What about PowerPoint 2007 / Office 2007?
There are some major differences between PowerPoint 2007 and earlier versions. Some of these differences affect add-ins like PPTools.
PowerPoint 2007 still has a few bugs that affect some of the PPTools add-ins.
We'll update this page as we learn more. Here's what we know so far. See further down this page for a summary of the PowerPoint bugs that affect each of our PPTools add-ins.
Do we recommend upgrading to Office 2007
- If you rely heavily on add-ins (ours or those from other companies), we recommend waiting to upgrade.
- By all means, try it out, but not on a computer you rely on for your everyday work. Set up a test computer, install Office 2007 and any "must-have" add-ins and test thoroughly. You can use the demo versions of our add-ins to test with at no cost.
- If you can't devote a computer to testing, install Virtual PC (free from MS) or VMWare and test in a "virtual machine". Using Virtual PC / VMWare virtual computers
- If you find problems, please let us know about them (use the Contact link at the left of every page on this site.)
- Check back here periodically; we'll post more information about PowerPoint 2007 and PPTools add-ins as we learn more and as Microsoft releases service packs and other updates.
Installing Office 2007
If you've decided to take the plunge, here's what we suggest:
- Uninstall your PPTools add-ins before installing Office 2007. Click Start, Control Panel and use Add/Remove Programs to remove All PPTools add-ins.
- Install Office 2007.
- Start PowerPoint 2007 and choose the following security settings:
- Click the Office Button then click PowerPoint options at the bottom of the pop-up menu
- In leftmost pane of the PowerPoint Options dialog box that appears, click "Trust Center"
- Click "Trust Center Settings"
- In the leftmost pane of the Trust Center dialog box that appears, click "Add-ins"
- Under "Add-ins" on the right, UNCHECK all three options.
- In the leftmost pane of the Trust Center dialog box, click "Macro Settings"
- Under "Macro Settings" on the right, click "Enable all macros". Be sure to change this back to a higher security setting (we recommend "Disable all macros with notification") after you finish installing PPTools.
- Click OK
- Quit PowerPoint 2007
- Download the latest versions of your PPTools add-ins here and run the installer(s).
- Start PowerPoint 2007 and reset the security settings to a comfortable zone for you.
If you've already updated ...
If you've updated before seeing this information and now you're seeing messages about how your PPTools add-in can't find its files when you start PowerPoint or you add-ins don't seem to be working, go to our downloads page and download the latest version of the installer for your add-in and run it.
If the addins don't work or appear to be disabled
- Click the Office Button then click PowerPoint options at the bottom of the pop-up menu
- In the leftmost pane of the PowerPoint Options dialog box that appears, click "Add-Ins"
- At the bottom of the Add-ins pane that appears on the right, next to "Manage:", choose "Disabled Items: then click "Go .."
- If any PPTools items appear on the Disabled Items menu, click them then click "Enable".
- Click Close to return to the PowerPoint Options dialog box.
- Click OK to close the PowerPoint Options dialog box.
- If the newly enabled add-in doesn't work immediately, re-start PowerPoint and try it again.
Toolbars, Menu items
PowerPoint no longer has toolbars or menus. Instead, it has an "Add-Ins" tab on the ribbon. When you install add-ins that create toolbars and/or menu items in earlier versions of PowerPoint, they now appear on the Add-Ins tab. For example, here's what the Add-Ins tab looks like after you've installed the PPTools Starter Set:
This makes add-ins less convenient than in previous versions of PowerPoint. You now must first click the Add-Ins tab in order to use them. But read on ...
Make your add-ins more accessible
Though you can't change toolbars and menus in PowerPoint 2007, you now have the Quick Access Toolbar (QAT), which you can customize. To make your PPTools and other add-ins easy to get to, do this:
- At the right of the QAT, you'll see a small downward pointing arrowhead. Click it to open the "Customize Quick Access Toolbar" menu.
- On the Customize QAT menu, click "More Commands" to open the "Customize the Quick Access Toolbar" dialog box.
- Underneath "Choose commands from:" pick "Add-Ins Tab"
- On the list of commands that appears below, double-click "Custom Toolbars" and "Menu Commands". As you double-click each of these, it appears in the list on the right,
- Make certain that under "Customize Quick Access Toolbar" it says "For all documents (default)".
- Click OK
You now have two new buttons on the QAT. One exposes the toolbars and buttons your add-ins have installed, the other makes the add-ins' menu items available.
PowerPoint 2007 bugs & PPTools Add-ins
PPT2HTML
A bug in the original version of PowerPoint 2007 causes it to crash when PPT2HTML tests hyperlinks applied to text in textboxes and other shapes. This was fixed in the first service pack. See below to learn how to apply Service Pack 1.
Workaround if you can't apply SP1: apply hyperlinks to the shapes that contain the text rather than the text itself.
We highly recommend downloading and installing the latest version of PPT2HTML. It includes several minor fixes for PowerPoint 2007 but also does much higher quality exports than previous versions.
FixLinks
The original version of PowerPoint 2007 hangs when you generate a links report or fix links and, due to the same bug as described above, may crash when FixLinks is checking links.
Download and install the latest version of FixLinks and install Service Pack 1 (see below) to fix these problems.
Merge
No known bugs
StarterSet and StarterSet Plus
Compatible, but if you downloaded StarterSet prior to September 2007, please download and install the latest version, which corrects several small bugs (ours, not Microsoft's!)
ShapeStyles
Compatible
ShapeStyles does not record any of the new styles and formatting features in PowerPoint 2007 but it records and applies any formatting features that are backward compatible with earlier Poweroint versions.
PPTools Palette
Status: incompatible, discontinued, will not be updated
Palette is not supported for use in PowerPoint 2007. Our ShapeStyles add-in does all that Palette does and a great deal more. Registered Palette users qualify for a free upgrade to ShapeStyles; visit the ShapeStyles site, view the information there, try out the free demo if you wish, then use the Contact Us link to request your free upgrade. Please supply the name you registered Palette under.
Optimizier
Status: still in testing
ImageExport
Compatible with the original release of PowerPoint 2007.
A bug in SP1 causes exported images to be corrupted.
We highly recommend downloading and installing the latest version of Image Export. It includes several minor fixes for PowerPoint 2007 but also does much higher quality exports than previous versions.
But if you rely on Image Export, please Do Not install Service Pack 1 for Office 2007.
Protect
Status: compatible, except after applying SP1.
We recommend downloading and installing the latest version of Protect. It includes several minor fixes for PowerPoint 2007 but also does much higher quality exports than previous versions.
The same PowerPoint bug introduced by SP1 as described above also affects Protect if you convert to images at higher than around 960 pixels wide. We don't recommend installing SP1 if you depend on Protect.
Prep4PDF
Status: still in testing
Uninstalling
To uninstall PPTools add-ins, use Start, Control Panel, Add/Remove Software as you would for any other program.
Because of changes in PowerPoint 2007, the uninstaller may leave the PPTools menu item and toolbar buttons behind on the Add-Ins tab. To remove one of these "orphan" toolbars, right-click any button on the toolbar and choose "Delete Custom Toolbar" from the pop-up menu.
Service Pack 1
As mentioned above, if you depend on any of our add-ins that convert PPT slides to images (Image Export, Protect) please do NOT install SP1 as it will cause image corruption.
To apply Service Pack 1:
- Click the Office Button then click "PowerPoint Options" at the bottom of the resulting dialog box
- Click "Resources" on the left of the PowerPoint Options dialog box
- In the Resources pane that appears on the right side of the dialog box, click "Check for Updates"