Converting PowerPoint 2003 graphs to look good in PowerPoint 2007

About two weeks ago I switched from PowerPoint 2003 to PowerPoint 2007 when I got a new laptop. I’ve now delivered a few presentations using PowerPoint 2007 and I’ve noticed that the graphs I created in PowerPoint 2003 didn’t look very good when I presented them. The text wasn’t clear and the lines or columns were not crisp. I did some tinkering and discovered that PowerPoint 2007 needs to convert your PowerPoint 2003 graphs in order to display them well. Just click on each graph in the presentation and when the dialog box comes up asking you to convert the graph, agree to convert it to the PowerPoint 2007 format. You will see a noticeable difference in the quality of the graphs when projected.

The other issue I found after I converted the graphs is that some of them did not print very well on a black and white printer. I always create black and white handouts instead of colour because it is so much cheaper to print. But I could hardly even see some of the graphs when I printed them using the Pure Black and White print option. I ended up having to change the Chart Style to one that has borders around the bars in order to get the outline of the bar or pie wedge to be visible when printed. I also ended up having to change some of the fill colours in order to make the printout visible. After you convert your graphs, take a look at what they look like in the Print Preview mode to ensure that the handout will be readable.