PowerPoint cm and Points

Working in the GUI you probably position and size shapes using centimetres (or Inches if you live somewhere that doesn't understand the metric system).

In vba though PowerPoint uses POINTS which can make it difficult to convert.

This function just does the work for you:

Function cm2Points(inVal As Single)
cm2Points = inVal * 28.346
End Function

Example of use:

Sub resize_Me()
With ActiveWindow.Selection.ShapeRange(1)
.Left = cm2Points(3)
.Top = cm2Points(2.2)
End With
End Sub

OK - but we use inches

Function in2Points(inVal As Single)
in2Points = inVal * 72
End Function

Example of use:

Sub resize_Me()
With ActiveWindow.Selection.ShapeRange(1)
.Left = in2Points(1.0)
.Top = in2Points(2.5)
End With
End Sub

Are they using Metric?

In most cases you do not need to know and it is tricky to check. Don't go here if you do not understand API calls!

Declare Function GetLocaleInfo Lib "kernel32" Alias "GetLocaleInfoA" _
(ByVal Locale As Long, ByVal LCType As Long, ByVal lpLCData As String, _
ByVal cchData As Long) As Long


Function GetInfo(ByVal lInfo As Long) As String
Dim Buffer As String
Dim Ret As String
Buffer = String$(256, 0)
Ret = GetLocaleInfo(&H400, lInfo, Buffer, Len(Buffer))
If Ret > 0 Then
If Ret = 1 Then GetInfo = "US" Else GetInfo = "Metric"
Else
GetInfo = "What"
End If
End Function

Sub TestMe()
MsgBox GetInfo(&HD)
End Sub