How do I zoom in on a slide DURING a slideshow w/o stop slideshow

[Calesta]

I'm trying to set up a system where users can flip through a pre-made
PowerPoint slideshow for work instructions. Is there a function built into
PowerPoint that will allow the slideshow viewer to zoom in to a section of a
slide without going into the slide edit view? I've seen a few third-party
plugins that offer this type of functionality, but I haven't found anything
native to PowerPoint (2003) that will allow me to zoom during a slideshow.

The goal is to have a read-only slideshow that allows zooming without a user
opening up PowerPoint and having to open a file to zoom in to a small detail
area- I'd like to maintain the full screen view.

If I have to go to a third-party plugin, can someone recommend a simple
cheap solution?

Thanks!

 

[Calesta]

As an addition...

I just searched through a bunch of threads that talked about zooming, and
this link kept popping up:

http://officeone.mvps.org/zoom/zoom.html

I'd like to use something a bit different- maybe someone out there knows of
a plugin that would allow the user to draw a box with the pointer and zoom
in? Maybe hold down Alt and use the scroll wheel and then drag the image
around?

 

[Ute Simon]

[Zooming]

If I have to go to a third-party plugin, can someone recommend a simple
cheap solution?

I like 'Virtual Magnifying Glass': http://magnifier.sourceforge.net/ ,
download and use is free. You can put an action button on every slide to
start it, the user can move the magnifying glass across the screen, and it
disappears with the next mouseclick. Maybe this could be a solution?

Kind regards,
Ute

 

[Calesta]

Ute- thank you so much for the link! That definitely looks like it could be
a good solution. I'll try it out. Now I just have to figure out how to
embed a shortcut to the program inside a slideshow... there wouldn't be a way
to call the program regardless of where it was installed on a client machine,
would there- or a way to embed the entire executable inside the slideshow so
that a user wouldn't have to install the program to use the zoom function?

 

[Ute Simon]

Ute- thank you so much for the link! That definitely looks like it could

be
a good solution. I'll try it out. Now I just have to figure out how to
embed a shortcut to the program inside a slideshow... there wouldn't be a
way
to call the program regardless of where it was installed on a client
machine,
would there- or a way to embed the entire executable inside the slideshow
so
that a user wouldn't have to install the program to use the zoom function?

I wrote a tutorial about using this little program in PowerPoint
slideshows - but it's in German. Send me your e-mail address to my reply
address (use .de instead of .ed), I will translate the sample file and a
very short description for you.

As far as I know it is possible to put the program on a CD and start it from
there. It doesn't need to be installed on the client's computer. But it
can't be embedded into a presentation. Maybe you can tell me more about the
environment in which your presentation will be used?

Kind regards,
Ute

 

[Calesta]

Thanks Ute- I sent my email address to you.

The presentations will be used for work instructions in a manufacturing
facility. I'd like to have the ability to call the zoom function regardless
of where the zoom program is installed, since I can't guarantee that user
computers will always have the program (if used) installed in the same
location. If PP is calling the zoom program from a specific file path, this
can be a problem.

The work instructions are delivered through a network "portal", and the
current setup only allows one file to be opened at a time- that's why I asked
about embedding the zoom program into the presentation. I'd like a way to
zoom without having to call on any files outside the presentation file itself.

The easiest way would be to install the zoom program on each user's
computer, have it run at login, then teach the user how to call the zoom
function through a hotkey- but I'd like to minimize user setup and user
action as much as possible.

Is this a good enough description of how I'm trying to use the tool?

Thanks so much for the help!