Brandwares

Start by placing a logo on the Slide Master. Of course, you’re not using a JPEG file, because you already know that’s the worst format for line art. If you still think JPEGs for logos are a good idea, please read JPEG Logos? Fail! and Logo Production Secrets. After the logo is in place, expand the presentation to view the XML. Open ppt\slideMasters\slideMaster1.xml. All the placeholder coding comes first, so scroll down about halfway until you see XML that looks like this:

<p:pic>
  <p:nvPicPr>
    <p:cNvPr id="7" name="Picture 6"/>
    <p:cNvPicPr>
      <a:picLocks noChangeAspect="1"/>
    </p:cNvPicPr>
    <p:nvPr userDrawn="1"/>
  </p:nvPicPr>

To lock this, we can add just one small parameter (in bold):

<p:pic>
  <p:nvPicPr>
    <p:cNvPr id="7" name="Picture 6"/>
    <p:cNvPicPr>
      <a:picLocks noChangeAspect="1" noSelect="1"/>
    </p:cNvPicPr>
    <p:nvPr userDrawn="1"/>
  </p:nvPicPr>

Test this out by re-zipping the files and opening in PowerPoint. Try to select the logo. noSelect=”1″ has the effect of making it unselectable, so the user can’t do anything creative with it, even if they open the master.

This is a super-simple technique, but it has a potential down side. Many add-ins and VBA macros work on a presentation by going through every shape on a slide until it finds the one it needs to revise. The noSelect tag can play havoc with code like that and possibly cause the programming to fail for no apparent reason. So here’s a more professional lock that has the same effect, but won’t disrupt any add-ins:

<p:pic>
  <p:nvPicPr>
    <p:cNvPr id="7" name="Picture 6"/>
    <p:cNvPicPr>
      <a:picLocks noChangeAspect="1" noMove="1" noResize="1" noRot="1"/>
    </p:cNvPicPr>
    <p:nvPr userDrawn="1"/>
  </p:nvPicPr>

Different graphic objects use a slightly different syntax. The noSelect=”1″ parameter remains the same, but you have to expand a tag and add a new line to include it. For all AutoShapes except lines, the default XML will resemble the following:

<p:sp>
  <p:nvSpPr>
    <p:cNvPr id="9" name="Rectangle 8"/>
    <p:cNvSpPr/>
    <p:nvPr userDrawn="1"/>
  </nvSpPr>

Editing the p:cNvSpPr tag as shown below will make the shape unselectable:

<p:sp>
  <p:nvSpPr>
    <p:cNvPr id="9" name="Rectangle 8"/>
    <p:cNvSpPr>
      <a:spLocks noMove="1" noResize="1" noRot="1"/>
    </p:cNvSpPr>
    <p:nvPr userDrawn="1"/>
  </nvSpPr>

At the XML level, lines are referred to as Connectors rather than Shapes. The original XML will look like this:

<p:cxnSp>
  <p:nvCxnSpPr>
    <p:cNvPr id="8" name="Straight Connector 7"/>
    <p:cNvCxnSpPr/>
    <p:nvPr userDrawn="1"/>
  </nvCxnSpPr>

To lock this, edit the p:cNvCxnSpPr tag:

<p:cxnSp>
  <p:nvCxnSpPr>
    <p:cNvPr id="8" name="Straight Connector 7"/>
    <p:cNvCxnSpPr>
      <a:cxnSpLocks noMove="1" noResize="1" noRot="1"/>
    </p:cNvCxnSpPr>
    <p:nvPr userDrawn="1"/>
  </nvCxnSpPr>

Placeholders are the boxes on slide layouts that can hold different types of content. The layouts are found in ppt\slideLayouts. They are numbered in the order that they appear in the left-hand list of layouts in Slide Master view. By default slideLayout1.xml is the Title slide. The XML tag is <p:sp> instead of <p:pic>, but otherwise the syntax is the same for locking. Placeholders do not inherit the lock parameters, so locking a placeholder on the master doesn’t affect the layouts and locked placeholders on the layouts have no effect on the slide placeholders.

You can see what other parameters are possible for the spLocks tag at Datypic’s a:spLocks page. There are options here to prevent grouping the image, rotating, moving or resizing it, changing it’s aspect ratio and several other less useful options. Let’s use some of the other parameters to lock down the shape. Here is the start of a Title placeholder:

<p:sp>
  <p:nvSpPr>
    <p:cNvPr id="2" name="Title 1"/>
      <p:cNvSpPr>
    <a:spLocks noGrp="1"/>
  </p:cNvSpPr>

After we add parameters to prevent moving and resizing, the XML looks like this:

<p:sp>
  <p:nvSpPr>
    <p:cNvPr id="2" name="Title 1"/>
      <p:cNvSpPr>
    <a:spLocks noGrp="1" noMove="1" noResize="1"/>
  </p:cNvSpPr>

Don’t expect that slides based on this will still have unmoveable placeholders. The lock parameters are not included when a slide is created from a layout. This locking ensures only that the layout remains the same, so when a slide is reset, it will always return to the correct format.

If the placeholders must remain in place on the slides, then you must first create the slide, then edit the XML before distributing the deck. For this, look in ppt/slides. The files are numbered in the order they appear in the presentation, so slide1.xml is usually the title. Here is the XML for a locked title placeholder:

<p:sp>
  <p:nvSpPr>
    <p:cNvPr id="2" name="Title 1"/>
      <p:cNvSpPr>
    <a:spLocks noGrp="1" noMove="1" noResize="1" noRot="1"/>
  </p:cNvSpPr>

When the user clicks on this, all the adjustment handles have a diagonal through them and the user is unable to change the shape size or position:

By default, the picture and placeholders already include a p:locks or sp:locks tag, which is where we add the locking information. But what if you insert a text box on a layout for a legal disclaimer and want to make it ineditable? The text box XML initially looks like this:

<p:sp>
  <p:nvSpPr>
    <p:cNvPr id="7" name="TextBox 6"/>
    <p:cNvSpPr txBox="1"/>
    <p:nvPr userDrawn="1"/>
  </p:nvSpPr>

To lock this, we need to expand the <p:cNvSpPr txBox=”1″/> tag. In case it’s not obvious, to expand a closed tag, you must first delete the slash at the end that closes it. Then you create a new closing tag and put the <a:spLocks&gt> information between the two. The noTextEdit parameter should mean the text can’t be edited, and to a limited extent it does that. A single click on text box text does not put it in edit mode, as would normally happen. But if you double-click, you can still edit the text. So this parameter on its own is not enough to do the job, it will only provide a little discouragement.

<p:sp>
  <p:nvSpPr>
    <p:cNvPr id="7" name="TextBox 6"/>
    <p:cNvSpPr txBox="1">
      <a:spLocks noTextEdit="1"/>
    </p:cNvSpPr>
    <p:nvPr userDrawn="1"/>
  </p:nvSpPr>

Normally, you can’t group a table with other shapes in PowerPoint. That’s because tables include this markup by default:

<p:cNvGraphicFramePr>
  <a:graphicFrameLocks noGrp="1"/>
</p:cNvGraphicFramePr>

Change the 1 to a 0. Re-open the file in PowerPoint and group the table with other shapes. Easy!

PowerPoint users who can’t afford a graphic designer love the Design Ideas feature in PowerPoint. As I write this, this feature is only available in Microsoft 365, the subscription version of Office. Microsoft uses AI technology to present the user with designs that Microsoft thinks are relevant to your content. Any company with branding guidelines should turn this feature off for their users.

Many Design Ideas have shapes that are locked in the XML. When Microsoft locks a shape, they throw the kitchen sink at it:

<a:spLocks noGrp="1" noRot="1" noChangeAspect="1" noMove="1" noResize="1" noEditPoints="1" noAdjustHandles="1" noChangeArrowheads="1" noChangeShapeType="1" noTextEdit="1"/>

Some of those locks don’t even make sense for most shapes, like noChangeArrowheads. The only lock they don’t apply is noSelect, avoiding the macro problem I mentioned earlier. To turn the lock shape into something you can copy, paste and revise, just delete all the attributes:

<a:spLocks />

The principles are very similar to locking in PowerPoint. This can give you locked graphics and/or ineditable text boxes in both those programs without have to apply any document protection.

In Word, picture locks must be applied to the graphic frame that holds the picture, not the picture itself. This works:

<wp:cNvGraphicFramePr>
  <<a:graphicFrameLocks xmlns:a="http://schemas.
openxmlformats.org/drawingml/2006/main" noSelect="1" />
</wp:cNvGraphicFramePr>

This does not:

<pic:cNvPicPr>
  <<a:picLocks noSelect="1" />
</pic:cNvPicPr>

To lock a text box in Excel, expand:

<xdr:cNvSpPr txBox="1"/>

To:

<xdr:cNvSpPr txBox="1">
  <a:spLocks noSelect="1"/>
</xdr:cNvSpPr>

You can make the text in the box ineditable while still allowing it to be selected and moved:

<xdr:cNvSpPr txBox="1">
  <a:spLocks noTextEdit="1"/>
</xdr:cNvSpPr>

After a few months of practical testing, some real-life limitations on shape locking have become evident. Adding the noChangeAspect=”1″ has the same effect as checking the Lock aspect ratio option on the Size pane of the Format Shape dialog. But just as when you check this option manually, clicking on the shape and dragging the adjust handles will still distort the shape. On top of this, I found this page on MSDN: 2.1.1255 Part 4 Section 5.1.2.1.34, spLocks (Shape Locks). The pages states that “Office ignores attributes noChangeArrowheads and noRot when applied to a shape. PowerPoint additionally ignores the attribute noAdjustHandles when applied to a shape and noChangeShapeType when the converting the shape to a freeform.” So a user can circumvent noChangeAspect by dragging on the handles and you can’t prevent the handles from displaying either. Office simply doesn’t implement Microsoft’s own spec completely. There’s nothing you can do about this. It should be noted, that the accuracy of Microsoft’s information is not the best. Their statement that Office ignores noRot=”1″ when applied to a shape is not true, you can successfully prevent rotation with this parameter. You really have to test everything to really know what works and what doesn’t.

Powerful? Yes. But with power comes responsibility. Company presentation templates need to be revised, but after you lock items in XML, those shapes can no longer be revised through the program interface. So it’s essential that if you use these techniques, that you document your changes when you send the file to your users. Using these methods secretly to get repeat business from captive clients is dishonest and is definitely not a best practice.

Brandwares knows every detail about shape locking and we can do all this for you. Email me with the details of your requirements at production@brandwares.com.