Printing a protected file

I am going to put some PowerPoint presentations on CD and distribute them. The presentations will be copywritten, so I don't want anyone to be able to edit the presentations. I do however want people to be able to view and to print the presentations. Is it possible to save them in such a way that they are both protected and printable? If this is not an option, then what is the best way to allow printing? Should I save a separate file for printing by using something like Microsoft Imaging or Adobe Acrobat?

Thanks,
Sharon

I am not aware of any way to prevent someone from editing
a Powerpoint file from within Powerpoint. What I have
done to eliminate this problem in the past is to convert
the file into an Adobe Acrobat PDF file. This
dramatically shrinks file size and makes it easy for
anyone to print the file, even if they don't have
Powerpoint. Unfortunately you have to have Adobe
Acrobat, not just Reader to do this function.

I hope this helps...

-----Original Message-----
I am going to put some PowerPoint presentations on CD
and distribute them. The presentations will be
copywritten, so I don't want anyone to be able to edit
the presentations. I do however want people to be able
to view and to print the presentations. Is it possible
to save them in such a way that they are both protected
and printable? If this is not an option, then what is
the best way to allow printing? Should I save a separate
file for printing by using something like Microsoft
Imaging or Adobe Acrobat?

Thanks,
Sharon
.

If you have PowerPoint 2002 or 2003 you can assign a "modify" password and
then distribute the presentation without the password. I then recommend
that you include the PowerPoint 2003 Viewer on the CD, so that without
moving or installing anything to the system, everything will play from the
CD. The user can right click a slide and select print to print all slides.
--
Sonia, MS PowerPoint MVP Team
Autorun CD software, templates, and tutorials
http://www.soniacoleman.com/

"Sharon" wrote in message
...
I am going to put some PowerPoint presentations on CD and distribute them.
The presentations will be copywritten, so I don't want anyone to be able to
edit the presentations. I do however want people to be able to view and to
print the presentations. Is it possible to save them in such a way that
they are both protected and printable? If this is not an option, then what
is the best way to allow printing? Should I save a separate file for
printing by using something like Microsoft Imaging or Adobe Acrobat?

Thanks,
Sharon

Good info. PDFs can certainly be the best way to distribute PPT content at
some times. A few comments:

a Powerpoint file from within Powerpoint. What I have
done to eliminate this problem in the past is to convert
the file into an Adobe Acrobat PDF file. This
dramatically shrinks file size

That depends a lot on the acrobat settings and what's in the PPT file. While
it's generally true, sometimes the PDF that comes out at the end of the pipe is
dramatically *larger* than the PPT you put in at the beginning.

and makes it easy for
anyone to print the file, even if they don't have
Powerpoint. Unfortunately you have to have Adobe
Acrobat, not just Reader to do this function.

There are other programs, including a few free ones, that you can use to
convert PPT to PDF.

How can I make Acrobat PDFs from PowerPoint?
http://www.rdpslides.com/pptfaq/FAQ00517.htm


I hope this helps...

-----Original Message-----
I am going to put some PowerPoint presentations on CD
and distribute them. The presentations will be
copywritten, so I don't want anyone to be able to edit
the presentations. I do however want people to be able
to view and to print the presentations. Is it possible
to save them in such a way that they are both protected
and printable? If this is not an option, then what is
the best way to allow printing? Should I save a separate
file for printing by using something like Microsoft
Imaging or Adobe Acrobat?

Thanks,
Sharon
.



--
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
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Thanks for all of the comments. You are all very helpful!

Sharon