skill 4Exploring the PowerPointWindow

One of the best ways to start learning how to use a new program effectively is to explore theprogram’s application window and features. PowerPoint’s interface uses elements common toall Microsoft Office 2007 applications, such as the Ribbon, the Quick Access toolbar, andwindow viewing controls, as well as features unique to PowerPoint. PowerPoint is designedso you can perform all of the program’s commands from the main window and Ribbon.

overviewFamiliarize yourself with the PowerPoint window to gain a better understanding of itsfunctions and features.

1. At the very top of the PowerPoint window is the Title bar that displays the name of thecurrent file. At its left end, to the right of the Office button, is the Quick Access toolbar(Figure 1-11). This toolbar contains buttons for often used commands, such as Save, Undoand Redo. You can easily add and remove commands from the Quick Access toolbar asyou like.

2. To the right of the Quick Access toolbar is the name of the current presentation (in thiscase, First Presentation.pptx) and the program name. At the far right of the Title bar arethree sizing buttons: Minimize reduces the window to a program button on theWindows taskbar; Restore down reverts the window to its last customized size andlocation; and Close terminates the entire program, or, if you have more than onePowerPoint file open, closes just that file. If you resize the window to a smaller size, theRestore down button is replaced by a Maximize button , which restores the window toits full-screen size.

3. Below the Title bar is the Ribbon. The Ribbon is a strip of commands, as buttons, drop-down lists, or text boxes along the top of the PowerPoint window. At the top of the Ribbonare tabs that organize commands according to the main phases of working on apresentation. Within each tab, commands are organized into groups. Click the Home tab ifit is not already selected. The Home tab has the most commonly used commands forworking on a presentation: copying and pasting text (Clipboard group); adding anddeleting slides (Slides group); formatting text (Font and Paragraph groups), adding andediting pictures (Drawing group), and general editing tools (Editing group).

4. Click each Ribbon tab to view the groups of commands located in each. Click the Hometab when you are done.

5. Notice that some of the groups of commands are grayed out, such as the Font group. Thismeans the commands cannot, at present, be chosen. In the Office 2007 interface,commands are de-activated, or grayed out, until you are working with an element that canbe altered with those commands. Click within the text Introducing PowerPoint 2007 onthe Title slide. Now that you have activated a box, or placeholder, that contains text, theFonts and Paragraph groups of commands on the Ribbon bar are activated (Figure 1-12).Also activated are any context-sensitive tabs, or contextual tabs. Contextual tabs are hiddenuntil you are working with an element that requires additional commands. In this case, youhave clicked on a placeholder that you can apply visual effects to, so the contextual tabDrawing Tools: Format displays on the Ribbon. The Drawing Tools: Format tabcontains commands you can use for formatting placeholder shapes and styles.

6. Click the contextual tab Drawing Tools: Format to view this collection of tools.

how to

LESSON ONE IntroductionP 1.14

tipBe sure that thepresentation you createdin the previous skillappears in Normal viewin the active window, asshown in Figure 1-15. If the window looksdifferent, click theNormal View button atthe lower-right of yourscreen.

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P 1.15I n t e r @ c t i v e L e a r n i n g S e r i e s

Figure 1-11 PowerPoint Title bar and Ribbon

QuickAccesstoolbar

Minimize Close Tabs Restoredown/Maximize

Commandsare organizedin groups

Font group isgrayed outbecause no textboxes areselected on theslide

Statusinformation

Figure 1-12 PowerPoint window

When a slide elementis selected, contextualtabs holding toolsspecific to modifyingthat element, appear

ChangeCase button

Dialog boxlauncher

Currentzoom level

Zoom Out

Zoom In

Zoom slider

Notes pane View buttons(Normal View, SlideSorter View, SlideShow View)

Drag to adjustwindow size

PreviousSlide

Next Slide

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