Total newbie slide presentation problem

My first effort running powerpoint 2010. Got 40 slides that show images scrunched up and squashed vertically. I have tried sync and tracking with no improvement. I have tried all resolutions with the same result. The images show up fine in program mode but in slide show mode it changes proportions. Any suggestions appreciated. I am steep into the learning curve guys. Thanks!

Hi James,

welcome to the 123PPT Community and the PowerPoint Forum.

I'm not sure I totally follow your post James...so if you clarify a few points I can hopefully assist you. When you write "40 slides that show images scrunched up and squashed vertically. I have tried sync and tracking with no improvement."

Are you running the slide show on a television monitor or off a PC? Is the PowerPoint presentation running as a PPT file or off a DVD or other hard copy format media?

I ask James as I wonder what you mean by " I have tried sync and tracking with no improvement."

James, sounds to me that this is very much a resolution issue.

Your Epson projector most likely is set to a different aspect ratio than your PC.

If you right click your desktop the dialogue properties box displays. click the tab that says "Settings". The display settings for your monitor (pc screen) is most likely set to either 1024x768 or 1280x1024 if your laptop or pc is running in 4:3 aspect ratio.

It may well be that your projector is set in 16:9 (widescreen mode) and so is running in for example 1280x768 or something as high as 1920x1080.

This will create problems such as "squashing" and those issues you describe James because of the different apsect ratios being used.

The aspect ratio of your PC needs to be set to the same as that of your projector. (Since it is projectors which generally have greater limitation and less flexibility).

View the various output settings of your projector and select the highest output setting. Typically it is 1024x768 for older projectors and up to 1920x1080 (High-Definition or HD) for newer ones. If your projector is a widescreen projector and your PC has a widescreen monitor set both to the same resolution.

If your laptop or PC is in widescreen moed but your projector is 4:3 apsect ratio then adjust your screen display properties to the same size as the projector. It may look "strange" on your laptop but if your laptop screen is a widescreen and your projector is not then you must set your laptop screen to a 4:3 mode (1024x768 or 1280x1024 for example) in order to ensure that what you are seeing on your laptop is what you will see on your projector.

From your further explanation James, it's almost certain that your laptop pc and your projector are not in the same aspect ratio and so what looks good on your pc (as you author it) becomes distorted and squashed or stretched on your projector as it displays the signal in a differing aspect ratio.

Check the output settings of your projector first then adjust your pc accordingly to it. You will almost certainly have to adjust/ scale various objects in your presentation in order to have them display correctly in the new aspect ratio setting. Since this is determined by your projector, unfortunately this you must do unless you purchase a new projector that can match the aspect ratio display settings of your current pc setup.