I think Microsoft Powerpoint is an awesome tool. It is unfortunate
that most people's Powerpoint presentations suck, but I don't think
that is really the fault of the tool.
Powerpoint Filesize Problems
- If you simply copy/paste (or
Insert->Picture->from File) a photo, you might have just
added up to 20 megabytes per photo, even though the projector you use
can generally only handle about 800x600 resolution. The best way to
reduce file sizes in Powerpoint is to first create a folder on your PC
called powerpointphotos (or whatever) and resize (in an image editor)
each desired photo to a max resolution of 800 pixels wide, and then
save that reduzed size image to your powerpointphotos folder. Then
import those resized photos into powerpoint.
- If you don't have an image editor, another cheap way to do this is
to import the full size photo, then do View->Slide Show in
Powerpoint, and when you get to a slide with a photo, do a screen
capture (in Windows, hold down the Alt key and then click the PrtScrn
(or PrintScreen) key. This will make a copy of the current screen, at
the current screeen resolution (thus smaller than the resolution in
the actual photo). You can then go back into Powerpoint, create a new,
empty slide, and then paste the new screen snapped photo into your
presentation.
- If you are desparate to send a large Powerpoint to someone right
now, try sending your large Powerpoint file using
Google Gmail, which has
larger limits than most companies' stupid IT policies.
- You could also try
DropSend.com or similar.
Powerpoint Tips
Coming soon.
