Animated pointer during slide show

[Bruce]

I am trying to put together a presentation that includes
screen shots. I need to do something that emulates the
arrow that is the standard pointer in Windows. If
possible it should be bigger than standard, or it could be
made to move (fly) in order to call attention to itself.
I have searched for graphics on the web, and have looked
within Powerpoint, but no luck. The standard pointer just
is not prominent enough as it exists in a screen shot.
Any suggestions?

 

[Sonia]

Why not use PowerPoint 's drawing tools or an autoshape such as a block
arrow and size it to your liking? Then you can animate it as you wish.

 

[TAJ Simmons]

Bruce

Are you looking to emulate a mouse during a slideshow?

Will a 'real' person be presenting? If so just edit the "standard mouse pointer icons" in the "control panel" of
windows.

You can make the pointer stand out a lot....or change it's color....or change it to something more prominent.

Cheers
TAJ Simmons
microsoft powerpoint mvp

awesome - powerpoint backgrounds,
free powerpoint templates, tutorials, hints and tips etc
http://www.powerpointbackgrounds.com

 

[Bruce]

The idea is that it will be an automated presentation. I
have used the drawing tools to assemble an arrow that
looks like the standard pointer, but I had been hoping to
find an arrow ready-made. I can create a good arrow with
a bitmap, but I can't figure out how to make the
background transparent. A bitmap needs to be a rectangle,
I guess.

-----Original Message-----
Bruce

Are you looking to emulate a mouse during a slideshow?

Will a 'real' person be presenting? If so just edit

the "standard mouse pointer icons" in the "control panel"
of

windows.

You can make the pointer stand out a lot....or change

it's color....or change it to something more prominent.

 

[Bruce]

The block arrows to not look much like the pointer. Since
I will be using block arrows to point out elements of
photos and drawings, I wanted the arrow for screen shots
to look like the standard cursor/pointer. I was able to
fashion an arrow using the drawing tools, but I am not
completely satisfied with the result. I am hoping to find
a ready-made arrow of the same appearance as the standard
pointer. This is to be an automated presentation, so
changing the cursor will not help.

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

The block arrows to not look much like the pointer. Since
I will be using block arrows to point out elements of
photos and drawings, I wanted the arrow for screen shots
to look like the standard cursor/pointer. I was able to
fashion an arrow using the drawing tools, but I am not
completely satisfied with the result. I am hoping to find
a ready-made arrow of the same appearance as the standard
pointer. This is to be an automated presentation, so
changing the cursor will not help.

How about this:

If you go to Start, Settings, Control Panel and doubleclick the Mouse settings,
one of the options is to change cursors.

Pick the largest pointer cursor you can find.

Now do a screen capture that includes the cursor sitting over an area of some
flat color that doesn't match any color in the cursor itself. Ideally, use the
background color of your presentation.

Crop the picture to just the cursor and save to file.

Now insert the file into your presentation (Insert, Picture, From File) and use
the transparency tool on the Picture toolbar to get rid of the background
color. Now you've got a cursor you can animate as needed.

I'm not sure, but the Accessibility settings for some Win versions may include
even larger cursors. Worth a look.

 

[Darrell]

You can add the arrow then animate it. You can highlight the arrow and
click on the thicker of the variable lines to make it larger. You can make
it a brilliant color to draw attention. You can wipe it into view or have
it fly from any direction to the place you set it.

 

[Lloyd Lindsay]

Bruce:

I can do it with PPT XP, and it's a snap.

You can use an MS Clip. I'm not sure whether my Clip came with PPT
XP, or whether I downloaded it from Design Gallery previously.

In PPT XP, I clicked on Insert | Picture | Clip Art

In the "Search For" field I entered "arrow" and found the MS Mouse at
the standard angle on a cyan coloured background.

Insert it into your slide and enlarge it to make it easier to work
with.

Right click on it and then left click on "Edit Picture." Your screen
will ask you: "Do you want to convert it to a Microsoft Object?"

Left click on "Yes." Now you have all the elements to work with.

Click on the various elements and work with your colours, transparency
levels and lines. When you get the mouse to appear as a typical Mouse
on your screen, reduce it down to the size appropriate for your slide.

WARNING: Not all Clips allow you to convert it to a Microsoft Object
and work with the elements.

 

[Bruce]

The cursor does not appear in screen shots. I took a
screen shot of the Pointers dialog box itself, which
worked. I copied it to Paint and saved it as a gif. It
worked well enough. Thanks for the idea.

-----Original Message-----


How about this:

If you go to Start, Settings, Control Panel and

doubleclick the Mouse settings,

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

The cursor does not appear in screen shots. I took a
screen shot of the Pointers dialog box itself, which
worked. I copied it to Paint and saved it as a gif. It
worked well enough.

Good thinking! I meant to mention that you'd probably need to use a dedicated
screen capture program to grab the pointer - normal screenshots don't (e.g.
Alt+PrnScrn)


Thanks for the idea.

 

[TAJ Simmons]

Bruce,

Probably best to go with vector/clipart image of arrows (it's simpler)

But if you really want to go with a bitmap (and make the backgrounds transparent) see
http://www.powerpointbackgrounds.com/powerpointtransparency.htm

Cheers
TAJ Simmons
microsoft powerpoint mvp

awesome - powerpoint backgrounds,
free powerpoint templates, tutorials, hints and tips etc
http://www.powerpointbackgrounds.com

 

[Bruce]

Been there, tried that. Not available in Word 2000.
Can't find it on the web. MS Office Online web site has
only crude and unusable images. I have created my own
bitmap image in Paint. Not a good solution, but the only
one, it seems.

 

[Bruce]

I would really like to go with clipart images, if there
ane any available. I have spent hours online, searching
dozens of web sites, and the best I have been able to do
was to make a screen shot of mouse settings and copy the
arrow from there to Paint, where I cleaned up the image as
well as I could. I had imagined that the arrow is
available somewhere online, but there is no way to narrow
down the search enough to find it from among the many,
many sites with clip art.

 

[Lloyd Lindsay]

Bruce:

I converted the mouse arrow I have in .wmf format into .bmp format.

If you can do the following in your version of PowerPoint, I can send
you a mouse arrow that you can use with any background.

Can you do the following in your version of PowerPoint?

1. Open PowerPoint.

2. Left click on: View | Toolbars | Picture

3. On the Picture Toolbar there is an icon (second from the right on
PPT XP) that has a pencil with a chevron at the tip. The help bubble
will say "Set Transparent Color."

If you have the "Set Transparent Color Feature," I can help you.

My mouse arrow is white and the surrounding box around it is black.

After importing the .bmp arrow into PowerPoint, you left-click on the
"Set Transparent Color Feature" icon in the Picture Toolbar. Then
left-click on the black area surrounding your white arrow and poof
your white arrow sits on your slide's regular background.

In the "Slide Show View it's terrific.

 

[Bruce]

Yes, I can set transparent color. I did that with the
arrow I drew, but it doesn't look all that sharp. I
appreciate your offer, and would like to accept it. I am
not sure I can decipher your e-mail address. My guess is
that I simply replace the word hyphen with the symbol, but
that doesn't quite look right. My web e-mail address is
(e-mail address removed). I can accept attachments
there. Thanks again.

 

[John Langhans [MSFT]]

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