PowerPoint Basics:
Getting Started

 Title: Jan's Illustrated Computer Literacy 101
First things first. You need to be sure you can open and close PowerPoint, open and close an existing presentation, and start a blank presentation that you can modify.

Also, there are many settings that change what you see on the screen, what and how a presentation prints,  and how PowerPoint behaves in general.

To try to ensure that the directions for the projects and exercises will fit what you see on your computer, you will need to make your settings match the settings provided here. These are mostly the default settings after a new installation of PowerPoint.

You will inspect settings for:

  • PowerPoint's appearance on the screen

  • Page Setup for printed copies

  • Options for how PowerPoint behaves

TipPlease be courteous to other users. Do not make changes without permission on a computer that is not yours!


Where you are:
JegsWorks > Lessons > Presentations

Before you start...

Project 1: PowerPoint Basics
    Getting Started Arrow to Subtopics
     Icon: Step-by-StepOpen & Close
     Icon: Step-by-StepSettings
    InterfaceTo subtopics
    CreateTo subtopics
    PrintingTo subtopics
    Summary
    Quiz
    ExercisesTo subtopics

Project 2: PowerPoint FormattingTo subtopics

Project 3: Advanced PowerPoint To subtopics

    Search
    Glossary
    Appendix

Icon: TroubleTrouble-shooting your lesson results:

If your presentation doesn't look like what the lesson illustrations show, the problem may be with: 

  • Page Setup: Check the layout on paper. Portrait (horizontal) or Landscape (vertical)?

  • PowerPoint Options: Check the Options dialog for other unexpected behaviors. Tools | Options

  • Regional settings: (in the Windows Control Panel) Check if currency, date, or time formats are wrong.

  • The Directions:

    • Did you skip a step?

    • Did you do exactly what the directions called for? Read the steps again and make sure you caught all the details.
       

  • Program versions: Are your computer operating system and program version different from what was used in writing the lessons? [Win XP and PowerPoint 2002 or 2003]

  • My Error: While every attempt has been made to be accurate, the directions could be wrong, at least for your computer and software version. If you find errors, please notify me! Every  page has a link at the bottom to my email address.