G
Guest
I would appreciate anyone's help in verifying the following behavior in
PowerPoint 2007. Also appreciated would be a solution that would allow both
2003 and 2007 users to make changes to the same diagram in the same file,
retaining diagramming functionality using either version of PowerPoint.
Try this: In PowerPoint 2003, insert a diagram (org chart or “cycle†are
good examples) using the diagramming tool. Modify some labels and add
additional shapes. Note that you can add additional pieces to the diagram,
and that it gives you functionality that auto-adjusts the shape of the
overall diagram. Save in either the legacy 97-2003 formats or the new pptx
format.
Open the file in PowerPoint 2007. Try to modify the labels in the diagram.
You will be prompted that you will have to convert the diagram to either 1)
SmartArt or 2) shapes.
If you convert to SmartArt, you can indeed modify the labels in 2007, and
you can add new "pieces", and the overall shape adjusts itself. However,
once converted to SmartArt, the PowerPoint 2003 user will never be able to
edit the diagram again, because it will only ever be presented to them as an
image. (There are also other problems with certain diagram’s overall “lookâ€
changing a lot when you convert to SmartArt… like the sizes of the arrows in
the cycle diagram get ‘skinny’ … but I think that’s another issue…)
If you convert to Shapes, you can also modify the labels in PowerPoint
2007... but you lose the convenience of a diagramming tool (like the ability
to insert additional shapes, and have the diagram re-adjust its overall
size/shape). Furthermore, once saved, the 2003 user permanently loses the
convenience of a diagramming tool as well, and is forced to work with the
diagram as a collection of shapes.
Word 2007 behaves differently. If a Word 2007 user opens a document
containing a diagram created by a Word 2003 user with the old diagramming
tool, the document opens in Compatibility mode, and the old Word 2003
diagramming tool features are available under Diagram Tools / Format. In
fact, in Word 2007 compatibility mode, SmartArt isn't even available to
use... the 2003 diagramming tool is presented to the user when SmartArt is
clicked on the Insert ribbon.
I'm wondering why the old diagramming tool was made available like this
within Word 2007, but not PowerPoint 2007. At my company, it's much more
common to find diagrams in PowerPoint presentations than it is in Word
documents.
Also, if anyone has "inside connections" to Microsoft's Office 2007 team,
I'd like to know if this was just a matter of running out of time and
resources, and if the next update of PowerPoint (isn't there an SP1 due out
in October?) will behave like Word 2007, and make the old 2003 diagramming
tool available within PowerPoint.
Thanks in advance for any information/advice!
PowerPoint 2007. Also appreciated would be a solution that would allow both
2003 and 2007 users to make changes to the same diagram in the same file,
retaining diagramming functionality using either version of PowerPoint.
Try this: In PowerPoint 2003, insert a diagram (org chart or “cycle†are
good examples) using the diagramming tool. Modify some labels and add
additional shapes. Note that you can add additional pieces to the diagram,
and that it gives you functionality that auto-adjusts the shape of the
overall diagram. Save in either the legacy 97-2003 formats or the new pptx
format.
Open the file in PowerPoint 2007. Try to modify the labels in the diagram.
You will be prompted that you will have to convert the diagram to either 1)
SmartArt or 2) shapes.
If you convert to SmartArt, you can indeed modify the labels in 2007, and
you can add new "pieces", and the overall shape adjusts itself. However,
once converted to SmartArt, the PowerPoint 2003 user will never be able to
edit the diagram again, because it will only ever be presented to them as an
image. (There are also other problems with certain diagram’s overall “lookâ€
changing a lot when you convert to SmartArt… like the sizes of the arrows in
the cycle diagram get ‘skinny’ … but I think that’s another issue…)
If you convert to Shapes, you can also modify the labels in PowerPoint
2007... but you lose the convenience of a diagramming tool (like the ability
to insert additional shapes, and have the diagram re-adjust its overall
size/shape). Furthermore, once saved, the 2003 user permanently loses the
convenience of a diagramming tool as well, and is forced to work with the
diagram as a collection of shapes.
Word 2007 behaves differently. If a Word 2007 user opens a document
containing a diagram created by a Word 2003 user with the old diagramming
tool, the document opens in Compatibility mode, and the old Word 2003
diagramming tool features are available under Diagram Tools / Format. In
fact, in Word 2007 compatibility mode, SmartArt isn't even available to
use... the 2003 diagramming tool is presented to the user when SmartArt is
clicked on the Insert ribbon.
I'm wondering why the old diagramming tool was made available like this
within Word 2007, but not PowerPoint 2007. At my company, it's much more
common to find diagrams in PowerPoint presentations than it is in Word
documents.
Also, if anyone has "inside connections" to Microsoft's Office 2007 team,
I'd like to know if this was just a matter of running out of time and
resources, and if the next update of PowerPoint (isn't there an SP1 due out
in October?) will behave like Word 2007, and make the old 2003 diagramming
tool available within PowerPoint.
Thanks in advance for any information/advice!