Viewing PPt 2007 in PPt 2003

[CalTex]

As a presentation specialist at a large corporation, I am dealing with the
issues of transitioning from PPt 2003 to PPt 2007 company wide as employees
on both versions are exchanging files. There seems to be this impression
that as long as an employee has the PPt 2007 compatibility plug-in (which is
the default for all PPt 2003 users at this company), there are no problems
with reading up PPt 2007 files. Just the other day my internal client was
told by the event folks that the PPt 2007 I had delivered to him would "read
up just fine" on their PPt 2003 presenting system. That is only half correct
It will read up, but it won't be just fine. What I have found is that text
with the default soft, black drop-shadows will be displayed with the old PPt
2003 default hard, light-gray drop-shadows. I can understand them not being
hard, but why light-gray?

In cases where the PPt 2007 kerning feature has been implemented in order to
keep the font size as large as possible while forcing the text to fit into a
finite space, the kerning is lost in PPt 2003 and there are instances of text
hanging outside the intended area. Also, line spacing is often affected with
similar results.

In one case the PPt 2007 file had soft, black drop-shadows applied to the
template title placeholders. When converted to PPt 2003, not only did all
the titles on every slide have the light-gray drop-shadows, they couldn't be
turned off or changed my editing the master. I had to go through the entire
47 slide presentation and manually change every title. Perhaps there was a
faster or better way to do it, but I didn't have time to experiment.

Shapes with a soft drop-shadow in PPt 2007 have thin black borders around
the drop-shadow in PPt 2003.

Any feedback on any of these compatibility issues would be greatly
appreciated.

 

[Echo S]

As a presentation specialist at a large corporation, I am dealing with the
issues of transitioning from PPt 2003 to PPt 2007 company wide as
employees
on both versions are exchanging files. There seems to be this impression
that as long as an employee has the PPt 2007 compatibility plug-in (which
is
the default for all PPt 2003 users at this company), there are no problems
with reading up PPt 2007 files. Just the other day my internal client was
told by the event folks that the PPt 2007 I had delivered to him would
"read
up just fine" on their PPt 2003 presenting system. That is only half
correct
It will read up, but it won't be just fine. What I have found is that
text
with the default soft, black drop-shadows will be displayed with the old
PPt
2003 default hard, light-gray drop-shadows. I can understand them not
being
hard, but why light-gray?

In most cases, opening a 2007 file in 2003 goes for fidelity -- that is, it
goes for accurate display.

But in the case of shadows, the developers (probably) figured that users
want to be able to edit the text, and they don't think of shadows as being a
new 2007 feature that won't port backward. So the lovely new soft drop
shadows become the old hard-edged shadows.

Now, in 2003, there are two types of shadows. This explains them:
http://www.echosvoice.com/2007/shadows.htm

PPT 2003 and prior determine text shadows by some combination of your text
and background colors. Usually the shadow is gray, but I've seen it become
bizarre colors in very rare occurrences. You don't have control over the
text shadow color in 2003 and prior. Because of that, people sometimes use
shape shadows, where you can control the color. But read the link in the
previous paragraph, because doing that can cause issues on animated text.

In cases where the PPt 2007 kerning feature has been implemented in order
to
keep the font size as large as possible while forcing the text to fit into
a
finite space, the kerning is lost in PPt 2003 and there are instances of
text
hanging outside the intended area. Also, line spacing is often affected
with
similar results.

Yeah, kerning doesn't port backward. If it did, the text would become an
image and become uneditable. I don't know why the dev team opted to strip
kerning, but that's what happens. Only workarounds I know are to save the
slide as an image or to copy the text and paste special as an image. Hm. You
might be able to add a new feature -- like a bevel -- that would cause the
text to become an image when opened in 2003. You could set the bevel to the
smallest height possible -- maybe then it wouldn't be noticeable but would
fool PPT into creating an image of the text in prior versions. Maybe worth
experimenting with.

I haven't had problems with line spacing being affected. What line space
settings are you using? If you use "multiple," does that help?

In one case the PPt 2007 file had soft, black drop-shadows applied to the
template title placeholders. When converted to PPt 2003, not only did all
the titles on every slide have the light-gray drop-shadows, they couldn't
be
turned off or changed my editing the master. I had to go through the
entire
47 slide presentation and manually change every title. Perhaps there was
a
faster or better way to do it, but I didn't have time to experiment.

Were you editing the master or the individual slide layouts? Oh, wait. This
was in 2003, right? I'll have to try that one. Could you give me the steps
you used to apply the shadow to the title placeholders in the 2007 template?
Did you add this to the master or the layouts? (Here's the difference:
http://www.echosvoice.com/2007/editinglayouts.htm)

Shapes with a soft drop-shadow in PPt 2007 have thin black borders around
the drop-shadow in PPt 2003.

I've not noticed this. Again, could you please give repro steps?

 

[CalTex]

Yeah, I ALWAYS used shape shadows on text for the reasons you stated, and I
never had a problem--animation-wise or otherwise. Until I emailed such an
animated slide in a presentation to the Senior VP on whose presentation I was
working. Then I heard he was all bent out of shape over some animation
"feature" I had applied where the shadows came on as a static element, and
then the text built on over them. I couldn't get it to repro on my system
and eventually found out he had just had his system upgraded and I.T. had,
unbeknownst to him, replaced his PPt 2003 with PPt 2007. That's when I got
my PowerPoint upgraded and my nice, comfy PowerPoint world stopped spinning.

As a presentation specialist at a large corporation, I am dealing with the
issues of transitioning from PPt 2003 to PPt 2007 company wide as
employees
on both versions are exchanging files. There seems to be this impression
that as long as an employee has the PPt 2007 compatibility plug-in (which
is
the default for all PPt 2003 users at this company), there are no problems
with reading up PPt 2007 files. Just the other day my internal client was
told by the event folks that the PPt 2007 I had delivered to him would
"read
up just fine" on their PPt 2003 presenting system. That is only half
correct
It will read up, but it won't be just fine. What I have found is that
text
with the default soft, black drop-shadows will be displayed with the old
PPt
2003 default hard, light-gray drop-shadows. I can understand them not
being
hard, but why light-gray?

In most cases, opening a 2007 file in 2003 goes for fidelity -- that is, it
goes for accurate display.

But in the case of shadows, the developers (probably) figured that users
want to be able to edit the text, and they don't think of shadows as being a
new 2007 feature that won't port backward. So the lovely new soft drop
shadows become the old hard-edged shadows.

Now, in 2003, there are two types of shadows. This explains them:
http://www.echosvoice.com/2007/shadows.htm

PPT 2003 and prior determine text shadows by some combination of your text
and background colors. Usually the shadow is gray, but I've seen it become
bizarre colors in very rare occurrences. You don't have control over the
text shadow color in 2003 and prior. Because of that, people sometimes use
shape shadows, where you can control the color. But read the link in the
previous paragraph, because doing that can cause issues on animated text.

In cases where the PPt 2007 kerning feature has been implemented in order
to
keep the font size as large as possible while forcing the text to fit into
a
finite space, the kerning is lost in PPt 2003 and there are instances of
text
hanging outside the intended area. Also, line spacing is often affected
with
similar results.

Yeah, kerning doesn't port backward. If it did, the text would become an
image and become uneditable. I don't know why the dev team opted to strip
kerning, but that's what happens. Only workarounds I know are to save the
slide as an image or to copy the text and paste special as an image. Hm. You
might be able to add a new feature -- like a bevel -- that would cause the
text to become an image when opened in 2003. You could set the bevel to the
smallest height possible -- maybe then it wouldn't be noticeable but would
fool PPT into creating an image of the text in prior versions. Maybe worth
experimenting with.

I haven't had problems with line spacing being affected. What line space
settings are you using? If you use "multiple," does that help?

In one case the PPt 2007 file had soft, black drop-shadows applied to the
template title placeholders. When converted to PPt 2003, not only did all
the titles on every slide have the light-gray drop-shadows, they couldn't
be
turned off or changed my editing the master. I had to go through the
entire
47 slide presentation and manually change every title. Perhaps there was
a
faster or better way to do it, but I didn't have time to experiment.

Were you editing the master or the individual slide layouts? Oh, wait. This
was in 2003, right? I'll have to try that one. Could you give me the steps
you used to apply the shadow to the title placeholders in the 2007 template?
Did you add this to the master or the layouts? (Here's the difference:
http://www.echosvoice.com/2007/editinglayouts.htm)

Shapes with a soft drop-shadow in PPt 2007 have thin black borders around
the drop-shadow in PPt 2003.

I've not noticed this. Again, could you please give repro steps?

Any feedback on any of these compatibility issues would be greatly
appreciated.

--
Echo [MS PPT MVP] http://www.echosvoice.com
What's new in PPT 2007? http://www.echosvoice.com/2007.htm
Fixing PowerPoint Annoyances http://tinyurl.com/36grcd
PowerPoint 2007 Complete Makeover Kit http://tinyurl.com/32a7nx

 

[CalTex]

Echo -

I haven't had that problem lately because I now ONLY use "multiple" spacing.
It is the only way I can get that tight carry over spacing like the 0.9 PPt
2003 spacing that allowed maximum use of real estate when content providers
insist on putting the sum total of their life experiences on one slide. Is
there a way to set "multiple" as the default?

I haven't had problems with line spacing being affected. What line space
settings are you using? If you use "multiple," does that help?

--
Echo [MS PPT MVP] http://www.echosvoice.com
What's new in PPT 2007? http://www.echosvoice.com/2007.htm
Fixing PowerPoint Annoyances http://tinyurl.com/36grcd
PowerPoint 2007 Complete Makeover Kit http://tinyurl.com/32a7nx

 

[Echo S]

Yes, that line spacing box is really suited to Word, not to PPT, which
annoys me greatly.

You can set the "multiple" setting in the content/text placeholders on the
slide masters and layouts. You can also set it in your default shapes and
textboxes -- I'm pretty sure it sticks there, too.

To set the default textboxes and autoshapes, format a textbox the way you
want it to appear. Do the same for a shape. Now right-click and choose "set
<textbox / autoshape> default."

--
Echo [MS PPT MVP] http://www.echosvoice.com
What's new in PPT 2007? http://www.echosvoice.com/2007.htm
Fixing PowerPoint Annoyances http://tinyurl.com/36grcd
PowerPoint 2007 Complete Makeover Kit http://tinyurl.com/32a7nx

Echo -

I haven't had that problem lately because I now ONLY use "multiple"
spacing.
It is the only way I can get that tight carry over spacing like the 0.9
PPt
2003 spacing that allowed maximum use of real estate when content
providers
insist on putting the sum total of their life experiences on one slide.
Is
there a way to set "multiple" as the default?

I haven't had problems with line spacing being affected. What line space
settings are you using? If you use "multiple," does that help?

--
Echo [MS PPT MVP] http://www.echosvoice.com
What's new in PPT 2007? http://www.echosvoice.com/2007.htm
Fixing PowerPoint Annoyances http://tinyurl.com/36grcd
PowerPoint 2007 Complete Makeover Kit http://tinyurl.com/32a7nx