PPT Export Solved.

farss wrote on 11/16/2007, 7:39 PM
I've struggled with the simplest of tasks, exporting PPTs at enough resolution so they don't look like crud and have enough resolution to be usefull for panning etc. Well I just stumbled upon a MSDN article that explains how to fix the problem.
Read it here.

This does involve editing the registry but nothing too scary and it does friggin work. Once you've done the Regedit just open PPT and Save As .jpg or .png and in my case having set the thing to 300dpi I get very usefully sized slides. The thing is, by default PPT does it's graphics export at 96dpi, no wonder the results look so bad.

Bob.

Comments

rs170a wrote on 11/16/2007, 7:54 PM
Bob, there's no need to do a registry edit.
Instead, Powerpoint Image Exporteris a neat (and free) little app developed by Liam Kennedy that allows you to convert your Powerpoint presentation into a sequence of still images (jpeg, gif, png formats supported) at any resolution (size) you require.

Mike
farss wrote on 11/16/2007, 8:27 PM
I've used that in the past, even changed some of the code it.
I'll try to do a side by side comparison.
Having changed the registry though it's now very simple to get what I want.

I *think* there's an underlying issue with how PPT does it's internal work and changing that registry setting affects the outcome in more ways than just image size.

Bob.
farss wrote on 11/16/2007, 9:25 PM
Two things:

1) The Liam's Macro and the Regedit method produce the same results.

2) Getting PPT 2007 to run that macro is no trivial task! I spent 20 minutes trying to enable macros in PPT but the ppt file itself has them disabled and damned if I can find how to change that. I can run macros and my own VBA code in Office 2007 so there must be something else I need to wrestle with.
To test the qulaity of the output I went back to PPT 2000 on another PC.

So I think both are a viable solution to get the same result. I guess I prefer the Regedit approach as having done it I only need to do a Save As and job done and under ppt 07 no messing with security.
On the other hand if editing the registry freaks you out and you've got ppt 2000 then Liam's macro is the go for sure. Make certain you read the instructions, they're slides in the ppt itself.

Bob.
UlfLaursen wrote on 11/16/2007, 11:44 PM
Hi Bob,

I have struggeled with the same issues and I'm making a big project atm. with a lot of PPT - so this tip is right in time for me - thanks a lot for sharing!

/Ulf
Norm Chan wrote on 11/17/2007, 5:33 AM
Just wondering if anyone has experience with this software from Datavideo ?
It seems to be able to sent the VGA output from your computer to the Firewire out. There is a free trial version, but I have not try it yet.

Norm Chan
marks27 wrote on 11/19/2007, 2:18 AM
Bob,

You are an angel from heaven and no mistake. You have saved me one metric sh*tload of time (and that is widely accepted as being much more than the old imperial measure). I tried the exporter macro, but same issue: couldn't get it to run.

I am loathe to update the registry, but this has proven well worth it.

Thanks for passing on your findings.

Ciao,

marks

marks27 wrote on 11/19/2007, 2:18 AM
Bob,

You are an angel from heaven and no mistake. You have saved me one metric sh*tload of time (and that is widely accepted as being much more than the old imperial measure). I tried the exporter macro, but same issue: couldn't get it to run.

I am loathe to update the registry, but this has proven well worth it.

Thanks for passing on your findings.

Ciao,

marks

farss wrote on 11/19/2007, 3:14 AM
Glad to help.

I still need to solve the problem of getting macros to run in PPT for other reasons. The security in Ofiice 2003 was a nightmare but I've cracked 2007 patially. I need to do some more digging around in MSDN, what M$ says in the Help isn't the whole story. When I crack it I'll post an update as I know fiddling around in the registry gives most of us the willies and the macro is more convenient.

Bob.