What is Possible for PowerPoint High Quality Print Output

[Guest]

Hi, we've been asked to help a client creat a template in PowerPoint for a
piece that will only be printed at 8.5"x11". It will actually never be used
for presentation/projection, only for what needs to be high quality output.
They are just not willing to use a page layout program - they only know
PowerPoint.

So we are not PPT experts and need some advice so we can let our client know
what is possible. Any knowledgeable answers to the below questions would be
most appreciated!

A) Is PowerPoint able to support print resolution in any way (300dpi output)?
B) If images/graphics are created outside of PPT at proper size and
resolution, will PPT retain this?
C) For graphics created inside of PPT (graphs, charts, etc.), are they able
to be output at print resolution? Do they remain vector?
D) Are CMYK colors supported in any way?
E) Is it possible to setup a page for full-bleed artwork (I suppose we could
just make the page a bit too big)?
F) Are type styles of any sort supported (as in Word)?
G) Are there any advanced typographical controls available (ie Kerning,
Tracking, Leading, Paragraph Space Before/After, etc.)?

Thanks a lot. And any other information that you can think of would be most
helpful!

 

[Guest]

Howdy Jethro,

A couple of links for you:
http://pptfaq.com/index.html#name_Scans-_Resolution-_DPI
http://pptfaq.com/index.html#name_Printing-_Overheads-_35mm_Slides-_Pre-press

For Kerning, you'll need PowerPoint 2007.
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/powerpoint/results.aspx?qu=format+text&sc=9&av=ZPP120

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

Hi, we've been asked to help a client creat a template in PowerPoint for a
piece that will only be printed at 8.5"x11". It will actually never be used
for presentation/projection, only for what needs to be high quality output.
They are just not willing to use a page layout program - they only know
PowerPoint.

So we are not PPT experts and need some advice so we can let our client know
what is possible. Any knowledgeable answers to the below questions would be
most appreciated!

A) Is PowerPoint able to support print resolution in any way (300dpi output)?

Yes. Text and graphics drawn in PPT are vector, not bitmap, meaning they print
at the resolution of the output device.

B) If images/graphics are created outside of PPT at proper size and
resolution, will PPT retain this?
Yes.

C) For graphics created inside of PPT (graphs, charts, etc.), are they able
to be output at print resolution? Do they remain vector?

Yes, if imported as vector graphics (ie, in WMF, EMF formats; EPS is supported
as well, but requires a PostScript output device and is subject to various
quirks in different versions of PPT)

D) Are CMYK colors supported in any way?

No. Not at all.

E) Is it possible to setup a page for full-bleed artwork (I suppose we could
just make the page a bit too big)?

F) Are type styles of any sort supported (as in Word)?

Not out of the box, but with an addin called ShapeStyles, most definitely:

http://www.pptools.com/shapestyles/

Disclaimer: I'm the publisher and main author.
OTOH: The demo's free and lets you give it a decent workout.

G) Are there any advanced typographical controls available (ie Kerning,
Tracking, Leading, Paragraph Space Before/After, etc.)?

Space before/after paragraphs, line spacing (ie, leading), yes.

Kerning is available in PPT 2007, not before. Tracking, no.

Then again, would anyone who uses PPT for printed documents instead of a proper

Thanks a lot. And any other information that you can think of would be most
helpful!

I don't imagine it'd be a comfort to know that PPT is a fairly bad choice of
apps to use for printed document production? You'll have worked that out by
now.