April 2012 – The Logical Blog

April 27, 2012

PowerPoint 2007 & 2010: Save a Presentation with Embedded Fonts

by AJ George

When creating PowerPoint presentations and moving them from one computer to another, one area of concern is fonts. If you've used specific fonts within a presentation, the same fonts need to be installed on any computers that will open the presentation. To prevent missing fonts from being an issue, there's a good chance you can embed the fonts you used to ensure your presentations look the way you designed them.

Good chance? I say "good chance" because not all fonts are embeddable. Fonts must be of the TrueType variety. Additionally, fonts must not have licensing restrictions that prevent embedding. If you are using standard fonts (Arial, Times, Verdana, etc), you probably won't need to worry about licensing restrictions. That being said, if you're worried about someone not having your font on their system, you probably aren't using the standard fonts.

Determing if a Font Is Embeddable

If you're using a Mac, I've got bad news… the Mac versions of PowerPoint can't embed fonts, nor can they use fonts embedded in a PC-born presentation.

If you're using a PC, the fonts need to be TrueType for them to embed. In PowerPoint, you'll notice all fonts have either aTT (TrueType) or an O (OpenType) next to them in the font list. But here's the catch: some OpenType fonts have TrueType font data and can also be embedded. If you'd like to know if your OpenType font contains TrueType font, view your computer's Fonts folder (Start > Control Panel > Fonts). Right-click within an empty space within the folder and choose View > Details. Fonts with file names ending in .ttf (whether TrueType or OpenType) contain TrueType font data and can be embedded.

But wait, there's more! All embedding licenses are not created equal. There are three different types of embedding licenses.

Installable: Fonts may be embedded in documents and permanently installed on the remote system.

Editable: Fonts may be embedded in documents, but must only be installed temporarily on the remote system.

Print & Preview: Fonts may be embedded in documents, but must only be installed temporarily on the remote system. Documents can only be opened as read-only.

Installable is great, but is pretty hard to come by. In most cases, you're going to be looking for an Editable font. Unless you just want your presentation to be viewed, and not modified or edited in any way, I would steer clear of Print & Preview fonts.

So, how do you know which type of license your font has? The easiest way is to download and install Microsoft's TrueType Font Properties Extension. Doing so allows you to right-click a font from the Fonts folder and chooseProperties to see the Embedding license (among many other properties).

Note: Navigate to your Fonts folder and right-click a font before downloading the properties extension. You may already have a Properties option there.

Whew, that was an awful lot like work! On a positive note, finding out whether or not your font is embeddable is the hardest part. Once you know that a font can be embedded, embedding it is a simple process.

Open your presentation in PowerPoint.
If you are using PowerPoint 2007, click the Microsoft Office Button > Save As. If you are using PowerPoint 2010, choose File > Save As.
From the Save As dialog box, click the Tools button and select Save Options.
Select Embed fonts and then click OK.
At the bottom of the Save area, select Embed fonts in the file. From there you can choose whether to embed all the characters, or just those used in the presentation. If you are forwarding the presentation for further editing, you may want to include all characters.
Click OK.

Keep in mind that embedding fonts will increase the file size of your presentation, especially if you embed all of the font's characters.

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AJ teaches a live, 3-hour class that offers tips/tricks for improving the look and feel of your PowerPoint presentations: Slide Sprucing: Remodeling Lackluster PowerPoint Slides for eLearning and Presentations.

April 25, 2012

Adobe Captivate 5/5.5: Template-Like Settings Without the Template

by Kevin Siegel

During my advanced Captivate class, I spend a significant amount of time extolling the value of project templates. As a group, the class opens an existing project template, edits the template, uses the template to record a software simulation and then creates a project template from scratch.

I've written several articles about Captivate's project templates including how to convert a project into a project template and how to make the best use of template placeholders.

While templates are awesome and provide a great jump-start for a new Captivate project, you don't necessarily have to create a project template to ensure that many of the attributes within your projects are consistent.

Perhaps your biggest concern about new projects is ensuring that each new project has Text Captions that use specific fonts, font sizes and colors. Maybe you want to ensure that inserted objects (such as buttons) use a specific Object Style and play for a specific amount of time.

You can set several application attributes before you create a single project. Once set, each new project created on your computer will use those attributes. Setting these kinds of preferences in advance could save you a significant amount of time performing repetitive tasks.

To set application preferences, start Captivate. Ensure no projects are open and open the Preferences dialog box (Edit menu if you're using Windows; Adobe Captivate menu if you're using a Macintosh).

From the top left of the Preferences dialog box, choose Defaults.

On the Global Preferences screen, you'll find myriad options to explore. For instance, if you want most of your slides to play for 5 seconds, why not set it here (in the Slide Duration area) instead of changing the play time for each slide in an existing project?

When previewing a project, one of the options via File > Preview is Next 5 slides. Care to make it a lucky 7? No problem. Change the Preview Defaults to 7 slides and you'll be set in any new projects.

When inserting Text Captions into existing projects, each new caption will play for exactly 3 seconds. Want the captions all to play for 4.5 seconds in your next project? That's simple enough… select Text Caption from the Select drop-down menu and then change the Display For time to 4.5 seconds.

Adobe Captivate Object Defaults.

Finally, if you'd like to control the appearance of the Object Styles in each new project, simply choose Edit > Object Style Manager. As long as no projects are open when you work within the Object Style Manager, the changes you make and the attributes you set will affect every new project you create.

Alas, none of the pre-project settings I've discussed above will have any effect on existing projects. So if you're really against creating project tempates, I'd encourage you to spend some time setting up the Global Defaults and Object Styles sooner rather than later.

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Looking to learn Captivate quickly? We offer two live, online classes. Adobe Captivate Essentials and Adobe Captivate Beyond the Essentials (Advanced).

April 18, 2012

PowerPoint 2010: Use Video Bookmarks to Trigger Animations

by AJ George

During a previous article on Perfecting Motion Paths, I made a short PowerPoint video illustrating the final motion path animation. Let's say I'm going to teach a class on how to use Motion Paths. In the class, I'm going to give a presentation that shows this video. In the video there are two uses of motion paths, and I want a little blurb to pop up when the second one starts, alerting my learners that this is a separate motion path. Did you know that this can be accomplished in PowerPoint by using video bookmarks to trigger animations? Here's how:

Add a Bookmark to a Video

In PowerPoint, insert the video on the desired slide (Insert > Video).
Set the video to play automatically (Video Tools > Playback > Video Options > Start > Automatically).
Play the video. (Pause it when you reach the point where you would like to trigger an animation.)
Choose Video Tools > Playback > Bookmarks > Add Bookmark.

Add Bookmark

A yellow dot will appear on the video control panel, signaling there is a bookmark.

Add a Triggered Animation to a Bookmark

Add the text (Insert > Text Box), shape (Insert > Shape), or image (Insert > Picture) you would like to appear at this bookmarked spot of the video. You can put it anywhere on the slide.
With the inserted object selected (in this case I inserted a text box), add an entrance animation (Animation > Advanced Animation > Add Animation).
Click the Trigger button to the right of the Add Animation button you just clicked (Animation > Advanced Animation).
From the drop-down menu select On Bookmark and choose your desired bookmark (you can add more than one bookmark to a video, so there may be several).

With the inserted object selected, add an exit animation (Animation > Advanced Animation > Add Animation).
View the Animation Pane (Animation > Advanced Animation > Animation Pane)

You will notice that the exit effect is set to happen prior to the bookmark trigger. We will fix that next.

On the Animation Pane, select the exit animation (it will be the one with a red star in front of it).
At the bottom of the Animation Pane, click the Re-Order button pointing down until your exit animation appears on the pane below the entrance animation.
Click the more arrow for the exit animation and choose Timing from the drop-down menu.

More arrow

The Disappear dialog box will open.

From the Timing tab, ensure After Previous is selected from the Start area. Adjust the number in the delay field to anything you like. In this case, my video is short, so I have set my delay to just .5seconds.

Press [Shift] [F5] on your keyboard to preview the slide and ensure the triggered animation is working properly.

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April 17, 2012

Adobe Captivate 5/5.5: Wacky Shapes Rule

by Kevin Siegel

Captivate ships with a set number of Caption types. If you're a graphic designer (or know someone who is), you can always create more Caption types. However, the process of creating a custom Caption type can be a bit tedious.

As an alternative, you'll be happy to learn that you can get as wacky as you want when it comes to Text Captions, and you don't have to go to the trouble of creating a Caption type.

To begin, use the Object Toolbar to insert a Polygon, Circle or Rectangle on a slide. (To draw a Polygon, select the tool and click once each time you want to add a section. When finished, click at the beginning, or double-click, to close the shape.)

Drawing tools in Capitvate.

Once you've drawn the shape, choose Edit > Add Text. You'll notice that there's an insertion point within the shape. At this point, you can add text just like you can within a Text Caption. And you can use the Properties panel to format the text as necessary.

Three shapes, all containing text.

If you've drawn a Polygon shape and you're unhappy with the shape, simply choose Edit > Edit Points. You'll then be able to reshape the Polygon in all sorts of wacky ways.

Edit the points on a polygon.

Note: The only shape that will not accept text is a Line.

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Looking to learn Captivate quickly? We offer two live, online classes. Adobe Captivate Essentials and Adobe Captivate Beyond the Essentials (Advanced).

April 12, 2012

eLearning: A Bit of Inspiration

by AJ George

It's been a little while since I've hit you with a dose of unsolicited inspiration, so here you go.

HTML5 Learner Integration

Fair warning: you may get this mediocre pop song stuck in your head. But pop song aside; check out Jasmine Villegas's Internet Explorer-sponsored music video to show how using HTML5 can produce some really interesting viewer interaction. What if we incorporated this into our eLearning? Imagine, instead of fashion forward teenagers lamenting high school antics, there was a scene from World War II where you were fully immersed in the learning module–pictures of yourself and all. Dispersed throughout could be content-relative games. Imagine how fun (and interactive) learning could be then. Also, if you're the technologically savvy type, click the "Behind the Tech" link below the video to learn how these effects were created.

http://www.justafriend.ie/

Snapguide

I've been playing around with this new iOS app for a little while now and I must say I really like the crisp design. The app is gorgeous. But looks aside, I see this being really useful as an on-the-go eLearning and mLearning tool. How's it work? Simply snap photos/videos from your smart phone and upload with the steps to complete the desired task. Large scale eLearning decks certainly have their place, but what if some workplace related tasks could be conveyed just as clearly this way? So easy!

SnapGuide is currently available for the iPhone only. You can search for it in the app marketplace, or visit this link and they will text a link to download directly to your phone for free.

Google's Project Glass

You have probably had your fill of news on Google's Project Glass. However, not only is this an exciting development for Augmented Reality in general, but the possibilities as they apply to eLearning and mLearning are pretty exciting. I've written about Google Goggles before, and how that technology could be applied to learning. This takes it a bit further. What if you didn't even have to point your phone at that building, landmark, statue, etc; instead, information automatically popped up, just by looking at it? Clearly, that is not the case today, but this latest Google project shows just how not-so-far-off that technology could be.

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April 10, 2012

Adobe Captivate 5/5.5: Join Objects in a Snap

by Kevin Siegel

If you've ever tried to draw a line between two objects (so you could join them to show a relationship between one object and the next), you'll appreciate Captivate's Snap to Object feature.

In the image below, I've drawn two simple shapes on a Captivate slide. Next, I'd like to draw a diagonal line between the two boxes.

Two boxes I'd like to join using a line.

In the image below, I've drawn the line using Captivate's Line tool. However, I wasn't quite perfect when I released my mouse and the line ended up being a bit too long. Certainly it would be easy enough resize the line at this point, but I'd like to be a bit more efficient and end up with a perfect object-to-object line the first time. That's where the Snap to Object option will come into play.

Since the Snap to Object feature will only work on new objects as they are being drawn, not on objects that are already on the slide, the first thing I did was delete the original line. Then I chose View > Snap to Object.

Using the Line tool, I drew a new line, starting at the first object and moving diagonally toward the upper left of the second object. This time, as I got close to the second object, a circle appeared over the corner of the second object. (This is a visual indicator telling me that Captivate was ready to snap to the second object.)

All that I needed to do at this point was click my mouse and I had a perfect line between the two objects.

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Looking to learn Captivate quickly? We offer two live, online classes. Adobe Captivate Essentials and Adobe Captivate Beyond the Essentials (Advanced).

April 9, 2012

Writing & Grammar: One Word or Two?

by Jennie Ruby

I came across this error in a heartfelt book review:

"It is a painful acceptance of the solitude and the loneliness of each and everyone of us."

The problem is that the writer needed two words rather than one: every one of us. The compound indefinite pronouns everyone, someone, and anyone sometimes need to be separated into two words. This usually occurs when a phrase starting with the word of follows:

Any one of the rakes will do nicely for this light job.

However, that is not the only time these words need to be separated. Give the following examples a careful reading. Which of these pronouns should be two words, and which should be one word? (And no fair relying on the Microsoft Word grammar checker!)

I wanted to eat some grapes, but when I got to the kitchen, I found that everyone was gone.
Everyone likes a good joke.
I looked in the shed, but I could not find anyone of the rakes.
Everyone of my art books was soaked in the flood.
Do you need someone to help you lift that sofa?
Did you see anyone in the dark alley?
Have you seen anyone of the birds alight on the suet?
He asked someone of the guards to help him.

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On last week's challenge, Precise Placement of Only, Nima Regev knocked it out of the park with 100 percent correct:

I expected only one of the tomatoes to ripen each week.
If you register early, you pay only $495 for the entire conference.
Only three participants in the rally were arrested (correct)
The three participants were only arrested, not indicted (correct)
The participant had contributed only one sample document before the class.
The ticket guarantees only entry into the theater, not the seat you will get.

Other correct answers came from Krista Allen, Gwen Zierdt, and Rebecca Fleisch Cordeiro. Michael Stein and Mary Saunders also get extra points for moving the word only to the end of the first clause in example 6, where it receives extra emphasis. Here is Saunders' take:

6. The ticket guarantees theatre entrance only, not the seat you will get.

I especially like this placement because the argumentative tone comes through: this sentence sounds like part of a confrontation with a theater patron. Also, don't think I did not notice the spelling of theatre with re! The er spelling is standard in the United States, but this French spelling is also listed as a variant in Webster's.

Those of you who did not move only in examples 2 and 6 were possibly going by ear–keeping only before the verb matches the pattern of spoken English. I sympathize with the fact that it sounds a little less smooth to place only after pay or afterguarantees, but the added precision might be worth considering a complete rewrite, like this:

The ticket guarantees only that you will get into the theater, not which seat you will get.

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If you like Jennie's articles, you'll love her classes. Join her online and learn about Writing Effective eLearning Voiceover Scripts and eLearning: Writing Step-by-Step Scripts and Training Documents.

April 5, 2012

PowerPoint 2007 & 2010: How to Turn an Image Into An Animated Puzzle, Part II

by AJ George

Last week I showed you how to animate a picture in PowerPoint so that it came in as a puzzle, piece by piece. That was cool. But if you followed along last week, read on to find some bonus tips for making the animation a little more realistic and adding some finishing touches.

How to Make an Animated Puzzle Look More Realistic

From the Selection and Visibility Pane, select all of the puzzle pieces.
On the slide, right-click one of the puzzle pieces and choose Format Object.
From the Line Color category, change the line color to black.
From the Line Style category, change the line Width to 1 pt.
From the 3-D Format category, in the Top Bevel area, change the Width to 5 pt and the Height to 2 pt.
Click the Close button.

The puzzle pieces will now appear 3-dimensional.

3D Puzzle

Make the Puzzle Pieces Disappear

Select everything on the slide (press [Ctrl] [A]).
From the Animations pane, choose Advanced Animation > Add Animation.
From the Exit category, choose Disappear.

All of the items on the slide will appear selected on the Animation Pane with the Disappear animation applied to them.

Click the more arrow on the last animation effect and choose Timing.
From the Timing tab, click the Start drop-down menu and select With Previous. Increase the Delay to whatever you would like. (I would suggest something like 2 seconds.)

Voila, you've done it! I see this effect being really nice in conjunction with a team photo to show how everyone is a part of the bigger picture, but I'm sure there are many other applicable uses for it. How will you use this animation? I'd love to hear from you.

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AJ will be teaching a live, 3-hour class that offers tips/tricks for improving the look and feel of your PowerPoint presentations: Slide Sprucing: Remodeling Lackluster PowerPoint Slides for eLearning and Presentations. The class is later this month and there is still time to sign up.

April 4, 2012

Adobe RoboHelp: Edit Navigation Labels

by Kevin Siegel

Creating a Section 508 Compliant version of a Help System is often a requirement for Help authors. The process involves such things as adding screen tips to images and links, and ensuringSection 508 Compliant Output is selected before you compile the layout.

Enable 508.

When opened in a web browser, the compliant output will look much like the image below:

Hide Navigation

Notice that there is a TOC on the left. At the right, there's a link with the word "Hide." Clicking the word "Hide" simply hides the TOC at the left. (And the word "Hide" changes to "Show.")

Show Navigation

If you'd like to make it a bit more obvious what the "Hide" and "Show" links will do, you can edit the text prior to compiling the layout.

On the Single Source Layouts pod, show the Properties of the compliant layout (you can right-click a layout and choose Properties).

Select the Navigation group from the list of WebHelp settings at the left. From the In Topic Navigation area, click the Editbutton to open the In Topic Navigation Options dialog box.

Edit the text in the Show and Hide fields to suit your needs and then click the OK button.

Edit Show/Hide labels

When you compile (Generate) the layout, your new labels will appear as links at the right of the page.

Edited Show/Hide links.

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Looking to learn Adobe RoboHelp quickly? We offer a live, two-day online class once each month. Worried that your class will cancel? All it takes is a single registration and this class runs, guaranteed.

April 1, 2012

Writing & Grammar: Precise Placement of Only

by Jennie Ruby

While reviewing the submissions from last week's challenge, I noticed that many respondents moved the word only to a position before the verb rather than keeping it where it was in my original. Placement of the word only is frequently tweaked by copyeditors for greater accuracy in writing-especially technical writing. Consider this conversation between police and a participant in a brawl:

How many people hit Joe?

Only I hit him.

Did you kick him, too?

No. I only hit him.

Did you hit other people as well?

No. I hit only him.

Are you sure?

Yes, I am sure. I hit him only.

Notice how the word only was placed in four different places in the sentence "I hit him," with a different meaning each time. The word only is a type of modifier called a limiter. It limits the word right after it in the sentence. Or if it is at the end of the sentence, it modifies the word right before it, with extra emphasis.

In the spoken language we tend to keep it in front of the verb and make its true target clear through verbal emphasis. In the written language, however, we need to move the word only to its rightful place directly before the word or phrase it is modifying.

This week's challenge: Precise placement of only. Some of these sentences have the word only misplaced. Others are correct and clear. Can you spot the difference?

I only expected one of the tomatoes to ripen each week.
If you register early, you only pay $495 for the entire conference.
Only three participants in the rally were arrested.
The three participants were only arrested, not indicted.
The participant had only contributed one sample document before the class.
The ticket only guarantees entry into the theater, not the seat you will get.

***

Several respondents to last week's challenge entered into the spirit of deciding where to use passive voice based on what they wanted to emphasize in the sentence. I especially liked the treatment of damp earth and debris in this take by Jing Ping (JP) Fan:

Keep your new blower vac clean and use it only with dry leaves. When damp earth and debris are picked up (keep the passive since damp earth and debris are emphasized and they are the initiators of the chamber [being] clogged), the inside of the fan chamber may become clogged, which decreases the performance of the unit. Use a stick or other non-metalic scraper to clean out the unit when it is disconnected from the power source (keep the passive because the state of the unit being disconnected is emphasized). Do not store your blower vac adjacent to fertilizers or chemicals. Such storage can corrode the metal parts.

Michael Stein also explained why he kept some sentences passive. Notice that he used active for the first half of the sentence about damp earth by making the vac pick up the damp earth. But he keeps "may become clogged" passive(some might say become is a nonaction verb, but that is pretty close to passive):

Keep your new blower vac clean. Use it to pick up dry leaves only. If the vac picks up damp earth and debris, the inside of the fan chamber may become clogged (kept it passive because it is the vac doing the work and not the owner). This may cause the unit's performance to be decreased (kept it passive because it is the vac's performance in question and not the owner's). Disconnect the unit from the power source, and then clean this area out by using a stick or other non-metalic scraper. Do not store the blower vac adjacent to fertilizers or chemicals because the metal parts can become corroded by such storage (kept it passive because it is the vac corroding and not the owner).

Here is his overall logic:

I made the instructions for the owner active and kept passive the actions affecting the blower vac.

Kay Honaker also rewrote the passage with both active and passive voice, and gave this reasoning: "My passive sentences relate to the possibility that someone other than the owner may be doing the actions (such as disconnecting the power source)."

Despite my encouragement to choose passive for some sentences, a number of readers decided to make every sentence active. To do so, they had to make a thing do some of the actions, while a person (the owner or user of the vac) did most actions. Despite my defense of the passive, I think using active for everything really works in this paragraph submitted by Elisia Getts. Notice especially how "This" may decrease the vac's performance and "these" can corrode the metal parts.

It is important for you to keep your new blower vac clean. Use only with dry leaves. If you use the blower vac to pick up damp earth or debris, the inside of the fan chamber may become clogged. This may decrease the vac's performance. If this happens, clean out the fan chamber using a stick or other non-metalic scraper. Be sure to disconnect the blower vac from the power source before cleaning. Do not store the vac next to fertilizers or chemicals as these can corrode the metal parts of the vac.

I also appreciated Mary Jo Feeney's take on the paragraph, which was very similar and all active voice. Here is her final sentence, which also has the fertilizers or chemicals "which" may corrode….

Store the unit away from fertilizers or chemicals which may corrode the metal parts of the unit.

I count this entire challenge a success if I have you thinking about when to use active or passive, rather than writing without consciously choosing whether to use active or passive. Here is a big thanks to those not previously mentioned who also rose to last week's challenge: Jennifer Zapp, Sudha, Vera I. Sytch Brenda Sing, and Stacey Edwards.

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If you love Jennie's articles, you'll love her classes. Join her online and learn about Writing Effective eLearning Voiceover Scripts and eLearning: Writing Step-by-Step Scripts and Training Documents.