PowerPoint 2016

Problems with Printing in PowerPoint

If you have tried to print a PowerPoint presentation with no result, and you have received no error message, here are three possible solutions:

Solution 1

Make sure that you have the correct printer settings. If the printer you were going to use is inoperable, you can attempt to use a different printer.

Solution 2

You may need to disable the setting that prints comments and markup:

1. On the File ribbon menu, select Print from the left-hand menu (or, use the keyboard shortcut CTRL + P).
2. In the Print pane, select the down arrow next to Full Page Slides.
3. In the drop-down menu, ensure there is no checkmark next to the option Print Comments and Ink Markup.

Solution 3

1. On the File ribbon menu, select Info from the left-hand menu (if it is not already).
2. In the Info pane, read any messages that appear next to Check for Issues.
3. Select the Check for Issues option and choose Inspect Document.
4. In the Document Inspector window, uncheck boxes most likely related to the messages you observed (e.g. next to Comments and Annotations).

Select the Inspect button, then select Close.

Using the Slide Master in PowerPoint

IMPORTANT: you should not make any changes to an approved ESDC template. If it is interfering with your content, you should instead try to rearrange how your content is displayed.

To change the background, use PowerPoint's Slide Master feature to insert a background image or other features, or to edit the default fonts, colours, etc.

1. On the View ribbon menu, in the Master Views group select Slide Master.
2. Make the changes you want to for each slide.
3. To exit the Slide Master, on the Slide Master ribbon menu select Close Master View.

Similarly, you can also adjust the Handout Master or Notes Master by choosing one of those options on the View ribbon menu in the Master Views group.

Changing the Slide Orientation in a Presentation

By default, the Microsoft PowerPoint 2016 slide layout is in landscape (top and bottom longer than the sides, to best fit a standard computer screen).  You can change this landscape to portrait mode:

1. On the Design ribbon menu, in the Customize group select Slide Size.
2. From the drop-down menu, select Custom Slide Size…
3. In the Slide Size window, under Orientation, you can choose to select Portrait.
4. In the Microsoft PowerPoint window, choose to either Maximize or Ensure Fit of your presentation's current content.

Password Protection in PowerPoint

The following instructions will set a case-sensitive password that is required to open the PowerPoint file you attach it to. There is no way to recover a forgotten password, or to open a protected document you do not have the password for! 

To password-protect a PowerPoint file:

1. With your PowerPoint presentation open, select the File ribbon menu. In the Info pane, select Protect Document and choose Encrypt with Password from the drop-down menu.
2. In the Encrypt Document window, enter your chosen password and select OK.
3. In the Confirm Password window, re-enter the same password and select OK. The file is now password-protected.  You can test this by closing and re-opening the file.

Visit IT Security for more information if you wish to ensure you will create a strong password.

To remove password-protection: repeat the above steps, this time deleting the password from the Encrypt Document dialogue box (i.e. make it blank).

Merging and Comparing PowerPoint Presentations

The 'Merge and Compare' feature minimizes the time spent synchronizing edits from multiple versions of the same presentation:

1. Open one of the presentations you want to compare. On the Review ribbon menu, in the Compare group select Compare.
2. In the Choose File to Merge with Current Presentation window, browse to find the other presentation and select it. Then select the Merge button.

After the successful merge, review each change and accept or reject it (i.e., Review ribbon menu, Compare group: Accept or Reject).

Using Portrait and Landscape Orientation in the Same Presentation

A presentation can have only one orientation (i.e. landscape or portrait) for all slides. However, you can link two presentations (one in landscape, the other in portrait) and create an arrangement that will make it appear as though you have both portrait and landscape slides in one presentation.

To link two presentations:

1. In the first presentation, select a text box or object to act as a link to the second presentation. On the Insert ribbon menu, in the Links group select Action.
2. In the Action Settings window, select either the Mouse Click tab or the Mouse Over tab (depending whether you want to activate the link by clicking on it with your mouse, or merely pointing at it).
3. Select the option Hyperlink to, and then select Other PowerPoint Presentation from the drop-down list.
4. In the Hyperlink to Other PowerPoint Presentation window, browse to find and select the second presentation, and choose OK.
5. In the Hyperlink to Slide window, choose the slide in the second presentation that you jump to from chosen linking point in the first, then choose OK twice to save this selection and close these windows.

Next, following the same steps, create a link from the second presentation that will return you to the first presentation (i.e. open the second presentation, select a text box or object, and link it back to the next slide in the first presentation).