Slide master conversion PPT2003 - PPT2007?

[JMF]

I just started using Office 2007, and I opened a PPT2003 presentation
with PPT2007 to change something on the slide master.

I discovered that -- at least it seems that way -- PPT2007 had done the
following:

- it created a NEW slide master for the imported slides
- on this new slide master, the elements on the original slide master
had turned into background graphics - they were no longer selectable
elements.

The original slide master was "off in a corner" of the slide master set,
no longer connected with ANY of the slides that were imported, and I
couldn't get rid of the new, automatically generated slide master and
replace it with the original.

Is this indeed the way slide masters are handled when importing PPT2003
in PPT2007???

Thanks for any insights ...

 

[JMF]

You don't mention importing slides above, ...

Right, basically what I meant was opening up a 2003 presentation in
2007. I guess I meant "...importing 2003 things into a 2007 environment".

... but generally, if you insert
slides into an existing presentation, it creates new masters. And when you
open a 2003 presentation in 2007, each master from the 2003 pres becomes a
master plus several layouts in 2007.

Aha. OK, that's more or less indeed what I saw.

So w/o knowing exactly what you're seeing, I'm guessing that perhaps what
you're seeing is normal. Not necessarily desirable but normal ;-)

Right

What I was expecting/hoping to see, and what I THOUGHT I remembered
seeing from earlier versions, was that slides coming into a presentation
did NOT create new masters. Rather, the masters already in the
presentation were applied to those incoming slides. But indeed that's
not what happened - they "brought their masters with them."

This again MAY be normal. Master graphics from 2003 will appear on the
MASTER in 2007 and on each layout based on the master, but you cannot
select them when working on the layouts.
OK.

Try clicking on the master itself; in master thumbnail view, that's the
"slide" at the top, under which all the others are indented. I'm guessing
you'll be able to select/edit the master elements there.

OK, thanks. I'll study the master/layout structure and experiment with
it, trying to "isolate" the master from its associated layouts so that I
can get at the graphics and make them selectable again.

Thanks for the discussion.

John

 

[JMF]

Depending on how you brought the slides in, yes. Opening a file across versions
does behave pretty much as you remember, but 2007's quite different. The fact
that we can now make our own custom layouts is very useful, but it meant some
fundamental changes to the structure of masters.

OK, thanks, I'll study the 2007 way of doing things -- I'm sure I'll be
able to exploit its advantages and deal with whatever changes it has
introduced.

John

 

[JMF]

Depending on how you brought the slides in, yes. Opening a file across versions
does behave pretty much as you remember, but 2007's quite different. The fact
that we can now make our own custom layouts is very useful, but it meant some
fundamental changes to the structure of masters.

Steve - just a note: you were absolutely right about everything and I
was able to understand how it now works and to work successfully with it.

John