Compress Images in Microsoft PowerPoint or Word
Files So Files Download and Open Quickly
Large file sizes can result in long download times for students, can take a long time to open and
take up a lot of space in RamCT. Large image files copied directly from a digital camera or from
a web page are often the main contributor to large file sizes.
A solution is to use a compression feature built into Microsoft PowerPoint or Word. Our eyes
cannot see a quality difference between a compressed image and a full resolution image in
PowerPoint presentation or online. So we recommend that you use this simple tool to reduce
your file size before you upload the files into your RamCT section.
Image file types that benefit from Microsoft’s built in compression tool include:
Jpg, png, tiff, bmp and gif.
I.
Photos Add Size To Files
I’ve decided to share the photos I took on my
trip to Niagara Falls this summer with my class.
I took photos directly from my digital camera
and inserted them into my PowerPoint slides.
Each photo is about 1 MB in size.
I inserted five photos into my PowerPoint
presentation and saved the file to my computer.
The total size of my PowerPoint file is
a little over 5,000 Kilobytes (KB) or 5
Megabytes (MB).
On a slow Internet connection, it can take up to 12 minutes for a student to download a 5 MB
file! We have seen some PowerPoint files that are 100 MB in size; this could take up to 4
hours for a student to download.
RamCT-Compress Images
RamCT Training & Support ACNS
Colorado State University © 2010
1
II.
Use Built In Image Compression Tool to Reduce File Size.
Both PowerPoint and Word have the same tool for compressing images. The compression
tool can compress all the images in the file at once with the following steps.
a. In PowerPoint 2007, in one of your slides, click on one of the pictures you inserted.
In Word 2007, click on one of the photos/pictures you inserted into your document.
b. Picture Tools will appear in the ribbon at the top.
Click on the Format item.
c.
In the top left of the ribbon menu click Compress Pictures.
d. Click Options.
e. Under Compression Options check both:
• Automatically perform basic
compression on save.
• Delete cropped areas of pictures
f. Under Target output:
Select the resolution you need for your
PowerPoint slides.
I want my pictures optimized for my projected presentation and for inclusion in my
RamCT section, so I selected Screen.
g. Click OK.
h. Click OK again.
RamCT-Compress Images
RamCT Training & Support ACNS
Colorado State University © 2010
2
i. Save your PowerPoint file.
My file size went from over 5 MB to a
little over 400 kilobytes.
That is a 92% reduction in file size!
On a slow Internet connection, the download time would go from about 12 minutes to less
than 1 minute!
Much faster to download, open and the quality of my photos is excellent!
III.
Other Image Reduction Options
Certainly you can do even more with images buy purchasing an image editor such as
Adobe’s Photoshop or downloading a free editor such as Google’s Picasso.
For more information on how to use Photoshop to adjust image size and resolution, please
see CSU’s Computer Application Training handouts. Login with your CSU ID to:
http://lib.colostate.edu/cat/traininghandouts.php
IV.
RamCT Questions/Support:
Contact your RamCT College Coordinator
http://www.help.ramct.colostate.edu/ramctsupport_faculty.aspx
Visit the http://help.ramct.colstate.edu website
Email support at: [email protected]
RamCT-Compress Images
RamCT Training & Support ACNS
Colorado State University © 2010
3