Action Settings don't work on buttons with small icons

[Guest]

Hi,
Got a problem with some buttons I created and their Action Settings.
I'm using PPT 2003 SP2.

I created the buttons from the Drawing Toolbar, some I added text to, others
I pasted and grouped small graphic images to. The problem occurs with the
Action Settings for the buttons. For both kinds of buttons I selected under
Mouse Click | Play Sound | "Click" and under Mouse Over | Highlight when
mouse over.

I tested both actions on both types of buttons and they worked OK. I then
copied-pasted them to where I needed them in the prestentation and assigned
the the triggered effects. Again everything worked OK, except...

When I mouse over the buttons with images the highlight doesn't work and
when clicking the button there's no sound "click" as before (the triggered
events run OK). For the buttons I created with just text both effects work as
expected.

Just for giggles I copied-pasted one of the misbehaving buttons and deleted
its triggered events. The button would then behave properly, highlighting on
hover and sounding a "click" when selected.

Again, just for giggles, I ungrouped a button that had an image and assigned
a series of events to just the button and not the image. It highlighted as
expect and sounded a click when it started the triggered sequence.

Has anyone seen this before? I could solve the problem by assigning the
triggered events to just the button, but icons take up 50% of the button, so
if they're visible they need to be operative. Another alternative is to just
use text, but I really prefer the icon buttons. Any ideas?

Thanks for the help.

Steve

 

[Guest]

Try copying the button and then paste special as a png. See if your actions
work better now
--

Did that answer the question / help?
_____________________________
John Wilson
Microsoft Certified Office Specialist
http://www.technologytrish.co.uk/ppttipshome.html

 

[Ute Simon]

Has anyone seen this before? I could solve the problem by assigning the

triggered events to just the button, but icons take up 50% of the button,
so
if they're visible they need to be operative. Another alternative is to
just
use text, but I really prefer the icon buttons. Any ideas?

I think the grouped image covers up the button, so that your mouse click
cannot reach it. Why don't you use the pictures as a fill? Fill color - Fill
effects - Image should do.

Best regards,
Ute

 

[Guest]

Ute, thanks for the suggestion. It solves the problem, but...

The icons I'm using are small graphic images (e.g. a coffee cup gif for the
button that branches to the break countdown timer slide), not photos. They
don't map over a button very well, the aspect ratios are way off. I'm also
using a gradient fill to group buttons visually for the end-user. Replacing
the gradient with an image isn't really an option.

The graphic icons take up between 25% and 60% of the button's surface
including transparent boarders. Mousing over the button, prior to assigning
the triggered events, rersults in the button behaving as expected. My
conclusion is that the image is not covering up the button preventing the
mouse click from reaching it.

Since the buttons work as expected until assignment to the triggered events,
it suggests that there's a glitch in PowerPoint itself.

 

[Guest]

John, thanks for the help.

Converting the button from 2 images on top of each other to a single image
solved most of the problem, but... I loose the features of an Office Drawing
Object. Specifically, I can't add text as easily as before and highlighting
now effects both the button and the graphic, whereas before it only effected
the button.

Depending on the file type I selected for Paste Special, I would loose some
of the image detail or get format artifacts (mainly from those formats that
don't incude transparency). I settled on increasing the button size by ten,
Paste Special as a PNG, and then reducing the size back to normal. The
resulting button is not as clear as the original and looses it's 3
dimensional shadowing. Since the button works as expected until it is
assigned to a triggered set od events, I think this exposes a bug in
PowerPoint.

I discovered that Action Buttons do not allow the button to be highlighted
on mouse over (while Drawing Objects do) and behave similarly to drawing
objects with images when assigned to a triggered set of events.

I think to solve this problem I'll skip the "sizzle" and use buttons without
Action Settings.

 

[Ute Simon]

The graphic icons take up between 25% and 60% of the button's surface

including transparent boarders. Mousing over the button, prior to
assigning
the triggered events, rersults in the button behaving as expected. My
conclusion is that the image is not covering up the button preventing the
mouse click from reaching it.

Combining John's and my suggestions might give a solution: Draw a rectangle
the size of the button. Assign the color or the gradient you want the button
to show, to this shape. Place your graphic on this rectangle, if it's
smaller or transparent, the color will shine through. Group rectangle and
graphic and right-click on this group. Choose: Save as image, save as WMF or
PNG. Delete the group and insert this image as a fill effect to the button.
(You'll need PPT 2002 or 2003 for this, for older versions you have to do
the grouping and saving in an image editing program.)

Best regards,
Ute

 

[Guest]

Ute, thanks for the suggestion, I'll give it a try.