Ungrouping

[gurglinggoat]

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: intel

I recently switched from office 2004 to office 2008. I used to be able to copy graphs from other programs (and not just excel) into powerpoint and then ungroup them to change them. I can't figure out how to do this in the 2008 version--after I select the graph I can't select the 'grouping/ungrouping' function in the formatting palette or the menu. Any advice?

 

[rhabdomere]

I have the same problem. Not only with powerpoint, but also Canvas X on my MacBook. I suspect it has something to do with the Leopard OS. Both the new operation system and Office2008 suck!!! I cannot do many things I could before!!! They really suck!

By the way, if you know how to do it, please post it here! Thanks!

 

[rheu031]

Frustrating to lose functionality with an "upgrade"! Cannot ungroup a copied graph (from FlowJo) or a pasted pic file in Powerpoint 2008 but can with same image and file in 2004 (does not seem, at least for ppt, to be a Leopard issue). Praying someone will post a workaround (other than living in 2004)!
MacBook Pro, OS 10.5.2

 

[Matt Centurión [MSFT]]

Functionality to "Ungroup" a vector image was part of the capabilities of
the PICT format & Quickdraw API's. Unfortunately Apple has deprecated these
and is no longer supporting them in future versions of the OS. This is why
Office2008 no longer can do this.

On the up-side, the new Chart functionality in Office2008 ensures your chart
looks correct in all applications, for those trying to ensure visual
fidelity.

If this doesn't help answer your question, could you give us more examples
of how this functionality is necessary for your workflow?

Thanks,

Matt
MacOffice Testing
Microsoft


Date: 4/1/08 7:53 AM / From: "(e-mail address removed)"

 

[rheu031]

Thank you for your response.

I often generate graphs in FlowJo, which is software for analysis of data generated by flow cytometry, a commonly used technique in biological science. The graphics can either be saved as files or copied and then, in either case, pasted into powerpoint to generate a presentation. In previous versions of powerpoint, the graph could then be ungrouped, presumably converted to a drawing object, so that different aspects, such as labels, font sizes, etc., could be made uniform across presentations (particularly after re-sizing the graph). Without that functionality, or a suitable work-around, powerpoint2008 is almost useless to me.

You indicate that this feature may not have been included in office2008 because it is not supported by mac OS. However, this feature is functional on powerpoint from office 2004 in the same mac OS, so it seems unlikely that the mac OS (15.2) is the problem.

 

[Matt Centurión [MSFT]]

I probably wasn't clear enough. Apple has deprecated this functionality. So
while the currently available OS's do have this functionality, there is no
guarantee that future OS's will. In other words: They have asked us to stop
using this functionality. We try to make software that will last several
future OS upgrades. With this in mind we had to stop making use of this
functionality for the 2008 version.

Hope that was more clear.

Matt
MacOffice Testing
Microsoft


Date: 4/22/08 1:13 PM / From: "(e-mail address removed)"

 

[jaluck]

Matt-

Like "rheu031" above, the inability to ungroup graphs created in other applications is going to be disastrous for our research group and many others in our field. Without this function it will be extremely difficult to sync line and bar graphs for inclusion in oral and poster presentations. I hope that MS can come up with some type of resolution to this issue, as I can imagine the complaints are going to be overwhelming as more users switch to the new MS Office package.

 

[Pat V.]

The loss of the ability to ungroup and make alterations (like removing unneeded backgrounds) to pieces of clip art or vector graphics is indeed a big problem for designers and graphic production people like myself. I certainly hope Apple or MS is able to come up with a fix for this. As others have mentioned here, we shouldn't be Losing capabilities with upgrades. Thats just regressive and counter-productive.

 

[Jim Gordon MVP]

The loss of the ability to ungroup and make alterations (like removing unneeded backgrounds) to pieces of clip art or vector graphics is indeed a big problem for designers and graphic production people like myself. I certainly hope Apple or MS is able to come up with a fix for this. As others have mentioned here, we shouldn't be Losing capabilities with upgrades. Thats just regressive and counter-productive.

Hi,

Please take a moment to send those thoughts to Microsoft.

The way to do that is to use the Send Feedback option from the
powerpoint help menu.

-Jim

--
Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

MVPs are independent experts who are not affiliated with Microsoft.


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