KnowledgeBase Archive

An Archive of Early Microsoft KnowledgeBase Articles

View on GitHub

Q110831: PPT: Slides Look Bad When Pasted into Other Programs

Article: Q110831
Product(s): Microsoft PowerPoint for Windows
Version(s): WINDOWS:2.0,2.0e,3.0,4.0,4.0a,4.0c,7.0
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbgraphic kbinterop kbole kbdta
Last Modified: 11-JUL-2001

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft PowerPoint for Windows 95, version 7.0 
- Microsoft PowerPoint for Windows, versions 2.0, 2.0e, 3.0, 4.0, 4.0a, 4.0c 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------


SYMPTOMS
========

Slides and graphics from PowerPoint for Windows may not look as good when pasted
into other Windows-based programs. For example, a gradient- filled slide may not
be as clear when pasted into Word version 6.0 for Windows or Microsoft Excel
version 5.0 for Windows, or you may notice that a slide or graphic looks fine
when pasted into Word version 2.0 for Windows, but when that Word document is
opened in Word 6.0, it doesn't look as good.

CAUSE
=====

This problem occurs because of the different methods in which programs handle
color palettes under Windows when running with a 256-color display driver.

WORKAROUND
==========

Depending on the desired results and capabilities of the system displaying the
graphics, there are several possible workarounds.

Method 1: Use an Enhanced Display Driver or Card
------------------------------------------------

If your display card supports the simultaneous display of 32,000 or 16.7 million
colors (16 bit or 24 bit) you can install a display driver for your card that
supports either of these color modes.

Method 2: Switch to 16-color Mode
---------------------------------

Reducing the number of colors that Windows displays simultaneously can often make
complex color images actually look better when viewed in some programs. Windows
can still dither the colors for which there aren't exact matching colors
available.

NOTE: If the color graphics are bitmaps (such as *.BMP, *.TIF, *.PCX, and so on),
this is generally not a good workaround because Windows cannot dither bitmaps.

Method 3: Ignore It
-------------------

If you plan to print the document that contains the PowerPoint slide, don't worry
about how it looks on the screen. How it appears on the screen does not affect
the print quality.

Method 4: Don't Use Gradient Fills
----------------------------------

The most common cause of this problem is using gradient fills because many very
similar colors have to be available. By eliminating gradient fills and using
solid backgrounds and fills, you have a much better chance that the palette in
the target application can provide all the colors that you want.

MORE INFORMATION
================

There are several different methods of palette management used by Windows-based
programs running under a 256-color video driver.

Static Palette Management
-------------------------

Static palette management is what Word for Windows, version 6.0 and Microsoft
Excel for Windows, version 5.0 use. They have a fixed rainbow palette that they
use at all times. They do not look at the objects embedded or pasted into them
to see what colors they are using. They simply assume all pictures can be
displayed reasonably with the rainbow palette. This is often true for bitmaps
and most generic metafiles such as clip art because their colors are usually
spread across a broad spectrum. The rainbow palette is designed to have colors
that are relatively close to any arbitrary color.

This does not work well with gradient fills (such as PowerPoint shaded
backgrounds). This is because a gradient fill needs to have many very similar
colors (varying only slightly from the previous color) for it to display
properly. A gradient fill from a blue color to black requires approximately
30-50 shades of blue. Because the static rainbow palette must contain a mix of
all colors and is limited to 256 colors total, it cannot have 30-50 shades of
blue. Therefore, each of the 30-50 shades of blue map to one of the 6-12 nearest
shades of blue that are available in the rainbow palette. What would have been
many color bands shrinks down to a half dozen or so.

Dynamic Palette Management
--------------------------

Dynamic palette management is the process of taking into account the color
content of all objects native or foreign to your program and creating a palette
that best suits that combination of objects. This is the method PowerPoint (all
versions) employs. To do this, the program must scan the objects that are pasted
or embedded for colors.

Because the combination of many objects may have more colors than can fit in the
palette, there are many algorithms for choosing the best colors to omit from the
palette. These colors map to other colors in the palette. This allows pictures
with many similar colors (such as gradient fills) to get a better rendering.
PowerPoint uses this method of palette management. It is more complex than
static palette management. Applications that are not graphically driven may not
employ this technique.

No Palette Management
---------------------

The final method is to have no palette management at all. This causes your
program to behave as it would on a 16-color VGA system. It allows for 16
system-defined pure colors with every other color used being dithered. This is
what Word version 2.0 for Windows does.

One thing to note about PowerPoint pictures is that PowerPoint actually includes
a palette that matches the picture in its exported pictures. For this reason, a
PowerPoint slide embedded or pasted in Word 2.0 looks quite good. This is
because the picture itself would tell the system what colors to put in the
palette when the picture is displayed. However, multiple pictures on one page
could cause degradation between each other because there is no code to manage
the different pictures' palettes. Word 6.0 and Microsoft Excel 5.0 now override
these palettes with their own palette management, and therefore the pictures
themselves have no control of the system palette.

Microsoft applications that implement static palette management include:

- Word version 6.0 for Windows

- Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows

- Microsoft Excel version 5.0 for Windows

- Microsoft Access versions 1.0 and 1.1

- Works versions 3.0 and 4.0 for Windows

- Publisher version 2.0

Microsoft applications that don't implement any palette management include:

- Microsoft Word 97 for Windows

- Word version 2.0 for Windows

- Works version 2.0 for Windows

- Publisher versions 1.0 and 97

Additional query words: 2.00e 4.00a 4.00c ppt95 ppt7 word6 winword2 W_Winword W_Excel W_Access winppt W_MSPub W_Works banding ugly pallete palete poor macppt looks appears distorted cut garbage fuzzy dirty

======================================================================
Keywords          : kbgraphic kbinterop kbole kbdta 
Technology        : kbPowerPtSearch kbPowerPt95 kbZNotKeyword2 kbPowerPt95Search kbPowerPt400 kbPowerPt200 kbPowerPt300 kbPowerPt200e kbPowerPt400c kbPowerPt400a
Version           : WINDOWS:2.0,2.0e,3.0,4.0,4.0a,4.0c,7.0
Hardware          : x86
Issue type        : kbprb

=============================================================================

THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THE MICROSOFT KNOWLEDGE BASE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. MICROSOFT DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS OR SPECIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES SO THE FOREGOING LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY.