In this tutorial, you will create a custom PowerPoint template, associate the template items with ENVI graphical elements, and chip the contents of an ENVI view to the template to create a final report in PowerPoint.

See the following sections:

Create a Custom PowerPoint Template

  1. Start PowerPoint.
  2. Select File > New > Blank Presentation.
  3. In the main menu, select Design. From the ribbon, select Slide Size > Standard (4:3) or Widescreen (16x9), depending on what aspect ratio better fits the screen where you will be showing your presentation.
  4. Delete any default graphical elements in the presentation.
  5. Click Insert in the main menu, then go to Shapes > Rectangles and select a rectangle style in the ribbon.
  6. Draw one large rectangle that fills most of the slide. This is a placeholder for the chipped ENVI view; you will associate the ENVI graphical element to the rectangle later in this tutorial.
    • Set the Shape Fill option to No fill.
    • Set the Shape Outline option to No outline.
  7. Draw a long rectangle near the top of the slide. This is a placeholder for text that you will enter later.
    • Use the default fill color.
    • Set the transparency to 30%.
    • Set the Outline option to No outline.
  8. Draw two small rectangles near the bottom of the slide as placeholders for a reference map and a north arrow. Select both rectangles and:
    • Set the Fill option to No fill.
    • Set the Outline option to No outline.

    9. The following image shows an example of the layout:

  9. Select File > Save As and save the output file as MyTemplate.pptx to the Auxiliary File Directory directory set in preferences (the default is C:\Users\username\.idl\envi\auxiliaryx_x. The Chip to Powerpoint dialog in ENVI looks in this directory when browsing to add a new template or open a configuration file.
  10. Close PowerPoint.

Next, assign ENVI graphical elements to the rectangles you defined in the PowerPoint template.

Configure the Template

  1. Start ENVI.
  2. From the ENVI menu bar, select File > Open World Data > Shaded Relief. A natural-color shaded relief image appears in the display.
  3. Pan and zoom to an area of interest.
  4. Expand the ENVI application to fill your entire monitor.
  5. Move the cursor between the view and the Toolbox (on the right side of ENVI) until theicon appears. Then double-click to hide the Toolbox. This and the previous step help to maximize the view that will be chipped to PowerPoint. The following image shows an example:

  6. In the ENVI Toolbar, click the Chip to PowerPoint button . The Chip to PowerPoint dialog appears.
  7. For an example of how a template shows what will be included in the chip area, select ENVI Briefing from the Template drop-down list in the Chip to PowerPoint dialog .
  8. An overlay shows the area that will be included in the chipped result, at full resolution. This is called the view chip window. The darker areas outside of the window will be cropped in the PowerPoint presentation.

  9. In the center of the view chip window is a small, cyan-colored square. Move your cursor over this square until it changes to a icon. You can click and drag the icon to center the view chip window over a different location. The following image shows an example. Do not resize the view chip window using the corner handles, as this will change the resolution of the view area.

  10. Now open the template file you created. Click the New Template button . A Select PowerPoint File dialog appears.
  11. Select the file MyTemplate.pptx that you created, and click Open. The Configure PowerPoint Template [MyTemplate] dialog appears. The top part of the dialog lists the four rectangles that comprise the template, while the lower part shows the layout of the rectangles.
  12. Click on Rectangle 4 in the list to highlight the corresponding rectangle in the layout view, in blue. In the example below, Rectangle 4 corresponds to the largest rectangle:

  13. Next, map ENVI elements to the rectangles in the template. Right-click on Rectangle 4 and select View Chip; this rectangle is now mapped to contain the view chip area. A <--> symbol in the list view indicates that the rectangle is associated with an ENVI graphical element (such as, the view chip).

  14. Click on the smaller rectangle on the bottom right of the layout view, then right-click and select Reference Map. The area within the rectangle will be filled with a 3D globe showing the location of the view chip; for example:

    15. Tip: To change the type of reference map, double-click the rectangle to display the Reference Map properties dialog. Change the Type to Online Map, then click OK.

  15. Click on the rectangle on the bottom left of the layout view, then right-click and select North Arrow. The area within that rectangle will be filled with a north arrow.
  16. Select the blue rectangle at the top of the layout view, then right-click and select Text.
  17. Double-click the text rectangle to display the Text properties dialog.
  18. In the Text field, enter a title for the presentation and click OK.

    19. Tip: If the currently selected view has the appropriate georeferencing information and acquisition time metadata, you can enter special strings in the Text field to display map and date/time information. These strings are listed in the Text properties dialog. Instead of entering a title, for example, you could type Center: %lat%, %lon% to display the center coordinates of the image.

  19. Click OK in the Configure PowerPoint Template [My Template] dialog. ENVI saves the configuration file as MyTemplate.ept in same directory as the MyTemplate.pptx file.

    Tip: Multiple .ept configuration files can be associated with a single .pptx template. For example, you can start with the MyTemplate.pptx layout and map the rectangles to different ENVI elements than those used in this tutorial, then save the new configuration as a separate .ept file.

Now you will create a report by chipping the view to PowerPoint.

Create a Report

  1. In the Chip to PowerPoint dialog, click the Chip button. The PowerPoint application opens and the chipped view and ENVI graphical elements are added to a new PowerPoint slide; for example:

  2. If you need to change the layout of items in the report, you can do one of the following:
    • Rearrange them in PowerPoint
    • Click the Configure Template button in the Chip to PowerPoint dialog. Then change the default properties of each element as needed.

    3. Tip: Each time you experiment with different template configurations and click the Chip button, a new slide is appended to the existing presentation. You can remove the last slide that was added by clicking the arrow button next to Chip and selecting Delete Last Slide.

  3. To save the current slide to a PNG image file, click the arrow button next to Chip and select Export Slide as Image.
  4. To share custom templates with other users, you can publish them to the ENVI Repository. See Chip ENVI Views to PowerPoint for more information.

This concludes the tutorial. Close ENVI by selecting File > Exit from the menu bar.

ENVI also provides predefined templates that you can use. See Publish Custom Templates to an ENVI Repository.