PPT2007: how to avoid selecting the "body text"?

[Guest]

In PPT 2007, clicking anywhere inside the "body text" textbox selects the
entire text box (I think "body text" is what it is called = the main text
area on a slide).

This main text box now seems to be 'above' everything else in the slide. If
you have a standard slide with a bit of text and a drawing, this makes it
very hard to select part of your drawing. If you are not 100% accurate with
your mouse, you end up selecting the main text box.

I would prefer that the main text box only be selectable by clicking on its
edge. I think that is how it worked in PPT2003. Any ideas? Have others
experienced this or is it maybe just my slide master setup?

Thanks,

Mark

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

In PPT 2007, clicking anywhere inside the "body text" textbox selects the
entire text box (I think "body text" is what it is called = the main text
area on a slide).

This main text box now seems to be 'above' everything else in the slide. If
you have a standard slide with a bit of text and a drawing, this makes it
very hard to select part of your drawing. If you are not 100% accurate with
your mouse, you end up selecting the main text box.

I would prefer that the main text box only be selectable by clicking on its
edge. I think that is how it worked in PPT2003. Any ideas? Have others
experienced this or is it maybe just my slide master setup?

Just compared 2003 and 2007; they work pretty much identically in this respect.
You may be seeing different results because of different amounts of text in the
text boxes though.

Watch the mouse cursor though ... as it gets into the area where it'll select a
drawing object rather than the text beneath, it turns into a four-headed arrow.

And of course, make sure that the drawing objects really are above the text
box.

If you don't have too many shapes on the slide, sometimes the simplest way to
select one of them is to press TAB repeatedly until the one you want is
selected. Shift tab takes you back if you overshoot the mark.

Ah, and in 2007 try the Selection Pane.
On the Home tab, editing group (far right of ribbon), click Select then pick
Selection Pane.

 

[Guest]

Just compared 2003 and 2007; they work pretty much identically in this
respect.

That's odd - I've been using PPT for many years and don't remember this
behavior. I'll try it again next time I have a 2003 install. In 2007, I am
constantly selecting the text box accidentally and it is so annoying - a few
of my coworkers report the same thing, maybe we all just have bad memories.

Watch the mouse cursor though ... as it gets into the area where it'll select a
drawing object rather than the text beneath, it turns into a four-headed arrow.

It turns into the 4-headed arrow anywhere over the main "body text" text
box. Since this tex box occupies about 65% of the slide area, clicking almost
anywhere on the slide selects it.

And of course, make sure that the drawing objects really are above the text
box.

Yeah, I've played with "Send to Back" and "Bring to Front" a lot and they
don't affect this behavior.

I think I may have to modify the master to make the "body text" text box
very small.

Thanks,

Mark

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

respect.

That's odd - I've been using PPT for many years and don't remember this
behavior.

The behavior depends on how much text is in the text box. Hand me that wet cocktail
napkin and a marker pen and I'll try to explain. ;-)

Suppose you have a rectangle that's about one line of text high and behind it you
have text like so:

Blah is the blah and yada of yadablada bingbam
Ramalamadingdong oofdah
Now is the time for all godzilla to
Boomlay boomlay boomlay

The rectangle sits right underneath the first line. When you click anywhere off the
rectangle but inside the text box, it'll select the text box (2007 or 2003)

Now change the text to:

Blah is the blah and yada of yadablada bingbam

Now there's no text behind most of the rectangle, even though the text box itself
may extend to the bottom of the slide. Click off the rectangle but in an area of the
text box where there's no text and nothing gets selected.

... it's the text in the box that's key ya see.

 

[Guest]

Click off the rectangle but in an area of the

text box where there's no text and nothing gets selected.

I just tried creating a new deck in PPT2007, and it works like you describe,
which is how I remember it working in PPT2003, which is the way I want it to
work.

This is not the behavior that I'm seeing with my pre-existing decks though.
I have many decks that I created in PPT2003 and am now editing with PPT2007.
Here's a test I just did using one of them:
- I have a main text box which occupies most of the slide.
- I have one line of text in the main text box
- there is nothing else on the slide
When I hover the mouse over the main text box, it is the 4-way cursor that
you mentioned earlier. When I click anywhere over the main text box (except
over the one line of text), the entire text box gets selected. If I click on
the one line of text, the focus jumps into the text so I can edit it, as it
should.

So maybe there is something going on with the way PPT2007 is treating the
decks I created with PPT2003. Or maybe it is something about my slide master.
I did try saving one of my old decks as a .pptx but that didn't help.

Thanks,

Mark

 

[Echo S]

So maybe there is something going on with the way PPT2007 is treating the
decks I created with PPT2003. Or maybe it is something about my slide
master.
I did try saving one of my old decks as a .pptx but that didn't help.

The slide masters and slide layouts are different in 2007, and I suspect
that contributes to the problem.

What if you reapply the slide layout?

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

Aha, I see the difference ... I was playing with placeholder text boxes, but
regular text boxes behave differently. Differently from one another and
differently, just as you describe, from 2003 to 2007.

Same thing happens when I create a presentation from scratch in 2007, so I don't
think it's anything to blame on your presentations having been created in an
earlier version.

So at least we're on the same page here. But I don't see any workaround offhand
other than the ones I've suggested.

 

[Guest]

I may start with a new presentation and play around with the master to see if
I can get the behavior I want. If I find a solution I'll try to post it.

Thanks for all your help,

Mark