Graphs are distorted when copying from Excel to PowerPoint

M

markbach

Hello,

I am having an issue which I have been looking for an answer to
(Google, Usenet, MS's KB, etc), and have thusfar been unable to find
any information on.

I have a G5 running the latest OS X (10.4.6), and Office 2004 with all
the latest updates (11.2.3).

I often create graphs in Excel, and then copy them into PowerPoint
presentations. However, many times when pasting the graph into
PowerPoint, the graph is distorted. By distorted, I mean it is either
too small in the vertical direction, or the correct size, but
"stretched" in the vertical direction only.

Here is an example (with screenshots) of what I am talking about.

I created a simple bar chart in Excel and pasted it into slide 1 of a
PPT presentation. It looks fine (but it's actually only 5.54" high,
whereas the original was 5.99" high):
http://www.markbach.com/stuff/macppt/ppt_slide1.png

Next, I resized the chart in Excel to 3" x 8" and formatted it (colors,
lines, sizes, etc). I turned off AutoScale for all fonts. I added a
thin grey line as the border of the chart area, to make it easier to
see the boundaries of it. I then copied the chart and pasted it below
itself. I also added a thick black rectangle (autoshape) of 3" x 8" to
make that dimensions clearer. You can see all of this in:
http://www.markbach.com/stuff/macppt/excel.png

Here is the Excel properties for the top chart, as you can see, it is
3" x 8":
http://www.markbach.com/stuff/macppt/excel_size.png

Now, I copied the top chart only, and pasted it into slide 2 of the
PPT. I also added a thick black 3" x 8" autoshape here.
http://www.markbach.com/stuff/macppt/ppt_slide2.png

This paste "looks" normal (e.g. it is proportioned correctly), but it's
actually only 2.56" x 8", as you can see in the properties:
http://www.markbach.com/stuff/macppt/ppt_slide2_size.png

Next, I copied and pasted BOTH charts (at once) onto slide 3:
http://www.markbach.com/stuff/macppt/ppt_slide3.png

These charts are sized correctly (3" x 8"):
http://www.markbach.com/stuff/macppt/ppt_slide3_size.png

However, they are "stretched" vertically so the text and boxes are too
tall:

I copied the "proportional but too small" graph from slide 2 onto slide
3, so you can see the difference between "normal" and "stretched":
http://www.markbach.com/stuff/macppt/ppt_slide3_both.png

I have tried "Paste As..." -> "Picture" as well, which is "perfect" but
it gets fuzzy/yucky when presented on a large screen or printed, and my
Windows-using colleagues have trouble viewing/editing the presentation
if I do that.

Any solutions, workaround, suggestions, hints, etc, would be greatly
appreciated. Let me know if I left out any important information, or
if you need anything else from me. Thanks!

Regards,
Mark
 

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