MS Word or PowerPoint Images Blurry in PDF (how to fix)

If you've ever noticed that zooming-in (200% or more) on images in a PowerPoint or Word document, or a PDF made from a PowerPoint or Word document, shows that the images aren't very good, you should know that it's most likely Microsoft's fault - though Acrobat settings can also be responsible.

MS Office 2007 and later compress graphics by default and cause them to become blurry.  Once a document is saved, the blurry images are permanent and can't be undone except by re-importing all of the images into the document.  Not compressing images does result in a slightly bigger file, but the improvements in readability is worth it.  Worst of all, in MS PowerPoint 2007 & 2010, you can't set a Preference to turn-off the compression for good.  You have to do it each time you start a new presentation (but once compression is set to "off", it stays that way in that presentation no matter who opens or edits it).

FIRST, LET'S TACKLE THE POWERPOINT (or Word) SETTINGS THAT NEED TO BE CORRECTED

To turn compression off in Word 2007 or (only for the current presentation) in PowerPoint 2007:

1. Click "FILE / SAVE AS".
2. In the Save As dialog box click "Tools".
3. Click "Compress Pictures".
4. On the Compress Pictures dialog box, click "Options".
5. On the Compression Settings dialog box that appears, remove the checks next to "Automatically perform basic compression on save" and "Delete cropped areas of pictures".
6. Optionally remove the check next to "Delete cropped areas of pictures".
7. Click "OK" to dismiss the Compression Settings dialog box.
8. Click "OK" to dismiss the Compress Pictures dialog box.
9. Back in the Save As dialog box, you can either go ahead and save or cancel. The compression options you just set will be preserved either way.

To turn compression off in Word 2010 or (only for the current presentation) in PowerPoint 2010:

1. Click "FILE / OPTIONS".
2. Click "ADVANCED".
3. In Word, select "All New Documents".  In PowerPoint, select the current presentation.
4. Under "IMAGE SIZE AND QUALITY" remove the check next to "DISCARD EDITING DATA" and PUT a check next to "DO NOT COMPRESS IMAGES IN FILE". Yes, it IS confusingly worded.
5. Click "OK".

PERMANENT SOLUTION FOR NEW DOCUMENTS IN POWERPOINT 2007 & 2010:

To really fix the problem, you'll need to edit the registry.  Don't do this unless you feel very comfortable editing the Registry and be sure to back up your PC first.

1. Close PowerPoint
2. Open registry editor (Start / Run and type Regedit)
3. Go to [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\PowerPoint\Options]. ==>Change that "12.0" to "14.0" for PowerPoint 2010.
4. Create a new Dword value named AutomaticPictureCompressionDefault
5. Make sure that the value of the new Dword is 0
6. Close registry editor

Now, by default, PowerPoint does not compress pictures. If we want to enable compression, go back to the same registry key and change the value from 0 to 1.

TURNING OFF AUTOMATIC PICTURE COMPRESSION IN POWERPOINT 2013 & 2016:

1. Click "FILE / OPTIONS / ADVANCED".
2. In the list at IMAGE SIZE AND QUALITY, do one of the following:
   • Ignore the list to select your current document by default.
   • Click the list arrow and select the file that you want to turn off picture compression for.
   • Choose All New Documents to turn off picture compression on all future documents.
3. Under IMAGE SIZE AND QUALITY, select the DO NOT COMPRESS IMAGES IN FILE check box.  This setting applies to only the document that you selected in the Image Size and Quality list, unless you selected All New Documents.

NOW, LET'S TACKLE THE ACROBAT SETTINGS THAT NEED TO BE FIXED

Open PowerPoint or Word.

1. Click on the "Acrobat" menu.
2. Click on the "Preferences" menu.
3. Click on the "Advanced Settings ..." button.
4. Click on the "Images" item.
5. Select "Off" for "Downsample" in the "Color Images", "Greyscale Images", and "Monochrome Images" sections.
6. Select "Off" or "ZIP" for "Compression" in the "Color Images", "Greyscale Images", and "Monochrome Images" sections.
7. Click "OK"
8. Click "OK"

Now when you click the "Create PDF" button in the Acrobat menu, you'll get clear, sharp images in your PDF files.  Note, using the "File / Save As" to save a PDF file will always result in blurry images.  MS doesn't let you save high-resolution images in a PDF file for some reason (at least in Office 2010) even if you select "Tools / Compress Pictures..." and choose "Use document resolution".  You need to make sure to use "Create PDF" in the Acrobat menu or "File / Save as Adobe PDF" if you want your images to stay un-blurry.