Placing multiple pictures and text on a slide

D

David Horowitz

Hello all,
I have a PowerPoint "best practices" question for the group. I apologize if
I didn't see a previously-posted answer.
My client wants to be able to place several pictures on a single PPT slide
mixed in with bulleted text, as in:
o bullet 1
o bullet 2
<picture 1>
o bullet 3
<picture 2>
The format is not set - it may vary from slide to slide (that is, it's not
always 2 bullets, a pic, 1 bullet, and another pic - it could be any
combination of bullets and pictures).
There is no overlapping of elements - they're always "tiled".
My question is what's the best way to accomplish the blank space between
bullet 2 and bullet 3 (where picture 1 goes) in the example above?
I can think of at least 3 ways to do it, and I want to choose the way that's
going to be most easy for the users to modify as they continue to work with
their slides.
Method 1: Have a single placeholder textbox for all the bullets and separate
bullets #2 and #3 using blank lines (using the Enter key). This method does
not lend itself to precise positioning, but it is simple.
Method 2: Have a single placeholder textbox for all the bullets and use the
Format > Paragraph > Space Before setting on bullet 3 to move it down. This
allows for finer placement, but you need to go through the Format >
Paragraph dialog box to make the changes instead of using the mouse or
something intuitive like the Enter key.
Method 3: Have two separate textboxes for bullets1&2 and bullet 3. This
allows for relatively simple fine placement but splits the text up and makes
it difficult to make changes in indentation and other formatting that
affects all bullets and you also now have two textboxes that you want
aligned and sized horizontally identically, which is more work.
(I have slides which demonstrate these three techniques.)
I would appreciate any thoughtful input.
Thanks!
David Horowitz
Soundside Inc., Lead Technologist
(e-mail address removed)
 
E

Echo S

D

David Horowitz

Thanks Steve and Echo for your comments.
We are locked into 2007, so that's good.
I can't count on there only being 2 text areas (although there's a practical
limit here just because of size), so 2 columns might not work - I would need
<n> columns available - is there a way to do that?
They don't HAVE to be placeholders, though it would be nice.
I think you're right - it depends a lot on the actual situation...
I wasn't aware of that Outline issue about textboxes not showing up but
Placeholders do, and Echo you mentioned we can create placeholders on the
fly I guess, so that would be what I might want to do. I do appreciate all
your input. If you have any more, please let me know.
David
--
David Horowitz
Lead Technologist
Soundside Inc.
(e-mail address removed)


Echo S said:
However, you can create placeholders (and layouts) in PPT 2007. So I think
the best solution partly depends on which version of PPT. (Or did I just
miss that in the original post?)

--
Echo [MS PPT MVP] http://www.echosvoice.com
What's new in PPT 2007? http://www.echosvoice.com/2007.htm
Fixing PowerPoint Annoyances http://tinyurl.com/36grcd
PowerPoint 2007 Complete Makeover Kit http://tinyurl.com/32a7nx

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Steve Rindsberg said:
Interesting question.

For starters, I'd also check to see if there's some way of setting up the
text + picture in
Word then copy/pasting into PPT.

Method 3, two separate textboxes, would be my choice but for one problem:
the second text box
wouldn't be a placeholder, it'd be regular text box. The text wouldn't
appear in the outline
view, not such a big deal, but the bullet behavior will be quite
different from that of the
placeholder text box above it. VERY confusing to users, I'd think.

But how about this as a Method 3a:

Make it a two column text slide. That'll start with two text boxes side
by side, but move the
second box down, change both boxes to the same width and insert your
picture between them.

Now you have two text placeholders, they behave alike, the text appears
in the outliner,
baud's in his heaven and all's well in cyberspace.

Almost. Numbered bullets don't "jump" from the first to the second text
box. Then again,
they wouldn't with any of the other solutions so what the heck.





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