If you are upgrading from PowerPoint 2010 to 2013, you might be wondering what new features have been introduced. This article gives you an overview of the most important changes.
One change is immediately noticeable upon opening PowerPoint 2013. The new Start screen provides easy access to both local and online presentation templates as well as recently used files.
A great addition to PowerPoint 2013 is its revamped theme system. For many years PowerPoint users have complained that the default templates are not customizable enough. PowerPoint 2013 is Microsoft’s answer to these complaints; variations on many of the built-in themes now allow you to quickly change the color palette, fonts, effects, and background styles of a presentation.
The Eyedropper is another handy tool introduced in PowerPoint 2013. A common tool found in many graphics programs, the Eyedropper allows you to copy colors from one object and transfer them to another. One of the main functions of the Eyedropper is picking up a color from a photograph and applying it to text or shapes on a slide so that the colors match.
Speaking of photographs, PowerPoint is now capable of embedding videos and pictures directly from the Internet. You can easily search for videos on YouTube or pictures on Bing and import them into your presentation.
Another incredibly useful new feature is Shape Merging, which allows you to combine existing shapes to create new ones. With the Merge Shapes tool, you can take two or more shapes and select whether you want to union, combine, fragment, intersect, or subtract them.
Whereas PowerPoint 2010 introduced smart guides—sometimes called “whiskers”—to help you align objects on the screen, PowerPoint 2013 enhances this system with guides that allow you to easily place objects equidistant from one another.
One of the biggest enhancements introduced in PowerPoint 2013 is cloud integration. Users now have the option to save their presentations directly to the cloud by using OneDrive (formerly known as SkyDrive). With OneDrive you are now able to simultaneously work with others on the same presentation, using either the desktop version of PowerMockup or the PowerPoint web app.
Another improvement that fosters collaboration with others is the new Comments Pane, which displays comments in a threaded view with avatars next to the commentators’ names. This makes writing and following comments much easier than in PowerPoint 2010.
Microsoft has also added a Touch Mode to make PowerPoint more accessible on tablets and other touch-screen devices. Enabling Touch Mode adds additional space between the icons on the Ribbon, making it easier to tap commands with your fingers.
Another handy new aspect of PowerPoint 2013 is the Welcome Back feature, which marks where you are working in a presentation when you close PowerPoint. Upon reopening PowerPoint 2013 you have the option to resume unfinished work exactly where you left off.
The Presenter View has also been enhanced. Now, you no longer have to worry about the creepy glow of a computer screen against your face while you give a presentation because Presenter View is much darker than previous versions. Extra controls are also available to help you more easily navigate through your presentation, and a timer is built into the preview. But the coolest feature of all is the ability to zoom in and out of a particular area of a slide or to jump to an entirely different slide by clicking on the thumbnail image.
ShapeChef is a tool that helps you find and manage graphics and charts for your presentations. Click here for details.
