# How Do I Compress A PowerPoint File?



## SINC (Feb 16, 2001)

I have a PPT file given to me by a friend which is 17.7 MB in size and I can't e-mail it to anyone because it is too big.

How do I compress it to e-mail it?

I used Stuffit drag and drop, but it still comes out at 17.7 MB for whatever reason.

Can anyone tell me how to do this please?


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## John Clay (Jun 25, 2006)

Have you tried OS X's built-in archiving tool?


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## MacBookPro (Jun 22, 2006)

If your PPT file has lots of jpegs in it, it won't compress much simply because jpeg are already compressed.

Also, and stating the obvious I guess...but isn't this the wrong forum for this posting?


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## SINC (Feb 16, 2001)

MacBookPro said:


> If your PPT file has lots of jpegs in it, it won't compress much simply because jpeg are already compressed.
> 
> Also, and stating the obvious I guess...but isn't this the wrong forum for this posting?


Last time I checked the "help" section was titled:

"Mac & iPod Help & Troubleshooting"

Since PowerPoint is a MS file, I reckoned it belonged here. Why not since it is neither a Mac or iPod problem?

And yes, it has lots of jpegs, so maybe that IS the problem. Thanks for the comeback.


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## SINC (Feb 16, 2001)

John Clay said:


> Have you tried OS X's built-in archiving tool?


Thanks for the heads up, but no, I am not aware of the feature. Just how does one access it?


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## da_jonesy (Jun 26, 2003)

First off... use the "save as" feature and save the file with another name. This should reduce the size of the original ppt as it throws out all the changes that ppt saves within the file.

Secondly, right click on the new saved file and select "create archive". This will create a zip file and compress it.


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## RunTheWorldOnMac (Apr 23, 2006)

Open a command window: gzip -h

It's be gzip -9 filename


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## CubaMark (Feb 16, 2001)

Here's a tip from MacOSXhints.com on reducing the size of PowerPoint presentations - essentially, it involves 'touching' the inserted images / graphics to force PPT to re-save the image at the (usually) scaled-down size, rather than the (usually humongous) original size.


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## Moscool (Jun 8, 2003)

Sinc, if the presentation is simply for viewing, then saving it as a pdf will give you the best size/quality. Alternative is to extract each picture and then optimise it. Can be tedious. I would try pdf first.


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## SINC (Feb 16, 2001)

Thanks Moscool, the .pdf thing did exactly what I wanted and it came down to 66.7MB.

I just knew someone here would solve my problem.

Thanks again!


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## RunTheWorldOnMac (Apr 23, 2006)

Sinc... HA HA HA HA!!!


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## eMacMan (Nov 27, 2006)

Now that it's down to 66MB try hitting it with pdfShrink. You get a fourteen day trial with this one. You may be able to get it under 20MB and still have adequate quality for your needs.


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## RunTheWorldOnMac (Apr 23, 2006)

He needs it under 10MB I would guess....I think you jumped the thread  . He started out at 17.7MB and needs to be able to email it.


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## bryanc (Jan 16, 2004)

Are you stuck with keeping it as a PPT file? PPT is a horrible format, and it includes a bunch of data you probably don't really want in the file.

But regardless of the format, you can just right-click on the file (control-click if you're stuck with a one-button-mouse) and select 'make archive of file' and it will automatically make a compressed zip file for you.

Hope that helps.

cheers


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## rgray (Feb 15, 2005)

SINC said:


> I have a PPT file given to me by a friend which is *17.7* MB in size and I can't e-mail it to anyone because it is too big.
> 
> How do I compress it to e-mail it?
> 
> ...





SINC said:


> Thanks Moscool, the .pdf thing did exactly what I wanted and it came down to *66.7*MB.
> 
> I just knew someone here would solve my problem.
> 
> Thanks again!


Glad you were able to reduce it from an obese "17.7 MB" to a mere "66.7MB"......  My math ain't the greatest but there's something wrong with these numbers....


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## SINC (Feb 16, 2001)

Congratulations! You're the second guy who can't resist making fun of an obvious mistake.


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## Beej (Sep 10, 2005)

SINC said:


> Congratulations! You're the second guy who can't resist making fun of an obvious mistake.


I almost did too. 

Also, powerpoint has a compress graphic files feature in "options" from the save as menu and, from my experience, you can skim through a file and, when you experience a slight delay in a given slide appearing, select all the graphics (sometimes images of many little images) and paste as something more efficient...before deleting the source mess, of course. Pdf is the quickest and easiest way to reduce size but, if you must keep the powerpoint format, there are the above "tricks".

I am not proud of this experience.


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## SINC (Feb 16, 2001)

*Solution Found*

For the record, I did get the file down to 6.7 MB using the solution I found here:

TUAW Tip: Create smaller PDF files - The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)


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## rgray (Feb 15, 2005)

SINC said:


> Congratulations! You're the second guy who can't resist making fun of an obvious mistake.


No offense intended. Perhaps a little flip, but I was more interested in trying to make sense out of the numbers.


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## RunTheWorldOnMac (Apr 23, 2006)

Rgray...I think you and I are, dare I say it... "jerks"?


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## SINC (Feb 16, 2001)

No one offended me and no offense taken guys. I was just PO'd at myself when I saw the misplaced decimal. I didn't even correct it to teach myself a lesson.


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## bryanc (Jan 16, 2004)

None taken... I thought you were being sarcastic (i.e. you had a 17 MB PPT file, someone suggested you make it a PDF to save space, and it came out as a 60 MB PDF... I've had stuff like that happen... and then you made a sarcastic comment on the progress. Made me laugh anyway).

Cheers


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