PowerPoint - Red X of Death in 95/98 Gone?

[Joe AutoDrill]

Back in the days of Windows 95 and maybe 98, there was the "Red X of Death"
problem with PowerPoint where photos would simply disappear and not be
restorable... Anyone know if that has been solved in XP?

BEFORE I go and make my 100+ page photo-instructional manual in PPT, I would
like to know...

Regards,
Joe Agro, Jr.
(800) 871-5022
http://www.AutoDrill.com
http://www.Multi-Drill.com

 

[Tom]

Are you talking about when the linked files are no longer in their same
EXACT location? IF so... Yes it's still there... AND one wonders why
they don't fix it -- or at least make the broken links 'fixable'.

 

[Bill Dilworth]

You seem bitter, Tom

I would not expect PowerPoint to monitor all the computers file movements to
track possible links breaks. But because 'absolute links' can be broken
easily, we strongly recommend that the pictures/files are copied into the
presentation folder BEFORE linking them. This creates a 'relative link'
that does not break when moving the folder around. You may also want to
look at PPTools for some good link fixin's.
http://www.rdpslides.com/pptools/fixlinks/index.html

I think what the OP, Joe was talking about was inserted images, not linked
ones. It has been a long time since I heard tell of the dreaded Red X
issue. I do not trust any software 100%, but they seem to have pretty much
fixed this problem on current versions of the program (based on what I've
seen in the newsgroup, from direct user feedback, and personal experience).
Hopefully, you will be using software that is less than 10 years old. See
this link for the un-official tale.
**RED X instead of graphics
http://www.rdpslides.com/pptfaq/FAQ00064.htm

But, Joe, I gotta ask. Why are you using a presentation software to build a
printed manual? Wouldn't software designed for print media be more
appropriate? There are many publishing software programs available and they
are generally better at handling paging options, margins, and such.


--
Bill Dilworth
A proud member of the Microsoft PPT MVP Team
Users helping fellow users.
billdilworth.mvps.org
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
yahoo2@ Please read the PowerPoint
yahoo. FAQ pages. They answer most
com of our questions.
www.pptfaq.com
..
..

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

Back in the days of Windows 95 and maybe 98, there was the "Red X of Death"
problem with PowerPoint where photos would simply disappear and not be
restorable... Anyone know if that has been solved in XP?

BEFORE I go and make my 100+ page photo-instructional manual in PPT, I would
like to know...

There are still a few things that can cause graphics to go RedX but we don't
hear of the problem *anywhere* near as often as we used to. Most of the causes
seem to have been eliminated in the move from PPT97 to 2000 and it's gotten
gradually better since, that's my impression.

The linking problem that Tom mentions in another message is a different issue,
one that has yet to be fixed. If you don't link your images, it's not relevant
to what you're doing. If you do link to images, stop that. <g>

If you can't stop for some reason, there's an addin (the free demo does the
deed) that'll save you lots of trouble. Let me know if you need more info.

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

You seem bitter, Tom

With good reason. It's been busted since PPT97. It's *still* busted.

I would not expect PowerPoint to monitor all the computers file movements to
track possible links breaks.

Nor would I. But every other presentation program or graphics program or DTP
I've used since we stopped drawing pictures on the walls with mastadon-fat
candelabra has been smart enough to look along the linked path and if it
doesn't find the pic there, look in the same folder as the main file.

A better example of "Well, DUH" you'd be hard pressed to find.
But PPT can't manage it. Linkage by Homer Simpson.

But because 'absolute links' can be broken
easily, we strongly recommend that the pictures/files are copied into the
presentation folder BEFORE linking them. This creates a 'relative link'
that does not break when moving the folder around.

True of media files and OLE. Not true of linked images.
No matter where they're inserted from, you get an absolute path.

Honked me off in 97. Enough to goad me into writing a utility to fix the
problem. That turned into FixLinks. And since it's still hosed, I still leave
the image link fixing part of FixLinks in the free demo. This one idiotic bug
gave me the push down the long, slippery slope that left me tumbled, rumpled
and muddied here in the degenerate state in which you observe me. A life of
VBA and puns. Is that a fit way for a boy to live?

You may also want to
look at PPTools for some good link fixin's.
http://www.rdpslides.com/pptools/fixlinks/index.html

I think what the OP, Joe was talking about was inserted images, not linked
ones. It has been a long time since I heard tell of the dreaded Red X
issue.

Ah, good. At least we can leave on a note of accord. I like C. That's my
key, though accordion to Helen I can't carry a tune in it.

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

Are you talking about when the linked files are no longer in their same
EXACT location? IF so... Yes it's still there... AND one wonders why
they don't fix it -- or at least make the broken links 'fixable'.

I think this is a different problem, Tom. But the linking thing is still broken
and it's still ridiculous that it SHOULD still be broken.

The FixLinks demo that Bill mentioned will turn linked image full paths into
relative paths that will work in nearly all cases so long as the PPT and the
images stay together in the same folder. Or it can convert linked to embedded
files.

http://fixlinks.pptools.com (and again, all you need is the free demo)

 

[Joe AutoDrill]

I think what the OP, Joe was talking about was inserted images, not linked

ones.

That's what I'm doing. Inserting. Not linking...

CLIP

**RED X instead of graphics
http://www.rdpslides.com/pptfaq/FAQ00064.htm

Argh... Brings up real anguish just re-reading that! I had SO MANY
problems when working in PPT years ago because of this little problem.

But, Joe, I gotta ask. Why are you using a presentation software to build
a printed manual? Wouldn't software designed for print media be more
appropriate? There are many publishing software programs available and
they are generally better at handling paging options, margins, and such.

It's a rough manual for manufacturing a drilling product. Simple text
placed above pictures for those who can't read the text. Nothing fancy.
But... LOTS of pictures... Thus the question.

It will be output to a PDF file when done but I'm a ways off from that right
now. I've got 25 pages done, have an 8 meg file and another 75 pages to
go...
--


Regards,
Joe Agro, Jr.
(800) 871-5022
http://www.AutoDrill.com
http://www.Multi-Drill.com

V8013-R

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

I

It's a rough manual for manufacturing a drilling product. Simple text
placed above pictures for those who can't read the text. Nothing fancy.
But... LOTS of pictures... Thus the question.

It will be output to a PDF file when done but I'm a ways off from that right
now. I've got 25 pages done, have an 8 meg file and another 75 pages to
go...

I can certainly understand doing it in PPT rather than Word, then.
Word + Pictures = Rage

OTOH, Publisher or some other DTP app might be a better choice, if available.
If not, well ... while we can't *promise* that PPT's utterly safe, we can
certainly tell you that the prognosis is much better than it's ever been
before. By an order of magnitude compared to what you remember.

 

[Joe AutoDrill]

I can certainly understand doing it in PPT rather than Word, then.

Word + Pictures = Rage

PPT is at least geared towards handling pictures in the body of the
document... Word seems to "buck the system" when you try it.

OTOH, Publisher or some other DTP app might be a better choice, if
available.
If not, well ... while we can't *promise* that PPT's utterly safe, we can
certainly tell you that the prognosis is much better than it's ever been
before. By an order of magnitude compared to what you remember.

Whew... That is good news....

BTW - From a 20 meg file, PDF Writer creates a 22 meg file while Distiller
makes a 3.5 meg file. No noticeable difference in quality unless you
forward it to someone who needs the embeddd info...

Thanks for all the answers (to all!) One of these days, I'll find a copy of
Kai's Powershow for sale for $1 somewhere and do a semi-animated manual from
my photos....

Regards,
Joe Agro, Jr.
(800) 871-5022
http://www.AutoDrill.com
http://www.Multi-Drill.com

V8013-R

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

BTW - From a 20 meg file, PDF Writer creates a 22 meg file while Distiller
makes a 3.5 meg file. No noticeable difference in quality unless you
forward it to someone who needs the embeddd info...

And people wonder why PDFWriter is no more? ;-)

Actually if you understand what ALL the bazillions of settings do and set them
more or less equivalently, the two will often produce similar size files.