Microsoft Office Reference Guide

Opazity: PowerPoint for Lazy People

Last updated Apr 4, 2008.

In our reviews of the features of PowerPoint 2007, we have focused on the array of new graphics effects and features that purport to make it unnecessary to use a third party graphics tool like PhotoShop to create professional effects.

But another phenomenon has emerged. As my colleague Geetesh Bajaj of Indezine has pointed out, "The new versions of PowerPoint seem to have everything apart from the kitchen sink — but yet, it’s amazing to see vendors create small add-ins that provide an impressive capability that PowerPoint lacks."

Geetesh co-wrote the Makeover Guide for PowerPoint 2007 that covers many of its special effects with Echo Swinford; I reviewed it in an earlier update and it is available on Safari.

One of these little add-ins is a British product called Opazity, and what's neat is that it can be used with versions of PowerPoint back to 2000, and even Windows 98SE — but then it is also compatible with the latest editions of Office 2007 and Vista.

And it's not like you may not have seen some of the effects from Opazity before — it's just that it took seasoned pros hours or days to create them and now anyone can do them in minutes or seconds using this tool.

I decided to try the product on PowerPoint 2003 on my desktop. It installs as an addition toolbar which you can keep docked or separate. In PowerPoint 2007 it's in the Add-In tab of the Ribbon.

Here's how you create a simple blurred effect over an image. You simply create an AutoShape over the image and open the Opazity tool. Select the options you want for the blur, with a preview, and click OK.

Next you give the AutoShape an Exit effect so that the blurred shape gives way to the clear picture underneath. For more on animation, see my series on Advanced Animation Techniques.

In this case it reveals the first frame of a movie, which I can now click and play.

If you examine the Opazity dialog box you see two real time preview sliders — one for Sharpness (or blur) and another for Opaqueness (transparency). (While transparency is available directly within PowerPoint it is not used very often because it is well hidden).

What I like about the Opazity web site is that it provides short video tutorials on specific tasks that can be done with Opazity that will stimulate your own creativity.

For example, by simply placing text, like the title of the presentation over the AutoShape with the effect, and placing both over the image to be revealed, you can get a very nice opening sequence by giving the AutoShape a slow Exit Fade animation.

Again, you could have done the same thing by reading a PowerPoint Tips and Tricks book — one way would be by creating two identical slides — one with the photo blurred or transparent and the other with it clear, and putting a Transition effect in between.

But this is a good deal easier and requires less thinking.

When you consider that you can try Opazity for free and buy it for $47 the ease on wear and tear on your noodle is palpable.

Another cool use of the tool is to reveal bullets or diagram objects element by element.

PowerPoint aficionados will also appreciate this tool because masters have used it to good effect and you can deconstruct their work. If you watch the final two videos in the Opazity preview, you will be blown away by techniques that are striking but easy to implement. They rival some of the techniques of master animators like Glen Millar. But they don't require long sequences of Custom Animation or forays into PhotoShop — everything can be done with Opazity and its effects on images and AutoShapes.

Again what is cool about this tool is the way the publisher explains its use for specific tasks — like calling attention to specific elements in your slide.

I have previously used drawing objects in PowerPoint to do this for static objects; for example it is impossible to animate specific areas of a scanned chart. Therefore using a circle with no Fill or an arrow and animating its entrance can call attention to specific areas (like a laser pointer in the hand of a presenter, although that would not show in handouts).

With Opazity these highlights can be more dramatic by changing the luminosity of certain portions of a static image.

I also liked the fact that Opazity brings out areas of Custom Animation that many users ignore — like the Exit effects. In many ways have blurs or transparent areas leave a slide and reveal what was underneath can be more effective than using the more popular Entrance effects.

If you try and like Opazity, you might also want to investigate another product from the same publisher, Perspector, which does for 3D effects what Opazity does for images. It's a bit more pricey but if you like the ability to change the shape of AutoShapes and charts, it's pretty cool.

Both of these tools essentially bring some of the effects and pzazz of PowerPoint 2007 to previous versions and, of course, when combined with PowerPoint 2007, give you an amazing bag or tricks.

InformIT Articles and Sample Chapters

Implementing Professional Design Principles in Your PowerPoint Presentations

Creating Photoshop Images in Layers

Books and eBooks

Special Edition Using Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007 by Patrice-Anne Rutledge, Geetesh Bajaj

Microsoft® Office PowerPoint® 2007 Quick Reference Guide: Beta Preview (Digital Short Cut) By Greg Perry