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A Few PowerPoint Clients

Jim — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 19:51:05 +0000

These are just a few satisfied clients which I created or formatted PowerPoint presentations for.

Have (new) Laptop, Will Travel

Jim — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 05:33:27 +0000

I’ve had a Dell Latitude D-800 for seven years with PowerPoint 2003, which was upgraded to 2007. Over the past several months it just started to bog down and freeze up most of the time, even after I installed the maximum two gigabytes of memory. It was time to retire the big D. I recently bought a new Dell Inspiron laptop. First thing I noticed was how lightweight it is. Next was the blazing speed after booting up. I installed PowerPoint 2010 and so far I like the changes Microsoft made in this version. The ribbon menu is still there, but it seems more organized compared to 2007. The ribbon in 2007 was a bit confusing at times. I also like the new slide transitions they added. Another new addition in this version is saving the presentation as a video file. The one thing I don’t like about this new addition is the only option available is saving as a Windows Media file (WMV). With Microsoft selling their Office software for the Mac, the option to save to a Quicktime movie (MOV) would have been nice to have. Next big investment is Adobe CS5 Premium, but that will need to wait with the holiday season just around the corner. If you need a presentation created or just want to “jazz” it up, call me and I’ll add the power into your PowerPoint presentation. Happy Holidays to all!

Video Samples

Jim — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 05:10:32 +0000

Just uploaded a few video editing and motion graphic samples. There’s one I created back in 2005 when I was first learning video editing. Time certainly flies. Quicktime plugin required, free download from Apple. View the samples here.

PowerPoint Master Template

Jim — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 16:54:00 +0000

Last month I received a call from an investment advisory group located in New York city. I was asked to redesign the layout for their PowerPoint presentations and apply it to six upcoming slide shows they had scheduled. The first thing I noticed was the original files weren’t set up using master slide templates. Once I had the master template I designed ready to go, I needed to reapply the slide layouts to all presentations for any future editing. Doing this to all slide shows, which totaled over one hundred slides, added to production time. It is always best to create a PowerPoint template with master slides first which will save time during the production phase. Below is the before and after layouts. Due to privacy issues, the company logo and name have been replaced with a generic stock image.

PowerPoint Compatibility

Jim — Tue, 04 May 2010 19:52:50 +0000

I currently use PowerPoint 2007. The one question I always ask my clients before I begin creating their presentations is “what version of PowerPoint are you using and what version will the presentation be projected with the day of the presentation?”. This is very important because of compatibility issues. Even though you can save to an earlier version of PowerPoint (97-2004) there are some formatting limitations that won’t work at all within these versions. Here are some of the formatting attributes within PowerPoint 2007 that won’t work in or will need to be addressed in older versions:
• Transparency
• Shadows
• Shapes
• Animations
• Picture rotation
• Charts and graphs

It is always best to find out which version of PowerPoint is being used first before working on the presentation. This will save time knowing that the file will open and convert properly in earlier versions.

Why My Blog is Called “The Salty Dog”

Jim — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 19:37:32 +0000

I wanted to have something catchy that relates to me instead of just “My Blog” . The one thing that came to mind is salt. Why salt? Having the last name Morton conjures the brand Morton Salt. I’m also a U.S. Navy veteran who served on board a guided missile destroyer and a rescue salvage ship. I’m also an active member of my American Legion Post, a veterans organization. I once was a “Salty Dog” sailor. I also love dogs and have two, Daisy and Abby. So there you have it.

Morton Sea Salt

First Ship I Served On – Guided Missile Destroyer USS Preble DDG 46

Second Ship I Served On – Rescue/Salvage Ship USS Opportune ARS 41

My Dogs – Daisy and Abby

My Beautiful Wife, Celine

Widescreen Presentations

Jim — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 19:33:50 +0000

Times have certainly changed. I remember when I was younger you actually had to get up off the couch to change the channel on the square shaped television, all eight of them. Today, movies and television episodes are in high-definition, widescreen ratio. So, if everything that we watch is wide format, what about presentations? PowerPoint and Keynote both have widescreen settings. Here’s some advantages of using widescreen for your next presentation:

• Presentation will be more visually appealing
• Takes on a higher production value
• More real estate for charts, text and graphics

Don’t’ forget to have custom background images created at the same size of your presentation for the master slides.