PowerPoint - Red X of Death in 95/98 Gone?

[Joe AutoDrill]

Back in the days of Windows 95 and maybe 98, there was the "Red X of Death"
problem with PowerPoint where photos would simply disappear and not be
restorable... Anyone know if that has been solved in XP?

BEFORE I go and make my 100+ page photo-instructional manual in PPT, I would
like to know...

Regards,
Joe Agro, Jr.
(800) 871-5022
http://www.AutoDrill.com
http://www.Multi-Drill.com

 

[Tom]

Are you talking about when the linked files are no longer in their same
EXACT location? IF so... Yes it's still there... AND one wonders why
they don't fix it -- or at least make the broken links 'fixable'.

 

[Bill Dilworth]

You seem bitter, Tom

I would not expect PowerPoint to monitor all the computers file movements to
track possible links breaks. But because 'absolute links' can be broken
easily, we strongly recommend that the pictures/files are copied into the
presentation folder BEFORE linking them. This creates a 'relative link'
that does not break when moving the folder around. You may also want to
look at PPTools for some good link fixin's.
http://www.rdpslides.com/pptools/fixlinks/index.html

I think what the OP, Joe was talking about was inserted images, not linked
ones. It has been a long time since I heard tell of the dreaded Red X
issue. I do not trust any software 100%, but they seem to have pretty much
fixed this problem on current versions of the program (based on what I've
seen in the newsgroup, from direct user feedback, and personal experience).
Hopefully, you will be using software that is less than 10 years old. See
this link for the un-official tale.
**RED X instead of graphics
http://www.rdpslides.com/pptfaq/FAQ00064.htm

But, Joe, I gotta ask. Why are you using a presentation software to build a
printed manual? Wouldn't software designed for print media be more
appropriate? There are many publishing software programs available and they
are generally better at handling paging options, margins, and such.


--
Bill Dilworth
A proud member of the Microsoft PPT MVP Team
Users helping fellow users.
billdilworth.mvps.org
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
yahoo2@ Please read the PowerPoint
yahoo. FAQ pages. They answer most
com of our questions.
www.pptfaq.com
..
..

 

[Joe AutoDrill]

I think what the OP, Joe was talking about was inserted images, not linked

ones.

That's what I'm doing. Inserting. Not linking...

CLIP

**RED X instead of graphics
http://www.rdpslides.com/pptfaq/FAQ00064.htm

Argh... Brings up real anguish just re-reading that! I had SO MANY
problems when working in PPT years ago because of this little problem.

But, Joe, I gotta ask. Why are you using a presentation software to build
a printed manual? Wouldn't software designed for print media be more
appropriate? There are many publishing software programs available and
they are generally better at handling paging options, margins, and such.

It's a rough manual for manufacturing a drilling product. Simple text
placed above pictures for those who can't read the text. Nothing fancy.
But... LOTS of pictures... Thus the question.

It will be output to a PDF file when done but I'm a ways off from that right
now. I've got 25 pages done, have an 8 meg file and another 75 pages to
go...
--


Regards,
Joe Agro, Jr.
(800) 871-5022
http://www.AutoDrill.com
http://www.Multi-Drill.com

V8013-R

 

[Joe AutoDrill]

I can certainly understand doing it in PPT rather than Word, then.

Word + Pictures = Rage

PPT is at least geared towards handling pictures in the body of the
document... Word seems to "buck the system" when you try it.

OTOH, Publisher or some other DTP app might be a better choice, if
available.
If not, well ... while we can't *promise* that PPT's utterly safe, we can
certainly tell you that the prognosis is much better than it's ever been
before. By an order of magnitude compared to what you remember.

Whew... That is good news....

BTW - From a 20 meg file, PDF Writer creates a 22 meg file while Distiller
makes a 3.5 meg file. No noticeable difference in quality unless you
forward it to someone who needs the embeddd info...

Thanks for all the answers (to all!) One of these days, I'll find a copy of
Kai's Powershow for sale for $1 somewhere and do a semi-animated manual from
my photos....

Regards,
Joe Agro, Jr.
(800) 871-5022
http://www.AutoDrill.com
http://www.Multi-Drill.com

V8013-R