Unable to save back to 2004 with Clipart in my presentation

[Iggles14]

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: Intel

The vast majority of the time, if I try to save a .pptx file that contains inserted graphics (.wmf, .gif, .png or .jpeg) as .ppt, PowerPoint crashes.

I have no problems working within 2008, but many of my clients have not upgraded, so I have to save back for them.

If I remove all the graphics, I can save the file without trouble. If I reinsert the graphics, I can save back to .ppt without difficulty. Sometimes, I don't have the exact graphics (I had a drive failure on my last Mac and lost some of the originals), so I have to use different ones. But if I go back and delete all the ones that were replaced, PPT still crashes when I try to save my .pptx as .ppt.

I use a lot of graphics. Probably an average of 1 per 4 slides, and my typical presentation (training course) will have about 160-200 slides.

Not sure if this is related, but when I do save back, the files are ALWAYS 2-4 times larger than the .pptx versions. One of presentations, with nothing but text (no transitions, no graphics, no animations) was 1 MB as a .pptx file and 2 MB as a .ppt file.

I'm currently running OSX 10.5.5 and PPT 12.1.2, but I've had this problem since I installed Office 2008 when I was running 10.5.3. I have installed one Office update (the only one available) and that did not fix the problem.

Duncan

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

The crash on save problem seems to be a common issue when presentations contain vector
graphics. I'd imagine MS is working on a fix for that; keep a close eye on the updates site.

Not sure if this is related, but when I do save back, the files are ALWAYS 2-4 times larger

than the .pptx versions. One of presentations, with nothing but text (no transitions, no
graphics, no animations) was 1 MB as a .pptx file and 2 MB as a .ppt file.

Have you used any of the new text effects? Soft shadows, glows, etc?
Since older versions don't support those effects, PPT has to convert them into images to
maintain the same appearance, and as I'm sure you know well, an image of text involves a LOT
more data than just the text.


================================================
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================

 

[Jim Gordon MVP]

The crash on save problem seems to be a common issue when presentations contain vector
graphics. I'd imagine MS is working on a fix for that; keep a close eye on the updates site.

than the .pptx versions. One of presentations, with nothing but text (no transitions, no
graphics, no animations) was 1 MB as a .pptx file and 2 MB as a .ppt file.

Have you used any of the new text effects? Soft shadows, glows, etc?
Since older versions don't support those effects, PPT has to convert them into images to
maintain the same appearance, and as I'm sure you know well, an image of text involves a LOT
more data than just the text.


================================================
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================

Hi,

This is sounding more and more like an old bug that is resurfacing.

If you can identify exactly the source of the clip objects that cause
the crash that would be helpful. Send the info to Microsoft using help >
send feedback.

-Jim

--
Jim Gordon
Mac MVP


WE NEED YOUR HELP!
The number of new Mac users has skyrocketed. That’s excellent. In this
forum all answers come from other users, not from Microsoft employees.
Please help answer questions.

If you see an unanswered question that you know the answer to, please
take just a moment to post the answer. Doing so speeds response time for
people who come here and need fast responses.

If you see an answer that might be wrong or that you can answer better,
hop right in and offer your thoughts. Don’t berate a wrong answer –
we’re all here trying to help each other.

Don’t bother with questions you’re not quite sure about or don’t know about.

Please take just a moment to help fellow Mac users. Your efforts will be
appreciated greatly - especially by those you help.

 

[Iggles14]

Not sure if this is related, but when I do save back, the files are ALWAYS 2-4 times larger

than the .pptx versions. One of presentations, with nothing but text (no transitions, no
graphics, no animations) was 1 MB as a .pptx file and 2 MB as a .ppt file.

Have you used any of the new text effects? Soft shadows, glows, etc?
Since older versions don't support those effects, PPT has to convert them into images to
maintain the same appearance, and as I'm sure you know well, an image of text involves a LOT
more data than just the text.

Nope. And I just did another test using the default layout with Arial and a blank background. I typed some text, and duplicated a few dozen slides in order to get some volume. With 100 slides, this is what I got:
156 KB as .pptx and 204 KB as .ppt.
These were IDENTICAL files with ZERO special effects. Just plain text.

I then doubled the number of slides and added the same graphic to about 10 of the slides. This was the result:
344 KB as .pptx and 428 KB as .ppt

Ironically, virtually all of my files started as .ppt created under 2004, and they all got larger when I converted them to .pptx. I just did a test with one of my old files:
-- Started out as 628 KB in .ppt
-- Became 1.1 MB when saved as .pptx (no change to content)
-- Became 708 KB when saved back to .ppt, again without making any changes to content

Duncan

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

Nope. And I just did another test using the default layout with Arial and a blank

background. I typed some text, and duplicated a few dozen slides in order to get some
volume. With 100 slides, this is what I got:

156 KB as .pptx and 204 KB as .ppt.
These were IDENTICAL files with ZERO special effects. Just plain text.

I then doubled the number of slides and added the same graphic to about 10 of the slides. This was the result:
344 KB as .pptx and 428 KB as .ppt

So in these tests you're seeing a relatively small difference in size, but nowhere near
the 2-4 times increase you saw with the other file(s) you mentioned.

There are big big differences in the file formats so a certain amount of difference is to
be expected. There may be times when one format is smaller or larger, depending on the
content, I'm guessing.

Ironically, virtually all of my files started as .ppt created under 2004, and they all

got larger when I converted them to .pptx. I just did a test with one of my old files:

-- Started out as 628 KB in .ppt
-- Became 1.1 MB when saved as .pptx (no change to content)
-- Became 708 KB when saved back to .ppt, again without making any changes to content

Still, barely a 2x change, not 4x.

So what's different between these files and the ones that show the 2-4x size change?


================================================
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================