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#1
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PowerPoint Editing Security
I develop Fire Department Training Materials on PowerPoint and I am looking
for a solution to a couple of unique problems. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Currently my customers receive the .PPT file in its native format and they are allowed to make changes in order to customize it to their department (Pictures, Operating Procedures etc.) Since this ability to customize the program is an important feature I do not wish to prevent this. I would however like to make it so the image I use for the background cannot be modified or removed. It contains our logo and copyright info and I would prefer that it stay there. Is there any way to prevent this from occurring will still allowing edits to the other information (essentially allow limited edits) Secondly, is there a way to imbed any type of licensing requirement into the ..PPT itself? I would like to prevent it from being given away to other departments that haven’t paid for it. I have found several licensing products that work with .exe files but if I use any of the programs available to make that conversion to an .exe file (that I have found) you lose the ability to make changes. They do allow for a conversion back to a .PPT file (with the proper password) but once that happens they do not automatically convert back to an .exe file when it is resaved. This prevents the licensing software from functioning. I am beginning to think that there is no way to get around this but I figured I would toss it out there and see. Thanks…. |
#2
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Security, copy protection, etc. is definitely a big problem.
I can't think of anything that would allow you to protect one part and allow changes to another part, except you might try this (it's clumbsy I know): For the parts you definitely want to remain unchanged, put in your edit password. In this file link to editable companion files that are previously set up and are not password protected. All the files will have to travel together in one folder to remain linked. In the editable files you might have links back to the original file (or these might just be "end show" in some set ups). None of this addresses copy protection, look up Shyam's copy protection if you want a good self-extracting .exe style set up. But then that probably would cancel out the above. LOL, let us know if you figure out something, a lot of people are probably interested in this and have the same frustrations as you. Pete "haz9mat" wrote: I develop Fire Department Training Materials on PowerPoint and I am looking for a solution to a couple of unique problems. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Currently my customers receive the .PPT file in its native format and they are allowed to make changes in order to customize it to their department (Pictures, Operating Procedures etc.) Since this ability to customize the program is an important feature I do not wish to prevent this. I would however like to make it so the image I use for the background cannot be modified or removed. It contains our logo and copyright info and I would prefer that it stay there. Is there any way to prevent this from occurring will still allowing edits to the other information (essentially allow limited edits) Secondly, is there a way to imbed any type of licensing requirement into the .PPT itself? I would like to prevent it from being given away to other departments that haven’t paid for it. I have found several licensing products that work with .exe files but if I use any of the programs available to make that conversion to an .exe file (that I have found) you lose the ability to make changes. They do allow for a conversion back to a .PPT file (with the proper password) but once that happens they do not automatically convert back to an .exe file when it is resaved. This prevents the licensing software from functioning. I am beginning to think that there is no way to get around this but I figured I would toss it out there and see. Thanks…. |
#3
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For the background, you could use Format/Background/Fill Effects/Picture for
the background. This of course means that you would have to create an image of the background in order to be able to insert it in this manner. To do so, take an existing presentation with that background, create a blank slide, and do a File/Save As. Select PNG and save only the current slide when prompted. Now go back and go to View/Slide Master and do Format/Background/Fill Effects/Picture. Navigate to the PNG you just created and select it. This embeds that image in the background of the master slide. It will not prevent someone from replacing the image. It will also not really prevent them from changing the image (anyone determined to do so would find a way regardless), but it will make it a little harder. As for the licensing, what about giving each presentation a "modify" password? Each department would receive the password when they pay for the software. Kinda like a software key/code, although it wouldn't be unique -- and that makes it really easy for one dept to just give the presentation and the key or just the unlocked presentation to another dept. I suppose you could create an individual password for each department, but they can easily change it once they receive the file and resave it, so I wouldn't bother. Another issue with this method is that presentations with passwords cannot be opened in PPT 97 and 2000. They can of course be *viewed* with the free PPT 2003 Viewer, but in order to be able to make any changes, the departments would need to be using PPT 2002 (aka PPT XP) or 2003. I hope others have more ideas about the rest of the protection issues, as I'll also be interested in reading them. I know that my clients don't really like it when I tell them "No, you can't allow people to make changes to some of the slides but not to others. You can't allow them to delete some slides but not others. With PPT it's pretty much all or nothing." (Yeah, okay, so we've been ingenious to let them make changes to some slides but not others, but it's not really the ideal situation.) -- Echo [MS PPT MVP] http://www.echosvoice.com "haz9mat" wrote in message ... I develop Fire Department Training Materials on PowerPoint and I am looking for a solution to a couple of unique problems. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Currently my customers receive the .PPT file in its native format and they are allowed to make changes in order to customize it to their department (Pictures, Operating Procedures etc.) Since this ability to customize the program is an important feature I do not wish to prevent this. I would however like to make it so the image I use for the background cannot be modified or removed. It contains our logo and copyright info and I would prefer that it stay there. Is there any way to prevent this from occurring will still allowing edits to the other information (essentially allow limited edits) Secondly, is there a way to imbed any type of licensing requirement into the .PPT itself? I would like to prevent it from being given away to other departments that haven't paid for it. I have found several licensing products that work with .exe files but if I use any of the programs available to make that conversion to an .exe file (that I have found) you lose the ability to make changes. They do allow for a conversion back to a .PPT file (with the proper password) but once that happens they do not automatically convert back to an .exe file when it is resaved. This prevents the licensing software from functioning. I am beginning to think that there is no way to get around this but I figured I would toss it out there and see. Thanks.. |
#4
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I suspect you could accomplish a good bit of what you need to do with an addin
(that customers would be required to install in order to use your product) I doubt you could totally protect a presentation against alterations by someone who doesn't have the addin installed, but you could make it rather difficult. In article , Haz9mat wrote: I develop Fire Department Training Materials on PowerPoint and I am looking for a solution to a couple of unique problems. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Currently my customers receive the .PPT file in its native format and they are allowed to make changes in order to customize it to their department (Pictures, Operating Procedures etc.) Since this ability to customize the program is an important feature I do not wish to prevent this. I would however like to make it so the image I use for the background cannot be modified or removed. It contains our logo and copyright info and I would prefer that it stay there. Is there any way to prevent this from occurring will still allowing edits to the other information (essentially allow limited edits) Secondly, is there a way to imbed any type of licensing requirement into the ..PPT itself? I would like to prevent it from being given away to other departments that haven’t paid for it. I have found several licensing products that work with .exe files but if I use any of the programs available to make that conversion to an .exe file (that I have found) you lose the ability to make changes. They do allow for a conversion back to a .PPT file (with the proper password) but once that happens they do not automatically convert back to an .exe file when it is resaved. This prevents the licensing software from functioning. I am beginning to think that there is no way to get around this but I figured I would toss it out there and see. Thanks…. ----------------------------------------- Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com PPTools: www.pptools.com ================================================ |
#5
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Steve,
Thanks for the input. Is there an Addin out there that would accomplish this or would if be something I would have to develop? Regards, Jason "Steve Rindsberg" wrote: I suspect you could accomplish a good bit of what you need to do with an addin (that customers would be required to install in order to use your product) I doubt you could totally protect a presentation against alterations by someone who doesn't have the addin installed, but you could make it rather difficult. In article , Haz9mat wrote: I develop Fire Department Training Materials on PowerPoint and I am looking for a solution to a couple of unique problems. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Currently my customers receive the .PPT file in its native format and they are allowed to make changes in order to customize it to their department (Pictures, Operating Procedures etc.) Since this ability to customize the program is an important feature I do not wish to prevent this. I would however like to make it so the image I use for the background cannot be modified or removed. It contains our logo and copyright info and I would prefer that it stay there. Is there any way to prevent this from occurring will still allowing edits to the other information (essentially allow limited edits) Secondly, is there a way to imbed any type of licensing requirement into the ..PPT itself? I would like to prevent it from being given away to other departments that haven’t paid for it. I have found several licensing products that work with .exe files but if I use any of the programs available to make that conversion to an .exe file (that I have found) you lose the ability to make changes. They do allow for a conversion back to a .PPT file (with the proper password) but once that happens they do not automatically convert back to an .exe file when it is resaved. This prevents the licensing software from functioning. I am beginning to think that there is no way to get around this but I figured I would toss it out there and see. Thanks…. ----------------------------------------- Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com PPTools: www.pptools.com ================================================ |
#6
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In article , Haz9mat wrote:
Steve, Thanks for the input. Is there an Addin out there that would accomplish this or would if be something I would have to develop? I don't know of any commercially available, so you'd need to develop it yourself or hire someone else to do it. If you want to start in on it yourself, you'd need to create an addin that includes an event handler. Start here for info about that: Make PPT respond to events http://www.rdpslides.com/pptfaq/FAQ00004.htm The addin could, among other devious things, trap the selection change event and test the current selection; if it's a shape that you don't want the user to fiddle with, de-select it. The presentation could also be "crippled" in various ways so that when a user w/o the addin opens it, it's difficult or impossible to use. When the addin is installed, it traps the event when the presentation opens and "repairs" the damage automatically for the user. Again, none of this is perfect protection and certainly wouldn't stop a very sophisticated user. At the same time, it'd certainly be enough to buffalo most PPT users. Regards, Jason "Steve Rindsberg" wrote: I suspect you could accomplish a good bit of what you need to do with an addin (that customers would be required to install in order to use your product) I doubt you could totally protect a presentation against alterations by someone who doesn't have the addin installed, but you could make it rather difficult. In article , Haz9mat wrote: I develop Fire Department Training Materials on PowerPoint and I am looking for a solution to a couple of unique problems. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Currently my customers receive the .PPT file in its native format and they are allowed to make changes in order to customize it to their department (Pictures, Operating Procedures etc.) Since this ability to customize the program is an important feature I do not wish to prevent this. I would however like to make it so the image I use for the background cannot be modified or removed. It contains our logo and copyright info and I would prefer that it stay there. Is there any way to prevent this from occurring will still allowing edits to the other information (essentially allow limited edits) Secondly, is there a way to imbed any type of licensing requirement into the ..PPT itself? I would like to prevent it from being given away to other departments that haven’t paid for it. I have found several licensing products that work with .exe files but if I use any of the programs available to make that conversion to an .exe file (that I have found) you lose the ability to make changes. They do allow for a conversion back to a .PPT file (with the proper password) but once that happens they do not automatically convert back to an .exe file when it is resaved. This prevents the licensing software from functioning. I am beginning to think that there is no way to get around this but I figured I would toss it out there and see. Thanks…. ----------------------------------------- Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com PPTools: www.pptools.com ================================================ ----------------------------------------- Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com PPTools: www.pptools.com ================================================ |
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