Indezine News for
Published: Wed, 02/04/09
Indezine Newsby Geetesh Bajaj, February 4th 2009 This newsletter provides more info on PowerPoint usage -- and details on new content available on the Indezine site. You can also opt to get our RSS feed, where you can get updates through Feedburner. Second Life for PowerPoint: Conversation with Lisa Lindgren
In this conversation, Lisa discusses using PowerPoint content within Second Life. Geetesh: Tell us about Second Life, and how it can be a platform to deliver and share PowerPoint presentations. Lisa: Second Life is a 3-D virtual world where you navigate "inworld" using your own, personalized avatar. It claims to have millions of participants and many companies and universities have built presences there with the hopes of capitalizing on it. The reviews are mixed, although I did hear a presentation given by Sarah Robbins from Ball State University about her experience in running her class lab in Second Life. She said that one of the challenges was that her students got so engrossed that they forget to go to their next class! This is precisely why I think that there may be some potential for giving presentations there when you can't physically be in front of your audience. Unlike a Webinar, or a podcast, it's a very rich and consuming experience, one that your audience is not likely to listen to half-heartedly while they check their e-mail. Read the rest of this conversation... Learn PowerPoint: Lines in PowerPointIn this issue, we are exploring options specific to users of PowerPoint 2003 and previous versions. In the next issue, we'll look at similar options in PowerPoint 2007. We do look at other PowerPoint 2007 options though, as you'll see in the next story. Formatting Lines (Outlines): We have already covered the fill options in PowerPoint. In this series will go through the many ways in which you can format lines. The term "line" in itself is confusing, because all the options explained on this page pertain to "outlines". Read more here... Patterned Lines: In a previous tutorial, I showed you how you can format line attributes (outlines) in PowerPoint 2003 or earlier. In this tutorial you will learn more about the cool patterned lines option. Learn more here...
Arrowheads and Arrow Styles in Lines: I previously explained how you can format a line with color, weight, and dash styles in PowerPoint 2003 and previous versions. Now, let me show you how you can add an arrowhead on one or both sides of a line. Arrowheads can only be added to lines within open shapes. Learn more here... Learn PowerPoint 2007: Texture and Gradient Fills for ShapesTexture Fills: In previous tutorials, we have covered solid, picture, and gradient fills for shapes in PowerPoint 2007. In this tutorial, we finish this series by showing you how you can use texture fills. We also cover in detail how you can use the extensive tiling options available in PowerPoint 2007. Gradient Fills: I already showed you how you can add or change solid color and picture fills for shapes in PowerPoint 2007. In the next part of this series, I show you all the stuff you can do with gradient fills in PowerPoint 2007. To keep things simple, you first learn how to add a gradient fill to a shape in PowerPoint 2007. Then unleash some more gradient power by using the More Gradients option. Finally, become a gradient guru by learning to edit and create your own gradients using the cool Gradient Stops feature. ToolBook Instructor 9.5: The Indezine ReviewThe amount of content available in the form of PowerPoint slides is amazing -- almost every computer literate person has a bank of slides, be it at their company, home, school, university, or elsewhere. Most of this content won't work too well when saved as a document -- but since slides typically have (or should have) small portions of large sized text with contrasting backgrounds and visuals, they end up becoming perfect as content from PDAs and Smartphones. Products like ToolBook Instructor do a whole lot more than just such conversion, but in this review, we will focus on the PowerPoint capabilities of Toolbook Instructor, which will help you to convert your PowerPoint files into online, interactive learning course content with ToolBook's rapid eLearning content creation capabilities. SmartDraw 2009.5: Conversation with Paul Stannard
Paul Stannard is CEO of SmartDraw.com, creators of the popular SmartDraw program. In this Indezine exclusive conversation, Paul discusses the new features in the just-released SmartDraw 2009.5. Geetesh: Tell us more about SmartDraw 2009.5's new features, and why there are important to Microsoft Office users. Paul: SmartDraw 2009.5 adds many new features but the three most significant increase SmartDraw's already considerable integration with Microsoft Office:
Read the rest of this conversation... SmartDraw 2009.5: The Indezine ReviewSmartDraw has been long a mainstay of those who want to create professional looking graphics fast and easy. And although PowerPoint and other Microsoft Office applications include many info-graphic options, they continue to lack several business graphic options such as mindmaps, storyboards, flowcharts, etc. SmartDraw has traditionally filled in these gaps, but now it has started offering more than just the gaps. We look at the new SmartDraw 2009.5, especially the new Microsoft Office oriented interoperability features in this review. Wildform Flair: Conversation with Colby Devitt
Colby Devitt is the president and co-founder of Wildform, a multimedia software company based out of Los Angeles, USA. In this conversation, Colby discusses Flair, their Flash authoring product that includes a dedicated PowerPoint to Flash converting component. Geetesh: Tell us more about Flair, and its PowerPoint to Flash converting capabilities. Colby: Flair is a fantastic all-round program for people who want to author in Flash, but don't want to take the time to learn or pay for Flash. (That said, we also have plenty of customers who are Flash developers who use Flair to supplement their work in Flash.) Flair is primarily designed for people who want to create multimedia and e-learning presentations. It includes a top of the line PowerPoint to Flash converter which consistently creates high quality conversions with small files sizes. Plus, you can edit your converted PowerPoint files within the Flair editing environment, which is a huge advantage. Read the rest of this conversation... Valentine's Day Templates on Ppted
Valentine's Day Templates on Indezine
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Lisa Lindgren has brought solid presentation advice to hundreds of thousands of people during her professional career. For nearly a decade she published the critically acclaimed Presenters University Web site and its monthly Presentation Pointers newsletter. Now a member of the Steering Committee for InfoComm's Presentations Council, she continues to work to enrich the industry and advocates for improved presentation techniques and standards.
