Presentation Tips

For the fastest slide shows, save your presentation as a .SHR file and use the Runtime Player (CORELPLR.EXE) to run the slide show. Make sure you save a copy of the presentation using the standard .SHW extension, as the runtime file cannot be edited.

Because CorelShow uses Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) to add most presentation elements, you'll find that it's a memory and resource hog. To avoid problems, don't leave any unessential programs running while working in CorelShow and leave ample free disk space, as files tend to be big.

By default, CorelShow applies the same background to all slides. However, you can adjust the background for any particular slide. Go to the single slide view and choose View/Background. The Omit selection will remove the background for the current slide, which can be handy for speeding up presentations or outputting them to a black-and-white printer. The Independent selection lets you select a different background for that specific slide.

To see a graphic display of a slideshow's timeline, click on the Timeline tool on the toolbar. Drag the timeline bars to adjust when slides appear and how long they stay onscreen. You can also adjust the start time and duration for audio files in the timeline and stretch a sound file to run across multiple slides.

CorelShow's Wait-for Cue options really add intelligence to the flow of a presentation, allowing it branch, pause, or do specific actions based on user input. Keep in mind that these cues only affect objects inside a slide; they do not change the length of time the slide itself stays onscreen. You'll have to adjust the slide's timeline to account for any cue delay.

Be careful when choosing transitions between slides. Dissolve and "blind" transitions between slides may not run smoothly when you actually play your slide show. Make sure you test the transitions with each slide before making the presentation and change the transitions accordingly.

Build presentations quickly and insure a consistent look throughout by using SmartMasters. Create your own by choosing the Style/SmartMaster Set and pick CUSTOM.MAS from the list of available SmartMasters. Install your own background by selecting SmartMasters View and add your own objects to the Title and Basic Layout pages. Then save this file as a new .MAS file in the MASTERS directory.

Import charts from Lotus 1-2-3 by copying the chart to the Windows Clipboard. Then, in Freelance, choose Edit/Paste Special/1-2-3 chart. The chart graphic will appear, and the actual data will be added to Freelance's Chart Data and Titles dialog box.

If you have an especially long name in a organization chart, don't press Enter to split the name into two lines or the second name line will replace the person's title. Instead, press Ctrl+Enter, which splits the name without affecting the title or comment lines. You can do this right on the slide or in the Organization Chart dialog box.

Before you can create a button using View/Screen Show/Create/Edit Button, you need to select an object on your slide. This object will act as the button. Once it is selected, you can use the Create/Edit Button option to assign a specific action to this button.

Add pizzazz to your transitions with complementary audio. In the slide editor, click on the Media Manager SmartIcon and select the sound file you want to include. In Media Manager, indicate how often your audio file plays and whether the audio file should be linked to or embedded in the presentation. Embedding the file will make the presentation bigger, but easier to move between computers. Right-click on the audio icon and select Play Options. Check "start playing at the beginning of the page entry effect" to make the sound and transition start at the same time.

If you have text objects grouped with graphics, you don't have to ungroup them to change the text. Instead, click on the object two times (don't double-click). You should see the text surrounded by a rectangle and a blinking cursor inside the text. Change, add or delete text. When you're done, click anywhere outside the group. This also works for text elements in charts.

Use multimedia SmartMaster sets, MMLASER and MMGLOBE to animate pages when you run a screen show.

Add a header or footer to your presentation with File/Page Setup. In the Header and Footer fields, you can enter up to 512 characters. They will be displayed in a 10-point sans serif font. Special codes include:

Crop bitmap pictures by right-clicking on the graphic, selecting Crop Picture, and then adjusting the picture. If you can, though, it's better to do your cropping in an image editing program before placing the picture in a Freelance presentation, since the cropped material is really just hidden and adds to the size of your presentation.

If you're having trouble selecting objects on a cluttered page, choose Edit/Select/Cycle. Press Next to cycle through all the objects on the page. Each object is highlighted in turn, and a short description appears in the Cycle dialog box. When you find what you want, click on Select.

A chart created by selecting a "Click here" block can only be ungrouped if it is first dragged out of the block. Hold down the Ctrl key while dragging the chart.

Have a hard time remembering shortcut function keys? Click on View/View Preferences and then check Function Key Panel. Function key commands will appear at the bottom of the screen. Hold down the Shift, Ctrl or Alt keys, and the function key panel will adjust accordingly.

Hold down the Shift key while resizing a text block to scale the point size of the text at the same time.

Hold down the Shift key while clicking on a page with the Zoom tool, to zoom out instead of in.

Use the spell checker on individual slides or your whole presentation to avoid embarrassing foe pahs, er faux pas. If it doesn't recognize a correct spelling, add it to your personal dictionary. To make changes to your dictionary, open the WINUSER.LEX file (in the Harvard Graphics directory), using a text editor like the Windows Notepad. Edit or remove incorrect words and add new entries, then save your changes. If you edit WINUSER.LEX in a word processor--instead of a text editor--you must save it as a text file.

Select the Text tool before you make selections in the Text menus. If you don't, you'll set defaults that will be used for any new text you create.

Want to move data labels that overlap in a chart? Highlight labels and reduce their size, or choose Chart/Chart Options/Series and change the slice pointer from short to medium or long. You can also rotate the chart using the Series Options dialog box. If you have two overlapping labels, move them to the very bottom or top of the chart, and Harvard Graphics will automatically move one label to the left and one to the right. If none of the above work, you can always convert the chart into an editable image.

To fully manipulate all elements in a chart, you can convert it into an "editable image." Just click on the chart and then choose Chart/Chart to Image. Be careful, though: Once you convert a chart into an image, the spreadsheet data that created the chart is no longer linked, so don't do it until you're sure your numbers are finalized.

In the Slide Editor, Slide Sorter or Outline, the fastest way to preview a slide is to press F2. Done previewing? Press any key to return to where you were. Pressing Shift+F2 previews the slide in black-and-white.

Having trouble importing a Windows Metafile (WMF) graphic? Try opening the application that made the file, copying the graphic to the Windows Clipboard, and then pasting it into Harvard Graphics.

The Stamp option--Text/Add Stamp--lets you include the current slide number, date, or time in a text block in your speaker's notes.

Turn off Master Template options for individual slides by choosing Slide/Adopt Master Template and unchecking any options you don't want on the current slide.

Create your own Quick Presentations by placing a presentation file in the GW\PRES\QUICKPRS directory. The description you use when saving it will appear as the title. You can add or change the description later by choosing File/Save As.

Even if you created your presentation in color, you can generate a handsome black-and-white copy on your laser printer. Open Print Setup and choose from several options, including: print text as black, skip background fill, use B&W palette, and print fills as white.

Depending on what view you're working in, the Export command behaves differently. For example, if you are in the Slide Editor, Export deals only with the current slide. In Slide Sorter view, you can export a whole presentation (Harvard Graphics creates a separate file for each slide and automatically increments the file name). In Outliner view, Export creates an ASCII text file from the current outline.

Customize your toolbar by choosing Options/Customize Icon Bar and dragging icons right onto the tool bar at the top of the screen. Within the dialog box, you can add icons for programs you use often by clicking on Custom Icons/New and entering information on the program or using the browse button to find it. You'll now be able to run the program by clicking on the toolbar icon.

As long as you have the Customize Icon Bar dialog box open (from the Option menu), you can rearrange the order of icons on the tool bar by dragging them to the desired position.

Let Harvard Graphics save your bacon.Turn on Options, AutoSave and indicate how often you'd like it to autosave your work. One caveat: You can't undo actions you performed before the autosave.

For a new twist on the basic bar graph, use a shape or picture instead of colored bars. To produce a pictograph, create a bar chart, then click on the bars. Select Graphics/Fill/Bitmap. Select the bitmap graphic you want to use and set tiling to vertical. Also try experimenting with stretching the graphic to fill the each bar.

Create a new slide and move from the title area to the body area with keyboard commands. To create a new slide, press Ctrl+Enter in slide view. Start typing to enter Title text automatically. Then press Ctrl+Enter again to move to the bullet area, and so on. When you've finished with the last placeholder on the slide, Ctrl+Enter will create a new slide for you.

If you've created a slide and made formatting changes to the layout and you then want to revert to the original PowerPoint formatting from the master layout, select the Slide Layout button on the lower right of your screen, select the slide layout of your slide and click on Reapply.

If you're in a text placeholder or text label and what you really want is to select the text object and not insert or edit text, press the Esc key and the text object will be selected.

If you've resized an object, you can restore the original size by pressing the Ctrl key and double-clicking on a resize handle.

If you have many on your slide and need more room to work, press the Alt key and drag unneeded objects off until you're finished. Or, if you are just creating prototypes and don't want to throw anything away just yet, drag some of the unused ideas off into the working space until you're sure they won't be needed.

Hide background graphics from the master on any slide if you need more room for your slide objects. Choose Format/Custom Background and click the Omit Background Graphics from Master checkbox.

Create multiple guides in PowerPoint. Choose View/Guides. While pressing the Ctrl key, drag a copy of the guide to the desired location. To eliminate unwanted guides, select one and drag it off the edge of the screen.

Add your own clipart images to AutoClipArt to illustrate concepts in your presentation. Use the Organize button in Clip Art Gallery and select the Add option, then double-click on your picture to add it. After the image is imported, use the Picture Properties dialog to enter a keyword for the image in the Description box. Next time the AutoClipArt feature encounters that word and suggests images, your image will be among those offered.

Create the same kind of chart over and over again by creating a custom chart and saving it in Microsoft Graph.

In Slide Sorter View, hold the Alt key while clicking on any slide to get another view of your slide title.

Select an object and use the arrow keys to "nudge" the object in very small steps. For even finer tuning, turn off the grid and hold the Alt key as you press the arrow keys.

Launch a file into slide show from Windows 95 shell by right-clicking on the PowerPoint file and selecting Show from the shortcut menu

Rename any presentation with the extension pps. When you double-click on that presentation, it will automatically launch your slide show.

Have your system run your slide show on bootup: In Explorer, go to your PowerPoint directory, right-click on powerpnt.exe and choose Create Shortcut Then click the shortcut icon for PowerPoint using the right mouse button, click Properties, and go to the Shortcut tab. To start a presentation in slide show, type the path for the presentation followed by /s. Add the new shortcut to your Windows Start Up folder and the next time you restart your computer, Windows 95 will automatically run your slide show.

Ensure timely delivery and presentation of your slides by pacing yourself with the Scroll Lock light. The Scroll Lock light indicates when your next slide is ready in Slide Show. When it goes on, you can immediately go to the next slide.

Drag a Microsoft Word outline from File Manager onto a blank Outline page in PowerPoint to create a new presentation outline.

Change fonts on the fly with shortcut keystrokes: Ctrl+Shift+F changes font type, Ctrl+Shift+P changes font size, Ctrl+Shift+> increases font size, Ctrl+Shift+< decreases font size

Duplicate objects in PowerPoint by holding down the Ctrl key while dragging away a copy of an object. Not only does this apply to objects on a slide, but also to duplicating slides in the slide sorter view.

Set defaults by selecting an object or block of text, copying its formatting using Format/Pick Up Style, and then applying that formatting when no objects are selected. The Apply Style choice will change to Apply to Defaults, so the setting will be used for all subsequent objects of the same type.

If you own Microsoft Word 6.0 or Office 4.*x* , you can get a filter from Microsoft for the JPEG compressed bitmap format. Once installed, it automatically becomes available for PowerPoint as well. While the filter is not officially supported, it seems to work fine. Call Microsoft at 800-360-7561 or look for the filter online in Microsoft support forums.

Prevent PowerPoint from choking on very large Windows metafile (WMF) graphics by importing the graphic into another application--such as Microsoft Word--and then cutting and pasting into PowerPoint via the Windows clipboard.

Double-click on the Format Painter tool to change the styles of multiple objects, or click once to marquee-select groups of objects.

Add a bitmap graphic to the background of every slide in your presentation. Choose View/Master/Slide Master and then either paste in an image or import it by choosing Insert/Picture. Do this at the end of the presentation process, since the extra graphic on each page will slow down overall editing.

AutoShapes provides an easy way to add simple icons and symbols to a presentation. The toolbox is even smart enough to stay out of your way: As you drag it near the edge of the drawing area, it automatically "docks" itself.

When typing in the Outline view, pressing Tab demotes the current line of text. If you want a real tab, press Ctrl+Tab.

Preview transitions in the Slide Sorter by clicking on the small transition icon that appears under each slide. You can also assign transitions to slides in Slide Sorter. Assign a transition to all slides by choosing Edit/Select All and then choosing Tools/Transition.

Want to rearrange your toolbar? Hold down the Alt key and you can rearrange tools or delete them by dragging them off the toolbar. You can also add tool icons by choosing Tools/Customize and dragging icons onto the toolbar.

WordPerfect Presentations can't print the outline, but you can use WordPerfect to do it. Go to the outliner view in Presentations, choose File/Save As and choose WP 6.0 - Text Outline from the dropdown list. Give your outline a name and save it. You can then use WordPerfect to print out the file. Since Presentations also has macro support, this process can also be easily automated by turning on macro record and following the steps above.

Presentations takes advantage of the right mouse button for many functions. While drawing an object, click and hold the right mouse button to move the object to a new location. In the Slide List View, click the right mouse button under any column heading for quick access to the appropriate dialog. Quickly change the object background color by left-clicking on the tool palette then selecting the background color with the right mouse button.

Presentations uses OLE 2.0 to support drag-and-drop between applications. For example, if you create a logo in Presentations, you can add it to any OLE 2.0 client application's document by tiling the two applications side by side and dragging the logo from Presentations to the OLE client.

Change the formatting for a word without selecting it by placing the insertion pointer anywhere within the word and choosing the attributes.

Rearrange a pull-down menu or give your own name to a feature or help prompt. Right-click on the pull-down menu and choose Edit. Choose Yes to make a copy of the default menu bar. Enter a name for the new menu bar and click on OK. Drag menu items to a different location. If you want to remove an item, simply drag it off until the mouse pointer changes to a trash can. To add a new menu item, drag and drop the Menu box from the dialog box. To rename a feature, double-click on it and give it a new name or even a different help prompt.

Gridlines are useful for precisely laying out or aligning items. To create a gridline, choose View/Ruler to display the ruler, then click on the ruler and drag it out onto the slide. To remove a gridline, drag it back onto the ruler.

Nudge allows you to move an object in small increments. To use it, click and hold on the object and then press any of the arrow keys on your keyboard.

You can create up to a 6x6-foot poster from any new drawing. Choose File/New and Create a New Drawing. Then choose Format/Page and select Size/Margins. Click on the Poster button and drag to the size of poster you want and click on OK. Your page will be divided by dashed lines to show the individual pages that will print.

Here's a trick to add bullet points on the fly by using QuickCorrect's custom entries: Add an entry into QuickCorrect that will replace an asterisk with a bullet character. To do this, choose Tools/QuickCorrect, then, enter '*' in the Replace field. Move to the With field and press Ctrl+W to bring up WP Characters and choose the bullet of your choice. Finally click on the Add Entry button. Asterisks will now be replaced by the specified bullets. Keep in mind that since QuickCorrect is shared with all of the PerfectOffice applications, this entry will also be added for the other apps.