Compressing Power Point slides works most of the time!

[Guest]

I am perplexed with this issue. I make presentations quite frequently, and
for the most part the compression works. Every now and again I will go to
help someone else reduce there file, or I will do it on my own presentation,
and the compression does not work. I will hit the compress button and u can
see it working, the presentation will hesitate and then stop. I know it
worked. Then on other occasions u press the compress button and nothing
happens, like it doesn't recognize there is anything to compress. Please
help! I have tried inserting, dragging and dropping, and copy/paste, didn't
see much difference.

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

I am perplexed with this issue. I make presentations quite frequently, and
for the most part the compression works. Every now and again I will go to
help someone else reduce there file, or I will do it on my own presentation,
and the compression does not work. I will hit the compress button and u can
see it working, the presentation will hesitate and then stop. I know it
worked. Then on other occasions u press the compress button and nothing
happens, like it doesn't recognize there is anything to compress. Please
help! I have tried inserting, dragging and dropping, and copy/paste, didn't
see much difference.

It's hard to say w/o knowing more and/or seeing the presentations in question.

One thing to check, though: pick a presentation with a picture that seems not
to be compressing. Rightclick it and look at the Format item on the popup
menu. Does it say "Format Picture" or "Format AutoShape"?

If the latter, then it's not really a picture, it's an autoshape with a picture
fill. I'm pretty sure PowerPoint's Compress feature won't touch these. To
fix, you can select the autoshape, choose Edit, Copy then Edit, Paste Special,
as PNG. Delete the original, move the pasted copy into its place and now
Compression should do its thing.

 

[Kathy Jacobs]

If the file size isn't changing and Steve hasn't guessed right (i.e. - if
you aren't using autoshapes), the next thing to check is whether Fast Saves
are turned on. Go to Tools--> Options--> Save tab and make sure the Fast
Saves box is unchecked. If it was checked, save your file under a new name
and the file size is likely to decrease.

--
Kathryn Jacobs, Microsoft MVP PowerPoint and OneNote
Author of Kathy Jacobs on PowerPoint - Available now from Holy Macro! Books
Get PowerPoint answers at http://www.powerpointanswers.com

I believe life is meant to be lived. But:
if we live without making a difference, it makes no difference that we lived

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the Input. I will check the format on the next presentation. One
more question, Steve, are u saying that the files need to be PNGs for it to
compress them? I think I was saving them as JPGs and then dragging and
dropping them into the presentation. Thanks again for your time.

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

Thanks for the Input. I will check the format on the next presentation. One
more question, Steve, are u saying that the files need to be PNGs for it to
compress them?

No, but JPG compression tends to make messes of some kinds of images, which'd
only get worse after PPT re-compresses the picture. I suggested PNG to avoid
that potential problem. It'd make good sense to test PNG vs JPG on your own
particular mix of images. Simple enough: after you do the Paste, Special, as
PNG, do it again As JPG. Put the two side by side, let PPT compress and if you
can't see any difference in image quality, delete the pasted-as-PNG and use the
other.

I think I was saving them as JPGs and then dragging and
dropping them into the presentation. Thanks again for your time.

Ah. Then most likely they're not images (in PPT's world view) but OLE objects.
That would be Reason Number Three why PPT wouldn't compress them.

When it comes to getting images into PPT, there's a very simple rule:

DRAG and DROP is EVIL

Use Insert, Picture, From File instead.