Author Topic: IDEA: Powerpoint shrinker (Read 44,468 times)

yacht_boy · « **on:** January 15, 2008, 02:05 PM »

Hi all-

I constantly have to send and receive powerpoints, which are often loaded with unnecessarily high resolution images that balloon the size up to many dozens of megabytes. Today I went digging for a converter and found several, all pretty pricey. They're best summarized in this list: http://www.freedownloadmanager.org/downloads/powerpoint_compression_software/

I tried NXPowerLite and liked it, but at $45 for the full version, there's no way I'll ever buy it. It's a 1.7 mb exe file--it shrinks images and optionally flattens embedded documents and spits out a renamed file about 90% smaller than the original. If anyone can create a free/donationware version, I'd be forever grateful! It would also be nice to be able to do the same thing to word docs with pictures to create web-optimized docs.

Thanks!

Jason

lanux128 · « **Reply #1 on:** January 16, 2008, 01:46 AM »

here are some reasons why PPT files get so bloated, you may want to try these steps..

• http://www.somacon.com/p133.php
• http://www.tech-recipes.com/rx/1423/powerpoint_compress_and_optimize_presentations_ppt_to_decrease_size

Darwin · « **Reply #2 on:** January 16, 2008, 03:24 AM »

Another excellent resource (at least in my experience) is:

http://pptfaq.com/index.html

see this post in particular for pointers on how to setup first Windows and then Powerpoint for use:

http://pptfaq.com/FAQ00034.htm

yacht_boy · « **Reply #3 on:** January 16, 2008, 03:52 AM »

Thanks both for your responses. I know that shrinking my pictures can help, and powerpoint's built-in compression tools also help a bit, but what I need is a tool that will work on presentations that are already built with a minimum of fuss. I do a *lot* of work on other people's powerpoints (unfortunately--maybe I should find a better job) and just want a simple 1 click solution to shrink them down quickly with a minimum of fuss.

Jason

Darwin · « **Reply #4 on:** January 16, 2008, 05:05 AM »

What I do is select any graphic, right click on it and select "Format Picture". I select "Compress" in the resulting dialogue and then Apply to: "All pictures in document" and Change resolution to "Web". The other trick is to create a new empty presentation, copy and paste all of the slides from the existing presentation and paste them into the new one and then save with a different file name. This only helps if your client has the Fast Save option selected (it's on by default). Don't know if that will help that much or not. Beyond that, I'm not aware of a ppt one-click shrinker.

Sounds like a good candidate for a coding snack, so you've come to the right place!

yacht_boy · « **Reply #5 on:** January 16, 2008, 02:37 PM »

Yeah, the NXPowerLite works really well, but it's $45!!! I couldn't even sell my 5-year old PC for $45, why would I want to pay that much for a program I will use maybe once or twice a month at most? Plus, I feel that the coders here could probably do it more elegantly and with less space than the commercial versions. Wish I knew how to do this kind of stuff myself.

Darwin · « **Reply #6 on:** January 31, 2008, 08:16 PM »

I just found this via Lifehacker: Sun Presentation Minimizer. Don't know if it will do "batch shrinks" or not, but worth a look, I should think.

yacht_boy · « **Reply #7 on:** February 01, 2008, 12:17 AM »

Thanks--looks awesome for my home computer (open office), but won't work at work where I'm restricted to MS Office, and where I do all of my work on Powerpoint. Still, it's a start. Anyone out there know of a way to port this to M$?

Jason

mwb1100 · « **Reply #8 on:** February 01, 2008, 12:40 AM »

Quote from: yacht_boy on January 16, 2008, 02:37 PM

Yeah, the NXPowerLite works really well, but it's $45!!! . . . why would I want to pay that much for a program I will use maybe once or twice a month at most?

Quote from: yacht_boy on January 16, 2008, 03:52 AM

I do a *lot* of work on other people's powerpoints (unfortunately--maybe I should find a better job) and just want a simple 1 click solution to shrink them down quickly with a minimum of fuss.

I know it's easy to spend other people's money, but to my mind if you do this a couple times a month and NXPowerLite does the trick (I don't know anything about the program except what you've written), then $45 would probably be money well spent. Especially if it's for work (in which case, your work should buy it, not you). Let's amortize over a relatively short period - if you use it 12 times over the next 6 months that comes out to something like $4 per use. Would you pay someone $4 or $5 to perform this task for you? If so, you should probably consider the purchase.

I also know this kind of analysis is sometimes easier said than done. My wife often chides me for spending hours and hours researching a purchase in order to save $8. Now, since that's my own personal time, I'm OK with it (even if it makes no sense). However, for work, time *is* money so spending chump change to save time is an easy decision. But I also have a reasonable work place that doesn't freak out over a $45 expense as long as I can justify it (and for $45, "I do this a couple times a month" is ample justification).

Darwin · « **Reply #9 on:** February 01, 2008, 12:49 AM »

Jason - just to highlight the fact that AFAICT, Sun Presenation Minimizer works with ppt files as well... or are they sneaky and force you to use the Open/Star Office interface to make it work?

Crumb! Just took a look and that is exactly how it works - it's a plug-in or "extension" to Open/StarOffice. Bummed. Sorry Jason, I thought this one had promise. Let the hunt continue!

Edit: typo

yacht_boy · « **Reply #10 on:** February 01, 2008, 01:02 AM »

There are any number of reasons not to spend the money. One is that I have downloaded literally hundreds of programs over the last couple of years, and if I paid even $10 each for them, I'd be broke. I do a lot of stuff on the computer--I'm on it 10 or more hours a day, every day. A program that gets used for 10 minutes a month isn't worth that kind of money. And often, when I DO pay for a program, I end up finding that it either doesn't do everything I need, or that there is a better freeware version available (like the star office version which is superior to NXPowerLite in interface and options, only it doesn't work for M$).

Second, I would always rather use free and/or open source software, and I'd rather pay someone here at DC $5 or $10 in credits and have it available to the world. Plus, if I get someone here to do it, I can ask for specific features and get the warm fuzzy feeling that comes from beta-testing.

Third, I would use this mainly for work. I'm technically prohibited from installing ANY software on my machine (or even plugging in a USB drive, for that matter). But my IT people are pretty cool and won't hassle me as long as I don't screw anything up on the network. Still, there's not a snowball's chance in hell that I'd ever be given approval to buy non-authorized software. And the only reason I use this is because our IT people have arbitrarily capped our email storage limits to about 450 mb, so I'm just saving my workplace money in storage anyway and saving my coworkers the hassle of having to constantly go back and delete these big files.

And no, I most definitely would NOT pay someone $4 or $5 to do this for me. I just wouldn't do it at all, network storage limits be damned. That's what I do now (er, don't do, I guess).

Jason

Darwin · « **Reply #11 on:** February 01, 2008, 01:22 AM »

Here's a cheapo solution that *might* fit the bill/be within your monetary comfort range (I found a number of others in the $25-40 range but you posted the above while I was typing so I've pared the list down to this):

Powerpressed (shareware; $11.99)

Might be worth running the trial, anyway...

yacht_boy · « **Reply #12 on:** February 01, 2008, 01:53 AM »

I'll check it out. I was really hoping to get someone here to write a coding snack that seems like it would fit the bill of A-easy, B-has no free substitute, and C-seems to have a broad appeal, but I guess no one wants to bite.

It's less the money than the principal of paying for software (outside of the Donation Coder model). I've only paid for a couple of programs in the last few years that didn't originate on this site--everything else is freeware on my machine at home except for media monkey (worth every penny at first, but now not being supported as much as I'd like). I've switched to linux a half-dozen times but keep coming back to windows because the learning curve is too steep and I like to be compatible with my stuff at work. Mostly, I find that free software is not only better-written/more functional, it's got better support.

Anyway, like I said, it's not a big deal for me to just keep emailing large files back and forth to my bosses and clogging up our mail servers, which is my free alternative--it's easier to delete mail than it is to use any of these powerpoint shrinkers, I was just trying to be a bit more productive and help out at work.

But thanks for your help, all!

Jason

Darwin · « **Reply #13 on:** February 01, 2008, 03:42 AM »

Heh, heh - no worries, Jason. I wish I had the *goods* to code something myself as I would find it useful as well. However, I'm strictly an end-user!

Darwin · « **Reply #14 on:** February 26, 2008, 08:06 AM »

Giveawayoftheday is offering PPT Minimizer at the moment (February 26) - wonder if this will fit the bill?

http://www.pptminimizer.com/eng/index.php

lanux128 · « **Reply #15 on:** February 26, 2008, 12:24 PM »

Darwin, since the offer is for a limited time only, maybe you can try PM'ing yacht_boy.

yacht_boy · « **Reply #16 on:** February 26, 2008, 12:59 PM »

No need for the PM--I subscribe to comments on this thread. Thanks for the link, Darwin! I'm downloading now, although it appears to be licensed for personal use only, which does me no good at work where I make all my powerpoints. You can see by the number of comments out there that this is a popular style of app. Are the donation coders out there sure they don't want to put up an improved, ok to use in business-settings donation-ware version? Might draw a lot of attention to the site.

Jason

lanux128 · « **Reply #17 on:** February 27, 2008, 01:02 AM »

too bad you're still on the look-out, Jason. on another note, this looks to be a keeper. i tried a couple of PPT files and this program reduced the size substantially and didn't ruin the ability to edit the files after that.

just a sample screenshot.

yacht_boy · « **Reply #18 on:** February 27, 2008, 02:44 AM »

Looks good--too bad the license won't let me use it at work! I downloaded the GAOTD version but haven't installed it yet--will try it out next time I get the chance at home.

patteo · « **Reply #19 on:** January 07, 2009, 02:08 PM »

You can get a free license for PPT Minimizer 4.0 via

http://www.balesio.com/campaign/licensing/index.aspx?CID=pcadvisor

I did that today, and they emailed me a license.

The only thing is that somehow the license does not seem to work.

Perhaps anyone interested can give it a try at the site and see if I'm missing something out.

dcm · « **Reply #20 on:** January 07, 2009, 09:10 PM »

I tried PPT Minimizer today, but got the ## error code, and it didn't register.

Maybe someone else has had better luck.

patteo · « **Reply #21 on:** January 08, 2009, 04:10 AM »

That is exactly the same error code I got.

patteo · « **Reply #22 on:** January 08, 2009, 03:51 PM »

Just got this reply from Support when I asked them about the invalid keys.

"Thank you for your feedback. From the serial number, I can tell that you got a free license from a promotion which took place last summer with a IT magazine or similar. As the published links in these magazines are spread all over the Internet, the registration page generates automatically time-limited keys after this promotion expired. The generated keys after expiration are valid until end of 2008 and show a double pound sign "##".

If you like the software and wish to use it, please purchase a full license from our website: http://www.pptminimizer.com/eng/order.php

Please feel free to contact me directly if you have any further questions."

What a bummer : the serial key which they were sending out made no mention that it had to be installed before the end of 2008. In fact I only received the keys a couple of days ago ie in 2009 itself. And if the promotion has expired, then why bother to generate keys right now when it is already 2009 and the keys only work in 2008 ?.

I put this reply here so no one need to waste time sending in a request for a "free" registration.

Darwin · « **Reply #23 on:** January 08, 2009, 04:35 PM »

Thanks patteo! They didn't even offer you an upgrade price to salve the wound (not, I suppose, that it's their fault, per se... but a happy customer and all that!)? I suppose that if they'd offer you the £ 14.95 upgrade (that's roughly 50% off the full price of €29.95) to the full, commercial version, it might be "OK". Note, though, that clicking on the link leads to an "Expired, time limited offer" notificaiton (just checked), so you'd have to contact Support to request this...

Darwin · « **Reply #24 on:** January 08, 2009, 04:40 PM »

Just to note: I did request and receive a licence yesterday but hadn't bothered installing or trying to register the software. What I DID do yesterday was click on the link in the confirmation e-mail offering me the £ 14.95 upgrade to the commercial version. It took me to a site confirming the price and asking me to enter my details for payment. I didn't bother... today that link leads to the expired offer notification page I mentioned in the above post. Looks like they're mopping up, patteo! I still think that they should offer you a discount for alerting them to this - I could easily have purchased the software yesterday but didn't. You'll have saved them a bit of lost revenue by asking them about this.

PS Does the key that you received feature a double # sign? Mine doesn't...

EDIT: I can't spell