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PowerPoint 2007: Frequently Asked Questions

  1. Where are the menu items and tool bars?
  2. What would happen when I use PowerPoint 2007 to open documents created in previous versions of PowerPoint?
  3. How do I add my own placeholders to slide masters in PowerPoint 2007?
  4. Why the pictures in my presentation are blurry and less sharp than when I first inserted them in PowerPoint 2007?
  5. How do I clear the recent document list in PowerPoint 2007?
  6. How do I change to a different printer while in PowerPoint 2007?
  7. How do I ungroup graphs/charts in PowerPoint 2007?
  8. I added a hyperlink to a SmartArt shape. The link works on my computer but fails when played back elsewhere in the PowerPoint Viewer?
  9. How do I redo or undo my changes in PowerPoint 2007?
  10. What should I do when PowerPoint 2007 doesn't update links to files on network drive?
  11. How do I change the options settings in PowerPoint 2007?
  12. How do I add sound to slides in PowerPoint 2007?
  13. How do I save my PowerPoint document as a PDF file?
  14. How do I minimize the ribbon?
  15. How do insert movies in PowerPoint 2007?
  16. Is there a way for me to open PowePoint 2007 in an obsolete version of Office?
  17. How can I customize the ribbon?

 

Answers

  1. Where are the menu items and tool bars?
    The menu items and toolbars have given way to the Ribbon. The Ribbon is a thick bar at the top of the application window that contains icons which are grouped together by usage.  The Ribbon organizes commands with others that are similar. 
    • Home has the common formatting commands, styles, bullets, and copy/paste.
    • Insert contains all items that can be inserted into the file, such as pictures, clip art, pages, and text boxes.
    • Design contains page setup and choices of themes and background.
    • Animations contains the most common items needed for animations and transitions.
    • Slide Show contains the items needed for showing slides
    • Review contains spell check and comments.
    • View contains the view options for the document and is the location of the Switch Windows command to move between files open in that application.

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  2. What would happen when I use PowerPoint 2007 to open documents created in previous versions of PowerPoint?

    When you open a document in Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007 that was created in Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003, PowerPoint 2002, or PowerPoint 2000, Compatibility Mode is turned on, and you see Compatibility Mode in the title bar of the document window. Compatibility Mode ensures that no new or enhanced features in Office PowerPoint 2007 are available while you are working with a document, so that people who are using previous versions of PowerPoint will have full editing capabilities.

    You can work in Compatibility Mode or you can convert your document to the Office PowerPoint 2007 file format. Converting your document allows you to access the new and enhanced features in Office PowerPoint 2007. However, people who are using previous versions of PowerPoint may be prevented from or have difficulty editing certain portions of the document that were created by using new or enhanced features in Office PowerPoint 2007.
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  3. How do I add my own placeholders to slide masters in PowerPoint 2007?

    1. On the Ribbon > Presentation Views > Slide Master to open master view.

    2. Select a slide layout on the left.

    3. Click Insert Placeholder and choose a type of placeholder.

    4. Click and drag on the slide to create the placeholder.
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  4. Why the pictures in my presentation are blurry and less sharp than when I first inserted them in PowerPoint 2007?
    View the instruction.
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  5. How do I clear the recent document list in PowerPoint 2007?

    In PowerPoint 2007, you can have up to 50 documents in the Most Recently Used (MRU) documents list. In 2007 you have the option to pin a presentation. All that means is you can stop that presentation from being overwritten in the MRU when you open other PowerPoint presentations.

    To clear the MRU list or remove only selected files in PowerPoint 2007,

    1. Open Regedit by clicking on Start, Run, and type regedit then click OK.
    2. In Regedit navigate to the following location: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\PowerPoint\File MRU.
    3. Delete some or all of the entries to clear out what you don't want, close regedit.
    4. This procedure also works in Word2007 and Excel2007.

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  6. How do I change to a different printer while in PowerPoint 2007?
    While in any of the Microsoft Office programs, click the Office Button open.  Click the Print option in the list.  The Print dialog box will appear.  In this dialog box, click the list arrow for the Name box.  A list of printers that are installed on your machine will display.  Click the printer that you want to use.
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  7. How do I ungroup graph/charts in PowerPoint 2007?

    In previous versions of PowerPoint, after inserting a graph or chart, you could ungroup it to get access to the individual component pieces, say if you wanted to edit them. You can no longer do this in PowerPoint 2007. In PowerPoint 2007, you need to

    1. Select the chart then press Ctrl+C to copy it.
    2. Use Paste, Special on the Home tab, or Ctrl+Alt+V and choose EMF (Enhanced MetaFile) as the paste type.
    3. You can ungroup the newly pasted graphic then if you like, delete the original one. Or you can shrink the original and drag it off the slide so it's handy in case you need to change the data and re-make the chart.

    Note: Some chart items may not totally ungroup. For example, axes may turn into single objects rather than collections of axis lines and tick marks. If you need to edit these, you'll have to delete and re-draw them.
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  8. I added a hyperlink to a SmartArt shape. The link works on my computer but fails when played back elsewhere in the PowerPoint Viewer?

    This is a Viewer bug. Try to ungroup the SmartArt shape.

    1. Select the shapes inside the SmartArts by clicking on one shape and then pressing Ctrl+A.
    2. Copy them.
    3. Insert a new slide with title only.
    4. Paste the shapes into this slide.
    5. On the Home tab, click Drawings, Arrange, Ungroup.

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  9. How do I redo or undo my changes in PowerPoint 2007?
    undo
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  10. What should I do when PowerPoint 2007 doesn't update links to files on network drive?
    You link data from Excel or other files on a network drive to your PowerPoint 2007 presentation. The links work as expected but when you save the presentation and reopen it the links stop working. When you try to update the link, you see this error message: The linked file was unavailable and can't be updated. To solve the problem, you can move the linked files to your local hard drive and re-link to them there.
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  11. How do I change the options settings in PowerPoint 2007?

    1. lick the Office Button open.
    2. Click on the PowerPoint Options button located at the bottom of the drop down box.

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  12. How do I add sound to slides in PowerPoint 2007?
    View the instruction.

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  13. How do I save my PowerPoint document as a PDF file?
    Click the Office Button open > Print. Click the scroll-down menu of Print Name and select PDF Writer. If your local computer do not have this choice, you need to install the PDF/XPS plugin for Office 2007. This plugin will enable you to save your PowerPoint 2007 documents into Adobe’s Portable Document Framework (PDF), as well as other documents you create in seven other different Office 2007 programs. Click here to download the free plugin from Microsoft. Then in your PowerPoint document, click Save As PDF or XPS when you want to save it as a PDF!
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  14. How do I minimize the ribbon?
    Double click on the tabs above the ribbon.  This will minimize the ribbon to just the tabs.  Instead of double clicking, you can use the keyboard shortcut CTRL+F1. To restore the Ribbon to its glory, simply double click on the tabs again, or use CTRL+F1.
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  15. How do insert movies in PowerPoint 2007?
    View the instruction.
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  16. Is there a way for me to open PowerPoint 2007 in an obsolete version of Office?
    To use an Office 2007 file in an obsolete version of Office, your com pouter need to have the compatibility pack installed. Clicking here to download the compatibility pack.

    Microsoft released this compatibility pack for users of older versions of Office in October of 2007. Computers that received automatic updates should already have this update installed. If they do not, it is likely that their computer is also missing other important updates.

    We STRONGLY recommend that all users upgrade to 2007, as 2003 is discontinued and no longer fully supported.
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  17. How can I customize the ribbon?
    You can not customize the Ribbon, but you can minimize the Ribbon to make more space available on your screen. To quickly minimize the Ribbon, double-click the name of the active tab. Double-click a tab again to restore the Ribbon. Keyboard shortcut: CTRL+F1.
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