Controlling file size with PowerPoint

1
Controlling file size with PowerPoint

• Dave Wallace

2
Why keep file sizes small?

• Problems with large files
• Cant fit on floppy disks
• Files may be so large they wont fit on other
  media, too
• Difficult to send by email
• May exceed storage limit for the recipients mail
  box
• May exceed file size limit for email servers
• Too large to send or receive by phone modem
• Too large to put on a website
• Files should be a small as possible for the
  internet
• Should be less than a few hundred KB
• Never more than 1 MB unless absolutely necessary
• Large files are slow to load and run

Note many laptop computers do not have floppy
disk drives use email, memory sticks, or
CD-ROMs.
3
What makes files large?

• With PowerPoint, large file are usually caused by
  large images
• Scanned images or digital photos can be VERY
  large
• Up to several megabytes per image, or more
• Images created with other applications may also
  be very large
• Other images are usually fairly small
• Screen capture
• Copied from websites
• The Fast Saves option also leads to large files
• Uncheck allow fast saves from the Tools
  Options menu

4
How big should image files be?

• For screen viewing or projection, images should
  not exceed a few hundred KB in size
• High resolution is used for printing
• For screen viewing, 72 pixels per inch is
  adequate
• Even lower resolution may provide acceptable
  viewed image quality
• PowerPoint 2003 defaults to 96 pixels per inch

5
How do I reduce image size?

• Its easy with PowerPoint 2003!
• Select the image
• Use the compress feature from the picture
  toolbar
• You can compress a single image, or all images in
  the file
• Save to keep your changes

6
How do I reduce image size?
This single operation reduced a students
Power-Point file from 21 MB to 400KB
7
How do I reduce image size?

• If you have an older version of Power Point

• Under the Edit menu
• Copy the image
• Paste Special as a jpg file
• This operation reduced a students file from 220
  MB to 1 MB!
• It works for PowerPoint 2003, too

8
How do I reduce image size?

• Reducing file sizes with other applications
• Many photo editing programs have a resize
  feature
• Resize the image
• Specified percentage
• Specified measurement (in pixels or dimensions)
• Specified resolution
• Then, copy and paste it back into PowerPoint
• Heres an example using Paint Shop Pro

9
This image is 1746 x 1170 pixels and 5.8 MB
10
After the resize, the image is 576 x 386
pixels and 651 KB, about 10 of the original size
11
How do I reduce image size?

• Reducing file sizes with other applications
  (cont.)
• Another option is to save the photo in a
  compressed file format
• JPEG images are compressed, which can greatly
  reduce file size
• Applications may allow you to select the degree
  of compression
• Import the new (smaller) file into PowerPoint

12
Heres a Paint Shop Pro example, showing how to
adjust the compression factor for a JPEG file
13
Applications like Paint Shop Pro also let you
optimize the JPEG file, to adjust file size and
resolution
14
Conclusion

• Its a good idea to control PowerPoint file size
• Smaller files are easier to handle and faster to
  load and run
• Viewed image quality will still be good
• Its easy to do
• There are several ways to accomplish it
• Be sure to get a copy of the file to the
  instructor before class, so we can load it in
  advance