Fuzzy Chart Text in PowerPoint

[benfsmith]

Hi,

I am having trouble with charts in PP 2003. Almost all of them have text
that looks fuzzy and compressed when deselected. When clicked open, the text
is rendered correctly, but clicking out reverts to the almost illegible text.

I have deselected auto-scale fonts, set object size to 100%, etc. I have
tried the tips on Echo S's site. Nothing seems to help. Converting the chart
in PP 2007 is a temporary fix, but the trouble returns if the chart is opened
again in PP 2003.

The trouble affects all of the text in these charts (e.g., labels, titles,
etc).

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Ben

 

[Echo S]

You updated video drivers, too? That was one that took us awhile to figure
out -- but it's got to do with wide-screens. (It's listed on the
troubleshooting page of my site, but I just wanted to call attention to it
in case you missed it in the shuffle.)

Charts will also often have "jagged" text when they're animated, but that
doesn't sound like your issue. Hm...

 

[benfsmith]

Thanks for responding. The video driver has been updated. Any other ideas?
Would a screenshot be helpful?

 

[Echo S]

Sorry, I can't think of anything other than what I already listed.

If you have a screenshot handy, though, sure, post it somewhere -- you never
know!

 

[benfsmith]

Here's the screenshot:

 

[benfsmith]

The charts are 100% PP 2003. I just tried 2007 for troubleshooting. The
anti-aliased preview from 2007 carries over fine. The AA is a bit heavy, yes,
but it's okay. The trouble starts after opening and then closing a chart.

Thanks for the responses. I hope someone has an idea on this. I'm surprised
that I haven't found anything on this yet, since I've been approached by
numerous others in the past with the same problem. About 60% of the time, I
can fix them through the steps outlined on Echo S's site. Not working for me
on this presentation though.

 

[Echo S]

http://i40.tinypic.com/n3q439.jpg

Honestly, this doesn't really look bad to me. I'm guessing it must look
worse on your system.

What resolution are you running your computer at? And if you go to Slide
Show | Set up Show, what is selected there for "slide show resolution"?

 

[benfsmith]

"Use current resolution" is selected.

I guess it's hard to tell how bad it is from that picture. The font is
Calibri, though. You can see that the letters are stretched in the picture
horizontally like Verdana, causing the letters to overlap. There's not an
adjustment in the kerning, so they are bunched up together. There is no
anti-aliasing going on, either, resulting in jagged outlines.

 

[Sandy Johnson]

Are the charts animated in any way?

 

[benfsmith]

No animation.

 

[Echo S]

It definitely seems stretched, which takes me back to display issues on a
wide screen. What type of systems are they? What type of video cards?

You know, this will seem weird, but it's also worth trying:

http://www.pptfaq.com/FAQ00952.htm