my text in presentation appears "broken" narrow sections transpa.

[Guest]

in a recent ppt presentation new times roman text 24 (regular) appears on
screen as "broken" or interrupted as if the narrow sections are transparant
...in any case it is difficult to read on screen ...this is a recommended
font...it appears this way on most of the slides but on one or two slides it
is perfectly clear and not "broken" any thoughts or suggestions is it the
font, the back ground?

 

[Guest]

The issue you describe is exactly why I never recommend Serif fonts for
presentations or electronic documents. Serif fonts have the "skinny" edge to
help the eye read from left to right on the printed page. However when used
on the electronic screen, this edge frequently appears broken, transparent,
etc. It's especially noticeable on numbers. If you change the font to a
Sans Serif like Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, the problem will go away. I consider
it to be an accessibility issue for persons with low vision. See:
http://www.powerpointmagician.com/articles/accessppt.htm

Glenna

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

in a recent ppt presentation new times roman text 24 (regular) appears on
screen as "broken" or interrupted as if the narrow sections are transparant
...in any case it is difficult to read on screen ...this is a recommended
font...it appears this way on most of the slides but on one or two slides it
is perfectly clear and not "broken" any thoughts or suggestions is it the
font, the back ground?

Cast my vote w/ Glenna re the wisdom of using TNR text, but that may not be your
choice, and besides that, there's a technical issue here.

First, what version of PPT and Windows do you use?

Does the text that breaks up have animations applied to it, where the other text
does not?

 

[Guest]

i use ppt 2003 and you are correct about the slides that have animation are
the ones with the broken text and the slide that has clear text is not
animated...i have taken your advice regarding using non-serif font in
presentation but it is frustrating to not be able to fix the text we
originally chose or that we couldn't find reference that it would
happen...any other info will be appreciated...thanks

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

i use ppt 2003 and you are correct about the slides that have animation are
the ones with the broken text and the slide that has clear text is not
animated...

This is an unfortunate bug in PowerPoint, then, not something that you can fix by
changing fonts, though some fonts (and some colors) may make it better than others.

Here's some more info about it:
Animated text goes jagged in Screen Show
http://www.rdpslides.com/pptfaq/FAQ00510.htm

i have taken your advice regarding using non-serif font in