Working with PowerPoint Based Maps

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Why doesn’t the PowerPoint version of the USA County Map contain county names?

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US Counties Map for PowerPoint

We get this question a lot! The reason is because the size font that could effectively be used for the USA PowerPoint map, is so small, it is next to impossible to work with. When you think of adding over 3,000 county names to a map that fits within a single slide, you’re looking at tiny fonts that are difficult to select and edit.  Believe me, that can cause some real frustration! We’ve tried it because we wanted to provide it to clients.

Here’s what we recommend…
You can easily add your own text as needed by simply placing a text box on the county or object that you need to label.

Many people have segmented the US map into sub-sections or regions across multiple slides. This allows you magnify the size of a region then allowing you to feasibly add in county names in a font size that’s workable.

NOTE: We also make the map available in Adobe Illustrator format that includes county names!!! The capabilities of Illustrator all us to zoom in at a greater level, turn layers on and off, etc. etc.   So if the PowerPoint version doesn’t work for you and you have Adobe Illustrator to work with, you can choose our US Counties Map for Adobe Illustrator!

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US Counties Map for PowerPoint

This question and answer pertains to the US County Map available for download at DigitalMapz.com.

Yes!  The USA County map in PowerPoint format contains county objects in vector format.  Vector images are line images and can be scaled up or down without losing line quality.

To resize the USA county map, select the map then click on the corner points to resize.  To maintain proportions, hold down the shift key while dragging the corners in or out.

You can also select a portion of the USA county map. To do this:

1. Select the states or objects you want to keep.

2. Copy them into a blank slide.

3. Group them by selecting all (Ctrl+A), then right click, choose Group >Group.

4. Now you will be able to select the group as a single object and re-size using the  corner handles on the selection  HINT: Hold down the “shift” key to maintain the aspect ration or proportions!

This is a great way to break down the individual territories or pick and choose counties across multiple states.

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US Counties Map for PowerPoint

This question and answer pertains to the US County Map available for download at DigitalMapz.com.

Editing colors in the USA county map is easy using the editing tools provided in PowerPoint. Each county is an individual shape that can be customized using the shape fill.   Here are step by step instructions for changing a county color.

1. Because each county shape is quite small in the slide, we recommend first, using the zoom feature to make the view of the map size larger and the individual counties easier to work with.  Of course, you will not be able to see the entire USA in a single screen unless you have a large monitor.  So you will need to use the vertical and/or horizontal scroll to position to the area you want to work with.
2. Once you have the state you want to work in zoomed in, click on the state. This will put a bounding box on the state.  Once you see the state group selected, click again to select the county you want to edit.
3. Once you have selected the county(ies) you wish to edit, use the shape fill and shape outline to meet your needs.  These are found in the drawing tools in PowerPoint. In the newer versions of PowerPoint, this is located on the “Home” tab. In older versions of PowerPoint, the drawing tools show up along the bottom of the PowerPoint window.

Tips:

1. To change the color of the entire state, select the state by clicking once.  When you see the bounding box around the state, you know it’s selected.  Then click on the fill color you want color the counties in the state.
2. To change the color on multiple counties within a state at one time, simply select the state. Then, hold down the “shift” key while selecting the counties you want to color. Then use the shape fill as described above.   To select multiple states, hold down the “shift” key while selecting states
3. As with any PowerPoint map, it’s easier to edit when you zoom in on the map, increasing the size of the shapes.

Buy the US County Map here!

One of the benefits of editable PowerPoint maps is that you can edit individual objects, such as state, county and division objects.   Adding color to an object is easy.

1. First, make sure the map has been ungrouped.
2. Next, simply click on the object to select it.
3. After the object you want to edit is selected, click on the “Shape Fill” located in PowerPoint’s drawing tools palette.
4. Choose the color you want to use.

As soon as you choose the color, the selected object(s) are colored.

Now what if you want to choose multiple objects?  It can be a real pain to select each individual object and apply the color individual.  Instead you want to select multiple objects and probably even group those objects. 

To select multiple objects hold down the “Ctrl” key while selecting the individual objects you want to include.  You can then apply the color changes to those selected objects.  

Or, if you think you’ll have more edits to that same group in the future, you may benefit from grouping those objects.

To group objects:

1. Select the objects you want to group
2. Right-click the selection
3. Choose Group, then Group again.

Then you can apply the colors or attributes from the drawing tools palette.

This is demonstrated in the following video.

Often when you import a WMF map or open one of our PowerPoint maps, you notice that you can’t immediately select the individual state, county or division objects.  This is typically because the map is grouped. 

In order to edit the map, you must first “ungroup” the drawing. To do this, follow these simple steps:

1. Select the image containing the objects you want to edit.
2. Right-click on the image. This will bring up a menu. 
3. From the menu, select Group (or Grouping in earlier versions of PowerPoint)
4. Then, choose ungroup.
5. Select anywhere outside the map to deselect the objects. Then you can free select any of the individual objects on the map and edit using the editing tools provided by Microsoft PowerPoint.

To see this demonstrated, view the following video:

Hello. My name is Laurie Williams. My husband, Jim and I own and operate PresentationMall.com, a website where we provided quality editable digital maps for folks to use in presentations, illustrations, websites and other graphics projects.

A large portion of our customers use our maps as part of PowerPoint presentations. Our maps are very easy to use, but sometimes our customers need a little extra help in understanding how to edit some of the features of our maps.

This blog is designed to help support those customers AND anyone else for that matter, who may need a little assistance with using PowerPoint to edit maps and similar vector artwork.

If you have a specfic question, or need help with a specific item, let us know! We’ll be happe to help!

Thanks for visiting. I hope you can find some useful information here!

Happy Presenting!