Office Pioneer : PowerPoint

Update on "Insert from scanner"

GillLeFevre — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 18:22:00 GMT

Well, I've heard back from the PowerPoint team, and they have confirmed that "Insert from scanner" has been removed from PowerPoint 2007.

Mark explains:

"This was a difficult call, but I think for the best of the product overall. The feature supported a limited number of scanners and the camera support had not been updated for some time."

While this may mean a longer process to add scanned images into PowerPoint, hopefully the extra features in the 2007 release will make that worthwhile. And maybe the improved graphics will reduce the need for scanning in some cases.

Better results faster, unless you're a teacher

GillLeFevre — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 12:56:00 GMT

I got an email from one of our newsletter subscribers, Mark, who had been checking out the Beta and was dismayed to find out that the "Insert from scanner" feature had been taken out of PowerPoint.

I must admit, I was surprised, because the 2007 release is supposed to be about uncovering "lost" features, not getting rid of them. And I sympathise with Mark because, as a teacher, not having this feature is probably going to double the amount of time it takes him to prepare lessons. (I'm also quite impressed - "high tech" lessons when I was at school meant a maths teacher using an overhead projector and a plastic "foil" to write up equations.) It certainly doesn't make for better results faster.

So where from here? The Office Online help provided the sort of clarity that can leave you tearing your hair out. Yes, it confirmed, the feature "Insert from scanner" was no longer available. It gave great instructions about inserting pictures from file, but diddly-squat about why this feature had been retired.

The PowerPoint newsgroup had nothing to add on the subject, but might be a good place to voice concerns. The PowerPoint blog has some really great info about picture layouts, and they are doing some seriously cool things with slides, all of which just makes the missing "Insert from scanner" even more frustrating.

Time to "Send a frown" I think.

Enjoy it while it lasts….. No more Save PDF - Out of the Box

Charlene — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 18:48:00 GMT

Unfortunately one of the coolest features of Beta 2 has now been removed from the final product.

The ability to Save as PDF or our own XPS format, the crowd pleaser at product demos, will no longer be included in the final release due to pressure from Adobe.

But worry not, you will still be able to reap all the benefits of this feature by downloading free software that we be releasing to give you this capability…

Office tongue-twister

GillLeFevre — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 20:47:00 GMT

Smart-Art graphics. Try saying that four or five times in a hurry. :-)

But, that's not so far from the truth. These graphics are fantastic and will certainly make you look smart when giving your next presentation. (Whether or not you are also a know-it-all depends on the tone of your presentation.)

Here's one I made earlier...

Before:

After:

And that took just 3 clicks!