This document attempts to cover only the very basics. There is an intentional emphasis on including images, either scanned directly, captured using NIH-Image, or imported from a program such as Excel. In addition, I assume you are working solely on Macs in either the BSB or the CMC.
Note that if you're presentation is going to include one or more images you'll want to consider how the size of those image files will effect the size (and functionality) of your entire presentation.
First make sure you have a place to store the image you're about to create, keeping in mind that it may be too big to fit on a floppy. You'll want to be sure you can get at either the Hold Folder or a class folder (e.g. Bio120) before you start scanning.
Next start up Photoshop. Note that the Mac's with scanners in the CMC have copies of Photoshop on their hard drives. Use this copy not the one in the Maclab folder. (It'll be faster this way). Place the image to be scanned face down on the glass scanning surface lined up against the upper right-hand corner next to the green arrow. From the File menu choose Acquire, and then the TWAIN Acquire option on the sub-menu. You will get a pop-up window, and after a few seconds while the scanner makes a preview, a rough image of what your final scan will look like. Set the scan Type to Sharp-Millions of Colors. Set the Path to Screen ( or 72dpi depending on the choice you're given by the software). Drag the selection box (the dotted-line) so that only the part of the preview image you want is outlined. Set the scaling bar to a reasonable size-the file size at the bottom of the screen shouldn't be much more than 1 Meg (1,000k). If it is much larger than this PowerPoint may have problems with it. Make sure the resolution and scale are both small. Click the Final button to do the actual scan.
Once the scanner has done it's work you should be in Photoshop with a nice clear picture of your scan. You can touch it up with Photoshop if you need to, otherwise choose Save As in the File menu. Save it in the PICT (File) format, choosing no compression and 16bit/pixel from the pop-up window. Though not optimal for all cases, this file format works nicely in most Mac programs (such as PowerPoint).
Once you've captured an image (using the Acquire option in the File menu, or the Start Capturing option in the Special menu). You can simply use Save As in the File menu and choose PICT as the file type.
Once you've got the graph created in Excel you can cut and paste it into PowerPoint directly using the Macintosh clip-board. Although it is possible to dynamically link a spreadsheet graph into PowerPoint it's easier just to copy it in as a picture. Bring up the graph on the screen in Excel and select it. Choose Copy Picture (or Copy as Image) from the Edit menu. Note that this option will only appear when the Edit menu is selected WHILE HOLDING DOWN THE SHIFT KEY. This will copy a picture of the graph into the Clipboard. You can now startup PowerPoint (closing Excel first if you like) and use the Paste command in the Edit menu to place the graph directly into an existing PowerPoint presentation. (See below for more about this).
There are currently two version of PowerPoint on campus, PowerPoint 3, and PowerPoint 4. Version 4.0 will let you save file in the old (3.0) format, allowing you to move back and forth between the two versions. However, many of the features in PowerPoint 4.0 are not supported in PowerPoint 3.0 therefore there's no guarantee that your presentation will look identical on the two different versions. If you do something fancy, it may be lost in the transition. Since most machines in the public labs use PowerPoint 4, I'll focus on this version. I'll try to indicate significant differences where they exist.
PowerPoint is a presentation package that allows you to create a set of virtual "slides" which you can play back in sequence on your computer as a visual and heuristic aid for a presentation. For each slide you can add a title, and text in the "body" as a series of points or in paragraph form. To this basic outline you can add images, and text as well as control the overall appearance of the presentation.
When you start up PowerPoint you are faced with a several options for starting the process of creating a new presentation. The various "Wizard" and "Template options will give you varying degrees of assitance in organizing the content and appearence of your presentation. Feel free to try one of these, but beware that they are very "buisness" oriented, and are often simply a quick way to make an especially ugly presentation. To start out with a blank slate choose Blank Presentation and click Ok. (Note that PowerPoint 3.0 doesn't have these options) Once you have a blank (or mostly blank) page to work with switch to either the Slides or Outline view from the View menu. The Slides view shows one slide at a time complete with all the colors and graphics. Outline view just shows the title and body of each slide. Type in your text, with titles if appropriate. Note that hitting return in the body section will create a new bulleted point. To turn off this bulleted mode choose Bullet in the Format menu. To move from Title to Body in Outline view hold down the Option key while hitting return.
To add the next slide choose New Slide from the Insert menu (Slide menu in 3.0), or just hit return if you're in the Outline view. Note that where version 3.0 presents you with a simple Title/Body outline for each slide (which you can modify to fit your needs), 4.0 allows you to pick from a variety of pre-formatted layouts. All the usual editing tools are available from the Edit menu. From within the Slides view you can rearrange text by selecting the text box (by clicking on it) and then clicking and dragging. From within the Outline view you can rearrange your text within and among slides. The arrow buttons along the left side allow you to adjust the depth of the bulleted points in you outline.
To add an image go to the slide in the Slides view-(you can navigate among slides using the PageUp and PageDown keys on the keyboard). Select Picture from the Insert menu. (In 3.0 you have to go through the edit menu to get to the Insert option) Select the picture you want and it should appear in a movable box on the screen. To resize the picture choose Scale from the Draw menu. (In 3.0 Scale is in the Object menu).
Once you've put in your basic outline and whatever images you need, you can jazz things up by adding color, extra text, and drawing directly on your slides. PowerPoint can apply a uniform color scheme to your entire presentation. Choose Color Scheme from the Tools menu (Slides menu in 3.0). You will be lead through a series of choices leading to a "coordinated" overall color scheme that can be applied to your entire presentation. To add additional text (outside the title and body sections) click on the "A" button on the left hand tool bar. Then click and drag to outline a new text box. Once created you can add text to this box simply by clicking and typing. Although you can add as many of these "extra" text boxes as you like, they will not show up in the outline view. They are a good way to fit in extra notes, explanations, or captions, but shouldn't substitute for the main text in the body section. You can also draw directly on your slides using the series of tools on the left tool bar.
While it is possible to print out your slides, (or to have them put on film) the most powerful way to show your work is to present it directly from the computer. To do this choose Slide Show from the File menu. You'll want the Manual Advance and Continuous Loop options selected, then click Show. Your slides will now display one at a time in full screen mode. You can advance to the next slide using the space bar, mouse click, right arrow, down arrow, or PageDown key. The left, and up arrow keys will take you back one slide, as will the PageUp key. You can blank/unblank the screen at any time by typing B. You can hide/display the cursor (which makes a nice pointer) using the A key. The minus key will end the presentation. You can draw directly on the screen during a presentation (the effects won't be permanent) by clicking and holding the mouse until the cursor becomes a dot. Typing E will erase any such drawing. You can also choose from a variety of Transitions between slides by choosing Transition from the Slide menu.
Remember to save your presentation in a safe place (on floppy or in the Hold or class folder) before quitting PowerPoint! Keep in mind that the presentation includes all the image files and therefore may be quite large.
We have only covered the very basics of setting up a PowerPoint presentation. If you run into problems or would like to check out some of the more advanced features there are several good sources. You can find help under the question mark icon in the upper right corner of the screen. The people at the help desk in the CMC may be able to help if you run into problems, and also have access to manuals for PowerPoint 4.0 which may be helpful.
Sean Fox February 1996
Maintained by Sean
Fox, sfox@carleton.edu
Last updated: Thursday, 31-Aug-2000 12:26:08 CDT