Install the Flash Player - Flash Movies in PowerPoint 2007

Show Developer tab on the PowerPoint 2007 ribbon Note - Click for Insert Flash Movies into PowerPoint 2003 and earlier Before You Can Add Flash Movies

If the Flash Player is not installed on your computer already, you will need to do so. Choose the version for your operating system and preferred browser.
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Flash Player for most operating systems.

You will need to have the Developer tab showing on the ribbon. 1. Click the Office button. 2. Click the PowerPoint Options button. 3. In the PowerPoint Options dialog box, select the Popular option from the list on the left. 4. Make sure the box is checked beside Show Developer tab in the Ribbon. 5. Click OK to apply the option.

Integrate Flash with PowerPoint 2007

More Controls button on the Developer tab of the PowerPoint 2007 ribbon Wendy Russell Flash Animations This tutorial will show you how to insert a Flash movie into your PowerPoint 2007 presentation. Flash movies are animations and are created primarily in the program Adobe Flash (formerly Macromedia Flash), but other programs also have the capability of saving or exporting their finished products in a Flash movie format. These Flash movie files are typically small file sizes so they are perfect to use in PowerPoint 2007 presentations and on Web sites. Special thanks to Sandi Bumstead for the idea, her expertise, and the sample Flash movie used in this article.
Note - It is very important that all components of your PowerPoint 2007 presentation are located in the same folder. If necessary, copy your Flash movie to the same folder that contains your PowerPoint presentation.

1. Open an existing PowerPoint presentation or start a new presentation. 2. Navigate to the slide that will contain your Flash movie. 3. Click on the Developer tab of the ribbon.

4. In the Controls section of the ribbon, click on the More Controls button (it looks like a hammer and wrench).

More Controls Dialog Box in PowerPoint 2007

Shockwave Flash Object in the More Controls dialog box of PowerPoint 2007 Wendy Russell More Controls Dialog Box 1. In the More Controls dialog box, scroll in the alphabetical list of objects and click on Shockwave Flash Object. 2. Click OK. 3. Your mouse cursor will change to a + (plus sign) on the slide.

4. Draw a Container for the Flash Object

5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

Draw a container on the PowerPoint slide for the Flash object Wendy Russell Draw a Rectangle on the Slide Drag your mouse to form a rectangle on the slide. When you let go of the mouse, you will see a box with a large X through the rectangle. This is the container for your Flash movie, which will appear when all steps are complete. 10. Use the selection handles to resize the box if necessary.

Locate the Folder Containing the Flash Movie

Locate the Flash movie folder Wendy Russell Find the Flash Movie Right now, we need to get the complete file name of the Flash movie, including the path to the file.

Back in Step 2, you had created a folder and copied your Flash file to that folder. 1. Using My Computer, locate the folder containing the Flash movie file. The extension SWF on the end of the file name, indicates to your computer that this is a Flash movie. o The term path, with reference to a file name, means the complete folder structure that contains the file, as well as the file name.

2. Note - DO NOT click on the movie file in the list of file names. That will cause the movie to open, which is not what we are interested in. We only need to know the file name and its location right now.

The Complete Flash Movie File Name

Add the Flash movie filename to the filename path Wendy Russell Flash Movie File Name Path 1. In the Address text box, click your mouse at the end of the text. In the example above, the path to the folder is C:\WR Documents\Flash Movies 2. Type a backslash ( \ )at the end of the current path followed by the actual file name of your Flash movie. In my example the final product will be C:\WR Documents\Flash Movies\my_flash_movie.swf

3. Copy all the text in this text box in preparation for the next step. This is the complete file name path to your Flash movie. 4. Close the window. The file name is now copied to the clipboard, waiting for the next step.

Shockwave Flash Object Properties

Click the Build button to insert the Flash movie into PowerPoint Wendy Russell Back to the Shockwave Flash Object 1. Restore the PowerPoint 2007 window to full screen, if necessary. 2. Right click on the large rectangle with the X in the middle (the container for the Flash movie) and choose Properties from the shortcut menu. 3. When the Properties dialog box opens, click (Custom) at the top of the list. 4. Click on the ... button beside (Custom). This is called the Build button.
Note - If you are missing the (Custom) entry at the top of the Properties dialog box, this article on Problems Inserting Flash Movies in PowerPoint will take you through the steps to make the necessary entries manually.

Flash Movie Property Pages Dialog Box

Paste the filename path of the Flash movie Wendy Russell Insert the Flash Movie URL The Property Pages dialog box opens, showing properties for your Flash movie. 1. Paste the path to your .SWF file into the Movie URL text box. This is the file name path you copied in Step 6. 2. Add a check mark beside Embed Movie. Choose any other properties that you would like for your Flash movie. 3. Click OK. 4. Save your presentation.

Test Your Flash Movie in PowerPoint 2007

Flash Movie in PowerPoint 2007 Flash Movie Sandi Bumstead, used with permission It's Show Time Note - Your Flash movie may or may not show in the container you created, at this time. The large X may still show until you have run the slide show for the first time.

To test this one slide only o Click on the Slide Show tab of the ribbon o Select From Current Slide o Or press the keyboard shortcut key combination Shift + F5.

To run the complete slide show o Click on the Slide Show tab of the ribbon o Select From Beginning o Or press the F5 key on the keyboard.

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Are You Missing the (Custom) Setting in the Flash Object Properties?

(Custom) option missing in Shockwave Flash Properties dialog box Screen shot Wendy Russell No (Custom) Setting in Flash Object Properties Several readers have written to say that they were having trouble with the Properties dialog box when trying to insert their Flash movie. The (Custom) setting is missing. Refer to ~

Insert Flash in PowerPoint 2007 Insert Flash in PowerPoint (versions 2003 and earlier)

The (Custom) setting is really a helper of sorts, making it easier to add the proper information. Why this setting suddenly disappears is anyone's guess. However, all is not lost. You must simply add the information to the dialog box manually.

Set the Flash Object Properties Manually

Shockwave Flash object properties settings Screen shot Wendy Russell Flash Object Properties
Important Note - Make sure that all components of your presentation, including any photos and sounds as well as your Flash movie are in the same folder.

Referring to the screen shot above of Properties dialog box for the Shockwave Flash object, make the following settings. 1. EmbedMovie - Set this to True to make sure that your Flash movie always stays with your presentation. 2. Height - The Height measurement that is listed here, is the height of the box that you drew to insert the Flash movie. If you want your movie to be a specific height, enter that number here (pixels). 3. Loop - Set this option to True if you want the Flash movie to play continuously. (As an side note, I have found that this Loop function is not always reliable.)

4. Movie - Type the complete path to your Flash movie. The path is the file name including the folder structure. For example, the path to my Flash movie is - C:\WR Documents\Flash Movies\my_flash_movie.swf 5. Playing - Set this option to True. This will ensure that the Flash movie will play the next time you enter this PowerPoint presentation. If the setting is left at "False", your Flash movie may not play the next time you open this presentation. (It seems to be a finicky setting if left at "False" -- I found that sometimes my Flash movie played a small portion of the movie and other times it did not play at all.) 6. Width - The Width measurement that is listed, is the width of the box that you drew to insert the Flash movie. If you want your movie to be a specific width, enter that number here (pixels).

Test Your Flash Movie in PowerPoint

Flash Movie in PowerPoint Flash Movie Sandi Bumstead, used with permission It's Show Time Note - Your Flash movie may or may not show in the container you created, at this time. The large X may still show until you have run the slide show for the first time.
PowerPoint 2007

To test this one slide only o Click on the Slide Show tab of the ribbon

o o

Select From Current Slide Or press the keyboard shortcut key combination Shift + F5.

To run the complete slide show o Click on the Slide Show tab of the ribbon o Select From Beginning o Or press the F5 key on the keyboard.

PowerPoint 2003 (and earlier)

To test this one slide only, press the keyboard shortcut key combination Shift + F5. To run the complete slide show, choose Slide Show > View Show from the menu, or press the F5 key on the keyboard.