Why do fonts in powerpoint look jagged and squished?

[Guest]

I installed Powerpoint 2003 on a new laptop and the fonts, especially on
graphs, look jagged and squished. This is true regardless of what font I use
(ariel, TNR, etc). When I edit the same file on another computer, the slides
look jagged at first, but after opening the graph and then immediately
closing it, the fonts return to a "normal" look.

 

[Guest]

First: Do you have your graphs animated? This sometimes impacts text. Also,
when resizing your graphs be sure to do so only when you are in edit mode for
the graph. Resizing it as an object will distort the text.

Otherwize, this might help - but it is sometimes a problem in PowerPoint:

Go to settings, display property > appearance > effects > "use the
following method to smooth edges of screen fonts" from "cleartype" to
"standard"

 

[Guest]

Thanks Sandy. My graphs are not animated, and I have not resized them - this
problem occurs even when just looking at the default bar chart. The word
slides look a little better - it's the graphs that look real bad.

My display is already set to "standard" and I tried changing it to
"cleartype" and that didn't make any difference. This new laptop has a wide
screen (15.4") so it is more rectangular than other screens, and I'm
wondering if that makes a difference. I bought the laptop to take with me on
the road to do presentations, but it looks so bad I can't use it.

Any other ideas?

Thanks,
Julie

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

It seems that this problem (or one very similar) only occurs on laptops with wide
screens.

You might try setting the computer's video resolution to 1024x768 or some other 4:3
proportioned size to see what happens. If the laptop distorts the 4:3 image to fill
the wide screen, check the docs for special function keys; there should be one that
tells it to display the image undistorted but w/ black bands left and right.

Also check with the manufacturer for updated video drivers.

 

[Guest]

Changing the display size made the viewable screen extend beyond the edges of
the physical screen.
What do you mean by "check the docs for special function keys"? Is there
something in PowerPoint that does this? Pleas provide more detail.
Thanks,,
Julie

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

Changing the display size made the viewable screen extend beyond the edges of
the physical screen.

Sorry, misunderstanding. I suspect you've changed the target display size in PPT. I
meant to change the display resolution in Windows. Rightclick the desktop, choose
Properties, Settings and pick a more standard 4:3 ratio resolution like 1024x768

Leave PowerPoint set to Use Current Resolution

What do you mean by "check the docs for special function keys"? Is there
something in PowerPoint that does this? Pleas provide more detail.

Most laptops that have wide screens have different mode settings you can select.
Mine lets me choose between various ways of putting a less-than full screen video setting
onto the full physical screen (expand it and allow it to distort, leave it at its current
size but put black bars on either side, etc.)

Your *computer* documentation should explain this. It's probably different for each
computer. You might want to post the computer brand/model in case somebody here has one
and can fill in the details for you.

 

[Guest]

I got this problem also. Specially when the font display in graph with
animation. Any other ideas to solve this problem? I created the ppt for other
people, can't always tell them need to change their computer's setting to
make sure the ppt display well.

 

[Glen Millar]

Hi,

This is a number of reasons:

JAGGIES in pie charts
http://www.rdpslides.com/pptfaq/FAQ00066.htm

Animated text goes jagged in Screen Show
http://www.rdpslides.com/pptfaq/FAQ00510.htm

It also seems worse with white text on a blue background. Hope that helps.


--

Regards,

Glen Millar
Microsoft PPT MVP
www.powerpointworkbench.com

Australia

glen at powerpointworkbench dot com

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