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powerpoint height limits. GRR.

bug_girl

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Sigh. So, I have Adobe Illustrator, but I'm still learning how to use it.
After a half an hour or so working on a poster that needs to be 80 inches high, I decided to just switch back to PowerPoint to make things faster.

oops.
MS limits document size to 56" x 56".
:mad: :a2: :a2:

Anyone know if that's still the case in PPT 07?

I thought about scaling, but I have to deliver an 80inch PDF for printing, and I'm not sure that would work.

sigh. Back to illustrator.....
 
Don't know about PP07, but in PowerPoint:Mac 08 it's still limited to 56" (keep in mind that Office 08 is a lazy-arse attempt of Microsoft's Mac team, compared to their earlier releases).
 
I just tried - 56 it is.

edit: advice on the web is to choose a scaled down size (say 30x20 if you are trying to print 60x40), and then print at 200%.
 
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Huh. I wonder why 56 is the magic number?
Oh well.

I thought about scaling, but I'm not sure I trust the folks printing it to get that they need to scale it.
So, I went with Illustrator, but unfortunately the book that explains it is checked out from the library. And I'm too cheap to buy a new one :)

I have also discovered that a lot of the photos I have to work with are 180 dpi, not 300, so a bit of processing has to go on anyway.

I do really like that this new job has more creative stuff for me to do, but sometimes....I want my old boring job back that only used 3 brain cells.

Thanks everyone!
 
Hi

Can you tile it?

Make it up as four sections, dimensioned for the quarter of the picture with registration information on two edges might work.
 
I just checked, OpenOffice.org Draw allowed me to set a page size that was 100x1000 inches so I'm sure it can handle your poster size. You should try drawing it up in OO and then exporting it to .PDF format. I made some post cards for our business that way. The learning curve was short because it's so much like MS office.


Wow, I just checked and the list of file types that OO Draw can open is really long. There should be some way to import your Adobe file directly into OO Draw.
 
You shouldn't need to make it full size, quarter scale should do - apart from anything when you do the preflight to package the PDF for the printer, there is a space for printer notes where you tell them what size you want it printed. Plus, you could just ask for written confirmation from the printer of the spec, that way the problem is theirs if they print at the wrong size.

I routinely have 3 metre x 3 metre artwork printed, I'd be in trouble if it had to be full size! I send 1/4 scale artwork, I usually send a press-ready PDF and also the Illustrator files via Sendmybigfile.com or similar, just so they have the original photos and such.

If you're scaling up low-res photos (larger than their original size) they're going to pixellate whatever you do. Any text etc that you create in Illustrator will be a vector image so can be scaled up infinitely. That won't be the case with Powerpoint!
 
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bug_girl said:
Unfortunately, we are not allowed to use open office, or any google aps. But good to know!!
Click to expand...
What do you mean, "not allowed"? As long as you deliver a file format they can read...

If you're allowed to deliver .pdf (for instance), go with that, and use whatever you want.

I'm pretty sure OpenOffice.org can write a format they accept.
 
OpenOffice exports directly to pdf if you want it to. There's no need for a pdf printer driver as with some programs. In fact, OO can save your file in a whole slew of formats including MS Office files. Did I mention that it's a free 130MB download? It looks like you finished your poster already but I still recomend it.
 
elgarak--
My employer will not let us put it on our computers. Or any other google related products, since we deal with student/other confidential data, and they aren't sure that it's safe and won't collect data.

Since I'm in charge of our technical services (in theory) I feel like I'm supposed to set a good example. It makes it hard for me to tell people not to do things...if I'm doing it.
 
Ah, that explains it.

I apologize; I missed that you had to do it on a work machine.

Good thing I work at a university, and can bring in my own machine; plus, it's a Mac, which our IT department refuses to care about (cause our IT guys are stooopid, so I like that I don't have to deal with them more than absolutely necessary). As long as I don't violate any policies, I'm good. Policies, as in license agreements and letting no one witness NSFW stuff.
 
Actually, I work at a university too, and I have a Mac :)

Our university is super paranoid about protecting student and confidential data, which is not a bad thing. Just really inconvenient for most of what I want to do. Sigh.
 
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