THE INSERT TAB
 
The Insert Tab

The second tab in the Ribbon is the Insert tab. This contains the basic set of Objects which you can insert into a slide.


Tables

If you click on the Tables button, this menu will appear:.

You can select the number of columns and rows by dragging the mouse over the grid. Notice that while you drag the mouse, the table dynamically draws itself in the slide, giving you a preview of what the table will look like when you decide on a size:

When you decide on a size, the table stays in the slide. When you click on the table, you will see that it has borders, like a frame:

You can resize the table by clicking and dragging on an area marked by three or four dots. In areas of the frame that are clear, clicking and dragging will move the table around.

You will also notice that new options are avaialable on the Ribbon:


These ribbons will allow you to easily control the layout and design of the table.

In the Table Tools: Design ribbon, you can:

  1. turn on/off rows and colukmns as special label/totals areas;
  2. choose a design for the table from a set of templates;
  3. set the shading, borders, and special effects for the cells;
  4. set the Word Art style (if you wish to use Word Art in the table); and
  5. draw special borders.

In the Table Tools: Layout ribbon, you can:

  1. turn grid lines on or off (in some tables);
  2. delete the chart;
  3. add rows and columns;
  4. merge/split cells;
  5. change the size of rows/columns;
  6. change the alignment and margins in cells;
  7. change the table size;
  8. arrange the table on the slide.
Illustrations
This section of the Insert tab on the Ribbon lets you add special graphics.

  • Picture: add a photograph to your slide; choose any image file on your computer.
  • Clip Art: choose from artwork already made and available.
  • Photo Album: this creates instant photo slideshows. Just add images and they will be applied to slides.
  • Shapes: add any of more than 100 pre-made shapes.
  • SmartArt: a new feature which allows quick construction of charts and nice-looking graphics with text.
  • Chart: create a chart from an Excel table.

The Picture feature will just give you a dialog box asking you to find the image. Note that the Picture tools ribbon becomes visible here:

This ribbon allows you to affect images in many ways:

  1. change the appearance of an image;
  2. choose a picture frame;
  3. choose a shape, border, or special effect for the image;
  4. arrange or group the image relative to other images;
  5. crop the image

The Clip Art button will open a sidebar on the right allowing you to search for clip art.

The Photo Album will ask you to add photos (and text boxes, if you wish), and will make a collection of slides from the photos you choose.

You can add Shapes (note the Drawing Tools: Format menu becomes available).

SmartArt is a system which allows you to quickly crate visual charts. Click on this, and you get a dialog box:

Choose a style from the list. Once you have chosen, you can insert the text directly into the diagram, or do it by using the attached mini-window on the left.

Notice also that two new ribbon choices are available: SmartArt Tools: Design and Format.

These allow you to change the appearance of your SmartArt.

And finally, you can add a Chart. When you do this, you will choose from many different designs. When you choose a design, it will open up Excel 2007 and let you add data to fill in the chart. You can also make a chart in Excel, and then copy and paste the chart into PowerPoint.

We will practice with charts more when we learn Excel.
Text

This area allows you to add text in many forms.

  • Text Box: create a box with text that can be resized and placed anywhere on the slide.
  • Header and Footer: add information (slide numbers, date/time, titles, etc.) to the top and bottom of any or all slides.
  • Word Art: create styled, 3-D art using text.
  • Date & Time: adds date and or time stamps to the Header or Footer.
  • Slide Number: adds slide numbers to the Header or Footer.
  • Symbol: need to add a symbol that you can't type using the keyboard? Look for it here. (only works where you can type text, as in a text box.)
  • Object: add special objects to the slide.

Most of the time, you will not use Headers and Footers, and probably you will not use Objects. Symbols are for special circumstances.

Therefore, the Text Box and Word Art are the more important buttons in this area.
Media Clips

Two buttons allow you to add movies and sounds to your presentation:

In PowerPoint 2000, only WAV sounds were easily used, and movie files were less dependable. But in Office 2007, a wider variety of sounds and movie types can be played in a slideshow.

One caution: you might not be able to play a movie or sound if you drag and drop it onto a slide. You may have to use these buttons instead.

Movie types include MPEG/MPG, AVI, and WMV files. Generally speaking, if Windows Media Player can play it, then so can PowerPoint 2007.

Flash movies (.swf) and Apple QuickTime movies (.mov) might not play; test them in WMP first to find out.

Some movie files with codecs like AVI might not play because they need a special "codec," or video-encoding software, in order to play it on your computer.

When you have a movie on your slide, you can also use the Movie Tools: Options ribbon:

Important controls are in the "Movie Options" area. You can set the volume at which the movie will play, for example. More important, under the Play Movie menu, you can set the movie to Play Across Slides, which means that the movie will stay in place and keep playing, even when you go on to the next slide.

You can also add sounds to your presentation.

Sound types include WAV, WMA, AIF, MID, and MP3. Other sound files, such as MP4 and AAC, might not work. Again, if it plays in WMP, then it will play in PowerPoint. NOTE: although PowerPoint can play all of these sound file types independently, only WAV files can be used as animation sound effects.

Again, as with movies, you can specify that the sound plays across slides. This allows you to use a music file as background music for the slide show.

When you have a sound on your slide, you can also use the Sound Tools: Options ribbon:

Again, the important controls are in the "Sound Options" area.

If you use a piece of music which is more than 100KB in size, then be careful: PowerPoint may only link to the sound file, instead of including it in the PowerPoint file. That means you will have to bring the sound file along with the PowerPoint file if you move from one place to another. You can change this limit to whatever you want, however. For example, if you want to include an MP3 which is 5MB in size, then set the "Max Sound File Size" to more than 5000 KB.