Linking to PowerPoint
This article takes a look at a common task: presenting Excel charts in PowerPoint. By Liam Bastick, Director with SumProduct Pty Ltd.
Query
I regularly receive information in an Excel file, which I need to present in a PowerPoint document. Is there an easy way of exporting this information from Excel to PowerPoint?
Advice
I have seen this task performed in a variety of ways, using copy and paste, macros and add-ins developed by clients and / or ourselves. There is a very simple solution, however, which will allow you to link your Excel image in PowerPoint back to the source file.
It is noted that there is a PowerPoint option for a slide layout containing text and a chart object. This is not suitable for pasting an existing Excel chart and is only necessary if you wish to use Microsoft Chart for building a new graph from scratch. We will not consider this option here.
Instead, let’s consider an option that will update automatically, to allow for new categories, changes in numbers or even a change of chart type.
The first thing to do is set up your chart in Excel. An example could look something similar to the following work of fiction:
![](http://sumproduct-4634.kxcdn.com/assets/thought-files/e-m/image-01-redone-chart-setup-revised.gif)
Next, the chart should be selected and the copied in the usual way (e.g. click on the chart, right-click with the mouse and select ‘Copy’).
In PowerPoint select the slide which will be used to house the graphic and then:
PowerPoint 2003 and earlier
- Call up the Edit toolbar, Edit -> Paste Special… (ALT + E + S)
![](http://sumproduct-4634.kxcdn.com/assets/thought-files/e-m/image-02-ppt-03-paste-special.gif)
PowerPoint 2007 and later
- On the Ribbon, go to the ‘Home’ tab
- In the ‘Clipboard’ group, click on ‘Paste’ and then select ‘Paste Special…’ (ALT + H + V + S or ALT + E + S)
![](http://sumproduct-4634.kxcdn.com/assets/thought-files/e-m/image-03-ppt-07-paste-special.gif)
The ‘Paste Special dialog box’ now opens. On the left-hand side of the box, select the ‘Paste link’ option button and if more than one link type is displayed select ‘As Microsoft Office Excel Chart Object’, viz.
![](http://sumproduct-4634.kxcdn.com/assets/thought-files/e-m/image-04-paste-special-dialog-box.gif)
The text in the ‘Result’ section of the dialog box summarises this action: the picture may appear to be copied but in fact will actually be a link back to the source document.
Finally, clicking the ‘OK’ button will paste link the image into the desired PowerPoint slide:
![](http://sumproduct-4634.kxcdn.com/assets/thought-files/e-m/image-05-sp-example-powerpoint-slide.gif)
For this article, you get two example files to play with: the source Excel file and the resulting PowerPoint file. Given that these two files are attached separately, I need to explain how to preserve / fix the link (this can be pertinent if you have to e-mail the slides to someone else who wants to work on them too).
- Download and save both files to your computer first;
- Open PowerPoint and then open the saved PowerPoint file;
- Upon opening the file, you may get one of the following messages (PowerPoint’s security settings may need to be modified first: consult PowerPoint ‘Help’ as to how to do this if necessary):
PowerPoint 2003 and earlier
![](http://sumproduct-4634.kxcdn.com/assets/thought-files/e-m/image-06-ppt-03-update-links-300x49.gif)
![](http://sumproduct-4634.kxcdn.com/assets/thought-files/e-m/image-07-ppt-07-update-links-300x200.gif)
- Click on the ‘Update Links’ button;
- If the source Excel file cannot be found, or alternatively, to ensure that the file is linking correctly, open the ‘Links dialog box’ as follows:
PowerPoint 2003 and earlier
- Call up the Edit toolbar, Edit -> Links… (ALT + E + K)
![](http://sumproduct-4634.kxcdn.com/assets/thought-files/e-m/image-08-ppt-03-edit-links.gif)
PowerPoint 2007 and later
- On the Ribbon, click on the ‘Office Button’
- Select ‘Prepare’ from the left-hand column and then click on ‘Edit Links to Files’ (ALT + F + E + L or ALT + E + K)
![](http://sumproduct-4634.kxcdn.com/assets/thought-files/e-m/image-09-ppt-07-edit-links1.gif)
- Select the (non-existent) link, click on the ‘Change Source…’ button and then select the saved Excel file, pressing ‘OK’ afterwards.
![](http://sumproduct-4634.kxcdn.com/assets/thought-files/e-m/image-10-links-change-source.gif)