Microsoft PowerPoint 2000
for Windows 95, 98, 2000, Me and NT

Introduction

Microsoft PowerPoint is an excellent application for graphics and presentations. The main features of PowerPoint are: slides, speaker notes, organization charts, media clips, graphs, clip art, and web pages.

Accessing Microsoft PowerPoint

From the start menu select Programs. Another menu will pop up, and it is in this new menu that you will find Microsoft PowerPoint. Select Microsoft PowerPoint to launch the application.

Getting Started

As it is launched, a dialog box will appear asking you if you want to create a new presentation or open an already existing document. If you have never used PowerPoint, you can get help at each step of the process if you select "AutoContent Wizard". If you want to create a new presentation using the available presentation templates provided by PowerPoint (or even a template of your own), select "Template". To start a new presentation from scratch, select "Blank Presentation" (there are no templates with this option).
When selecting a blank presentation, the first thing you need to do is choose the format of your first slide. When the window for a slide type appears, select the desired format by clicking on it once. The description of slide will appear in the bottom right box of the window. If you are satisfied with the slide selection, click "OK".
When the text object appears, you are ready to start creating your charts and graphics for your slide presentation. If you select "AutoContent wizard" you will be assisted all along the way.

Editing Text

Text and text objects are two key concepts in understanding PowerPoint. A text object is where the text is held. Editing text in PowerPoint is just a matter of pointing and clicking with your mouse.

  • To select text in a document, just click on the text. One click will just insert the cursor into the text to change or edit the text, double-click selects and highlights an entire word, and a triple-click selects an entire paragraph.
  • To delete text, simply press the Delete key once you have selected the text. However, if you make a mistake, just select Undo Move under the Edit menu to bring back your text.
  • To move text, select the text you want to move, and cut the text by selecting "Cut" under the Edit menu (or you can press Ctrl + X, or click on the scissor icon in the toolbar). This automatically saves the cut text onto the clipboard. Next, click on the area of the text where you want to insert the cut text and select "Paste", again under the Edit menu (or Ctrl + V, or the clipboard icon from the toolbar).
  • To align text, click on the text you wish to align (you do not need to highlight the text, a simple insertion of the cursor will suffice). You can either go to the Format menu and select the desired options under "Alignment", or you can simply click on the alignment buttons on the tool bar:

note: In PowerPoint, or any other Microsoft Office application, when you point the arrow at any pictorial button, a little yellow flag will appear that describes its function in a few words.

Adding Formats to Text (i.e., bold, italics, underline, shadow)

Adding formats to text is accomplished by highlighting the text with the mouse or keyboard and performing the desired operation. To highlight text, use the mouse to place the cursor at the beginning of the text to be highlighted, then drag until you reach the end. By clicking on the appropriate box, (bold), (italics), (underline), or (shadow), you can alter the text to the desired highlights. To undo the formats, make sure that the text is still selected and simply click on the bold, italic, underline, or shadow box again.

Creating Multiple Slides and Slide Shows

If you have chosen to run the AutoContent Wizard, you will be guided to how to make a multiple slide presentation. If you have chosen the Blank Presentation, you can simply select "New Slide" under the Insert menu, or click on the button on the Tool Bar . To start a slide show, select "View Show" in the Slide Show menu. When your slide becomes enlarged to fill the screen, you can click anywhere on the slide to move on to the next slide. By clicking on the button in the lower left corner of the screen you can call up a list of options about the slide show.

Inserting Graphics

You can also graphics onto your slide presentation. Clip art or pictures from the Clip Gallery, imported pictures, and scanned pictures can be all used to insert graphics onto the slide. To insert clip art or a picture from the Clip Gallery:
1. Display the slide you want the image to be inserted on.
2. Click "Insert Clip Art" . When the Clip Gallery appears, click on the "Clip Art" or "Pictures" tab and select the desired category.
3. Select the image you want by double-clicking on the image. This image will appear on your slide.
4. You can move the picture anywhere on the slide by using your mouse and dragging the image.

Spell Checking

The spell check utility can be found in the Tools menu. Select Spelling and Grammar or click on the spelling icon from the toolbar. The spell checker will start at the beginning of the document, unless it is told to do otherwise. As the spell checker progresses through the document, it will display a list of suggested corrections to words that it believes to be spelled incorrectly. If the word is spelled correctly, the Ignore button should be pressed. Otherwise, select one of the suggestions from the list and press Change. Another way to correct spelling is to correct the misspelled word directly on the text (you can see misspelled words directly on the text because misspelled words will be automatically underlined by a red line).

Saving, Printing, and Opening a Document

All three of these functions can be found in the File menu.
Save your document before doing anything else to prevent losing it. When you select Save under the File menu, or click from the toolbar, a window will appear for you to save onto a floppy disk or onto your hard drive. Click on the black down arrow to view the list of save options. If you want to save to a floppy disk, make sure that the disk is in the disk drive, and that "3 1/2 Floppy" drive is selected. If you want to save your document onto your hard drive, select "Desktop" instead of "3 1/2 Floppy".
At the bottom of the window, the name of your document can be changed by highlighting it, and typing in the desired name. Then click "Save" to save your document.
To print your document
G go back into the File menu and select Print or click from the toolbar. Press "OK" to print your document (your computer's printing settings should already be configured).
To open an already existing document, select under the File menu or from the toolbar. If you are opening a document that is saved on the hard drive of you computer, highlight the appropriate drive in the "Look in" option. If the document is on a floppy disk, make sure you highlight the floppy disk drive (3 1/2 Floppy). Highlight your document by clicking once on the icon (you will be able to pre-view the document in the right-hand side window as shown below). Then click "Open".