In PowerPoint, the standard operations, such as saving work, are
just like in any other Office application. To save, click the Save button on the
Standard toolbar or choose File ⇨ Save. To save the
presentation under a different name or location, or as a different type, use
File ⇨ Save As. No surprises there.
In most cases you'll want to save PowerPoint presentation files in
the default format: Presentation (*.ppt). There are lots of alternatives
available, though, and Table 1-1 below
summarizes them. If you decide you want to save in PowerPoint format, you have
three choices:
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Presentation (PowerPoint 2003) format is very versatile. It
is compatible with all PowerPoint versions 97 and above (97, 2000, 2002, and
2003), and it preserves all features.
-
PowerPoint 97-2003 and 95 format adds compatibility for
PowerPoint 95 to the mix, but it also greatly increases the file size. That's
because in 97 and higher, graphics are compressed, but in 95 they are not.
Therefore, the presentations saved in this format must support both. All
features are preserved, although many of them will not be visible in the earlier
PowerPoint versions.
-
Presentation for Review format is not an option when you
first save the file, but if you use Save As to save it again, you will have
access to it. It's almost exactly the same as Presentation format, but it keeps
track of changes made to e-mailed copies so you can merge the changes later.
Don't use this unless you need to, because the file size grows until you merge
the changes each time someone else's revisions are added.
Table 1-1: FORMATS IN WHICH YOU CAN SAVE
POWERPOINT SLIDES
|
Format
|
Extension
|
Notes
|
|
Presentations
|
|
|
|
Presentation
|
PPT
|
The default. Use in most cases. Can be opened in PowerPoint
97 and higher.
|
|
PowerPoint 97-2003 & 95
|
PPT
|
For use in a variety of earlier versions of PowerPoint,
including PowerPoint 95. Results in a large file because it contains the
uncompressed images needed to support PowerPoint 95. Retains all PowerPoint 2003
features.
|
|
Single File Web Page
|
MHT, MHTML
|
Web-based, but all elements in a single file. Suitable for
use as an e-mail attachment. May lose some animation effects.
|
|
Web Page
|
HTM, HTML
|
Creates a plain-text HTM file and pulls out each graphic
element in a separate file. Suitable for posting on a Web site. May lose some
animation effects.
|
|
Presentation for Review
|
PPT
|
Creates a normal PowerPoint file but sets it up to track
revisions from multiple revisers. Not an option when saving
initially.
|
|
Design Template
|
POT
|
Creates a template that can be used for formatting future
PowerPoint presentations you create.
|
|
PowerPoint Show
|
PPS
|
Just like a normal presentation file except it has a
different extension and opens by default in Slide Show view instead of Normal
view.
|
|
Graphics/Others
|
|
|
|
PowerPoint Add-In
|
PPA
|
Stores any Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) code
associated with the presentation as an add-in.
|
|
GIF Graphics Interchange Format
|
GIF
|
Static graphic. GIFs are limited to 256
colors.
|
|
PNG Portable Network Graphics Format
|
PNG
|
Static graphic. Similar to GIF except without the color
depth limitation.
|
|
JPEG File Interchange Format
|
JPG, JPEG
|
Static graphic. JPEG files can be very small, making them
good for Web use.
|
|
Tagged Image File Format
|
TIF, TIFF
|
Static graphic. A high-quality file format suitable for
slides with high-resolution photos.
|
|
Device Independent Bitmap
|
BMP
|
Static graphic. BMP is the native format for Windows
graphics, including Windows background wallpaper.
|
|
Windows Metafile
|
WMF
|
Static graphic. A vector-based format, so it can later be
resized without distortion. Not Mac-compatible.
|
|
Enhanced Windows Metafile
|
EMF
|
Enhanced version of WMF, not compatible with 16-bit
applications. Also vector-based and non-Mac-compatible.
|
|
Outline/RTF
|
RTF
|
Text and text formatting only; excludes all non-text
elements. Only text in slide placeholders will be converted to the outline. Text
in the Notes area and in manually placed text boxes is not
included.
|
Although all of these formats retain all features of PowerPoint
2003, other people using earlier versions of PowerPoint to view them might not
see things exactly the same as they were created.
|
Tip |
The MultiSave add-in by Shyam Pillai allows you to save a
PowerPoint presentation in many formats simultaneously; this can be useful if
you need to make copies in different formats and keep all the copies
synchronized. Download it from http://officeone.mvps.org/multisave/multisave.html.
At that same Web site is a Sequential Save add-in that
creates a backup of the last saved version of a presentation before overwrites
it with changes. See www.mvps.org/skp/seqsave.htm.
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