Running applications like Active Recovery in full scan mode (super scan, like this picture) instead of Quick Scan mode (as I have done previously) solved my problem.
When you save a new file over an existing one, the files are not actually overwritten and deleted – they're created again with the same name.
Every time you save a file, the Operating System creates a new file on the disk and the last versions are still there -- But you must be careful, don't write anything to your disk or defrag it!
With a full scan you can recover them.
Unfortunately, there is (as of PowerPoint 2013) no way to either set the default format for SmartArt or to use the Format Painter to format all shapes within a SmartArt graphic.
But, whenever a question like this arises, VBA macros and add-ins come to the rescue.
The very basic macro below takes the line and fill colour from either your selected shape or the default shape style if you don't select anything and applies it to each shape within the SmartArt graphic. If you don't know how to use a macro, take a look at these examples:
http://i-present.co.uk/category/blog/vba/
It's basic because there are literally hundreds of properties that a user could set such as fill gradients, pictures, textures, line colours, widths, dashes and effects such as reflection, glow etc.
I own a company called GMARK that specialises in PowerPoint add-in development (http://i-present.co.uk) and could create an add-in to do this if there was interest.
Sub SetSmartArtToDefaultShapeStyle()
Dim oSld As Slide
Dim oShpCheck As Shape, oShpSource As Shape, oShpNode
Dim oNode As SmartArtNode
Dim DeleteShape As Boolean
On Error GoTo errorhandler
Set oSld = ActivePresentation.Slides(ActiveWindow.View.Slide.SlideIndex)
If Not ActiveWindow.Selection.HasChildShapeRange Then
Set oShpSource = oSld.Shapes.AddShape(msoShapeRectangle, 0, 0, 10, 10)
DeleteShape = True
Else
Set oShpSource = ActiveWindow.Selection.ShapeRange(1)
End If
oShpSource.PickUp
For Each oShpCheck In oSld.Shapes ' As Shapes
With oShpCheck
If .HasSmartArt Then
For Each oNode In .SmartArt.Nodes
For Each oShpNode In oNode.Shapes ' As ShapeRange
With oShpNode
.Line.Visible = oShpSource.Line.Visible
.Fill.Visible = oShpSource.Line.Visible
If .Line.ForeColor.Type = msoColorTypeRGB Then _
.Line.ForeColor.RGB = oShpSource.Line.ForeColor.RGB
If .Line.ForeColor.Type = msoColorTypeScheme Then _
.Line.ForeColor.ObjectThemeColor = oShpSource.Line.ForeColor.ObjectThemeColor
If .Fill.ForeColor.Type = msoColorTypeRGB Then _
.Fill.ForeColor.RGB = oShpSource.Fill.ForeColor.RGB
If .Fill.ForeColor.Type = msoColorTypeScheme Then _
.Fill.ForeColor.ObjectThemeColor = oShpSource.Fill.ForeColor.ObjectThemeColor
End With
Next
Next
End If
End With
Next
If DeleteShape = True Then oShpSource.Delete
Exit Sub
errorhandler:
MsgBox "There was an error : " & Err.Number & " : " & Err.Description, vbCritical + vbOKOnly, "SmartArt Format by i-present.co.uk"
Err.Clear
If DeleteShape = True Then oShpSource.Delete
End Sub
Best Answer
It doesn't seem to be a profile issue, as the colour appears differently between a native solid colour filled shape or background and text filed with the same, manually entered RGB value. No colour is sampled from a placed object.The text just appears darker and is closer to the visual appearance of the RGB colour in Photoshop on the same screen. But it's a mystery why text and solid filled shapes appear differently.
As a workaround, by using the equivalent HSB picker values in photoshop, entering them in PowerPoint and changing the Saturation setting by 1 point, the solid fill matches the text colour. But if you go back to the PowerPoint 'more colour' slider, the values are listed differently than those entered before. Also if you set the text to the same HSB value as you changed the solid fill, it goes darker again by 1 Saturation step.
The problem here is that, if a colour theme is to be saved, 2 values for the same visual target colour between text and solid fills will be required. Unfortunately negating the purpose of a consistent colour theme.
Hope this helps.