My colleagues have asked so many times how to convert PowerPoint to DVD, Flash or PDF that I will finally just write a guide on how to do it! In many cases, you do not have access to a Microsoft PowerPoint computer during a presentation, and in these cases it may be easier to load a DVD, play a movie file such as a flash, or show a PDF document on an iPad.
Converting your presentation to DVD is great because it can be played on any DVD player in the world, be it a laptop, desktop computer, or standalone DVD player. Converting to PDF is good for those who want to send presentation slides electronically, but don’t want people to be able to edit or modify the slides. Finally, converting to Flash or video is useful for anyone who wants to embed a presentation on a website, or simply show it using media player software.
Converting to videos is also helpful because you can then upload those videos to YouTube or Facebook for posting. Converting to MP4 format lets you enjoy PowerPoint presentations on your smartphone, tablet or other mobile device! So let’s get started.
Convert PowerPoint to PDF
If you have newer versions of Office installed, then there is a really easy way to convert your presentations to PDF. All you have to do is save the file and select PDF as the file type. I have been using this method for a while and it will convert your presentation just like it would to a PDF document. First open the presentation and click “File” and then “Save As.”
In the Save As dialog box, select PDF from the Save as type drop-down list. By default, this will be a standard size PDF, which means it can be used for printing or publishing on the web. If you want a smaller PDF, select Minimum Size (Web Publishing).
You can also click the Options button and choose which slides you want to include in the PDF, whether to print the slides in PDF or annotations, handouts or diagram, whether to include comments, etc.
Click Save and you will now have a PDF with all PowerPoint slides. If you are using an older version of Office and there is no way to save as PDF, then your only option is to print your presentation to PDF using software such as CutePDF Writer CutePDF Writer lets you create PDFs for anything printable.
On the left, you will see two links, one for a free download and one for a free converter. You need to download both and install them. You can also just click Get Zipped Setup, which includes both files in a compressed format. Now go to PowerPoint, open your presentation, choose Print, and choose CutePDF Writer from the drop-down menu.
Convert PowerPoint to Flash or Video
If you are looking for a free way to convert PowerPoint to video or flash, you have several options. The first method is almost the same as how we saved our presentation in PDF format.
In newer versions of Office, you can save your presentation with all transitions and animations as a Windows Media file. Then, using third party software, you can convert it to flash, MP4, or any other video format you need. First, open your presentation and make sure you are watching the slideshow and adjusting the timing for animations / transitions. Try to make it as automated as possible without the need for a mouse click, as they will be automatically converted to videos, but the duration will be the default, not whatever you choose.
Then click “File” then “Save As” and this time choose Windows Media Video as the file type.
Click “Save” and you now have a video of your presentation! I was very impressed with the video quality and almost 100% match to the actual PowerPoint presentation in terms of slides, timings, animations, sound and transitions.
The second method is to take the finished presentation and upload it to a site called AuthorStream You have to register to use the service, but it’s free and definitely worth it. AuthorStream will also save any audio recordings you may have in your presentation.
After you download and convert it, you will see a dropdown for download and one for video. On download, you can convert your presentation to Flash format and in the video section to MP4 video (up to 5 minutes free).
In addition to AuthorStream, you can also use Slideshare, iSpring and Zoho Show for Flash versions of your PowerPoint presentation. Then you can embed them into your blog or website.
If you want to convert Windows Movie Video to a different format, you can use online video conversion tools or third-party software such as HandBrake Feel free to read my previous post in which I explain the concept of transcoding and video file formats
Convert PowerPoint to DVD
It’s also quite easy to transfer your PowerPoint presentation to DVD if you convert it to video format. Therefore, you will need to follow the above instructions first to convert the video to any video format, and then you can follow the instructions to burn the video to DVD.
The easiest way to do this on Windows without any additional software is to use Windows DVD Maker included with Windows Vista Home Premium / Ultimate and Windows 7 Home Premium / Professional / Ultimate. The software was removed in Windows 8 for no apparent reason. Below I will mention a third party program for Windows 8 users.
In Windows DVD Maker, you first need to select the photos and videos that you want to include on DVD. I just selected my short PowerPoint presentation and you can see that it tells you how much time is left on the DVD and allows you to change the title of the DVD.
On the next screen, you can choose from various menu styles, as well as change the menu text, customize the menu, and preview the menu. Keep experimenting with the options and settings until you are happy with the results. For example, I got rid of the scenes because I only have one video on the DVD and it doesn’t make any sense.
Insert your DVD and click Burn. You will have a beautiful playable DVD that can contain one or hundreds of PowerPoint presentations if you like! For those of you who don’t have Windows DVD Maker, you can try a free program called DVDStyler
I will not go into details on how to use the program precisely because it is very easy to use and also because there is ample support documentation on their websites. This program also has a lot more features than Windows DVD Maker, so it might be a better choice if you want to customize your DVD more.
This is it! Hopefully, using the tutorials above, you were able to convert your PowerPoint presentation to the format you want! If you have any questions, please leave a comment. Enjoy!
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