On May 12, 1:05 pm, "David M. Marcovitz" <marcoNOS...@loyola.edu>
wrote:

I also find that PPT tries too hard.  That is, when you change a
setting on an image, it retains a copy of the original image, along
with its modified version.  This has the effect of approximately
doubling the saved size of the presentation, regardless of the 'fast
save' setting.  The compress images operation does little to fix this
problem.

The only workaround I have found is to CUT the image off of the slide
to the clipboard (Ctrl-X - not delete) when I have it just the way I
want it and then use Paste Special to add it back as an appropriate
image type - usually JPEG with pictures or PNG or GIF with line art.
If the picture fills the whole frame its position is maintained, but
its z-order needs to be restored - it moves to the top.  I often use
pictures as a slide's background, which requires sending the image all
the way to the back.  If the image is less than full screen, both its
position and order need to be restored.  It's a pain, but the
resulting presentation can end up a small fraction of its original
size.

I find this is most effective when creating collages of small images
from a number of large images.  I've seen as much as a ten to one
reduction in finished size using this technique.  That might mean a 20
MB presentation would shrink to as little as 2 MB.

The one thing that is lost is the ability to restore the image to its
original state, so keep an original copy handy outside of the
presentation if you ever expect to need to retouch the presentation.
Editing the modified image will never be as good as starting over.  I
suppose that's why PPT was built the way it was, but sometimes size is
more important than being able to edit.  I keep a library of song
lyrics backed by images in PPT that I send around in emails and post
on an FTP site for others to access.  Even with wideband, I find its
just easier to work with the smaller files.

Tom Lavedas
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