Way to Flow Text into 3 or 4 columns?

[Bubba]

I help students build PowerPoint posters for scientific research and internships; most posters are 36"x24"; some are
48"x36". We use PowerPoint 2003 - I've just started delving into 2007 for this task. But most campus computers use
only PPT 2003. We have built posters with a two-row by three- or four-cell (column) table, then merge the top row into
one cell for the poster title and by-line. The rest of the poster columns are occupied by text and images. I've not
been able to find _anywhere_ a way to columns as in Word with flowing text and images. Can anyone shed some light on
this? Thanks...

 

[Bill Dilworth]

Use a columned Word object and resize the margins in PowerPoint to fit the
PowerPoint object box. This will allow you to have overflow text
automatically run from one column to the next. However, you will want to be
careful not to exceed the text space available or the text will "disappear"
onto page 2 of the Word text object.

Post back if you need specific instructions on how to move this object from
Word to PowerPoint.


--
Bill Dilworth
A proud member of the Microsoft PPT MVP Team
Users helping fellow users.
http://billdilworth.mvps.org
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
vestprog2@ Please read the PowerPoint FAQ pages.
yahoo. They answer most of our questions.
com www.pptfaq.com
..

 

[Bubba]

Bill, thanks I'll try that. But my way sounds easier. I was hoping that PPT could do it itself - obviously not. And I
don't want to get into VBA to do it.

I didn't want the process to get too cumbersome - especially dealing now also with Word with the potential for
disappearing text. Much of the work to be done is by students working on their own. I am currently creating a .CHM
file for them to keep open during the production process. I will follow this up with a Camtasia capture of the step-by-
step process. That way they can also have some visual assistance while I'm not there.

The posters come out magnigficently with the "old" way - I'll try to refine the imported-Word text option. A student
ready with text and images and/or charts can get the job pretty well done in less than an hour starting from absolute
scratch - from raw PowerPoint to ready-to-print-and-laminate posters. Image placement can be tricky with PPT's
infamous "disappearing" act inserting images in a different layer than the text but all else being considered, it is a
rapid way to get the job done.

I'm giving a university-wide workshop on the process and want me to present and the attendees to "walk through" within
an hour allocated for it. Thanks for the tip.

 

[Echo S]

PPT 2007 lets you add any number of columns to one text box. This might be a
good way to accomplish what you're after. But I suspect there will be other
problems introduced with an upgrade, so the minuses may outweigh the plus of
getting an "overflow" feature!

Oh, you mentioned you're using 2007 sometimes, right? Unfortunately, this
feature won't port back to 2003 for the rest of your users, though.

 

[Bill Dilworth]

My fault, I misunderstood your post. I thought you wanted text to move
between columns as overflow, not shape text around pictures.

Bill D.

 

[Echo S]

Oh, I guess I misread, too!

 

[Bubba]

Thanks for the help, Echo and Bill. The poster "slide" generally has mixed text and graphics. We can place text in
the table cell, place images, more text, etc. but carefully! PPT does not do flowing text around a picture well.

If I could have them do it in word, then I would solve that problem. But Word wont let you use 36" or 48" paper at all.
And I don't want them to guess the overall 'look and feel' by maxing-out Word's page size then having the print shop
blow it up.

I do appreciate the assistance. I will give the PPT 2007 multi-columns per text box a try. Our IT department will not
likely move to Office 2007 very soon - given its problems with backward compatibility and others that MS wasn't careful
enough with when forcing 2007 onto the market.

 

[Echo S]

You're right, PPT doesn't flow text around a picture very well at all. For
this, and for text flow throughout columns, I'd use a dedicated page layout
program -- Quark, InDesign, even Publisher -- and in fact, those are what I
prefer to use when doing posters and the like. But I do understand that
people A) tend to use what they know and B) must use what they have
available, so sometimes we have to use "drastic" workarounds like
Shift+Enter to force line breaks.

For larger sized paper, Word works like PPT. Use a paper size that's a
proportion of the desired size, then print at a larger percent. For example,
if you need a 100" paper, you could set your page size to 25" and then print
at 400%. Here's the PPT FAQ entry on this subject -- it may give you ideas
or specifics I've missed here:

Print posters or other large format output
http://www.pptfaq.com/FAQ00537.htm

Oh, wait, you know that already -- you mentioned "blowing up" below. You
know, you could also print to PDF this way so your users can see what the
things really look like before printing.

 

[Bubba]

Thanks for more input... I have them just print the poster to regular or legal size paper by clicking the checkbox to
print to fit the paper. That works pretty well for look and feel.

We'll plod along with PowerPoint 2003 and 'status quo' - we can still get some elegant posters out of PowerPoint, in
a short time window.

Thanks to all who offered help!!!