Managing ppt file size

  • Thread starter Thread starter JG
  • Start date Start date
J

JG

Is there a way to compact a ppt file (like in Access)? As
I make changes in my presentation, it has doubled in size,
even though there is no more stuff than before. How can I
reduce my file size? I'm using PPT 2000. Thanks.
 
I checked this page (which I had done long ago) and I don't find that it
addresses the issue raised by JG.

I have a similar problem that I would like to solve.

I had a presentation that was 25Mb - changed 12 of the pictures to linked
objects - and it ballooned to 70Mb - which I don't understand at all.

Why would it grow by this much when the photos are only about 150 Kb each?
This is crazy.

Dave
 
Do you have Fast Saves turned on? Go to Tools > Options > Save. Turn it
off, as that link tells you. Fast Saves will increase your file size
dramatically. Also, make sure that you are always saving the file as
Presentation(*.PPT) and not PowerPoint 97-2002 and 95. The 95 in that
description says to save the presentation as uncompressed.
--

Sonia, MS PowerPoint MVP Team
http://www.soniacoleman.com
(Tutorials and Autorun CD Project Creator)
PowerPoint Live! - Featured Speaker
Tucson, AZ; October 12-15, 2003
 
I just ran a simple test:

1. Create a 1 slide presentation
2. Insert a 1024x768 jpg (178Kb)
3. Save presentation
4. Presentation file size: 216 Kb

1. Create a 1 slide presentation
2. Insert linked object using the same picture as above
3. Save presentation
4. Presentation file size: 3.5 Mb

The presentation file size increased over 10 times!

How does this happen?

Can anyone else duplicate these results?

Any ideas?
 
Hi,

It didn't happen to me. What version do you have? Mine is XP.

Inserted: 294kb.
Linked: 29kb.

Now if you used the Insert, Object, create from file and then linked, then I
wouldn't be surprised. One version crashed doing it and another refused to
let me.

I used the picture dialogue box, and the little drop down arrow on the
insert button and selected "Link to File".

--
Regards,

Glen Millar
Microsoft PPT MVP
http://www.powerpointworkbench.com/
Please tell us your ppt version, and get back to us here
Remove spaces from signature
 
Again, I don't understand the bloat that occurred - 25Mb to 70Mb just
because I changed 12 pictures to linked objects - when the total size of the
12 pictures is well under than 2Mb.

Is there something inherent to linking that causes this? If so, then there
is something I definitely don't understand about linking.
Click to expand...

Actually, yes. And I've updated the FAQ article I posted to explain it a
bit better.

You can link to graphics in two ways:

- Insert, Picture, From File and choose Link (different locations depending
on which version, usually hiding under the down arrow to the right of the
Insert button). This sets up a file link -- all PPT stores is the path to
the linked image. If the image isn't where the link says it should be, you
get nada when you open the file. No image.

- Insert, Object (or dragondrop, or copy/paste) - Creates an OLE link or
embedded OLE object. Either way, you get a WMF picture of the object for
PPT to display. If the original linked file isn't available, you still have
the WMF image to view, a nice touch. But WMFs wrap bitmap pictures as
uncompressed BMPs, so if there's any bitmap data in there, it turns into a
monster, one that's embedded in your PPT file.
 
The OLE method has a lot more going for it in terms of flexibility -
especially when you need to change the link.
Click to expand...

Yep, apart from being Evil Incarnate, OLE's handy. ;-)
As far as I can tell there is no way to change the link on an inserted
Picture - and this isn't very desirable. If it weren't for this I would go
with the Insert Picture method. Am I missing something here? Because it
doesn't seem to be treating it as a link in the same way as when linking on
Insert Object.
Click to expand...

Well observed. OLE links and picture links are quite different.
Picture links in PPT are just pointers - "When he gets to this slide, go out
to that file and suck in the picture"
There's no user interface for changing picture links, but they can be
changed via VBA. There's some example code here:

Show me the link and let me edit it
http://www.rdpslides.com/pptfaq/FAQ00433.htm

However, that WMF conversion is a tragedy - having a jpg grow in size by 10
times. Argh!
Click to expand...

Yep ... they didn't have JPGs when OLE was invented, and it's so permeated
things that they probably can't change it w/o breaking everything.
 
Thanks, Steve.

The macro looks promising.

Dave

Steve Rindsberg said:
Yep, apart from being Evil Incarnate, OLE's handy. ;-)


Well observed. OLE links and picture links are quite different.
Picture links in PPT are just pointers - "When he gets to this slide, go out
to that file and suck in the picture"
There's no user interface for changing picture links, but they can be
changed via VBA. There's some example code here:

Show me the link and let me edit it
http://www.rdpslides.com/pptfaq/FAQ00433.htm



Yep ... they didn't have JPGs when OLE was invented, and it's so permeated
things that they probably can't change it w/o breaking everything.
size it path into
Click to expand...
 
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