Exploring the PowerPoint Desktop

The PowerPoint 2000 desktop is very similar to that of other Office 2000 applications. If you're familiar with one Office program, you should be able to navigate the others as well.

Using Menus and Shortcut Menus

You use PowerPoint menus to perform specific actions. The PowerPoint menu bar (p. xxx) includes nine menu categories, each displaying a list of related commands. Figure 1.1 illustrates the menu bar.

In PowerPoint, only the most commonly used menu commands display when you first install the program. To see additional menu commands, click the double down arrows at the bottom of the list. After you use a menu command, it becomes part of the regular menu and you don't need to select the down arrows to locate it.

Several PowerPoint menus also include submenus, identified with a right arrow next to the menu command itself. Figure 1.2 illustrates a submenu.

PowerPoint also includes shortcut menus, specific menus that are context-sensitive and relate to a selected object. To view a shortcut menu, right-click the mouse. Figure 1.3 displays a shortcut menu.

→ To learn more about the many ways you can customize PowerPoint menus, see Customizing Menu Commands.

Using Toolbars

A toolbar is similar to a menu in that it categorizes related commands to make it easier for you to perform a specific task. But toolbars use a graphical representation, or button, rather than a menu-based text representation. Even though toolbars use buttons rather than text, you can still display a text description of what the button does by pausing the mouse over it. A ScreenTip (p. 348) appears, identifying the button's function. Figure 1.4 illustrates a ScreenTip.

ScreenTips don't appear? See the Troubleshooting section at the end of the chapter.

The Standard and Formatting toolbars are the two most commonly used PowerPoint toolbars. Table 1.1 describes the buttons on the Standard toolbar, which you'll use frequently in PowerPoint.

→ To view a table of the buttons on the Formatting toolbar, see Using the Formatting Toolbar.

Table 1.1. Standard Toolbar Buttons

Button	Name	Description
	New	Creates a new presentation and opens the New Slide dialog box from which you can choose from a variety of slide layouts.
	Open	Opens the Open dialog box from which you can open an existing presentation.
	Save	Opens the Save As dialog box in which you can save your open presentation.
	E-mail	Displays fields in which you can enter an email recipient to whom you want to send the open presentation.
	Print	Prints the presentation on the default printer.
	Spelling	Checks the spelling and style of the open presentation.
	Cut	Cuts the selected text or object, which is deleted from the presentation, and places it on the Clipboard.
	Copy	Copies the selected text or object, which remains on the presentation, and places it on the Clipboard.
	Paste	Pastes the most recently cut or copied object into the selected location in the presentation.
	Format Painter	Copies the format of the selected text or object and applies this formatting to the next object you click.
	Undo	Undoes the last action.
	Redo	Does the previous action again.
	Insert Hyperlink	Opens the Insert Hyperlink dialog box from which you can insert a hyperlink to a Web page, email address, or another document or presentation.
	Tables and Borders	Displays the Tables and Borders toolbar.
	Insert Table	Displays a palette in which you can choose the size of table you want to insert.
	Insert Chart	Activates Microsoft Graph with which you can insert a chart in your presentation.
	New Slide	Displays the New Slide dialog box in which you can add a new slide to the open presentation.
	Expand All	Expands the outline pane to display all titles and body text for each slide.
	Show Formatting	Displays text formatting in the outline pane.
	Grayscale Preview	Previews the presentation in grayscale.
	Zoom	Enables you to select a zoom percentage from the drop-down list—from 25% to 400%.
	Microsoft PowerPoint Help	Activates the Office Assistant.

Displaying Toolbars

Other toolbars appear automatically when you select a certain command. For example, when you choose Insert, Comment from the menu, the Reviewing toolbar automatically displays.

To the right of each toolbar is a down arrow. Click this arrow and then click Add or Remove Buttons. In the drop-down menu that appears, you can choose which buttons you want to appear on the toolbar, reset the toolbar to its default, or customize the toolbar even further (see Figure 1.5).

→ To learn how to customize and modify PowerPoint toolbars to fit your needs, see Customizing Toolbars.

To open and close toolbars manually, choose View, Toolbars and select or deselect toolbars from the list of available options. Figure 1.6 illustrates this menu and the available toolbars.

Moving Toolbars

You can easily move a toolbar to a new location. How you do this depends on whether the toolbar is docked (p. 446) or is a floating toolbar (p. 446). Figure 1.7 illustrates both types of toolbars.

To move a docked toolbar, drag the move handle on its left side to a new location. To move a floating toolbar, drag its title bar. You can easily switch a toolbar from docked to floating, and vice versa. Drag a docked toolbar to a central location on the screen to float it. Drag a floating toolbar to the edge of the window to dock it.

Can't find a toolbar button you've used before? See the Troubleshooting section at the end of the chapter.

Using the Clipboard Toolbar

Multiple clipboard functionality is new to PowerPoint 2000 and is shared with other Office 2000 applications such as Word or Excel. This collect-and-paste feature enables you to copy multiple items and then paste them selectively, rather than simply copying and pasting a single item as you could in past Office versions. In Office 2000, you can collect up to 12 items—text, objects, graphics, documents, Web pages, and so forth—and then selectively paste these as needed. The Clipboard toolbar (p. 448) enables you to view and manage the 12 items you have most recently copied. Figure 1.8 illustrates this toolbar, which you can open by selecting View, Toolbars, Clipboard.

The toolbar displays up to 12 items, leaving empty spaces if you have fewer than this number of collected items. If you pause the mouse over the button that represents each individual item, the initial text of that item displays as a ScreenTip. Click on the button to paste its data into your presentation. Table 1.2 lists the buttons on this toolbar.

Table 1.2. Clipboard Toolbar Buttons

Button	Name	Description
	Copy	Copies selected object to the Clipboard.
	Paste All	Pastes all collected objects into the open presentation or document.
	Clear Clipboard	Deletes all collected items from the Clipboard.

Understanding PowerPoint Views

PowerPoint includes five different kinds of views. A view is a way you see and work with the software; which one you use depends on what you're doing at any particular time.

To display a particular view, click its view button in the lower-left portion of the PowerPoint window (see Figure 1.9).

PowerPoint's five views are

• Normal View This is the default view and displays three different panes: slide, outline, and notes. Figure 1.10 illustrates Normal View.

  • The slide pane is the largest of the three. You can add text, graphics, tables, charts, and other objects to your presentation on the slide pane.

• The outline pane is on the left side of the window and displays an outline of your presentation. You can use this pane to enter the text content, to rearrange and organize slides, or to move to another slide.

  Figure 1.10. Normal View is PowerPoint's default viewing option.

  

• The notes pane includes space for you to write speaker's notes or notes to yourself about your presentation.

→ To get suggestions about creating effective speaker's notes, see Creating Notes and Handouts.

• Outline View Outline View also includes the outline, slide, and notes panes, but in different sizes. The focal point in this view is the outline pane and it provides you more space in which to create a detailed outline. The slide pane includes a slide miniature in which you can still see the basic format of your slide as well as a notes pane for detailed notes. Figure 1.11 illustrates Outline View.

• Slide View This view provides a close-up look at your slide. The notes pane doesn't display at all, and the outline pane only includes slide numbers, not a detailed outline. Figure 1.12 displays this view.

• Slide Sorter View This view, shown in Figure 1.13, displays miniature views of all the slides in your presentation, making it easier for you to organize them.

• Slide Show View Slide Show View displays your slides as they would appear in a slide show, full-screen without any PowerPoint menus, toolbars, or other features. Figure 1.14 illustrates this view.

You can easily resize the panes in Normal, Outline, or Slide View. To do so, drag the border between panes to a new location. Figure 1.15 illustrates a resized pane.