Problem w/ Format Picture (size)

[John Woram]

I'm starting a new PP 2003 presentation -- In Slide Show/Set Up Show, Slide
show resolution is set to 1024x768. Now, I insert a Picture from file
(1024x768 jpg image). The image comes in centered, but at 640x480. So, I
left-click image, open Format Picture option, select Size tab, check "Best
scale for slide show" and change resolution from 640x480 to 1024x768. Image
is now correct size, but partially deflected out of work space. So, I go to
Position tab and move the left corner to 0,0. At last, the image is properly
sized and placed.

But when I add a new slide, PP has "forgotten" all of my adjustments and I
have to start all over again. So I'm wondering: Is there any way to get PP to
stop shrinking my images? That is, just insert them into the presentation at
whatever size they are.

 

[John Woram]

Steve, thanks for the feedback, and I guess I'm still missing the point on
what's going on here. If I view a 1024 x 768 image in any app except
PowerPoint, it occupies the expected amount of screen area. Since I've got PP
set for 1024 x 768, I figure my image should occupy the entire work space.
But every image gets inserted at 640 x 480. Seems odd (to me, at least) that
I have to use the Format/Size tab on every image that I insert to get it to
the right size. But if I understand you correctly, that is indeed what I have
to do. If so, that's a bit of a pain.

John

 

[John Woram]

What do you expect, exactly? Maybe there's some way to bend PPT to your
will. ;-)
I was expecting PP to behave exactly like every other application that I
know of (for image display, that is). If I insert a 1024 x 768 image, it
should be inserted at those dimensions, NOT shrunk to something smaller.

If you want each image to fill the frame, you can do a couple of things
easily enough: Drag the image up/left until its upper left corner snaps to
the upper left corner of the slide, then ...

Yes, that's what I've been doing. But as mentioned above, I was hunting for
a way to persuade PP to just insert each image at its own size -- NOT shrink
it so that I have to resize it, just to get it back to its original
dimensions. To me, that seems reasonable enough. I mean, if I go to the
trouble to create an image that's, say, 1024 x 768 (or whatever), why does PP
assume that what I really want is something smaller than that?

Anyway, I'll try the PPTolls add-in

Thanks again,
John

 

[jpforestier]

Have a look to the slide's dimensions so it fits the ratio y're talking
about

 

[John Woram]

PowerPoint doesn't work in pixels, since it may show slides at different number
of pixels in slide show view, depending on your display settings.

That's something I'm still trying to work out in my mind. If I'm configured
for a 1024 x 768 projector, and my PP workspace shows a 1024 x 768 area,
seems to me that physical dimensions in inches or cm are meaningless. How
wide is the workspace image? -- or the projected image? In both cases, who
knows? -- it depends on my current monitor, and later on the projection
distance, etc.

So to me, the size of an image in the work area should be given in pixels,
and a 512-pixel wide image should occupy half the width of a 1024-pixel work
area. The image should not be reduced to some seemingly arbitrary width by
PP.

But I guess I'm just not familiar enough with PP's ways. In Photoshop, I
create an image to occupy a certain amount of space on the PP slide. Then I
insert the image on the slide, and it occupies a smaller amount of space. To
the newbie, that's confusing.

 

[John Woram]

So to me, the size of an image in the work area should be given in pixels,
and a 512-pixel wide image should occupy half the width of a 1024-pixel work
area. The image should not be reduced to some seemingly arbitrary width by
PP.

In some cases, that'd be useful. But it simply doesn't work that way.

So I noticed<g>, and give me another month or two and I'll get this all
figured out. I thought that, having set my resolution to 1024 x 768, the
white rectangle in the work area would represent that amount of space. But it
turns out that the area is only 960 x 720 -- ie, about 93% of my target
resolution. So, if I create an image that is 960 x 720 or less (in Photoshop,
or whatever), that image is inserted at its actual size. But if the image is,
say 1024 x 768, it's inserted at a reduced size; 67% in my case. Why these
seemingly arbitrary size changes? I have no clue, but at least now I know
what to do to create a full-screen image.

 

[John Woram]

I'll repeat this once more. Setting the resolution in the Slide Show Setup
dialog has NO EFFECT on what you see in Normal or any of the other editing
views.

Thanks, but no need to repeat -- I understand it's only for the eventual
slide show.

If you'll be projecting the show at 1024x768 (common resolution for most
projectors nowadays) you want to create your full screen images AT that
resolution.

Understood, and maybe I'm beginning to "get it" now. PP's work space
represents the current resolution of my own screen (1600x1200). So, if PP's
size tab reports a 67% width, it means the image occupies 67% of my work
space's width, not that the PP image is 67% of its original dimensions. Now I
need to do a few more tests to see if this is right.

 

[John Woram]

Put a piece of white tape over the bit that tells you the percentages.
An enhanced sense of mental-wellbeing will ensue. ;-)

I was thinking of spray-painting the entire screen black<g>. Seems to me
that PP is heavily weighted toward print jobs, which seems odd to me because
I suspect most people use it for slide shows via projector. But maybe that's
just me. Anyway, I think I'll just forget about trying to make sense out of
it all. If I want a 1024x768 image to fill the entire 1024x768 projected
space, I'll simply insert the image, then fiddle with the various size and
position controls until the image fills the workspace. Too bad PP can't
"remember" what I want it to do and so I have to repeat all the twiddling for
every full-screen slide. But I guess that's just the way it is.