Finding old tools/options I used to use in powerpoint 2003

[Jimmy]

Hi folks,
We've just upgraded to Office 2007. And I'm getting to grips with the new
powerpoint. There are a couple of things I just cannot figure out for myself
so though someone here may be able to help.

1.
I draw a lot of 'Kaplan-Meier survival curves', these are basically graphs
where the line 'steps down' (representing and 'event'), so basically the
graphs are a series of horizontal/vertical lines...kinda like a staircase.
To draw these I use the freeform line/shape tool, clicking at each point to
draw the 'stepped line'. I cannot find which button I'm supposed to hold down
to restrain lines to horizontal/vertical (or 45 degrees, not that I use that
for these graphs). It used to be shift in Powerpoint 2003, and shift still
works for limiting a straight line to horizontal/vetical/45 degrees...but not
for the freeform tool.

2.
As part of the drawing I do, I use tools like align/group/order etc *a lot*.
So in powerpoint 2003 I would drag the tool bars off the 'Draw' menu so they
were all within easy reach of the bit of drawing I would do. Again, I cannot
figure out how to do this in powerpoint 2007 and all that going back and
forth between the ribbon is driving me crazy!

I'm sure both of these things are pretty simply, and I'm just missing
something obvious, so if anyone could pass on some pointers it would be much
appreciated.

best wishes,
Jimmy

 

[emPowerPointers]

Hi there. You might want to consider installing the Search Commands add-in
offered by office labs:

Finding old tools/options I used to use in powerpoint 2003 in PowerPoint
General Questions

Once you install, a tab is added in PPT 07 and you can simply type in the
old command. Used it to find the Send to Word.

Good luck!

 

[Lucy Thomson]

Hi Jimmy

1) I hadn't noticed that but you are right. Turning the grid on may help
you.

2) As Steve says, add these to the QAT - first thing I added

On a general 'moving to 2007' note, I can't believe Steve hasn't told you
about the great little add-in he built that lets you find commands...
Anyway, details of that and other ways to find those well hidden old
favourites are here:
PowerPoint 2007 equivalents of older version commands
http://www.pptfaq.com/FAQ00845.htm

Lucy

 

[Jimmy]

Thanks for all the replies guys, it's good to know I wasn't going mad!
Strangely enough, I have since found out that the first thing I mentioned
still works in MS word! I can use shift to constrain lines drawn with the
freeform tool to horizontal/vertical...for some reason they seem to have
dropped this from powerpoint?! I hope they will change that at some point, or
I'm going to be cutting/pasting between word/powerpoint all day.

As for the quick access toolbar...that looks great and would be ideal for
the small set of tools I use in these drawing jobs...can I actually put it
where I want it? (ie near where I'm drawing?) or is it fixed up at the top?

Thanks again!

 

[John Wilson]

Hi Jimmy

Sadly the QAT is pretty fixed. Below / Above the ribbon are the only
options.

John

 

[Jimmy]

Thanks John,

I was worried you may say that! I guess I'm going to be getting some serious
RSI from now on!

Two more 'features' I've just discovered (sorry to keep going on!) and would
appreciate your views:

(1)
As I tend to draw many similar figures and graphs on consecutive slides, it
is important the are all perfectly aligned (so things don't 'jump' slightly
when the slides advance in the slide show, even a pixel out can be very
annoying!).

Often I am using the 400% view for things like this, so I would select an
area to view, then either using page up/page down or by clicking on the
slides in the side bar, I would move forward/back to another slide to quickly
check alignment .

However when I do this in powerpoint 2007 it loses the 'view' I had, and
always jumps back to the middle of the slide (so i have no simple way of
knowing if the object I was looking at remains in place).

Any way of keeping the view I want? or do I have to go with the view Ppoint
thinks is best.

(2)
I draw a line, using shift to get it horizontal. I then want to
extend/shorten the line (again whilst keeping it horizontal). If I click on
one of the ends to move it to the desired new place, that's ok...but if I
want it to still be horizontal (ie hold shift). the line does stay
horizontal...but ends up being 1-5 meters long! It always becomes huge, is
this just me or or bug? How would you guys extend a line while making sure it
stays horizontal?

Thanks again guys!

 

[John Wilson]

Do you have Service Pack 1 installed. I thought that the jump to center bug
was fixed there.

The "line to infinity" is also a bug. You can request a hotfix here.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/941658

John

 

[Jimmy]

Hi John,

I've installed service pack one, and that hotfix. It seems to fix the 'line
to infinity' but the 'jump to center' appears to be a common issue.

I downloaded this supposed fix:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/954895

but it doesn't work (a lot of people are reporting that on the various
forums), the earliest complaint I can find about this fix not working is from
Jan 2008, so I assume nothing else is going to be down about it.

I'm also noticing that the shift key doesn't really work as a constrain in
powerpoint 2007. It works OK if your drawing longish lines, but when drawing
short lines (i.e. the tick marks on a graph axis), the 'straightness' with
which powerpoint constrains the lines leaves a lot to be desired! They are
usually a few degrees off, usually going downwards. you can see how bad it is
when you extend then line (again holding down shift).

It seems work if you move the mouse as if you were drawing a long line
(while holding shift), give it a shake, then come back in to make the short
line, and release the mouse button. This seems to shake the kinks out of the
system!

Thanks anyway for the help, I think I'm going to have to go back to office
2003 as my clients would be laughed out of town if I sent them graphs drawn
in '07! Any idea when the next version of powerpoint is expected? '09, 2010?