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pptPlex

pptPlex uses Plex technology to give you the power to zoom in and out of slide sections and move directly between slides that are not sequential in your presentation. Watch the videos below to see how pptPlex can help you organize and present information in a non-linear fashion. Test drive pptPlex and wow your audience with your next presentation.

Watch all the videos to discover all the cool things you can now do in a PowerPoint presentation thanks to the power of pptPlex.

Watch all the videos to discover all the cool things you can now do in a PowerPoint presentation thanks to the power of pptPlex.

How to find and use the pptPlex Ribbon.

How to find and use the pptPlex Ribbon.

How to create sections in your pptPlex presentation.

How to create sections in your pptPlex presentation.

How to create backgrounds in your pptPlex presentation.

How to create backgrounds in your pptPlex presentation.

If you’re interested in seeing other ways the Plex technology is used, check out our TouchWall prototype to see how an entire wall becomes a multi-touch surface for presenting and organizing information.

LATEST BLOGS | RECENT DISCUSSIONS | FAQ

1. What is pptPlex?
2. How do I install it?
3. Is this the same software Bill Gates demoed at the Microsoft CEO Summit 2008?
4. What versions of Office will pptPlex work on?
5. When will a supported version of pptPlex be available?
6. What languages are available? When will other languages be available?
7. Why was it developed?
8. What are live content slides?
9. How can I create a high quality background?
10. When I put a photo on the background and zoom in to it, it looks blurry or pixilated. How can I keep that from happening?
11. Why don't animations and hyperlinks work?
12. Where can I learn all the commands I can use to move around the canvas?
13. Does pptPlex work with PowerPoint documents that have restricted permissions with Information Rights Management?
14. Does pptPlex work with Microsoft Office Live Meeting?
15. How can I provide feedback on this application?

Overview and Installation

1. What is pptPlex?
pptPlex is a research prototype developed by Microsoft Office Labs as an exploration of an alternative method of presenting Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007 slides. This plug-in allows you to arrange slides on a canvas then zoom between the slides during the presentation. You can move around the canvas and show groups of slides, individual slides, or even zoom in to show a particular section of a slide.

2. How do I install it?
1) Check that your computer meets the requirements (Windows XP or Vista and Office 2007)
2) Download and install pptPlex
3) Open a presentation in PowerPoint
4) Click the pptPlex tab at the top to see all the buttons needed to use pptPlex.
5) Click the “insert new section” button to add a few sections.
6) Click the “Canvas background” button to select a background for the canvas.
7) Click the “From Overview” button to view your presentation.

You may also want to watch the four videos on the pptPlex home page to learn more about how to use pptPlex.

3. Is this the same software Bill Gates demoed at the Microsoft CEO Summit 2008?
The prototype software seen during the TouchWall demonstration at the Microsoft CEO Summit 2008 was Plex, which was also developed by Office Labs. Plex takes advantage of the natural human capacity for spatial recognition so that users can organize their digital belongings in much the same way that they organize their physical belongings. pptPlex uses the idea and concept of Plex; however it is not the same prototype.

4. What versions of Office will pptPlex work on?
pptPlex works with Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007.

5. When will a supported version of pptPlex be available?
There are no plans to release a supported version of pptPlex. While the prototype will work, it is not a Microsoft supported application.

6. What languages are available? When will other languages be available?
English is currently the only supported language. There are no plans to add support for any other languages.

7. Why was it developed?
pptPlex was developed to explore whether we could make it easy for people to author zoomable canvases using Office PowerPoint 2007.

Authoring pptPlex decks

8. What are live content slides?
Live content slides are slides that point to other Office documents (for example, a Word document or a Visio diagram). When a pptPlex presentation is started, the document is placed on the canvas. And, when the document is updated, the canvas is also updated the next time the presentation is started.

9. How can I create a high quality background?
The best way to create a high quality background is to use a program that allows you to create a vector graphic. For example, in Visio, create a drawing, and then save it using the Windows Metafile format Then, in pptPlex, go to the background slide, click the "Insert" tab, and then click "Picture" to insert a picture. Then, select the Visio diagram that was saved in the Windows Metafile format.

10. When I put a photo on the background and zoom in to it, it looks blurry or pixilated. How can I keep that from happening?
We don't have a good way to keep this from happening. Zooming in to a photo using pptPlex is similar to zooming in to a photo using a photo editor. There's a limit to how much detail is available in the photo.

Presenting pptPlex decks

11. Why don't animations and hyperlinks work?
Unfortunately we weren't able to get animations or hyperlinks working in the time that we had available.

12. Where can I learn all the commands I can use to move around the canvas?
In the pptPlex ribbon, click Learn More, and then click View Navigation Help.

13. Does pptPlex work with PowerPoint documents that have restricted permissions with Information Rights Management?
No, pptPlex does not work with PowerPoint documents whose content is restricted with Information Rights Management.

14. No, pptPlex does not work with PowerPoint documents whose content is restricted with Information Rights Management.
No, pptPlex is not supported for use with Microsoft Office Live Meeting.

Other topics

15. How can I provide feedback on this application?
You can click the “Give us Feedback” button in the user interface or leave us comments in our discussions area.

Changes to SmartArt not being applied (2 replies)

So I copied and pasted a few smart art objects and then changed the content within them but whenever i run pptPlex all the old content is still there like i never made any changes!

It appears that pptPlex uses ...

Posted by: markti Last updated: 6/16/2009 3:08 PM

Custom Background (0 replies)

Hey.
Did anyone created a custom background and would like to share?

Thanx
T.

Posted by: Tomer Last updated: 6/14/2009 1:14 AM

Creating PowerPoint show? (0 replies)

I've spent all morning playing with pptPlex doing a presentation for a client that I thought was going to blow his socks off. However, it seems impossible to export to PowerPoint show format (with all the plex functionality) ...

Posted by: m0xuk Last updated: 5/29/2009 5:35 AM

If pptPlex does not show up in PPT (15 replies)

If you have installed pptPlex but the plug-in does not show up in PowerPoint you might be missing one prerequisite.

Our installer is currently not installing the Office PIA package that pptPlex is ...

Posted by: Jonas (Office Labs) Last updated: 5/14/2009 4:27 AM

Go to the discussion forum...

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Downloaded: 141,356 times

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Requirements: Windows XP, Windows Vista 32/64 bit, PowerPoint 2007

Limitations: None

Last updated: 05/06/2009

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