploma Certificate PPT Template

This is Diploma Certificate PPT backgrounds design.
Congratulate a child for graduating Kindergarten with this colorful certificate that acknowledges the students accomplishment.
Download free Kindergarten diploma certificate backgrounds template for powerpoint templates.




File size: 1.15 KB.
Software: PowerPoint 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013
Page Size: 1024px x 768px
Free License
Feel free to download and use this item for both personal and etc. But isn't used for commercial projects. Download and use it.

Hot foods Backgrounds

This very quality photo design Hot pepper foods ppt backgrounds for Powerpoint template. This backgrounds is 1600x1200 pixel resolution foods design.
File size: 1.27 KB.
Software: PowerPoint 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013
Page Size: 1024px x 768px


Free License
Feel free to download and use this item for both personal and etc. But isn't used for commercial projects.