Font problem with Asian Type

[Martin Neumann]

I have a problem when using asian languages in Powerpoint. I have
several Unicode fonts that would work nicely in MS Word. When it comes
to Powerpoint and I have Bengali text, everything reverts to Arial
Unicode. When I have the text in Thai, everything goes to Times New
Roman. The only thing changing is the punctuation characters like
question marks. I dont understand why I cannot set the font, even though
the fonts I have do fine in MS Word. Any hints would be appreciated.

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

I have a problem when using asian languages in Powerpoint. I have
several Unicode fonts that would work nicely in MS Word. When it comes
to Powerpoint and I have Bengali text, everything reverts to Arial
Unicode. When I have the text in Thai, everything goes to Times New
Roman. The only thing changing is the punctuation characters like
question marks. I dont understand why I cannot set the font, even though
the fonts I have do fine in MS Word. Any hints would be appreciated.

What version of PowerPoint do you use? Under which Windows version?

How exactly have you entered Bengali text?

 

[Martin Neumann]

What version of PowerPoint do you use?

Office 2000

Under which Windows version?
Windows 2000

But Office 2003 under Windows XP does the same.

How exactly have you entered Bengali text?

Normally copy/paste from the clipboard. I think I tried even typing on
the Windows XP machine. There you are able to install the keyboard
driver. As I said under MS Word this is all no problem, just in
Powerpoint it is.

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

Office 2000

Under which Windows version?
Windows 2000

But Office 2003 under Windows XP does the same.
Normally copy/paste from the clipboard. I think I tried even typing on
the Windows XP machine. There you are able to install the keyboard
driver. As I said under MS Word this is all no problem, just in
Powerpoint it is.

Somebody just explained something to me the other day that may be the key here:
Word automatically detects the language you're typing in (or tries to, I
imagine) and swithes the language settings for you.

PowerPoint does not.

I suspect for it to work you'd need to have the language enabled in your
Regional and Language settings (control panel in Win XP) and in Office as well.
I'm not sure how you'd do that in 2000; in 2003, you'd enable the language in
the Office Language Settings app found in the Microsoft Office Tools section of
Start, Programs. Then you'd need to choose the language for the text box
you're pasting into or possibly enable Auto Keyboard Switching (off by default)
in Tools, Options.

 

[Martin Neumann]

Somebody just explained something to me the other day that may be the key here:
Word automatically detects the language you're typing in (or tries to, I
imagine) and swithes the language settings for you.

Yes, I see this difference. But MS Word insists that Bengali type is
English language. In Powerpoint I can switch the language to Bengali,
but the behavior concerning the restriction to Arial Unicode does not
change.

I have found out that there is a programmatic option to set an Asian
font for a Powerpoint text object. I am able to set the fonts
sucessfully this way, but the output is very weird in the spacing. It
looks to me somehow that the Unicode enginge and glyph fallback in
Powerpoint is done differently compared to Word.

PowerPoint does not.

I suspect for it to work you'd need to have the language enabled in your
Regional and Language settings (control panel in Win XP)

In Windows 2000 I can only enable Indic language support (I dont know if
that includes Bengali) In Windows XP there is a Bengali keyboard driver,
which is enabled.
and in Office as well.

I'm not sure how you'd do that in 2000; in 2003, you'd enable the language in
the Office Language Settings app found in the Microsoft Office Tools section of
Start, Programs.

OK, I see that. In Office 2000 I found no Bengali support at all, in
Office XP it was enabled, but has limited support.

Then you'd need to choose the language for the text box

you're pasting into

Yes, that is clear, but it made no difference.
I think there is a problem in the Powerpoint implementation of Asian
fonts. I wonder how Microsoft can limit their support of these languages
to one font. Or am I missing something? Any hints would be appreciated.

or possibly enable Auto Keyboard Switching (off by default)

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

If possible, I'd have a look at a system running Office 2003 - as I understand it,
there've been many improvements in the multi-language area as compared to 2000.

If this is something you need to do routinely, it may be that the improvements are
worth the cost of the upgrade.

Or not ...

If you've a spare computer, you can download or order a free 30-day trial version.

 

[Martin Neumann]

Yes, I have tested that whole scenario on a Windows XP machine with
Office 2002 as well. It shows exactly the same behavior like on Windows
2000/Office 2000. If you want I can send you some test files to try it
out. Just take a Bengali text and try to copy it from Word to
Powerpoint. You will see the difference on how they treat you with font
options.