Editing Microsoft PowerPoint (section)

==Operation==
The earliest version of PowerPoint (1987 for Macintosh) could be used to print black and white pages to be photocopied onto [[Transparency (projection)|sheets of transparent film]] for projection from [[overhead projector]]s, and to print speaker's notes and audience handouts; the next version (1988 for Macintosh, 1990 for Windows) was extended to also produce [[Presentation slide|color 35mm slides]] by communicating a file over a modem to a [[Genigraphics]] imaging center with slides returned by overnight delivery for projection from [[slide projector]]s. PowerPoint was used for planning and preparing a presentation, but not for delivering it (apart from previewing it on a computer screen, or distributing printed paper copies).<ref name="CACM-2007-Gaskins-operation">{{Cite journal |last=Gaskins |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Gaskins |date=December 2007 |title=PowerPoint at 20: Back to Basics |url=https://www.academia.edu/1866305 |department=Viewpoint |journal=[[Communications of the ACM]] |publication-date=December 2007 |volume=50 |issue=12 |pages=15–17 |issn=0001-0782 |doi=10.1145/1323688.1323710 |s2cid=48306 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160107161639/http://www.robertgaskins.com/powerpoint-history/documents/gaskins-powerpoint-at-20-cacm-vol50-no12-dec-2007-p15-p17.pdf |url-status=live |archive-date=January 7, 2016 |access-date=August 12, 2017 }} The first three versions are described in the sidebar, "Presentation Formats and PowerPoint," p. 17.</ref> The operation of PowerPoint changed substantially in its third version (1992 for Windows and Macintosh), when PowerPoint was extended to also deliver a presentation by producing direct video output to [[Video projector|digital projectors]] or large monitors.<ref name="CACM-2007-Gaskins-operation" /> In 1992 video projection of presentations was rare and expensive, and practically unknown from a laptop computer. Robert Gaskins, one of the creators of PowerPoint, says he publicly demonstrated that use for the first time at a large Microsoft meeting held in Paris on February 25, 1992, by using an unreleased development build of PowerPoint 3.0 running on an early pre-production sample of a powerful new color laptop and feeding a [[Talaria projector|professional auditorium video projector]].<ref name="Sweating-Bullets-2012-Gaskins-operation">{{Cite book |last=Gaskins |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Gaskins |title=Sweating Bullets: Notes about Inventing PowerPoint |year=2012 |publisher=Vinland Books |isbn=978-0-9851424-0-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RC_5OCQQJ7YC |access-date=August 12, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170624031005/http://www.robertgaskins.com/powerpoint-history/sweating-bullets/gaskins-sweating-bullets-webpdf-isbn-9780985142414.pdf |url-status=live |archive-date=June 24, 2017}}</ref>{{Rp|pages=373–375}}

By about 2003, ten years later, digital projection had become the dominant mode of use, replacing transparencies and 35mm slides and their projectors.<ref name="Sweating-Bullets-2012-Gaskins-operation" />{{Rp|pages=410–414}}<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=0000n8 |title=The End of the Carousel Slide Projector? |last=<!-- corporate announcement, no author listed> --> |date=July 14, 2003 |website=Edward Tufte Forum |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111103030333/http://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=0000n8 |url-status=live |archive-date=November 3, 2011 |access-date=August 20, 2017 |quote=Eastman Kodak Company has confirmed plans to discontinue the manufacture and sales of slide projection products and accessories in June of 2004.}}</ref> As a result, the meaning of "PowerPoint presentation" narrowed to mean specifically digital projection:<ref name="Yates-and-Orlikowski-2007">{{Cite book |last1=Yates |first1=JoAnne |author1-link=JoAnne Yates |last2=Orlikowski |first2=Wanda |author2-link=Wanda Orlikowski |year=2007 |chapter=Chapter 4: The PowerPoint Presentation and Its Corollaries: How Genres Shape Communicative Action in Organizations |pages=67–91 |editor1-last=Zachry |editor1-first=Mark |editor2-last=Thralls |editor2-first=Charlotte |title=Communicative Practices in Workplaces and the Professions: Cultural Perspectives on the Regulation of Discourse and Organizations |chapter-url=http://seeit.mit.edu/publications/yatesorlikowski_powerpoint_2006.pdf |location=Amityville, N.Y. |publisher=Baywood Publishing Co. |isbn=978-0-89503-372-7 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6YIufUdMc?url=http://seeit.mit.edu/publications/yatesorlikowski_powerpoint_2006.pdf |url-status=live |archive-date=May 5, 2015 |access-date=August 19, 2017}}</ref>

{{Blockquote| ... in the business lexicon, "PowerPoint presentation" had come to refer to a presentation made using a PowerPoint slideshow projected from a computer. Although the PowerPoint software had been used to generate transparencies for over a decade, this usage was not typically encompassed by a common understanding of the term.}}

In contemporary operation, PowerPoint is used to create a file (called a "presentation" or "deck") containing a sequence of pages (called "slides" in the app) which usually have a consistent style (from template masters), and which may contain information imported from other apps or created in PowerPoint, including text, bullet lists, tables, charts, drawn shapes, images, audio clips, video clips, animations of elements, and animated transitions between slides, plus attached notes for each slide.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Basic-tasks-for-creating-a-PowerPoint-presentation-efbbc1cd-c5f1-4264-b48e-c8a7b0334e36 |title=Basic tasks for creating a PowerPoint presentation |last=Microsoft Corporation |date=2017 |website=Microsoft Office Support |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709192522/https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Basic-tasks-for-creating-a-PowerPoint-presentation-efbbc1cd-c5f1-4264-b48e-c8a7b0334e36 |url-status=live |archive-date=July 9, 2017 |access-date=August 18, 2017}}</ref>

After such a file is created, typical operation is to present it as a [[slide show]] using a portable computer, where the presentation file is stored on the computer or available from a network, and the computer's screen shows a "presenter view" with current slide, next slide, speaker's notes for the current slide, and other information.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Start-the-presentation-and-see-your-notes-in-Presenter-view-4de90e28-487e-435c-9401-eb49a3801257 |title=Start the presentation and see your notes in Presenter view |last=Microsoft Corporation |date=2017 |website=Microsoft Office Support |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818222229/https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Start-the-presentation-and-see-your-notes-in-Presenter-view-4de90e28-487e-435c-9401-eb49a3801257 |url-status=live |archive-date=August 18, 2017 |access-date=August 18, 2017}}</ref> Video is sent from the computer to one or more external digital projectors or monitors, showing only the current slide to the audience, with sequencing controlled by the speaker at the computer. A smartphone remote control built in to PowerPoint for iOS (optionally controlled from Apple Watch)<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://apps.apple.com/us/app/microsoft-powerpoint/id586449534 |title=Microsoft PowerPoint, Version 2.4 |date=August 14, 2017 |website=Apple iTunes Store |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818182030/https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/microsoft-powerpoint/id586449534 |url-status=live |archive-date=August 18, 2017 |access-date=August 18, 2017 |quote=Start the slide show with your Apple Watch and easily navigate to the next and previous slides.}}</ref> and for Android<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.microsoft.office.powerpoint |title=Microsoft PowerPoint |date=August 14, 2017 |website=Google Play Store |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818181821/https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.microsoft.office.powerpoint |url-status=live |archive-date=August 18, 2017 |access-date=August 18, 2017}}</ref> allows the presenter to control the show from elsewhere in the room.

In addition to a computer slide show projected to a live audience by a speaker, PowerPoint can be used to deliver a presentation in a number of other ways:

* Displayed on the screen of the presentation computer or tablet (for a very small group)<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Choose-the-right-view-for-the-task-in-PowerPoint-21332d8d-adbc-4717-a2c6-e25a697b40e9 |title=Choose the right view for the task in PowerPoint |last=Microsoft Corporation |date=2017 |website=Microsoft Office Support |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818223414/https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Choose-the-right-view-for-the-task-in-PowerPoint-21332d8d-adbc-4717-a2c6-e25a697b40e9 |url-status=live |archive-date=August 18, 2017 |access-date=August 18, 2017}} (This mode of operation was available since version 1.0.)</ref>
* Printed for distribution as paper documents (in several formats)<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Print-your-handouts-notes-or-slides-91c62c83-9032-497c-ab76-cae8f3e1a402 |title=Print your handouts, notes, or slides |last=Microsoft Corporation |date=2017 |website=Microsoft Office Support |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818223841/https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Print-your-handouts-notes-or-slides-91c62c83-9032-497c-ab76-cae8f3e1a402 |url-status=live |archive-date=August 18, 2017 |access-date=August 18, 2017}} (This mode of operation was available since version 1.0.)</ref>
* Distributed as files for private viewing, even on computers without PowerPoint<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://support.office.com/en-us/article/View-a-presentation-without-PowerPoint-2f1077ab-9a4e-41ba-9f75-d55bd9b231a6 |title=View a presentation without PowerPoint |last=Microsoft Corporation |date=2017 |website=Microsoft Office Support |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818224151/https://support.office.com/en-us/article/View-a-presentation-without-PowerPoint-2f1077ab-9a4e-41ba-9f75-d55bd9b231a6 |url-status=live |archive-date=August 18, 2017 |access-date=August 18, 2017}}</ref>
* Packaged for distribution on CD or a network, including linked and embedded data<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Package-a-presentation-for-CD-52d431bf-01e2-44db-bc40-49777b7cf55a |title=Package a presentation for CD |last=Microsoft Corporation |date=2017 |website=Microsoft Office Support |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818232256/https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Package-a-presentation-for-CD-52d431bf-01e2-44db-bc40-49777b7cf55a |url-status=live |archive-date=August 18, 2017 |access-date=August 18, 2017}}</ref>
* Transmitted as a live broadcast presentation over the web<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Present-online-using-the-Office-Presentation-Service-c1fd3f16-97c0-4f96-91c3-79e147e7e574 |title=Present online using the Office Presentation Service |last=Microsoft Corporation |date=2017 |website=Microsoft Office Support |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818225610/https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Present-online-using-the-Office-Presentation-Service-c1fd3f16-97c0-4f96-91c3-79e147e7e574 |url-status=live |archive-date=August 18, 2017 |access-date=August 18, 2017 |quote=This feature was known as the 'presentation broadcast service' in previous versions of PowerPoint.}}</ref> 
* Embedded in a web page or blog<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Embed-a-presentation-in-a-web-page-or-blog-19668a1d-2299-4af3-91e1-ae57af723a60 |title=Embed a presentation in a web page or blog |last=Microsoft Corporation |date=2017 |website=Microsoft Office Support |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818225838/https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Embed-a-presentation-in-a-web-page-or-blog-19668a1d-2299-4af3-91e1-ae57af723a60 |url-status=live |archive-date=August 18, 2017 |access-date=August 18, 2017}}</ref> 
* Shared on social networks such as [[Facebook]] or [[Twitter]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Post-a-presentation-to-Facebook-Twitter-or-other-social-network-d0692c2c-5154-43df-994e-9455c1ad69dd |title=Post a presentation to Facebook, Twitter, or other social network |last=Microsoft Corporation |date=2017 |website=Microsoft Office Support |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818230412/https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Post-a-presentation-to-Facebook-Twitter-or-other-social-network-d0692c2c-5154-43df-994e-9455c1ad69dd |url-status=live |archive-date=August 18, 2017 |access-date=August 18, 2017}}</ref> 
* Set up as a self-running unattended display<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Create-a-self-running-presentation-57fc41ae-f36a-4fb5-94a3-52d5bc466037 |title=Create a self-running presentation |last=Microsoft Corporation |date=2017 |website=Microsoft Office Support |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818230619/https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Create-a-self-running-presentation-57fc41ae-f36a-4fb5-94a3-52d5bc466037 |url-status=live |archive-date=August 18, 2017 |access-date=August 18, 2017}}</ref> 
* Recorded as video/audio ([[H.264]]/[[Advanced Audio Coding|AAC]]), to be distributed as for any other video<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Turn-your-presentation-into-a-video-c140551f-cb37-4818-b5d4-3e30815c3e83 |title=Turn your presentation into a video |last=Microsoft Corporation |date=2017 |website=Microsoft Office Support |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818230906/https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Turn-your-presentation-into-a-video-c140551f-cb37-4818-b5d4-3e30815c3e83 |url-status=live |archive-date=August 18, 2017 |access-date=August 18, 2017}}</ref>

Some of these ways of using PowerPoint have been studied by [[JoAnne Yates]] and [[Wanda Orlikowski]] of the [[MIT Sloan School of Management]]:<ref name="Yates-and-Orlikowski-2007"  />

{{Blockquote|The standard form of such presentations involves a single person standing before a group of people, talking and using the PowerPoint slideshow to project visual aids onto a screen. ... In practice, however, presentations are not always delivered in this mode. In our studies, we often found that the presenter sat at a table with a small group of people and walked them through a "deck", composed of paper copies of the slides. In some cases, decks were simply distributed to individuals, without even a walk-through or discussion. ... Other variations in the form included sending the PowerPoint file electronically to another site and talking through the slides over an audio or video channel (e.g., telephone or video conference) as both parties viewed the slides. ... Another common variation was placing a PowerPoint file on a web site for people to view at different times.}}

They found that some of these ways of using PowerPoint could influence the content of presentations, for example when "the slides themselves have to carry more of the substance of the presentation, and thus need considerably more content than they would have if they were intended for projection by a speaker who would orally provide additional details and nuance about content and context."<ref name="Yates-and-Orlikowski-2007"  />