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The new Microsoft Ribbon has replaced the old familiar File Menu system but old users often don’t want to relearn what they thought they knew. The new Microsoft Ribbon will actually help you work more efficiently but first you need to understand how to navigate the new look.
1. The Microsoft Ribbon
Menus and Toolbars have been replaced by the Ribbon.
The Ribbon has three basic components.
Tabs: there are six of them across the top. Each represents an activity area.
Groups: Each tab has several groups that show related items together.
Commands: A command can be anything from a button, a drop-down list, or a box to enter information.
Minimize the Ribbon by double-clicking the active tab. The groups disappear so that you have more room.
To see all the commands again, double-click the active tab again to bring back the groups.
Dialog Box Launcher
When you see a small arrow (called the Dialog Box Launcher) in the lower-right corner of a group, it means there are more detailed or advanced options available for the commands in the group.
Click the arrow to open a dialog box or a task pane where you can work with the available options.
2. Microsoft Button
The File menu has been replaced in Office with the Microsoft Office Button.
Click this button, in the upper-left corner of the program window, to get the same basic commands as before to open, save, and print your documents.
3. Contextual Tabs on the Microsoft Ribbon
In the new version of Office, certain tabs appear only when you need them.
If you select a picture, the Picture Tools appear. Click the Format tab and more groups and commands appear for working with pictures, like the Picture Styles group.
4. Alt Key Tips on the Microsoft Ribbon
Pressing the ALT key displays Key Tips. This new feature is called Badges.
Press the key for the tab or Quick Access Toolbar command you want.
If you press a tab Key Tip, you’ll see the Key Tips for every command on that tab.
Press the arrow keys, or the tab key, to move within a tab.
5. Always Keep Filename on Recent Open List
In the recently opened file list you will notice a grayed-out pin to the right of a recently opened file name.
If you click-on the grayed-out pin it will turn to a green colored pin. This action will now keep this file on the Recent List no matter how many files you open after closing this file.
6. Zoom Slider
Look in the lower-right corner. Drag the slider to the right to zoom in, and drag it to the left to zoom out.
Clicking the percent number to the left of the slider will open the Zoom dialog box, where you can specify a zoom percentage.
7. Quick Access Toolbar on the Microsoft Ribbon
The Quick Access Toolbar (QAT) is located above the Ribbon. The toolbar’s shortcuts can be customized by the user.
To add shortcut icons:
Method 1:
Right-click on the icon in the Ribbon you want to add to the QAT and select Add to Quick Access Toolbar.
Method 2:
1. Press the down arrow on the far right of the QAT and select More Commands.
2. Check the box to Show Quick Access Toolbar below the Ribbon.
3. Select a Command from the tab on the left to add to the QAT and press Add. Repeat step 3 until finished.
Then click OK.
8. New File Formats
The new Office document file format is based on the new Office Open XML Formats.
Older versions of Office cannot open the new format. You can save a new file in the older format but you lose the new features in doing this conversion.
The new file format makes your documents safer by separating files that have macros, it makes your document file sizes smaller, it helps make your documents less susceptible to damage and it gives you the ability to use new Office features, such as SmartArt Graphics, math equations, themes and content controls.
A new save as PDF option lets you convert your Office files to the PDF file format without Acrobat.
9. New Fonts
Office uses new default fonts that older versions of Office do not have installed.
The old versions of Office used Arial and Times New Roman as their default fonts.
Office uses Calibri in place of Arial and Cambria in place of Times New Roman. This can lead to different line breaks when sharing a document created in the newer Office with users in an older versions.
10. Mini Text Toolbar
Select your text by dragging with your mouse, and then point at the selection.
The Mini toolbar will appear in a faded fashion. If you point to the Mini toolbar, it will become solid, and you can click a formatting option on it.
Think of Cliff Ping as your graphics specialist. Based in Miami, I offer services in Web Site Design, PowerPoint slide creation, Photoshop photo retouching, desktop production and computer software training in Adobe and Microsoft products.
Under promise over deliver, get Cliff when you need help.
Contact Cliff at cliff@cliffping.com web site: cliffping.com
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This is a beginner’s Photoshop how-to technique that will remove a color cast from an image. Any image that has too much red, green, blue, or yellow is said to have a color cast. 
You have a great picture but all of the faces are blue. Now panic sets in. How can you fix this! Take a deep breathe.
I will show you a simple two-step Photoshop how-to technique that will remove a color cast.
The Theory – Setting the Stage to Remove a Color Cast
Once the image with the color cast is opened you need to open the Levels dialog box – Image>Adjustments>Levels (Control+L).
If you are using a program other than Photoshop and can’t find a levels option, look for something called Histogram. Some software programs call Levels by its graphical name, Histogram.
The Levels dialog box has a graph of the image’s pixels. This graph is called a Histogram (Pixel Chart) and all of the image’s pixels, based on its value, are plotted in the graph. The Histogram Pixel Chart is labeled as (A).
On the left side of the Histogram (Pixel Chart) are three eyedroppers.
The top eyedropper (B) is filled with ink and represents the shadow eyedropper.
The middle eyedropper is partially filled with ink and represents the midtone eyedropper.
The bottom eyedropper (C) is empty of ink and represents the highlight eyedropper.
On the bottom of the Histogram (Pixel Chart) are three triangles. These triangles represent the actual image shadow-midtone-highlight points.
The triangle on the bottom left (D) is filled with ink and represents the darkest shadow.
The triangle in the middle (E) represents the image midtone point.
The triangle on the bottom right (F) is empty of ink and represents the brightest highlight.
The Remove a Color Cast Process
This technique is going use the Levels eyedroppers to redefine the darkest pixel and brightest pixel and in the process remove a color cast by peeling the color cast from the image.
Step 1: After opening the image,
Select, Image>Adjustments>Levels (Ctrl+L)
Step 2: Redefine the high-light point first
Select (click on it with the left mouse button) the highlight eyedropper and then click on the image where you think the brightest printable pixel (white) for that image resides.
In this example, I picked a place in the snow.
Step 3: Now select (click on it) the shadow eyedropper and then click on the image where you think the darkest printable pixel (black) for that image resides
You can try more than one place. Your last choice is what the eyedropper sets as the shadow point.
In this example, I picked a spot on a stocking cap.
The image might still need some color tuning and minor blemish repair but the color cast is gone 90% of the time.
What We Did to Remove a Color Cast– Geek Version
We used the Levels Highlight eyedropper to redefine our brightest white.
The eyedropper measured the color of the pixel we selected and determined what amount of color didn’t belong in the brightest highlight. Then the Levels Highlight option subtracted that amount from all the pixels in the image. Removing some/most of the cast and making the image brighter in the process.
Next, we used the Levels Shadow eyedropper to redefine our darkest black.
The eyedropper measured the color of the pixel we selected and determined what amount of color needed to be added to the pixel to make this pixel the darkest black. Then the Levels Shadow option added that amount to all the pixels in the image. Removing more of the cast and making the image contrast better in the process.
What We Did to remove a Color Cast – Non-Geek Version
We peeled off the color cast and made the image better by redefining the brightest and darkest pixels.
Think of Cliff Ping as your graphics specialist. Based in Miami, I offer services in Web Site Design, PowerPoint slide creation, Photoshop photo retouching, desktop production and computer software training in Adobe and Microsoft products.
Under promise over deliver, get Cliff when you need help.
Contact Cliff at cliff@cliffping.com web site:cliffping.com
The sharing of Excel to PowerPoint is a common need that frustrates many Microsoft Office users.
Problem:
You have information in Excel that needs to be presented in a PowerPoint presentation. You want the Excel data to look good in PowerPoint and you would like the slide information to be updated when the Excel data is changed.
Solution:
In PowerPoint use the Paste Special with the Paste link option.
The Paste link option places a copy of the Excel chart on the PowerPoint slide.
The chart in PowerPoint is dynamically linked to the original Excel sheet.
If anything is changed on the Excel sheet, the chart in PowerPoint is updated automatically.
The chart can’t be edited in PowerPoint, all editing is done in the Excel file. All formatting is handled in the Excel file. Both files should reside in the same folder.
Linking Excel to PowerPoint 2007 & 2010
1. Select the Excel chart
2. Copy the chart to the clipboard
Press the Home tab on the Excel Ribbon and select Copy
3. Switch to PowerPoint and navigate to the slide the chart will reside
4. In PowerPoint, paste the chart from the clipboard by:
Select Home on the Ribbon
Next, press the Paste link arrow and choose Paste Link (above center image)
In the Paste Link option click-on the Paste Link button (above right image)
Now, click OK to save the Excel to PowerPoint link
What Does Paste Link Do?
Paste link pastes a viewable copy of the Excel data in PowerPoint with a link to the original item in Excel. If the item changes in Excel, the item automatically updates in PowerPoint. How cool is that!
Excel to PowerPoint 2003 Steps:
1. Select the Excel chart.
2. Copy the chart to the clipboard (ctrl+C or Edit>Copy).
3. Switch to PowerPoint and navigate to the slide the chart will reside.
4. In PowerPoint, paste the chart from the clipboard by using
Edit>Paste Special
Paste Special has two options
(My preference is option 2, Paste link):
Option 1: Paste Picture (Windows Metafile) – this pastes a scalable vector graphic of the clipboard item.
If Paste is used, the chart is rendered in PowerPoint as a graphic. This graphic will not look crisp and its appearance will degrade as the chart is enlarged. Graphics are not linked to the original Excel file.
Option 2: Paste link – this pastes a link to the original item in Excel. If the item is change in Excel, it will be automatically updated in PowerPoint. In Office 2003 this is usually the best Excel to PowerPoint solution.
When Paste link is used, if the PowerPoint presentation is not open when the Excel object is changed, the next time the presentation is opened, an alert message displays informing the viewer that the link needs to be updated.
The message gives the viewer three choices: 1. Update Links, 2.Cancel or 3. Help.
Selecting Update Links will update the item in PowerPoint to match the Excel file and selecting Cancel opens the presentation without updating the chart. Don’t select the help option.
When using the Paste link option a dynamic link is created between the Excel workbook and the PowerPoint presentation. If any information in the linked data is changed the presentation will request a new update of the data.
Once a link is established, the PowerPoint presentation will always look in the place the Excel file was originally located. If you move the Excel file you lose the link. To change a link use the Edit>Links option.
Think of Cliff Ping as your graphics specialist. Based in Miami, I offer services in Web Site Design, PowerPoint slide creation, Photoshop photo retouching, desktop production and computer software training in Adobe and Microsoft products.
Under promise over deliver, get Cliff when you need help.
Contact Cliff at cliff@cliffping.com web site:cliffping.com
After successfully delivering many webinars, I want to share 7 webinar tips during the actual presentation that I find helpful.
First of all, I like to be over prepared, an hour before the webinar I do a sound and video check to make sure everything is working.
If you or the webinar vendor have changed anything since the last webinar it is better to find out early. If something isn’t right during the test I have an hour to get it fixed. If everything is ok, which 99% of the time it is, I can relax.
I have had that 1% happen to me twice.
The first time was while doing a webinar for a University.
They wanted to use their computer instead of mine. They decided to do this 90-minutes before the webinar with no notice to me. Now my webinars are teaching software tips and tricks and are not the normal PowerPoint slide. Their system couldn’t handle the software and files I was going to use and 45 minutes before the webinar was to start they realized they needed to upgrade their computer’s software. In this case my computer was used and the next webinar we used their updated computer.
The second time the 1% happened was when my client changed webinar vendors. We had done many webinars together but never with their new provider. Since we never had any problems before they figured everything would be fine. Unfortunately, the new provider needed me to upgrade to their software. Doing this just before the webinar start is stressful for everyone. If you change vendors, a software check should be done at least a day prior to the event.
After the sound and video check passes, I do not install any new software or updates to the computer. Then I disable auto-saves, exit the e-mail software, exit skype, and turn-off the phone.
Next, I make sure the files I plan to use for the webinar are all together in a folder on my desktop.
On the list of what you hope never happens during the webinar, is to not have a file handy that you were planning to demo.
Next, I open the software and any data files I plan to use during the webinar. Then I make sure my clock has the right time and wait for the start time.
Next, my 7 webinar tips:
- Have water on hand.
I have a couple glasses of room temperature water at hand. While you are talking you might need a sip of water to help your voice. I use a glass because I have heard people guzzling from a bottle while talking with microphones and the sound isn’t pretty. I do not use ice because after a sip of water I don’t want to be stuck with a piece of ice left in my mouth. I usually drink about 2/3 of one of the glasses of water.
- Stand during the webinar presentation.
I have found that standing gives me more energy and gives my body the feeling I get when teaching in front of people.
- Breathe normally and speak normally.
Don’t try to hold your breath until you get to a certain point. Don’t take large gasps or breathe heavily because the microphone will make you sound horrible. Even worst if your breathing is noticeable to the audience it will distract them from learning. Speak in a normal conversational speed. Don’t speak too fast because the audience will lose you. Don’t speak too slowly because you will put the audience to sleep. Finally remember to change your tone of voice through the presentation.
- Fill the room with your voice.
This might be the most difficult part of doing a webinar – speaking to an empty room. Yes, I know only you and the computer might be in the room but you don’t want the listeners to think that it’s true. Speak loud, loud enough so a room of 25 people could hear you. Remember to speak in a conversational voice, no monotone voices are allowed during webinars.
- Talk with your hands during the webinar.
When using your hands while speaking, the audience can feel your body language through the microphone. The extra emphasis you give a word while making a hand gesture translates in your voice to the listener.
- Use and follow a script.
You have already practiced your presentation and got the timing where you want it to be but during the actual presentation you might get flustered or forget a topic. Having a script available allows you the luxury of making sure you cover all of your key points. My scripts are not written in complete sentences but in key phrases. I use a large font size with a lot of space between items. On certain pages I write extra statistics/facts I might use in case I am running short or feel the audience would enjoy the information. I also place the time on each sheet I want to be at during the presentation.
- Use a usb microphone.
The sound quality of usb microphones are much better than the sound quality of a computer jack microphone. Can’t stress enough the importance of using a good microphone. I wrote an article on this topic in a previous blog, click here for that article.
I hope you found these 7 webinar tips beneficial. In an upcoming story i will discuss 7 webinar tips to keep the audience engaged during the actual webinar.
Bonus tip: Start on time and end on time. If you end a little earlier that is even better.
Think of Cliff Ping as your graphics specialist. Based in Miami, I offer services in Web Site Design, PowerPoint slide creation, Photoshop photo retouching, desktop production and computer software training in Adobe and Microsoft products.
Under promise over deliver, get Cliff when you need help.
Contact Cliff at cliff@cliffping.com web site:cliffping.com
First – Working with Images
In PowerPoint, I recommend using images in place of all those words you have on the slide – think Twitter – fewer words is better. Using this one design tip can greatly improve your presentation’s impact. Sometimes you need more than one image source to find images that best get your point across to the viewer. In the third section, I will reference 17 places to find images.
Good artwork helps PowerPoint slides get the message to the viewer. The image is a frame of reference for the viewer to remember the speaker’s point.
Pictures and clipart have more impact when they are large. Small pictures might make the viewer work too hard trying to figure out the image.
Artwork should not be crowded, leave white space around the artwork. The more white space the artwork has around it the more impact the image will have on the viewer.
For a little more positive impact, add a slight upward tilt to artwork (three-to-eight degrees).
Second – Good Graphic File Formats for PowerPoint
- GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) – Use for animated clipart
- WMF (Windows Meta File) – Use for clipart that doesn’t move
- JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) – Use for pictures with backgrounds
- PNG-24 (Portable Network Graphics) – Use for pictures that have no background
The new PowerPoint can do minor picture edits but it is not an image editor. If a picture needs to be modified an image editor is required. I wrote an article on what to get to edit images. To read that story follow this link.
Third – Places to get images
17 Places to Find Images
I am often asked the question where can I get pictures on the Web?
There are a lot of sites on the Web for pictures.
When getting images from a site, your preference should be Royalty Free. A Royalty Free image means you pay once for the image and use it as often as you want.
If an image is not Royalty Free the vendor will record the use you have in mind for the image. If you try to use the image in any way other than the original purpose you have to pay for that new use too. If you don’t pay the vendor before using the image it will cost you a hefty fine.
Here is a list of my favorite sites:
Sites That Sell By the Image or By Subscriptions
www.Istockphoto.com
www.photos.com
www.Gettyimages.com
www.Corbis.com
www.clipart.com
www.Animationfactory.com
www.shutterstock.com
www.mediabakery.com
www.fotolia.com
www.fotosearch.com
www.dreamstime.com
www.cartoonbank.com
Free Image Sites (some restrictions)
www.Freestockphotos.com – free to use with their tag line
http://www.usa.gov/Topics/Graphics.shtml – many of the images are public domain read the image rights
www.unprofound.com
www.vector-cartoons.com – free for non-commercial use
Image DVD
Digital juice is a dvd disk that contains several thousand images that include many different backgrounds, photo objects, pictures, and movies. The images are royalty free and well worth the purchase price of $179.
I did not include Google and Flikr because I wanted to stay away from dealing with copyright issues. If you have sites you want to share feel free to include your choices in the comments.
Think of Cliff Ping as your graphics specialist. Based in Miami, I offer services in Web Site Design, PowerPoint slide creation, Photoshop photo retouching, desktop production and computer software training in Adobe and Microsoft products.
Under promise over deliver, get Cliff when you need help.
Contact Cliff at cliff@cliffping.com web site:cliffping.com
The PowerPoint White Board (this is what I call writing on the screen in PowerPoint) is a feature most presenters do not know exists but it can be a great visual to connect with the audience.
When the presenter wants to emphasize a concept on the screen during a presentation the white board option gives the speaker the ability to convert the cursor into a pen or highlighter.
Now by pressing the left-mouse button down and drawing on the screen the speaker can really get the audience to follow their point.
Below is a sample of text written on the screen and text highlighted while in Slide Show view. To see a video of Cliff explaining the process of using the PowerPoint white board click on the image below or press the link that follows. powerpoint_pen_video
To use the feature the presentation has to be in slide show view.
To activate the drawing option during the presentation (Slide Show view) press Ctrl + P. This activates the felt tip pen drawing tool.
It looks like a red dot. To draw on the screen, press the left-mouse button and move the mouse.
Release the left-mouse button and the drawing stops.
To Erase Drawn Content in PowerPoint Slide Show view
To erase any of the drawn information, press Ctrl + E to activate the eraser.
Left-click the mouse button on any drawn area and it disappears.
To Change Back to the Cursor During Slide Show view
Press the Escape key to turn-off the pen or eraser options.
More Options:
A right-click on the screen brings up a menu that allows the presenter to change the Pointer Options (brush type – Ballpoint pen, Felt Tip pen, Highlighter and brush color).
Edits made on the screen can be kept or discarded after pressing the escape key and exiting the Slide Show view.
Think of Cliff Ping as your graphics specialist. Based in Miami, I offer services in Web Site Design, PowerPoint slide creation, Photoshop photo retouching, desktop production and computer software training in Adobe and Microsoft products.
Under promise over deliver, get Cliff when you need help.
Contact Cliff at cliff@cliffping.com web site:cliffping.com
Is the size of your PowerPoint presentation file out of control? After inserting images, is the PowerPoint file too large too e-mail? You can use the Compress Pictures tool to reduce PowerPoint file size.
Adding images to a presentation makes the presentation better but the file size of a presentation grows as images are inserted.
Often the original image size is larger than the PowerPoint slide requires and the image is sized to a reduced viewing size in the slide (like the sample image and slide pictured below).
Though the image now looks smaller than the larger original, the actual file size is the same. The more images in the presentation the larger the file size becomes. Microsoft includes a Compress Pictures tool to reduce PowerPoint file size.
To reduce the actual image file size to match its new viewing size use the Compress Picture tool. This tool was added to PowerPoint XP/2002 to optimize images within a presentation.
The Compress Pictures tool works slightly different in PowerPoint 2003 than it does in the newer versions. I will first show how to reduce PowerPoint file size using the Compress Pictures tool in the 2003 version. Then I will explain how-to use the Compress Pictures tool in the newer 2007 and 2010 versions.
Reduce PowerPoint File Size in PowerPoint 2003:
1. Select the image and the Picture tool bar is activated.
2. Select the Compress Pictures icon on the tool bar to activate its dialog box.It looks like the insert image icon with four arrows pointing to each corner.In the Compress Pictures dialog box change the Change resolution option from Print to Web/Screen.To reduce the file size of only the selected image, leave the Apply to option set to, Selected pictures.To reduce the file size of all the images in the presentation, change the Apply to option to All pictures in document.
3. Click OK to apply the settings.
4. Click Apply to confirm the Compress Pictures operation and reduce PowerPoint file size.
Reduce PowerPoint File Size in PowerPoint 2007 and 2010:
1. Select the image and the Picture tool bar is activated.
2. Select the Compress Pictures icon on the Format Ribbon to activate its dialog box.
It looks like the insert image icon with four arrows pointing from each corner.
3. In the Compress Pictures Options dialog box, change the Change resolution option to E-mail.
To reduce the file size of only the selected image, leave the Apply to option set to, only this picture.
To reduce the file size of all the jpegs in the presentation uncheck the Apply only to the picture option.
4. Click OK to apply the settings and reduce PowerPoint file size.
You Need to Know That
The Compress Pictures tool only reduces the size of jpeg images. It does not change the original image, only the image in the presentation.
I tend to use this tool towards the end of the presentation build. If you add images after the Compress Pictures tool was used you will need to run Compress Pictures again (it will not alter images previously reduced).
Think of Cliff Ping as your graphics specialist. Based in Miami, I offer services in Web Site Design, PowerPoint slide creation, Photoshop photo retouching, desktop production and computer software training in Adobe and Microsoft products.
Under promise over deliver, get Cliff when you need help.
Contact Cliff at cliff@cliffping.com web site:cliffping.com
Read an article this morning that said nearly 1 in 5 U.S. PCs are unprotected. The article went on to say that the U.S. ranked 5th worldwide as the least protected country! This post is going to help you protect your computer with free software.
Protect Your Computer on a Budget Check List:
- an anti-virus solution
- a browser pop-up blocker
- a spyware solution
- the Microsoft operating system up to date
1. Protect with Anti-Virus Software
Norton Anti-Virus isn’t the only option for anti-virus protection.
You can get free anti-virus software programs that work well. Most of the free software is easy to install.
To protect my computers, I use AVG Free Anti-Virus Edition. Two other free anti-virus software programs are the Avast Free Antivirus software and the free Microsoft Security Essentials package.
AVG and Avast can be downloaded from cnet.com at theirdownload.com site. The Microsoft package can be downloaded from their Security Essentials web page.
2. Protect your Computer While Browsing with Pop-up Blockers
Pop-up blockers block ads and allow for faster browsing.
I use Adblock! Plus. This pop-up blocker is shareware and works as part of my browser. The Microsoft Security Essentials package has a pop-up blocker and another free option is AdFender (get from download.com).
3. Protect your Computer Against Spyware
I use the free Spybot Search and Destroy software for my antispyware program.
I have been using this software for years to root out those pesky malware, adware, and other bad guys. I run this software about once a month. The virus protection software keeps the computer free of this but just in case something slips by the virus protection software I have a backup to keep the computer clean.
The Microsoft Security Essentials package has a spyware detector and cnet’s download.com has a few free options as well.
4. Protect Your Computer by Updating Windows
Lastly Windows updates should be part on and part of your system options.
You might read this article and wonder why Cliff doesn’t just use the Microsoft Security Essentials to protect his computers instead of using solutions from several vendors.
I have been a Microsoft fan since they were just a software compiler company (been around a while) but I do not like putting all of my eggs in one basket. I like checks and balances.
I use and like Microsoft’s Operating System. I keep the Operating System up-to date with Windows updates but just in case their programs miss something I have software (AVG Anti-Virus, Adblock!, Spybot) written by other good programmers to keep my system safe and humming.
You can’t afford the consequences of not protecting your computer.
Think of Cliff Ping as your graphics specialist. Based in Miami, I offer services in Web Site Design, PowerPoint slide creation, Photoshop photo retouching, desktop production and computer software training in Adobe and Microsoft products.
Under promise over deliver, get Cliff when you need help.
Contact Cliff at cliff@cliffping.com web site:cliffping.com
Lighten Image – Create a Watermark – for Text in PowerPoint
In my PowerPoint classes one of the most often asked questions is how do I lighten an image so I can place something on top of the image? I also get the statement, I use to know how-to lighten an image or reduce the color of an image but they changed the process in the new version.
The steps to lighten the image color so text could be read over the image are different for PowerPoint 2003, PowerPoint 2007, and PowerPoint 2010.
First, To Lighten Image for Text in PowerPoint 2007
1. Select the image.
2. Right-click on the image to bring up the help menu.
3. Select Format Picture
4, Select Recolor and the Washout option
The Washout choice makes the image lighter by reducing the color of the image.
To darken the washed out image a little after the Washout option is applied adjust Brightness down.
As Brightness is decreased the image will get darker. Stop this choice when you find the darkness you want. If you increase the Brightness the image will get more washed out.
To increase the saturation (color) of the washed out image select Contrast.
Reducing the Contrast value will increase the saturation (color) of the image. Be careful, reducing the Contrast too much will make the image appear gray.
Next, To Lighten Image for Text in PowerPoint 2010
1. Select the image.
2. Right-click on the image to bring up the help menu.
3. Select Format Picture
4. Select Picture Color
Then select the Recolor and Washout option to reduce the saturation (color) of the image.
To fine-tune the washed out image further use the Color Saturation and Color Tone options.
Finally, To Lighten Image for Text in PowerPoint 2003
1. Select the image.
2. Right-click on the image to bring up the help menu.
3. Select Format Picture
4. The Picture Tab is now active. The Picture Tab has a section labeled Image control. The default choice for Color under Image control is Automatic.
Press the down arrow for Color and change the selection from Automatic to Washout
Click Preview to see how the image will look. In most cases, the image is light but it still needs minor adjusting to make it look more realistic.
5. Reduce the Brightness a couple of percent. Click Preview to see the result. Repeat this step until you are happy with the way the image brightness looks.
6. Increase the Contrast a couple of percent. Click Preview to see the result. Repeat this step until you are happy with the way the image contrast looks.
7. Click OK to apply the Washout look to the image.
As a presenter/teacher of Microsoft Office software I want to thank the Microsoft programmers for changing the way things are accomplished in their software and keeping my training business alive.
Think of Cliff Ping as your graphics specialist. Based in Miami, I offer services in Web Site Design, PowerPoint slide creation, Photoshop photo retouching, desktop production and computer software training in Adobe and Microsoft products.
Under promise over deliver, get Cliff when you need help.
Contact Cliff at cliff@cliffping.com web site:cliffping.com
Some of my clients have heard my training cd’s or the good sound from the webinars I have done and said their sound doesn’t come close to the quality of my sound. They often ask what I do for recording audio better from my computer.
Most of the time their problem is the microphone they are using.
1. Get a good microphone -The built-in computer microphone sound quality is not good enough for recording audio. Do not use the sound microphone option built into the computer.
You want to get a microphone that connects via the usb port.
The entry level microphone is the simple headset microphone you can get for under $50.
For better sound you might try one of these next four choices:
A. The Blue Microphones USB Snowball is also a good choice. This microphone lists for $99 (Amazon sells it for less than $70).
B. The Samson USB Go Mic lists for $90, Amazon has it for less than $50.
C. The Blue Microphones USB Yeti Professional is a little better and it lists for $149.99 (Amazon under $100).
D. On the high-end you might look in to a Sure microphone, the Shure PG42 USB is a good choice. It lists for $250.
2. Invest in a Pop Filter (Windscreen) - The pop filter will deaden some of the letters you speak, like the popping sound in P.
3. Maintain a consistent sound level -When recording audio always set your sound settings to the same input level and quality.
When speaking try to maintain a good voice level. Speak in conversational mode. Speak in to the microphone like you are talking to someone in the same room.
If you have a cold or sore throat don’t record. Wait till your voice is back to normal. Being consistent is the key.
4. Quite in the room - Turn everything off: the phone, the radio, the tv, the fax machine and e-mail.
Make a sign that says recording in progress. Then place the sign on the door during the recording to let others know.
To deaden external noise, some speakers create foam rubber sound booths around their microphones.
5. Don’t be afraid of recording audio again.
If you don’t like what you said or the pace you said it in, record the passage again. Yes, I know you can edit the audio but don’t be afraid to get the words right without the need of editing. Leave the editing as the last resort not the all the time fix.
Bonus Tip – Edit the Audio:
Finally, you might want to invest in some audio editing software. I use Camtasia Studio to record my computer training sessions (PowerPoint, Photoshop, Excel, Word, InDesign and Outlook). After I finish recording the training session, I can edit the audio and enhance the video with Camtasia Studio at techsmith.com.
Think of Cliff Ping as your graphics specialist. Based in Miami, I offer services in Web Site Design, PowerPoint slide creation, Photoshop photo retouching, desktop production and computer software training in Adobe and Microsoft products.
Under promise over deliver, get Cliff when you need help.
Contact Cliff at cliff@cliffping.com web site:cliffping.com
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