Automatically insert total # pages into Powerpoint presentation

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PowerPoint will not do this for you automatically, but when you complete the
presentation and know how many slides there are in total, you can insert the
number on your Slide Master and it will appear on all slides. For example, in
View > Master > Slide Master in the "Number Area" placeholder there is a field
(#) for the slide number. If you insert the words "Slide" and "of" so that the
slide footer says <Slide # of >, later you can modify that to <Slide # of
123> and slide 1 will show Slide 1 of 123 and subsequent slides will show their
number followed by "of 123". Be sure to also go to View > Header and Footer and
check the box for "Slide Number".
 
Herman,
Sonia is correct that PPT doesn't do this automatically. However, Bill D has
written a nice little add-in that does it. Check it out from this page of
Steve Rindsberg's PPT FAQ:
Slide numbering - Slide XX of YY
http://www.rdpslides.com/pptfaq/FAQ00548.htm

--
Kathryn Jacobs, Microsoft MVP PowerPoint and OneNote
Author of Kathy Jacobs on PowerPoint - Available now from Holy Macro! Books
Get PowerPoint answers at http://www.powerpointanswers.com
I believe life is meant to be lived. But:
if we live without making a difference, it makes no difference that we lived
 
Oops. I forgot about it.

Kathy J said:
Herman,
Sonia is correct that PPT doesn't do this automatically. However, Bill D has
written a nice little add-in that does it. Check it out from this page of
Steve Rindsberg's PPT FAQ:
Slide numbering - Slide XX of YY
http://www.rdpslides.com/pptfaq/FAQ00548.htm

--
Kathryn Jacobs, Microsoft MVP PowerPoint and OneNote
Author of Kathy Jacobs on PowerPoint - Available now from Holy Macro! Books
Get PowerPoint answers at http://www.powerpointanswers.com
I believe life is meant to be lived. But:
if we live without making a difference, it makes no difference that we lived
 
Dear Sonia,

I find it almost bizar that even in version 2007 you didn't provide this
important function as it exists in Word, even in previous versions. I suppose
you don't use ppt? I and my students use it very much. And it's easy: you
know how many slide you can expect during a presentation. And it should be
automatically as in Word. So: try to fix it as soon as possible. You do us a
big favor!
--
lodew


Sonia said:
PowerPoint will not do this for you automatically, but when you complete the
presentation and know how many slides there are in total, you can insert the
number on your Slide Master and it will appear on all slides. For example, in
View > Master > Slide Master in the "Number Area" placeholder there is a field
(#) for the slide number. If you insert the words "Slide" and "of" so that the
slide footer says <Slide # of >, later you can modify that to <Slide # of
123> and slide 1 will show Slide 1 of 123 and subsequent slides will show their
number followed by "of 123". Be sure to also go to View > Header and Footer and
check the box for "Slide Number".
 
I a bit confused lodew. Why are you answering 2 1/2 year old posts?

Sonia, while she was alive, was one of the true artists within the
PowerPoint community and is very, very highly respected in this group. Her
experience and commitment to improving PowerPoint is, even now, far above
question. None of the MVPs, including Sonia, are on the MS payroll and our
influence is in the form of suggestions to MS, just as your's is. We do not
build PPT, we are users who generally enjoy helping other users. I
apologize if this sounds curt, but you have hit a nerve that is still very
sore.


To answer your question, the reason that PowerPoint behaves different than
Word is that it is 1) a different program and 2) it has different goals for
the output. Word is designed for the printed page, therefore it's features
are built around the printed page. However, PowerPoint is designed for
presentations, so it's features are more geared towards things that will be
displayed.

As far as easy goes, how would you include in your count the hidden slides
that are available, but may never be shown. What about custom shows within
the main presentation. How about linked content and even entire linked
additional presentations. These are all things that effect the number of
slides that will be presented, but do not translate into x of y format for
showing how far along you are. Only in the most basic, purely linear show
will this format show your progress in the show.

There is an add-in I wrote a while back that will do this function, but it
is not as automated as you seem to desire.


--
Bill Dilworth
A proud member of the Microsoft PPT MVP Team
Users helping fellow users.
http://billdilworth.mvps.org
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
vestprog2@ Please read the PowerPoint FAQ pages.
yahoo. They answer most of our questions.
com www.pptfaq.com
..



lodew said:
Dear Sonia,

I find it almost bizar that even in version 2007 you didn't provide this
important function as it exists in Word, even in previous versions. I
suppose
you don't use ppt? I and my students use it very much. And it's easy: you
know how many slide you can expect during a presentation. And it should be
automatically as in Word. So: try to fix it as soon as possible. You do us
a
big favor!
 
Thank you for the reaction.
1. That the post is 2 1/2 year old is not an argument for me: the question
stays open! 2. I'am sorry for Sonia, but I'm not in the possibility to know
the personal details of somebody, only from their name.
3. Now it becomes interesting: with arguments.
4. It's new for me to learn that there are different goals to Word and PPT.
But the reality is what it is. We - users - see it differently. I think it's
important for the developpers to consider the question. In our language we
say: the client is the king. At least, listen to him or her.
5. I agree that there are some problems for the implementaton. I discussed
it with a colleague. F.e. the question of the hidden slides.
I'm very optimistic on technology. Perhaps to optimistic. But as a
non-engineer at a engineering university, I see a lot of developpments that
makes me so...
My suggestion on the hidden slides: when you turn your slides on 'hidden',
they should not be counted by presenting them. A warning can be put on
turning them on 'hidden'. Or better: the user should make his/her choice. On
the additional presentations: the same reaction. When the counting is
installed, by linking additional presentations, a dialogbox can pop up asking
if the counting should continue or start again.
6. I know the dilemma's of developpers: how many choices should you offer to
the users? And I know that many of the possibilities in MS Office are never
used by most of the users, because to complicated. But on this problem (# of
N pages), I think, of my experience as a teacher and of my students who do
the presentations, it should be very interesting to find a solution (as in
Word) on this problem.



lodew
 
I forgot one point as my reaction:
7. I don't see any argumentation on the technological level (how to write it
in the programm of ppt). Perhaps it's impossible to implement such a feature?
Perhaps it's very easy, but only forgotten for some reason? Then I should
say: just implement it!
 
The following is not an argument, just a different side of things:

I would hate to see them implement what you describe. It would mean that I
would need to go to a LOT more work to create presentations, since I never
use slide x of y. I agree, if you present a linear presentation, you might
want this. But, linear presentations are seldom the right answer. (IMHO)

Bill has offered you an alternative solution: He has a tool available that
will do just what you want. Check into it and see if it meets your needs. It
isn't automated to the extreme you want it, but I doubt that what you
describe could be automated.

--
Kathy Jacobs, Microsoft MVP OneNote and PowerPoint
Author of Kathy Jacobs on PowerPoint
Get PowerPoint and OneNote information at www.onppt.com

I believe life is meant to be lived. But:
if we live without making a difference, it makes no difference that we lived
 
I don't understand: the implementation should be an option as it is now an
option to implement the automatic numbering of the slides. The lot of work
is only for he/her who want to do so...
It 's a simple question: to be able to put the total number of pages
automatically also as it is in Word.
I'm not convinced of the ad-in of Bill. But I will discuss it with
colleagues who are more accustomed to these things.
 
I finally found a solution that saved me an immense amount of time for doing PowerPoint X of Y Pages. Hope this helps!
 
I finally found a solution that saved me an immense amount of time for doing PowerPoint X of Y Pages. Hope this helps! powerpointxofy.com/
 
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