9. Review presentations
In this chapter
Configure slides for presentation or printing
Inspect and finalize presentations
Print presentations and handouts
Practice files
For this chapter, use the practice files from the PowerPoint2016SBSCh09 folder. For practice file download instructions, see the introduction.
After you complete the content of a presentation, you can add notes to the slides, either to prompt you while presenting the presentation or to include in handouts that you will provide to the audience.
When the slide and note content is complete, you can do several things to prepare the presentation for electronic or print delivery. You can configure the slides to display at a specific screen aspect ratio or to print at a specific paper size. You can run an inspection tool to check for comments, notes, hidden content, file properties, and other elements that you might want to remove. You can run other inspection tools to identify presentation elements that aren’t compatible with earlier versions of PowerPoint, or that won’t be available to apps that are scanning the content. Then you can print the presentation for a final review, or print handouts for the audience. Handouts can include slide images, speaker notes, and space for audience members to write their own notes.
This chapter guides you through procedures related to adding notes to slides, configuring slides for presentation or printing, inspecting and finalizing presentations, and printing presentations and handouts.
Add notes to slides
Each slide in a PowerPoint presentation has a corresponding notes page in which you can enter notes that relate to the slide’s content. You can print the notes to help you rehearse your content, display the notes to guide your speaking points as you deliver your presentation to a live audience, or print them with slides as part of a handout that you provide to the audience. If you want to keep the notes for your own reference, you can make a copy of the presentation to provide to other people and remove the notes from it as part of the inspection process.
Slide notes are available to you in Presenter view
For information about removing notes, see “Inspect and finalize presentations” later in this chapter. For information about printing handouts, see “Print presentations and handouts” later in this chapter.
Slide notes can be as basic or as detailed as you like. You can create simple notes when working in Normal view, or more detailed notes in Notes Page view.
In Normal view, you can open the Notes pane and enter text in it. The benefit of working in this view is that the current slide content and surrounding slide thumbnails are available for reference while you enter the notes.
You can enter and format text in the Notes pane
If you need more working space, you can close the Thumbnails pane or resize the Notes pane. If you need significantly more working space, or want to include content such as pictures or diagrams, you can do so in Notes Page view.
Notes Page view displays a large note pane below an image of the slide. Here are some important things to know about Notes Page view:
You can’t edit the slide content in Notes Page view.
Content such as images and SmartArt graphics that you insert into the note pane in Notes Page view isn’t visible in the Notes pane in Normal view, or in Presenter view. It is visible only in Notes Page view and when you print the notes.
The appearance of content on the slides and in the notes in Normal view is governed by the slide master. The appearance of content in Notes Page view and in printed notes pages is governed by the notes master. The appearance of content in printed handouts is governed by the handout master. The colors and fonts of the masters are independent of each other. If you want the colors and fonts of two or more of these content types to match, you must set them for all the masters that are in use.
SEE ALSO
For information about switching among content development views, see “Display different views of presentations” in Chapter 2, “Create and manage presentations.” For information about Presenter view, see “Present slide shows” in Chapter 10, “Prepare and deliver presentations.”
To open and close the Notes pane in Normal view
1. On the status bar, click the Notes button.
To enter notes in the Notes pane
1. Click in the Notes pane, and then enter text.
To format text in the Notes pane
1. Select the text, and then do any of the following:
• Apply formatting from the Mini Toolbar that appears immediately after you select the text.
• Apply formatting from the Font and Paragraph groups on the Formatting tab.
• Apply formatting by using keyboard shortcuts, such as Ctrl+B, Ctrl+I, or Ctrl+U.
SEE ALSO
For information about keyboard shortcuts, see “Keyboard shortcuts” at the end of this book.
To resize the Notes pane
1. Point to the top border of the pane.
2. When the cursor changes to a double-headed arrow, drag the border up or down.
To enter notes in Notes Page view
1. Click in the area below the slide image to activate the text box.
2. Do either of the following:
• Enter text in the text box.
• Insert objects such as tables, pictures, shapes, SmartArt graphics, and charts by using the commands on the Insert tab. When you create the objects, they will float on the notes page. Resize and move the objects as necessary to align them with note text.
SEE ALSO
For information about tables, see Chapter 5, “Present text in tables.” For information about pictures and shapes, see Chapter 6, “Insert and manage simple graphics.” For information about SmartArt graphics and charts, see Chapter 7, “Create and manage business graphics.”
Configure slides for presentation or printing
In the old days, presentations were delivered by speakers with few supporting materials. Little by little, “visual aids” such as white board drawings or flip charts on easels were added. Eventually, savvy speakers began accompanying their presentations with 35mm slides or transparencies projected onto screens. To accommodate these speakers, early versions of PowerPoint included output formats optimized for slides of various sizes, including 35mm slides and the acetate sheets used with overhead projectors.
Technology has evolved to the point where most presentations are now delivered electronically. When you create a new presentation based on the Blank Presentation template or any of the PowerPoint design templates, the slides are sized for a widescreen monitor because the likelihood is that you will be delivering the presentation with a portable computer and a projection device designed for this format. With the default Widescreen setting, slides are oriented horizontally with a width-to-height ratio of 16:9 and actual dimensions of 13.333 inches by 7.5 inches.
If you find it necessary to change the slide size of a presentation to best fit the display you’re presenting it on, you can easily do so. Remember, though, that you’ll need to carefully review the slides to ensure that your original content still fits. When you decrease the height or width of slides, PowerPoint prompts you to specify whether you want to maximize the size of the slide content or scale it down to ensure that it fits.
The content scaling option affects only the “live” slide content. Regardless of your content scaling choice, changing the slide size will compress or stretch images that are part of the slide layout, such as background images or logos. You can correct the problem by changing the Scale Width setting for the affected images on the slide layouts.
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It is a lot more efficient to set the slide size of the presentation before you begin developing your content, so that you can select and place text and image elements appropriately. When you change the slide size, you have to check the content of each slide and adjust it as necessary so that it still appears as you want it. If your slides contain a lot of content or any images, this can be a tedious undertaking.
If the Widescreen and Standard formats don’t suit your needs—for example, if you want to size the slides to match a specific paper size for printing purposes—you can click Custom Slide Size at the bottom of the Slide Size menu and select from the following slide sizes in the Slide Size dialog box:
On-screen Show (4:3) For an electronic slide show on screens of various aspects: 4:3 (the Standard format), 16:9 (the Widescreen format), or 16:10.
Letter Paper (8.5x11 in) For a presentation that will be printed on 8.5-by-11-inch US letter-size paper.
Ledger Paper (11x17 in) For a presentation that will be printed on 11-by-17-inch legal-size paper.
A3 Paper, A4 Paper, B4 (ISO) Paper, B5 (ISO) Paper For presentations that will be printed on paper of various international sizes.
35mm Slides For 35mm slides that will be placed in a slide carousel and displayed through a slide projector.
Overhead For transparencies that will be displayed through an overhead projector.
Banner For webpage banner images.
Custom For slides that are a nonstandard size. You can set the slide width, height, and orientation in the Slide Size dialog box.
Choose a standard or custom slide size
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In the Slide Size dialog box, you can specify a width and height of up to 56 inches. You can also change the slide orientation to Portrait, so that it is taller than it is wide. These options are particularly useful if you’re using PowerPoint to lay out elements for a printed presentation such as a yard sign or poster.
To set the slide size to a standard screen aspect ratio
1. On the Design tab, in the Customize group, click the Slide Size button, and then do any of the following:
• To set the slide aspect ratio to 4:3, click Standard (4:3).
• To set the slide aspect ratio to 16:9, click Widescreen (16:9).
• To configure the slides for a nonstandard screen aspect ratio or paper size, click Custom Slide Size.
2. If your selection decreases the slide height or width, PowerPoint prompts you to specify how you want to adjust the slide content. In the Microsoft PowerPoint dialog box, click Maximize to keep text and images as large as possible, or Ensure Fit to scale all the slide content.
To set the slide size to a standard paper size or screen aspect ratio
1. On the Design tab, in the Customize group, click the Slide Size button, and then click Custom Slide Size.
2. In the Slide Size dialog box, do the following:
a. In the Slides sized for list, click the paper size or screen aspect ratio you want.
b. In the Slides area of the Orientation section, click Portrait or Landscape to indicate the slide orientation you want.
c. Click OK.
3. If your selection decreases the slide height or width, PowerPoint prompts you to specify how you want to adjust the slide content. In the Microsoft PowerPoint dialog box, click Maximize to keep text and images as large as possible, or Ensure Fit to scale all the slide content.
To set a custom slide size
1. On the Design tab, in the Customize group, click the Slide Size button, and then click Custom Slide Size.
2. In the Slide Size dialog box, do the following:
a. In the Slides sized for list, click Custom.
b. Set the Width and Height as you want them. If the width is less than the height, the slide orientation sets itself to Portrait; if the width is greater than the height, the slide orientation sets itself to Landscape.
c. If you want to switch the Width and Height measurements, click the other orientation in the Slides area of the Orientation section.
d. Click OK.
3. If your selection decreases the slide height or width, PowerPoint prompts you to specify how you want to adjust the slide content. In the Microsoft PowerPoint dialog box, click Maximize to keep text and images as large as possible, or Ensure Fit to scale all the slide content.
1. Display the presentation in Slide Master view and locate a slide layout that includes an image that has been unevenly scaled.
2. Click the image to select it. Then on the Format tool tab, click the Size dialog box launcher to display the Size & Properties page of the Format Picture pane.
You must scale background images separately from slide content
3. Review the Scale Height and Scale Width settings. Change the larger number to match the smaller number, and then reposition the image as necessary to fit the new slide size.
Inspect and finalize presentations
These days, many presentations are delivered electronically as email attachments or from a website. As you develop a presentation, it can accumulate information that you might not want in the final version, such as the names of people who worked on the presentation, comments that reviewers have added to the file, or hidden text about status and assumptions. If your presentation file will never leave your computer, you don’t have to worry that it might contain something that shouldn’t be available to other people. However, if you plan to share the presentation file with other people, you might want to remove this information before you distribute the presentation.
To automate the process of finding and removing all extraneous and confidential information, PowerPoint provides a tool called the Document Inspector. When inspecting a presentation, the Document Inspector looks for the following elements:
Comments, ink annotations, and slide notes
Embedded content and content that isn’t visible on the slide because it has been hidden from the Selection pane or is outside of the slide area
Automatically generated or manually created properties that are saved with the presentation
Content add-ins, task pane add-ins, macros, formats, ActiveX controls, and custom XML data saved with the presentation
After you run the Document Inspector, it displays a summary of its search results. You have the option of removing all the items found in each category. You can’t review the items individually from the Document Inspector—if you want to do so, you must close the Document Inspector and manually locate the items. After removing items by using either method, you can reinspect the presentation.
The Document Inspector has identified hidden slide content, off-slide content, and slide notes in the presentation
Many of the elements the Document Inspector looks for are harmless, and you might intend to leave them where they are. For example, you might have a title box that is formatted as invisible or positioned outside of the slide area so it provides a slide title for the outline and ScreenTips, but doesn’t display the title on the slide. The job of the Document Inspector is to identify that these elements exist; it’s then up to you to determine whether you want to keep or remove them.
PowerPoint includes two other tools that you can use to check presentations for issues:
The Accessibility Checker scans the presentation for content and formatting that might be difficult to view or that might not be compatible with assistive technologies. It reports its findings and offers suggestions for fixing any potential issues.
The Accessibility Checker reports problems and provides tips for improving the accessibility of the presentation
The Compatibility Checker scans the presentation for content that is supported by PowerPoint 2016 but not by earlier versions of PowerPoint. These are most commonly related to images, shapes, SmartArt graphics, effects, animations, transitions, and embedded media.
The Compatibility Checker reports the number, and sometimes location, of each problem
You access all three of these inspection tools from the Inspect Presentation area of the Info page of the Backstage view.
After you optimize a presentation for the delivery method and audience, you can mark it as final to indicate that changes shouldn’t be made to it. Marking a presentation as final makes it read-only and deactivates most of the ribbon commands; anyone who wants to edit the presentation must acknowledge and dismiss the Marked As Final status.
To inspect a presentation for common issues
1. Display the Info page of the Backstage view.
2. In the Inspect Presentation area on the left side of the Info page, click the Check for Issues button, and then click Inspect Document to open the Document Inspector dialog box, which lists the items that will be checked.
3. If PowerPoint prompts you to save changes to the file, click Yes.
Some categories might not be selected by default, so scroll the window to review them all
4. Clear the check boxes for any of the elements that you don’t want to check for, and then click Inspect to display the Document Inspector report.
5. Review the results, and then click the Remove All button for any category of information that you want to remove.
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You can choose to retain content identified by the Document Inspector if you know that it is appropriate for distribution.
6. In the Document Inspector dialog box, click Reinspect, and then click Inspect to verify the removal of the properties and other data you selected.
7. When you’re satisfied with the results, close the Document Inspector dialog box.
To inspect a presentation for accessibility issues
1. On the Info page of the Backstage view, click the Check for Issues button, and then click Check Accessibility to run the Accessibility Checker.
2. In the Accessibility Checker pane, review the inspection results and make any changes you want to the presentation.
3. When you are done, do either of the following:
• Click the X in the upper-right corner of the Accessibility Checker pane to close the pane.
• Leave the pane open to continue checking for accessibility issues as you work with the presentation.
To check a presentation for compatibility with earlier versions of PowerPoint
1. On the Info page of the Backstage view, click the Check for Issues button, and then click Check Compatibility to run the Compatibility Checker.
2. In the Microsoft PowerPoint Compatibility Checker dialog box, review the results, make any changes you want, and then click OK.
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By default, PowerPoint checks for compatibility whenever you save a presentation in the .ppt file format. If you don’t want PowerPoint to do this, clear the Check Compatibility When Saving In PowerPoint 97-2003 Formats check box in the Microsoft PowerPoint Compatibility Checker dialog box.
To mark a presentation as final
1. On the Info page of the Backstage view, in the Protect Presentation area, click the Protect Presentation button, click Mark as Final, and then click OK in the message box that appears.
2. A message tells you that the presentation has been marked as final, the status property has been set to Final, and typing, editing commands, and proofing marks are turned off. In the message box, click OK.
The presentation title bar changes to indicate that the presentation is read-only, and the Protect Presentation area indicates that the file has been marked as final.
The title bar and Info page change to indicate the Final status
3. Click the Return button (the arrow above the Backstage view page tabs) to return to the presentation. Notice that only the ribbon tabs are visible; the commands are hidden.
4. Click the Insert tab to temporarily expand it, and notice that all the buttons are inactive (dimmed). Then click away from the tab to contract it. PowerPoint displays an information bar, notifying you that the presentation has been marked as final.
To make changes to a presentation that has been marked as final
1. On the information bar, click the Edit Anyway button to remove the Final designation and read-only protection from the file.
Print presentations and handouts
Throughout most of this book, I discuss the creation of a presentation for on-screen delivery in the form of a slide show. PowerPoint also offers the ability to print a presentation, either in the form of slides, or as handouts that include slides and notes. You can print a presentation for the purpose of review or for distribution to other people.
When printing a presentation, you can choose from several slide or handout layouts. You can preview the presentation as it will appear when printed, and configure the print settings to meet your requirements. You perform all these tasks on the Print page of the Backstage view.
Preview various forms of the presentation in color or grayscale before printing
The process of selecting a printer and configuring the print settings is quite straightforward. Here’s what you need to know about printing in PowerPoint that’s different from other apps:
You can print the entire presentation or only selected slides.
You can print from one to nine slides per page, or you can print handouts that include slides and slide notes or note-taking space. If you need only the text of the slides, you can print an outline of the presentation without the images.
You can choose the slides you want to print, and the number of slides per page
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For information about coordinating the appearance of content on slides, notes pages, and handouts, see “Add notes to slides” earlier in this chapter.
You can add a narrow frame around each slide to set it off on the page.
If the presentation contains comments, or slides have ink markup, you can print that with the presentation.
For information about adding comments to slides, see “Add and review comments” in Chapter 13, “Save and share presentations.” For information about marking up slides, see “Present slide shows” in Chapter 10, “Prepare and deliver presentations.”
The preview area displays the presentation content in color only when you select a printer that supports color.
You can select Color, Grayscale, or Pure Black And White for the preview and output. If the selected printer isn’t a color printer, selecting Color displays the presentation as it will appear if PowerPoint sends the presentation to the printer in color format rather than as grayscale or black and white.
Some elements print in shades of gray even when you select the Pure Black And White option. The following table identifies the way specific objects print when you select the Grayscale or Pure Black And White options.
If you want to supplement the information on the printouts, you can add headers and footers that display the date and time, page numbers, or any other information that you want to print on each page.
Instead of printing the handouts with the print settings, you have an option to export the presentation content to a Microsoft Word document in which you could theoretically do additional page development.
To select the slide or slides to print
1. If you want to print only one slide, display that slide. If you want to print specific slides, select those slides in the Thumbnails pane of Normal view or in Slide Sorter view.
2. Display the Print page of the Backstage view.
3. In the Settings area, expand the first list, and then in the Slides section, do one of the following:
• To select the entire presentation, click Print All Slides.
• To select only the currently selected slides, click Print Selection.
• To select only the currently displayed slide, click Print Current Slide.
• To select specific slides by entering a custom range, click Custom Range, and then in the Slides box, enter individual slide numbers separated by commas, ranges separated by hyphens, or both. (For example, entering 2,5,12-15 in the Slides box prints slides 2, 5, 12, 13, 14, and 15.)
1. In the Settings area of the Print page of the Backstage view, expand the second menu, and then do any of the following:
• To print one slide per page with no additional content, click Full Page Slides.
• To print one slide per page with the slide notes below the slide, click Notes Pages.
• To print a text outline of the slide content, click Outline.
• To print handouts, in the Handouts section of the menu, click the thumbnail that indicates the number of slides you want to print on each page and the order of the slides. Horizontal orders the slides from left to right and then top to bottom; Vertical orders the slides from top to bottom and then left to right. If in doubt, click one of the options to preview it.
2. To add or remove the frame around each slide image, click Frame Slides. A check mark indicates that the option is turned on.
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The Handouts options automatically frame each slide image.
To print double-sided pages
1. In the Settings area of the Print page of the Backstage view, expand the third menu, and then click the Print on Both Sides thumbnail that indicates the way you want to flip the pages.
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To choose the correct page-flipping option, imagine that you’re turning the page over. To keep the tops of both pages on the same edge of a sheet of paper, flip portrait-oriented content on the long edge and landscape-oriented content on the short edge.
To preview the printouts
1. The preview area displays only the slides you’ve selected to print, in the selected layout. To preview the printout content, do any of the following:
• To move to the next or previous page of the printout, click the Next Page or Previous Page button below the lower-left corner of the preview.
• To move to a specific page of the printout, enter the page number in the box below the lower-left corner of the preview, and then press Enter.
• To scroll through the pages that will be printed, drag the scroll bar, or click above or below the scroll box.
• To display the page at the largest size that fits in the preview pane, click the Zoom to Page button in the lower-right corner of the Print page.
• To change the page magnification, drag the Zoom slider, or click the Zoom In or Zoom Out button.
To specify the print colors
1. On the Print page of the Backstage view, in the Printer list, click the printer you intend to use, so that PowerPoint knows whether the printer supports color.
2. In the Settings area, click Color, and then do any of the following:
• To transmit the color settings when printing, click Color.
• To convert colors to shades of gray, click Grayscale.
• To convert colors other than those in bitmaps, charts, and clip art images to black or white, click Pure Black and White.
SEE ALSO
See the table earlier in this chapter for information about color conversion when printing in grayscale or pure black and white.
To add headers or footers to printouts
1. Do either of the following to display the Notes And Handouts page of the Header And Footer dialog box:
• Display the Print page of the Backstage view. At the bottom of the center pane, click the Edit Header & Footer link.
• Display the presentation in Notes Page view. On the Insert tab, in the Text group, click the Header & Footer button.
2. Do any of the following:
• Select the Date and time check box. Then click Update automatically, and click the format you want to display the date and time in, or click Fixed, and then enter the date and time as you want to display them.
• Select the Page number check box.
• Select the Header check box, and then in the text box, enter the text you want to display at the top of the page.
• Select the Footer check box, and then in the text box, enter the text you want to display at the bottom of the page.
3. Click Apply to All.
To export handouts to Word
1. Display the Export page of the Backstage view.
2. In the center pane, click Create Handouts, and then in the right pane, click the Create Handouts button to open the Send To Microsoft Word dialog box.
The page layout options are more detailed than those for handouts printed from PowerPoint
3. In the Page layout in Microsoft Word area of the dialog box, click the page layout you want.
4. In the Add slides to Microsoft Word document area, do either of the following:
• To embed the slides in the document without retaining a link to the presentation, click Paste.
• To embed and link the slides so you can easily update the document with changes to the presentation, click Paste link.
5. Click OK. Word starts and creates the notes page, handout, or outline you selected. You can enter additional notes and make other changes that you want in the Word document.
Skills review
In this chapter, you learned how to:
Configure slides for presentation or printing
Inspect and finalize presentations
Print presentations and handouts
Practice tasks
The practice files for these tasks are located in the PowerPoint2016SBSCh09 folder. You can save the results of the tasks in the same folder.
Add notes to slides
Open the AddNotes presentation, and then perform the following tasks:
1. Display slide 1 in Normal view, and open the Notes pane.
2. In the Notes pane, enter the following three lines of text, pressing Enter at the end of each line:
Welcome and introductions
Logistics
Establish knowledge level
3. Set the height of the Notes pane to match the three lines of text.
4. Display slide 2. In the Notes pane, enter Talk about the main concepts.
5. Display slide 3. In the Notes pane, enter Complementary energies. Then switch to Notes Page view, and insert the YinYang image from the practice file folder. Drag the image down below the Complementary energies note, using the smart guide to align the image with the slide.
6. Display slide 4 in Notes Page view. Insert the Hierarchy List SmartArt graphic, and position it in the center of the note pane. You can leave the placeholder graphic empty for the purposes of this task.
7. Switch to Normal view. Notice that the graphic on slide 3 and the diagram on slide 4 are not visible in the Notes pane in this view.
8. Save and close the presentation.
Configure slides for presentation or printing
Open the ConfigureSlides presentation, and then perform the following tasks:
1. Display the presentation in Slide Sorter view.
2. Change the slide size to Standard, and scale the slide content to ensure that it fits on the slides. Notice the effect of this change on the slides.
3. Undo the change to the slide size. Then change the slide size to Standard, and maximize the size of the slide content. Notice the effect of this change on the slides, and consider the differences between the two scaling options.
4. Note the slides that contain background images that didn’t scale correctly.
5. Display slide 1, and then display the slide layout in Slide Master view. Select the Microsoft PowerPoint 2016 Step by Step image, and then change the image scaling to maintain the original aspect ratio.
6. Close Slide Master view, and notice the change to the slide background image.
7. Save and close the presentation.
Inspect and finalize presentations
Open the InspectPresentations presentation, and then perform the following tasks:
1. Start the Document Inspector. Select all the issue categories, and then inspect the presentation.
2. Review the results of the inspection. Consider which content you would not want to distribute with the presentation, and remove it. Then reinspect the presentation to ensure that the issues were resolved.
3. Check the presentation for accessibility issues.
4. Review the results in the Accessibility Checker pane. Locate each of the slide elements, and make any changes that you consider necessary.
5. Mark the presentation as final, and notice the effect on the Info page of the Backstage view, and on the ribbon commands.
6. Display slide 2. In the title, select the word Review, and confirm that you can’t delete it while the presentation is read-only.
7. Close the presentation.
Print presentations and handouts
Open the PrintSlides presentation, and then perform the following tasks:
1. Display the Print page of the Backstage view.
2. Select a printer that is connected to your computer.
3. Configure the print settings to print slides 1–3 and 5 of the presentation in the 2 Slides handout format, with frames around the slides.
4. Preview the printout as it would appear when sending color, grayscale, or pure black and white to the printer.
5. If you have a color printer and a black-and-white printer, select the other type of printer and note the differences.
6. Print the selected slides in grayscale on the selected printer.
7. Save and close the presentation.