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PowerPoint® Hints, Tips & Wrinkles

Creating linked presentations in PowerPoint® XP, 2002/3

These versions of PowerPoint support multiple slide masters enabling you to combine presentations much more reliably than ever before.

This is how to do it.

1. Start by opening your first presentation in the slide sorter view.

2. Highlight the slide you wish the next presentation to follow, typically this will be the last slide (but it doesn't have to be).

3. Use the tool bar to select - INSERT - SLIDES FROM FILE.

4. Use the - BROWSE - button to locate the presentation you wish to link.

5. Tick the SELECT ALL option and also the KEEP SOURCE FORMATTING option.

6. Click the OK button.

Creating hyperlinks between presentations in PowerPoint® '97 & 2000

Firstly why would we need to do this?

Most corporate PowerPoint® presentations will use a slide master template to give a consistent to all the slides in the presentation. Usually this will be designed by the companies marketing department and will conform to their house design bible.

You could combine presentations by using the "cut & paste" method to add slides from one presentation to another; but PowerPoint® '97 & 2000 do not support multiple slide masters. As a result all the slides acquire the look, based upon the slide master of the first slide.

This can play havoc with the overall look of a presentation and can result in company logos disappearing or the colour of text and background becoming unusable.

However it is possible to preserve the integrity of the slide master by "hyper linking" together presentations. The hyperlink is typically inserted into the last slide of one presentation to take you straight into the next.

This is how to do it.

1. Start by opening your first presentation in the slide sorter view.

2. Highlight the slide you wish the next presentation to follow, typically this will be the last slide (but it doesn't have to be).

3. Use the tool bar to select - INSERT - OBJECT - CREATE FROM FILE.

4. Use the - BROWSE - button to locate the presentation you wish to link.

5. Check the tick boxes for LINK and DISPLAY AS ICON.

6. Click the O.K. button and the PowerPoint  icon will appear in the middle of your chosen slide.

7. Move this icon to an area outside of the viewable area.

8. Click on the icon with the right mouse button.

9. Select CUSTOM ANIMATION.

10. From the timing menu select NO EFFECT and DON'T ANIMATE.

11. From the play settings menu select OBJECT ACTION and SHOW.

12. Click the O.K. button.

13. Run through both presentations to test the links.

14. Save your changes.

Need to know more about PowerPoint®

The Knowledge Base at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx is very informative as is http://www.soniacoleman.com the personal website of PowerPoint® guru Sonia Coleman.