Richmond Web Developers

Good presentations need little touches. With screen real estate at a premium when it comes to Microsoft PowerPoint presentations, you also need to justify design with functionality. One of the little touches I have always found useful as a viewer and an occasional presenter is the display of time on a slideshow.

Displaying the current time in a PowerPoint presentation is an essential option to select if you are using handouts too. As we will see, it’s also very easy to accomplish.

Another useful addition is using date and time formats according to the culture of the audience you are showing the presentation to. This is a tip to use if you work in a global company. Without counting the seconds, let’s dive straight into the method.

Add the Current Time and Date to a PowerPoint Slide

1. Open your PowerPoint document and got to the View tab on the Ribbon. Choose the Normal view. Select the first slide of the slideshow.

2. Click on the Insert tab and go to the Text group. Click on the little Date and Time icon which gives you options to insert the current date and time into the PowerPoint document.

3. Clicking on the Date and Time icon opens up the Header and Footer dialog box. Using the two tabs (as in the screenshot) we can add  the date and time values to our main slides as well as the Notes and Handouts we usually print out and give to the audience as reference material.

4. The next few steps are pretty simple – choose the date and time format from the dropdown. Selecting a Fixed time acts as a marker that lets you know when the slide was created. It is obviously constant. The Update automatically selection displays a dynamic time that takes the current time from the system clock. The options are the same for the Notes and Handouts tab. (Preferably, don’t show the date and time on the title slide).

Remember: Each time you open or print the presentation, PowerPoint will update the time. PowerPoint does not continuously update automatically but only at the start of the slide show.

5. Select Apply to All and you are done.

Add the Current Time and Date According to the Language

1. Choose File – Options – Language. The Options dialog gives you a lineup of additional languages to edit your document.

2. Expand the dropdown for Add additional editing languages and select the language(s) of your choice which you want to use for the date and time. Click on Add.

3. Press OK and exit the PowerPoint file.

4. Reopen the presentation and position your cursor where you wish to insert the date. Take the usual route of selecting the Insert tab and then clicking on the Date and Time button.

5. If you are using something like a text box to insert your date and time, you will get a dialog box like this:

If you are adding the date and time as a footer, then the usual box appears. In both cases, select the date and time format, and pick the language from the dropdown. After the Ok, the date and time is entered in the language of the country chosen.

Using the date and time with your PowerPoint slides is a simple final step to follow before you give or distribute a presentation. Do you do so in your presentations?

Image Credit:Shutterstock

Need Richmond Web Developers?
Compare Fast Free Quotes:

According to my iPhone’s logs, I’ve spent just short of 15 minutes actually phoning people since it came into my possession. Then again, charging is a daily ritual as I consistently manage to drain the battery by about midnight.

Much of my battery is spent either browsing the web from the comfort of my palm, sifting through email or trying out a selection of the thousands of apps available for the platform. In particular, I find many photo sharing and styling apps fun to play with, and great for quickly uploading something interesting.

One of the finest tools for the job is the much-loved Instagram, which allows you to turn a dull and boring camera phone image into stylised retro art. Snapbucket is Photobucket‘s answer to fun, mobile photo sharing – and (unlike Instagram) it’s available for both iOS and Android devices.

Snapping, Styling & Sharing

Snapbucket is laid out in an almost identical manner to Instagram, with quick access to the shutter, images already on your device, settings and tips along the bottom of the screen. Once you’ve launched the app it’s good to go – simply touch that big, inviting camera button to capture the scene.

Next you’ll be able to customize your image, with whole style sets as well as individual filters and personal touches to choose from (more on this later). Again, at this stage (iOS users) you’ll be forgiven for thinking you’re still in Instagram – it all looks pretty familiar.

Once you’ve completed your work of art then it’s a simple case of signing up (or logging in, should you already have an account), labelling and sharing it amongst your friends. You can add a description of where you took the photo, though Snapbucket also supports geo-tagging, and will ask you to allow location detection on first boot.

If you’d like to share your images with your friends then try connecting your Twitter or Facebook accounts (you can toggle sharing from the upload screen) to instantly notify your online cohorts. You can also embrace the past and choose to email your picture to whoever you want, if that’s your style.

Just Another Instagram?

No, actually.

Snapbucket distances itself from being just another Instagram with a couple of unique touches, including greater control over your end result.

Instagram only lets you choose one style, chopped to a square crop. Snapbucket provides multiple filters, effects, vignettes and frames which can be stacked on top of each other for some fairly original results. You can also choose from a collection of predefined sets, which are cleverly selected individual effects designed to recreate classic, retro looks.

Once you’ve found a couple of combinations you like, you can save custom sets for quick access later. Snapbucket does not feature a square crop mode, though you can of course use images already on your device (regardless of orientation or size).

Tilt-shifting (artificial depth of field) has not made it into this version of Snapbucket, though it would be nice to see it in a future update.

The more you use Snapbucket, the more effects you’ll have access to. Even after just uploading one image, I managed to unlock the “Sky” set, a blue filter, and both the sunlight and purple light leak effects.

It’s certainly not a bad way of encouraging users to take lots of pictures, and who can complain when both the app and image hosting are free?

Download

Android and iOS users can make use of Snapbucket, with versions available on both the App Store and Android Market:

• iOS (version 4.0 required) – iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch @ App Store
• Android (version 2.1 required) @ Android Market

Conclusion

For Android users who haven’t had chance to play around with the wonderful Instagram, then Snapbucket is a worthy alternative. For iOS users who are slightly bored of the same old effects, Snapbucket offers great customization and rewards prolonged use with even more styles to choose from.

Just for fun I’ve processed the same image in both Instagram and Snapbucket, and though I didn’t spend ages tweaking either result, the following pictures provide a decent comparison of the two:

Snapbucket:

Instagram:

If you like taking photos on the go, like to go faux-retro chic and want the ability to share your creations; Snapbucket is definitely worth the download, and the price is spot-on.

Have you tried Snapbucket? Do you prefer Instagram? Any other photo styling and sharing apps you love? Share your thoughts and images in the comments below!

Similar articles:

• Reduce Your Mobile Internet Data Usage & Save Money Using Onavo [iOS] (0 comments ...)
• Color – The Hottest Smartphone Photo Sharing App [Android/iPhone] (5 comments ...)
• The Rise Of Smartphone Snooping & How To Check For It (7 comments ...)
• The Best Free iPhone Flickr App: Darkslide vs. Flickr (2 comments ...)
• Share Your iPhone & Android Photos In Style with Picplz (4 comments ...)

Need Web Design?

Need Web Design?

Need Web Design?