An animated .gif file in an Office PowerPoint 2003 presentation does not play when you view the presentation in Slide Show view (900496)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003
  • Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003 Viewer

SYMPTOMS

You insert an animated .gif file in a Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003 presentation, and then you view the presentation in Slide Show view. However, the animated .gif file does not play.

CAUSE

The animated .gif file does not play when the following setting is applied to the file:

Play the animation for a limited number of times, but do not loop continuously.

Note If the file plays, the animated .gif file is set to loop continuously, and it is set to loop a set number of iterations.

MORE INFORMATION

CompuServe Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) version 89a enables a single .gif file to contain multiple pictures. If a .gif file contains multiple pictures and there are only small changes between each picture, that file is frequently called an animated .gif file.

Animated .gif files use two settings to play back animations during a PowerPoint slide show:
  • The Loop flag
  • The Iteration value
The Loop flag has a value of 0 or 1. The value of 0 indicates that the animation does not loop. The value of 1 indicates that the animation is to be looped.

The Iteration value is either 0 or the Iteration value is set to a value that indicates the number of times that the animation will play.

PowerPoint 2003 will play the animated .gif file if one of the following conditions is true:
  • If the Loop flag is set to 1 and if the Iteration value is set to 0, the animated .gif file plays continuously.
  • If the Loop flag is set to 1 and if the Iteration value is set to a value larger than 0, the animated .gif file plays the number of times that is equal to the Iteration value.


However, if the Loop flag is set to 0 and if the Iteration value is set to a value larger than 0, PowerPoint 2003 will not play the animated .gif file.

WORKAROUND

To work around this issue, modify the animated .gif file in a graphics program that will let you set the Loop flag to 1.

Note Some graphics programs always set the Loop flag to 0 if the Iteration value is set to 1.
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:8/29/2006
Keywords:kbslideshow kbgraphic kbAnimation kbtshoot kbprb KB900496 kbAudEndUser
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