(READ FIRST) Linked image changes appearance after update

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Written by Julien | Updated

You are working with your team on a document, and when updating an Excel link, you notice the images generated changes in appearance in PowerPoint.

For example:

  • Your colleague exported a table in PowerPoint. When you update it, the image stretches.
  • The chart you exported yesterday changed size when you updated it.
  • The ratio of an exported image is wrong.

Why am I seeing this?

UpSlide is an Office add-in for a Windows environment. If we do our best to limit these unwanted behaviours, some parameters are unfortunately still influencing the exports because of the technology used. Exports are enhanced metafiles which is a Windows image file format. Parameters affecting display will therefore affect how those metafiles are generated and updated.

When coworking on a document, different settings between contributors will result in different aspects. For more information on how each may affect your results, you can click on the links to find out more.

  • UpSlide uses Office native copy/paste mode and the printer's driver to generate the images exported. A different default printer selected between team members can affect the aspect of an export.
  • The actual size of Excel content can be different on every machine based on Windows scale and display parameters, making the aspects in PowerPoint also dependent on the machine.
  • In UpSlide > Settings > Export, you can select different options to generate your exports. This will also affect the update.

How can I fix it?

To avoid differences between team members, we recommend all team members and co-author on a document set the same parameters:

  • In Windows' Display parameters, set the scaling of the primary display to the same percentage, and in Office, set the zoom level to the same amount.

Windows_display_scale.png

Zoom_level.png

  • In Office > File > Print, make sure everyone uses the same default printer. We recommend Microsoft Print to PDF as it is available by default.

Microsoft_Print_to_PDF.png

  • In UpSlide > Settings > Exports, Use team settings should be checked and all options should be the same.

Export.png

 

Some native discrepancies exist between the different Office applications. They aren't linked to co-authoring and can cause some slight differences in exporting between applications. Unfortunately, there is nothing to do to fix them.

If the problem persists with these settings, or if they are not applicable, please contact our support.