Creating a corporate powerpoint template (POT)

Does anyone know the best graphic format to use in a PowerPoint
template? I want to import a graphic file in a template (as the
background) and was wondering if a gif, a tif or a bmp would be best.
(I'm concerned about overall size of the PowerPoint but still don't
want to sacrifice the quality of the graphic.
Note: We use PowerPoint 2002 and 2003) Thanks in advance for your
help.

"Philippe" wrote:

Does anyone know the best graphic format to use in a PowerPoint
template? I want to import a graphic file in a template (as the
background) and was wondering if a gif, a tif or a bmp would be best.
(I'm concerned about overall size of the PowerPoint but still don't
want to sacrifice the quality of the graphic.
Note: We use PowerPoint 2002 and 2003) Thanks in advance for your
help.

Hi Philippe,

if your graphic is a photo, I would not use any of the three formats you
mentioned, because:
- GIF has only 256 colors,
- TIF files tend to be big
- BMP files can be big also and are not common on Macs.

I would use a PNG file of 1500 x 1130 pixel and 150 dpi. That size fills the
whole slide, and the quality is sufficient for printing of handouts. But
file size is quite small, though.

(An alternative could be JPG, but PNG compression does not produce artefacts
and thus better image quality.)

Kind regards,
Ute

Philippe

I'll second PNG anyday.

What pixel resolution is up to you....

more pixels = bigger filesize (as you prob. know!)

Cheers
TAJ Simmons
microsoft powerpoint mvp

awesome - powerpoint backgrounds,
free powerpoint templates, tutorials, hints and tips etc
http://www.powerpointbackgrounds.com

if your graphic is a photo, I would not use any of the three formats you
mentioned, because:
- GIF has only 256 colors,
- TIF files tend to be big

And have so many variant sub-formats that you can run into trouble with
versions of TIFF that PPT doesn't quite understand.

- BMP files can be big also and are not common on Macs.

FWIW, as long as the version of PPT you use can import them, neither of these
things will matter; PowerPoint will convert the BMP to PNG at the time of
import.

Still, I'd use PNG; as you say, BMP isn't widely supported on the Mac; if you
ever need to edit the original file, PNG would make it easier (and it supports
transparency effects and carries DPI information, both of which can be useful;
BMP does neither)

I would use a PNG file of 1500 x 1130 pixel and 150 dpi. That size fills the
whole slide, and the quality is sufficient for printing of handouts. But
file size is quite small, though.

(An alternative could be JPG, but PNG compression does not produce artefacts
and thus better image quality.)

Kind regards,
Ute


--
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================
Featured Presenter, PowerPoint Live 2004
October 10-13, San Diego, CA www.PowerPointLive.com
================================================

Ute, thanks for your prompt reply. No it's not a photo. It should be
camera ready artwork created by a design firm. Probably very clean 4
color resolution background with our corporate logo. Since thee
designer told me that I could ask for any format I was hoping that
someone would suggest the most appropriate one.
Thanks again.






"Ute Simon" wrote in message ...
"Philippe" wrote:

Does anyone know the best graphic format to use in a PowerPoint
template? I want to import a graphic file in a template (as the
background) and was wondering if a gif, a tif or a bmp would be best.
(I'm concerned about overall size of the PowerPoint but still don't
want to sacrifice the quality of the graphic.
Note: We use PowerPoint 2002 and 2003) Thanks in advance for your
help.

Hi Philippe,

if your graphic is a photo, I would not use any of the three formats you
mentioned, because:
- GIF has only 256 colors,
- TIF files tend to be big
- BMP files can be big also and are not common on Macs.

I would use a PNG file of 1500 x 1130 pixel and 150 dpi. That size fills the
whole slide, and the quality is sufficient for printing of handouts. But
file size is quite small, though.

(An alternative could be JPG, but PNG compression does not produce artefacts
and thus better image quality.)

Kind regards,
Ute

Thanks for your prompt reply. No it's not a photo. It should be
camera ready artwork created by a design firm. Probably very clean 4
color resolution background with our corporate logo. Since thee
designer told me that I could ask for any format I was hoping that
someone would suggest the most appropriate one.
Again, thanks for taking the time to respond



"TAJ Simmons" wrote in message ...
Philippe

I'll second PNG anyday.

What pixel resolution is up to you....

more pixels = bigger filesize (as you prob. know!)

Cheers
TAJ Simmons
microsoft powerpoint mvp

awesome - powerpoint backgrounds,
free powerpoint templates, tutorials, hints and tips etc
http://www.powerpointbackgrounds.com

Thanks for your prompt reply. No it's not a photo. It should be
camera ready artwork created by a design firm. Probably very clean 4
color resolution background with our corporate logo. Since the
designer told me that I could ask for any format I was hoping that
someone would suggest the most appropriate one.
Again, thanks for taking the time to respond

---------------------------------------------------------

Steve Rindsberg wrote in message ...
if your graphic is a photo, I would not use any of the three formats you
mentioned, because:
- GIF has only 256 colors,
- TIF files tend to be big

And have so many variant sub-formats that you can run into trouble with
versions of TIFF that PPT doesn't quite understand.

- BMP files can be big also and are not common on Macs.

FWIW, as long as the version of PPT you use can import them, neither of these
things will matter; PowerPoint will convert the BMP to PNG at the time of
import.

Still, I'd use PNG; as you say, BMP isn't widely supported on the Mac; if you
ever need to edit the original file, PNG would make it easier (and it supports
transparency effects and carries DPI information, both of which can be useful;
BMP does neither)

I would use a PNG file of 1500 x 1130 pixel and 150 dpi. That size fills the
whole slide, and the quality is sufficient for printing of handouts. But
file size is quite small, though.

(An alternative could be JPG, but PNG compression does not produce artefacts
and thus better image quality.)

Kind regards,
Ute

"Philippe" wrote:

Ute, thanks for your prompt reply. No it's not a photo. It should be
camera ready artwork created by a design firm. Probably very clean 4
color resolution background with our corporate logo. Since thee
designer told me that I could ask for any format I was hoping that
someone would suggest the most appropriate one.
Thanks again.

Hi Philippe,

if you say "4 color" you are not talking about CMYK, I hope? PowerPoint
needs graphics in RGB colors! PNG files should give better solid colors than
JPG in this case. If they are working with PhotoShop, they will have to use
the "Export for Web" option, as PNG is not common on Mac computers.

Kind regards,
Ute

In article , Philippe wrote:
Thanks for your prompt reply. No it's not a photo. It should be
camera ready artwork created by a design firm. Probably very clean 4
color resolution background with our corporate logo. Since the
designer told me that I could ask for any format I was hoping that
someone would suggest the most appropriate one.

It's most likely something they've done on the computer, then, which means they can save
it into several different formats quite easily. Depending on the artwork itself and one
what you need to do with it down the road, you might want to have it in several formats.

But for starters:

- PowerPoint and 4-color (ie, CMYK) graphics don't get along well. Have them convert the
graphics to RGB before they do anything else.

- Ask for it in PNG and EMF and WMF formats, or as many of those as they can supply.


--
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================
Featured Presenter, PowerPoint Live 2004
October 10-13, San Diego, CA www.PowerPointLive.com
================================================

TAJ Simmons wrote:

Philippe

I'll second PNG anyday.

does png currently support 8 bit masks, I use Draw 8 and it exports pngs
with 1 bit masks, I would like real masks for the presentations


What pixel resolution is up to you....
not really, the fastest response will be with images at 1:1, any more
are wasted unless you have to print.

for true 1:1 you may have to jump hoops, e.g. setting the page to 10.24
x 7.68, then your graphics go in at 100dpi, this way pp doesn't have to
render the file every time its displayed

more pixels = bigger filesize (as you prob. know!)

Cheers
TAJ Simmons
microsoft powerpoint mvp

awesome - powerpoint backgrounds,
free powerpoint templates, tutorials, hints and tips etc
http://www.powerpointbackgrounds.com



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