Trouble with Notes Master Layout

Question

Hi,

I created a PowerPoint template for an event using Office 2016 for Mac and the Notes master for that presentation looks fine, with the slide and the notes fitting neatly inside the page. When another user used this template to create her presentation on her computer (a PC), the Notes master got messed up with the slide becoming really enlarged and only showing partially on the screen and the notes going completely off the page. Any idea why this could have happened?

Once we corrected the Notes Master on her presentation the slide and notes fit back inside the page. However, the font size for the notes did not take the master's property and I had to go individually into each slide's Notes page to correct the font size. Any idea why resizing the font on the Notes master didn't work?

Thank you!

Arati

Answer 1

Hi,

I created a PowerPoint template for an event using Office 2016 for Mac and the Notes master for that presentation looks fine, with the slide and the notes fitting neatly inside the page. When another user used this template to create her presentation on her computer (a PC), the Notes master got messed up with the slide becoming really enlarged and only showing partially on the screen and the notes going completely off the page. Any idea why this could have happened?

Once we corrected the Notes Master on her presentation the slide and notes fit back inside the page. However, the font size for the notes did not take the master's property and I had to go individually into each slide's Notes page to correct the font size. Any idea why resizing the font on the Notes master didn't work?

Thank you!

Arati

I have a user with the same issue.  I was unable to fix the notes master page.  However, I created a new Powerpoint and added all the slides with the formatting from the original deck and was able to print the notes page.

Answer 2

Hi Gloria,

Thanks for checking on this! Here are my replies to your questions:

1. Did I miss any steps?

Actually, I didn't save my file as a .potx file. It was still a .pptx file AND I didn't add any notes to my version either. The notes field was blank.

2. Please share the version of your Office on Mac, product name and version of Office on Windows with me.

Mac version: 16.16

PC Version: Microsoft PowerPoint 2016 MSO (16.0.10325.20082)

3. Does the issue happen with Mac users? Does the issue happen to all Windows users?

When I look at the .pptx file I created on my Mac the Notes master looks fine. When I open that same .pptx on a PC, the Notes master looks fine.

When the second user opened my .pptx on their PC, and created their slides and shared that .pptx with me the Notes master is all messed up. The user says that they did not change anything to the presentation except adding content to the slides and adding in Notes.

4. Could you please capture some screenshots of the "mess up, enlarge and go completely off the pages" and the original notes master view in Office on your Mac which shows correctly?

I am attaching a screenshot of what the Notes Master looks like for my original .pptx and what it looks like on the one I received from the user.

Thank you so much for your help!

Arati

Answer 3

Hi Arati,

Thanks for your feedback.

First I would like to suggest you update your Office on Windows since you are using old versions in Monthly different Channels:

File tab> Account> Update Options> Update Now> Save your files and update.

I have tested to reproduce the issue following the steps you provided from my side and I cannot see the same behavior as yours.

When I edit in the .pptx file and see the result in Notes Master view in Excel on Windows, the background picture shows in the correct location.

Could you please send the file to me for test in Private Message?

In addition, could you please share the steps you created the .pptx file with me? For example, you just insert a picture as background in Notes Master view and save the file.

Best Regards,

Gloria

Answer 4

Gloria– just found out there were two users at the PC end:

PPT Online version on the client’s ShareFile site is build 16.0.10821.35628. 

PPT machine version 16.0.9126.2259.  MS Office 365 ProPlus.

Thanks!

Answer 5

Hi Arati,

I have tested to created a presentation and type some notes in notes master view in PowerPoint 2016 for Mac version 16.16, then I saved it to template (.potx format) and created a new presentation based on the template in PowerPoint 2016 on Windows. The notes I typed in PowerPoint on Mac shows correctly on Windows.

To better understand your situation and provide help for you, please help confirm the information below:

1. Did I miss any steps?
2. Please share the version of your Office on Mac, product name and version of Office on Windows with me.

On Mac: Click PowerPoint menu> About Microsoft PowerPoint> Version number like 16.16.

On Windows: Click File tab> Account> Product name like Office 365 ProPlus, version like 1807 Build 10325.20118 Monthly Channel.

3. Does the issue happen with Mac users? Does the issue happen to all Windows users?
4. Could you please capture some screenshots of the "mess up, enlarge and go completely off the pages" and the original notes master view in Office on your Mac which shows correctly?

Best Regards,

Gloria