by AJ George
I was recently asked if it was possible to change the measurement system in PowerPoint from inches to pixels. The answer is no... at least not from within PowerPoint. (More on that later.) Simply put, you are stuck with PowerPoint's default measurement system, which is inches.
I started to think about why someone would want to change PowerPoint's measurement system. As I said, PowerPoint's default system is inches, which makes sense. PowerPoint is designed to build presentations that will be shown on myriad display types and sizes. Since the size of the display isn't always known to the person running the presentation, it doesn't make sense to preset the PowerPoint presentation to a specific number of pixels.
While many people think that inches, points and pixels are interchangeable measurement systems, they aren't. A pixel is actually the smallest visual element on a video display screen.
I frequently use PowerPoint to design graphics. My clients often work in pixels rather than inches. When the client asks for my images to be delivered in a specific pixel size, I use online pixel-to-inch converters to convert the PowerPoint graphics from inches to pixels. While converting pixels to inches isn't always an exact science, I can usually get things sized to meet the client's needs.
Working in pixels may not be possible in PowerPoint, but working in centimeters is another story, and it's a fairly easy task to accomplish. However, the process of changing the measurement system from inches to centimeters has nothing to do with PowerPoint and everything to do with your computer's settings.
Note: The steps for changing your computer to display in centimeters varies slightly between Windows 7, Vista, and XP. However, the same general principles apply.
- Ensure all applications are closed.
- Click the Start button and open the Control Panel.
- Select Clock, Language, and Region (Date, Time, Language, and Regional Options if you are using XP).
- Select Region and Language in Windows 7. (In Vista you will click Region and Language Options and skip to step 6. In XP you will click Change the date, time, or number format from the Regional and Language Options area and skip to step 7.)
- From the Region and Language dialog box, ensure the Formats tab is selected, click the Additional Settings button and then skip to step 8.
- From the Regional and Language Options dialog box, ensure the Formats tab is selected, click the Customize this format button and then skip to step 8.
- From the Regional and Language Options dialog box, ensure the Regional Options tab is selected and click the Customize button.
- From the Customize Regional Options dialog box, ensure the Numbers tab is selected and, from the Measurement system drop down menu, select Metric.
- Click OK.
The next time you start PowerPoint, your units of measurement should now be in centimeters. If this is for a one-off project, it may be a good idea to go back into your settings when you're done and change them back to US measurements before you forget.
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About the author: AJ George is IconLogic's lead Technical Communicator and author of both "PowerPoint 2007: The Essentials" and "PowerPoint 2008 for the Macintosh: The Essentials."
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