Export to PowerPoint / Word
Overview
One of Macabacus' most popular features is exporting linked Excel ranges and charts to PowerPoint and Word with a professional look, overcoming the limitations of using native Office functionality to paste Excel data into presentations and documents.
Export vs. Import
You can either export Excel data from within Excel or import Excel data from within PowerPoint/Word—the results are identical. We will focus on exporting here to simplify the language in discussing these features.
Export Ranges
In Excel, useMacabacus > Export > Quick Export to PowerPoint orMacabacus > Export > Quick Export to Word . In PowerPoint and Word, use Macabacus > Import > Excel .
Export as Image
Exports the selected cell range to PowerPoint/Word as an enhanced metafile image. This method is preferred for multi-cell ranges as it provides reliable visual results and smaller file sizes compared to embedding workbooks.
Macabacus can automatically hide undesirable features, such as error indicators, comment indicators, Page Break Preview borders, and table sorting arrows, ensuring they do not appear in PowerPoint/Word without affecting the original source range.
Export as Table
Exports the selected cell range to PowerPoint/Word as a table, which is useful if you plan to format the data independently from the source workbook. This method has some limitations:
- Formatting Inconsistencies: PowerPoint and Word tables have different and more limited formatting options compared to Excel, which may cause inconsistencies.
- Extra Columns: Exporting ranges with Center Across Selection alignment may insert extra columns due to a PowerPoint bug, noticeable when pasting natively with Keep Source Formatting.
- Performance Issues: Exporting large ranges with the recolor fonts option enabled may slow down the process.
Export as Embedded Workbook
Exports the selected cell range to PowerPoint/Word as an embedded workbook, allowing direct data changes. This is generally not recommended because:
- Data Manipulation: Data should be manipulated at its source.
- File Size: Embedded workbooks can increase file size.
- Unexpected Results: Making direct data changes and then trying to refresh the linked range may produce unexpected results.
Export as Text
Exports the text from a single cell inline with other text at the cursor position in PowerPoint/Word. This is useful when writing memos containing data sourced from your spreadsheets that can be updated with just a few mouse clicks.
PowerPoint and Word behave differently when creating inline text links due to fundamental differences in how Microsoft built these applications. When you export inline text to PowerPoint, the imported text must be hyperlinked to store information about the link. While PowerPoint does not allow the removal of hyperlink formatting altogether, Macabacus lets you configure hyperlink font and underline colors in theGeneral > Import/Export section of the Settings dialog.
You can specify a hyperlink font color for all text links or select the No Color option to match the text link font color to the adjacent text. To best conceal the hyperlink underline, select your slide's background color. Note that this will not mask the hyperlink in shapes with different fill colors or on slides with varied backgrounds. PowerPoint's formatting limitations mean the linked text (i.e., hyperlinks) will always feature an underline unless the links are broken.
Given PowerPoint provides limited ability to format hyperlinks further, the linked text will always feature an underline - unless the links are broken. As a workaround, when you are ready to finalize your presentation, click the Macabacus > Links > More Linking Tools > Remove Hyperlinks button to remove all Macabacus hyperlinks from the presentation. This breaks all inline text links in the presentation and cannot be undone (aside from using Undo promptly afterward).
If you prefer to keep a copy of the presentation with text links intact, save the linked presentation when it is finalized and then create a duplicate presentation with text links broken. Consider naming the duplicate presentation to indicate that its text links are broken (e.g., Presentation1_BrokenLinks.PPTX).
Word does not use hyperlinks for inline text linking and is not subject to the same formatting limitation.
Exports the selected cell range to PowerPoint/Word as a chart. This method can be useful if you prefer not to create the chart in your workbook. However, it is generally best practice to create and format the chart in your workbook before exporting it.
Due to an apparent PowerPoint bug, charts created in this manner may become "zeroed-out" after reopening a presentation. This bug seems to affect only some environments, particularly SharePoint environments.
Export Charts
Export the selected chart to PowerPoint/Word as an SVG graphic. This option preserves the exact appearance of charts in Excel, supports lossless scaling (resizing without distortion), and minimizes file size. This is our recommended method of exporting charts.
At this time, PowerPoint and Word only support pasting charts (not cells) as SVG graphics.
Exports the selected chart to PowerPoint/Word as a chart. It also preserves the ability to format resulting charts directly in PowerPoint/Word, which is not generally recommended but may be desirable in some scenarios. This method may also produce less reliable visual results than the graphic option.
Export as Picture
Exports the selected chart to PowerPoint/Word as an enhanced metafile picture. This method produces a reliable and expected visual result, but may be affected by Windows/Office image quality issues.
Export as Embedded Workbook
Exports the selected chart to PowerPoint/Word as an embedded workbook. This option allows you to make changes directly to the underlying data/chart from within PowerPoint/Word. However, this is not generally recommended because (a) chart data should be manipulated at its source and (b) embedded workbooks may bloat the presentation/document file size. Additionally, making changes directly in the embedded workbook can lead to unexpected behavior when refreshing the linked chart.
Export Behavior
Active Presentation / Document / Workbook
When exporting from Excel and multiple presentations/documents are open, Macabacus pastes the exported cell range/chart from into the active presentation/document. When importing from Excel in either PowerPoint or Word, Macabacus will choose the range/chart selected in the active Excel workbook.
Destination Shapes
A shape that is selected in PowerPoint or Word upon an import/export operation is called the "destination shape." Whether or not a destination shape is selected, and the type of destination shape, if any, determines placement and sizing of the pasted range/chart on the destination slide or in the destination document.
PowerPoint Placement
What is a Placeholder?
To understand destination shapes in PowerPoint, it is important to understand PowerPoint placeholders. In PowerPoint, a placeholder is a box with a dotted outline, designed for placing content on the slide. Placeholders are most commonly used for text, but there are other types of placeholders for different content. Text placeholders usually contain placeholder text that disappears when you begin typing. A placeholder can only accept the type of content for which it is designed. For example, you cannot place a picture in a text placeholder; there are other types of placeholders for pictures.
The placement of pasted objects in PowerPoint follows these rules:
Selected Destination Shape:
The pasted object (e.g., picture, table) is inserted at the top left position of the selected destination shape.
Placeholder That Accepts the Object:
If the destination shape is a placeholder that accepts the type of shape being pasted, the object is inserted into the placeholder.
Placeholder That Does Not Accept the Object:
If the destination shape is a placeholder that does not accept the type of shape being pasted, the object is positioned on top of the placeholder.
Non-Placeholder Shape:
If the destination shape is not a placeholder but another type of shape, the pasted object replaces the destination shape, and the destination shape is deleted.
No Destination Shape Selected:
If no destination shape is selected, the pasted object is placed either at the center or top left corner of the slide, depending on your import/export settings
Refreshing Linked Shapes in Placeholders
When you place a shape in a placeholder and then resize or move it, the containing placeholder stretches and moves with the shape. If you delete the shape, the placeholder resets immediately, snapping back into position as defined on the slide's layout. This is native PowerPoint behavior.
Consequently, when you resize or move a linked shape contained in a placeholder and then refresh the shape's link, the refreshed shape may return to the size and position of the containing placeholder. This happens because Macabacus typically deletes the original shape (resetting the placeholder) and replaces it with a new one.
If you find this behavior undesirable, you can (a) modify your slides' layouts to better accommodate your content, (b) choose a more appropriate layout, or (c) avoid exporting into placeholders. The native behavior described above supports the "best practices" view that content in placeholders should generally not be resized or repositioned.
Word Placement
The placement of pasted objects in Word follows these rules:
Selected Destination Shape (Inline Shape):
If a destination shape is selected and it is an inline shape, the pasted object is inserted at the same point as the destination shape, and the destination shape will be deleted.
Selected Destination Shape (Floated Shape):
If a destination shape is selected and it is a floated shape, the pasted object is inserted at the same top left coordinates as the destination shape, and the destination shape will be deleted.
No Destination Shape Selected:
If no destination shape is selected, the pasted object is placed either inline with text at the cursor or floated over text, depending on your import/export settings.
Destination Shape is a Table:
If the destination shape is a table and more than one cell—or the entire table—is selected, the placement rules described above apply.
If a single cell in a Word table is selected, the pasted object is inserted into that cell.
Size Matching
When a destination shape is selected in PowerPoint or Word, you can match the width, height, both width and height, or neither dimension of the pasted object to the destination shape. These options are set with checkboxes labeled Width and Height on the Macabacus tab in the Import group in PowerPoint and Word, and in theExport group in Excel. If no destination shape is selected, pasted objects will be inserted at their original sizes.
Exporting Pictures
When exporting charts or cells to PowerPoint/Word as pictures, Macabacus changes the source sheet's zoom level to 100% before copying, then restores it after the operation. This can cause differences in the exported picture if your zoom level was not already set to 100%, as text wrapping and chart elements may display differently. To prevent this, ensure your chart or cells appear correctly at 100% zoom before exporting.
If exported pictures are cut off (missing rows or columns), it may be a native Office issue. To confirm, copy the cell range as a picture natively (Home > Copy > Copy as Picture ) and paste it into PowerPoint/Word (Ctrl+V ). Select the native Format > Picture option and the Appearance option that matches your Macabacus settings (described below) in the Copy Picture dialog. If you observe the same result, the issue is likely native to Office or related to your video hardware/drivers, which we cannot troubleshoot. If not, email us the affected workbook and we can try to reproduce the issue and troubleshoot the problem.
Picture quality is determined by Office, Windows, and/or other software or hardware, not Macabacus. Macabacus uses native copy/paste methods, so the result should be the same as copying and pasting natively. To resolve picture quality issues, try changing your screen resolution, putting Excel and PowerPoint/Word on the same display, using consistent screen resolution and font scaling for all displays, and ensuring correct screen resolution for docked workstations.
Export Options
The General > Import / Export section of the Settings dialog lets you specify a number of behavioral and formatting preferences. Note that some settings may impact export speed, which can be an important consideration when refreshing a large number of links.
Recolor Fonts
A properly built spreadsheet will color code fonts to communicate the role and/or nature of cell contents (e.g., Macabacus' AutoColors). However, these colors usually have no place in your presentation materials and Word documents. With this option enabled, Macabacus recolors fonts in exported cells that use Recolor colors to your default font color (usually black) upon exporting, without affecting colors in the source workbook.
Export speed
Exporting large cell ranges with this option enabled may noticeably slow the export operation.
Merged Cells
When exporting cell ranges to Word, specifically, as a table object and the exported range contains merged cells, Macabacus cannot recolor fonts due to Word limitations.
Remove Gridlines
The use of gridlines in Excel is a personal preference, but most would agree that they don't belong in presentation materials. This options hides gridlines in cells exported as a picture without affecting the visibility of gridlines in the source workbook.
Remove Outer Border
Remove any outer border on an exported Excel chart prior to pasting into PowerPoint and Word, without affecting the appearance of the chart in the source workbook.
Scale Chart Fonts
When exporting a chart from Excel to PowerPoint or Word as a chart object, and the pasted chart object is resized to match the size of a destination shape , you may observe that, while the chart itself is resized properly, data labels and other fonts on the chart appear too big or too small. If this occurs, enable this option to additionally scale font sizes to better conform to the resized chart. You can specify minimum and maximum font sizes for pasted chart objects for Macabacus to use when scaling fonts.
Check for Formula Errors
Scan cells being exported for formula errors (e.g., #DIV/0!). If any errors are found, Macabacus will notify you to help you avoid embarrassing mistakes in your PowerPoint and Word outputs. Disabling this option may improve link refresh performance.
Copy Appearance
When exporting a range/chart as a picture, you can specify whether you want the picture to resemble its display on screen, or appear as it will look when printed. In practice, there may be little or no visual difference between the two, but in general the "screen" option produces a higher quality visual result, albeit a bit more slowly. Speed can be an important consideration when refreshing links.
Macabacus uses the native Copy as Picture method to create pictures when exporting, so this setting is actually a native setting described further in Microsoft's own documentation.
If you have multiple users refreshing the same links, ensure that they all use the same Copy Appearance setting to ensure consistent picture quality.
Switch to Target Application
When exporting ranges/charts from within Excel to PowerPoint or Word and this option is enabled, Macabacus will switch to the destination presentation or document upon export.
PowerPoint Placement
When exporting cells/charts to PowerPoint and no destination shape is selected, you can specify whether pasted objects are inserted at the center of the slide or at the top left corner of the slide.
Word Placement
When exporting cells/charts to Word and no destination shape is selected, you can specify whether you want the pasted object inserted in line with text or floated over text.
Quick Export
Quick Export allows you to export Excel cells or charts to PowerPoint or Word using convenient keyboard shortcuts, or corresponding buttons on the Macabacus tab in theExport group.
Match Width
Paste the selected Excel range or chart into the default target application, matching the width of any destination shape and scaling height to maintain a constant aspect ratio. If no destination shape is selected, the pasted object will be inserted at its original size.
Match Height
Paste the selected Excel range or chart into the default target application, matching the height of any destination shape and scaling width to maintain a constant aspect ratio. If no destination shape is selected, the pasted object will be inserted at its original size.
Match Size
Paste the selected Excel range or chart into the default target application, matching both the width and height of any destination shape. If no destination shape is selected, the pasted object will be inserted at its original size. This is generally not a good option when exporting cells and charts as pictures, because of the potential for image distortion.
Match None
Paste the selected Excel range or chart into the default target application, without matching dimensions of any destination shape, and instead inserting the pasted object at its original size.
Default Options
The Quick Export options are configured underGeneral > Import/Export > PowerPoint/Word in the Macabacus settings dialogue.
You can then set your defaults for importing/exporting ranges of cells and charts. With these defaults, you can then quickly export using either theQuick Export to PowerPoint orQuick Export to Word buttons, or via the Quick Export keyboard shortcuts.
This documentation refers to the latest Macabacus version. Some features and descriptions of these features may not apply to older versions of Macabacus. Update your Macabacus software to take advantage of the latest features.