Images in PowerPoint 2008 is less sharp

[brianblum]

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: intel

I just installed PowerPoint 2008 today. I opened a PPT that I created in PowerPoint 2004. The images were less sharp, less crisp. Since some of the images in my presentation were of relatively small text, the fuzziness makes it hard to read.

Has anyone else had this problem? Is there any kind of work around to get the images to be as sharp as they were in PowerPoint 2004?

Thanks,
Brian

 

[Jason Andersen [MSFT]]

It's possible the images were PICT images before. Because Apple has
deprecated the PICT format, Office 2008 converts PICTs to PDF format. So
that conversion may be where you are seeing the fuzziness.

One option is to take the pictures in 2004 and export them out, then insert
them in 2008. To export the images, right click (or Cntrl+click) and select
Save as Picture. Select the format type you want the exported image saved
out as, as well as the location you want to save to, then save.

Once the image is exported you can sharpen it up with a 3rd party photo
editor if needed and perhaps even convert it to a non-PICT format to insert
into Office 2008.

- Jason

 

[brianblum]

Hi Jason,

Thanks for the quick response.

I originally grabbed the pictures using the Mac's shift-control-command-4 screen grab function and saved them as PNGs. I did the same thing now and saved them both as JPEGs and TIFFs, then did Insert Picture into PowerPoint. The images are still less clear than on PowerPoint 2004.

In fact, even text that I type into PowerPoint directly, if I make it a small font like 8-9 point, comes out less sharp than it did in 2004. So it seems like something to do with the way PowerPoint is rendering the whole page.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Brian

 

[Matt Centurión [MSFT]]

Hi Brian,

I think I have been able to reproduce your issue. First off, is your Zoom
set to 100%? Because if it's not any picture inserted into PPT will have
scaling issues. And in fact any picture NOT 72dpi will still have scaling
issues at 100%. But since you say these are Mac screenshots then they will
be 72dpi.

Ok.. If you're at 100% and they are still fuzzy try this:
0. Make sure "View | Guides | Snap to Grid" is checked
1. Select the image
2. Press either the left-arrow or right-arrow key
3. Now press either the up-arrow or down-arrow key

Did that help? It does for me.

Regardless.. Even if the images didn't look crisp during editing, they show
up fine when presenting slide show or printing the document. Let us know if
this is not the case.

Matt
MacOffice Testing
Microsoft



Date: 3/12/08 1:25 AM / From: "(e-mail address removed)"