SimpleDim helps you set a scale and units for each slide in your PowerPoint. This is foundational to being able to make to-scale drawings and plans.
There are two ways to set scales and units in SimpleDim. They’re both easy but serve slightly different needs. Let’s take a look at how to do it.
Set Scale For A Slide
The first and most basic way to set a scale for a slide is to, well, press the “Set Scale” button in the ribbon.
This button activates a dialog that lets you set what length each ruler increment of 1 inch (a Powerpoint Inch, or “Pinch”) should be equal to.
Note a couple things here: You’re saying here that 1 Slide Inch, i.e. the distance shown on the ruler along the top and side of the slide, should be equal to X distance, in the unit measure that you select. The units could be inches, feet, yards, miles, nautical miles, millimeters, centimeters, meters, or kilometers.
If your regional settings are for metric areas, then the scales will be set in terms of “slide centimeters.” Otherwise the functionality will be the same.
Then press OK. And that’s it! The slide scale is now set.
SimpleDim will give you a confirmation dialog so you can see what you did.
Set Scale From Line
Another way to set the scale is from a known distance on a slide. Suppose you have a drawing or plan that you want to mark up in PowerPoint.
You can copy and paste a screenshot of the layout into PowerPoint.
Then find a known distance. In this picture, it’s the scale that Google Maps provides. Insert a line on the known distance (1).
Then go to the SimpleDim menu and press the “Set Scale From line” button. Input the known distance and the desired units:
Click Ok. Then SimpleDim will confirm that the slide scale is set.
This will indicate that the scale has been set.
Confirm And View The Scale Through Settings
Periodically you may wish to view the scale of a slide. You may be working in a presentation that someone else built and want to see the scale.
To do this, open the ribbon and click on the Settings button:
This will open a task pane on the right side of the application.
The scale will be visible toward the top of the pane as shown :
This is where you can view the current slide’s scale and units.
Wrap-up
And that’s how to set scales, set units, and check which scales have been set. You can do it from either a blank-slate scale set, or from a known distance. The scale can be changed again the same way.
Give it a try by going to SimpleDim.com and downloading the free trial. Let us know what you think!