Yes, undoubtedly a presentation with relevant pictures is more effective than plain text slides. However, even if pictures enhance
appearances, they can also phenomenally increase the size of your presentation file. Picture compression can help.
Recent versions of PowerPoint do some automatic picture compression, even if you are not aware. There are options to make any such
compression even more effective.
The Compress Pictures feature reduces the size of all
inserted pictures
in the presentation in a single step. It does so by reducing the picture resolution to the
amount needed for the type of output you specify (E-mail, Screen, or Print). Picture resolution
is measured in PowerPoint in pixels per inch, or ppi. This roughly translates to dots per inch
(dpi) on a printout. A computer screen shows 96 pixels per inch, so you do not need higher
resolution than that if you are only showing your presentation on-screen. However, if you are
distributing the presentation in other forms, a higher resolution might be appropriate.
To reduce the resolution and compress images within PowerPoint 2016,
follow these steps:
- Open the presentation, navigate to any slide that contains a picture and select it. This
brings up the Picture Tools Format contextual tab on the
Ribbon as shown in
Figure 1 (highlighted in blue).
Figure 1: Picture Tools Format tab
Note: The
Picture Tools Format tab is a
contextual tab. Contextual tabs are special tabs in the
Ribbon
that are not visible all the time; they make an appearance only when you are
working with a particular slide object which can be edited using the options within
these tabs.
-
Within the Picture Tools Format tab, click the Compress Pictures
button, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 2.
Figure 2: Compress Pictures button
-
This opens the Compress Pictures dialog box, as you can see in
Figure 3.
Figure 3: Compress Pictures dialog box
The Compress Pictures dialog box is divided into two sections:
Compression options and Resolution. Note that some options within the Resolution
section might not be available for selection (greyed out); this is because the inserted picture has already been compressed. Options
within both of these sections are explained below:
Apply only to this picture: This check-box, when selected enables you to
compress just the selected picture. If you want to compress all the pictures in the presentation,
make sure you deselect this check-box, as you can see highlighted in red
within Figure 4.
Figure 4: Apply only to this picture check-box deselected
Delete cropped areas of pictures: If you have
cropped pictures and
you want to delete the cropped-out areas of pictures to save additional space,
select the Delete cropped areas of pictures check-box (see Figure 4,
above).
High fidelity: This is the default option for picture compression in PowerPoint 2016, and you may see it always greyed
out. This option preserves the quality of the original picture unless it exceeds the size of the document canvas.
HD (330 ppi): Choosing this radio button will enable compression for
Screen resolution to display the presentation on high-definition displays.
Some projectors have a higher resolution than a monitor.
Print (220 ppi): Select this radio button if you are printing the presentation
on paper; it keeps the photos at a resolution where they will look crisp on a printout.
Web (150 ppi): Choosing this radio button will enable compression for
Screen resolution to display the presentation using a projector or distributing via Internet.
E-mail (96 ppi): Select this radio button if you are e-mailing the presentation
to others, because this lower setting results in a smaller file that will transmit more easily
via e-mail.
Note: Some e-mail servers have limits on the file sizes they accept, so
keeping the PowerPoint file as small as possible when distributing via e-mail is a good idea.
If you send someone an e-mail with a large file attached, the server may reject the message,
but you might not get an error message back from the server at all, or you might not get one for
several days.
Use default resolution: Select this radio button to select the default output
target for picture resolution. You can find default picture resolution within the PowerPoint
Options dialog box; explore our
Set Document
Resolution in PowerPoint 2016 tutorial to learn more.
-
Choose the options based on your requirement, and click the OK button to apply
the changes.
-
Make sure you save your presentation.
See Also:
Compress
Pictures in PowerPoint 2013 for Windows
Compress
Pictures in PowerPoint 2011 for Mac
Compress
Pictures in PowerPoint 2010 for Windows
