Indesign or Illustrator for a Powerpoint Presentation

Report · Apr 21, 2011

Hi guy,
I have to do a presentation with Powerpoint. I try to use it but it an extremely unpleasant software. I figure it out i can design the screen in Illustrator o Indesing and then imported in Powerpoint as JPG or PNG. The question is which application do you think it might be better.

1) InDesign is great with tables and moving text around. However, what about exporting as an image with RGB colorspace?

2) Illustrator it seems more appropriate for working with RGB which is Powerpoint natural colorspace and it seems to have more graphics formats for exporting, such as .PNG. Nevertheless, is not right for tables or working with a lot of text.

I hope i can import image in Powerpoint without problem later...

Thanks for any help or ideas.

Cheers,

S

Report · Apr 21, 2011

Powerpoint shouldn't have a lot of text.

InDesign you can export to PDF and save to most image formats.

Illustrator is the same - but you know the shortcomings of setting text.

What if someone wants to edit the Powerpoint slides?

You're beter off making a template design shell in Illustrator and placing that image on Powerpoint Master Slide.

Then build the text and headings around this.

Report · Apr 21, 2011

Thanks Eugene and John for the good info and the fast reply with very interesting tips!

I am a bit awkward using Powerpoint. I know i can make rectangles with words and color them too...but i find the process very slow. I can do the same option in Illustrator in just a second. If i would use InDesign i can also make an Object style or Paragraph style and change them all in a blink of an eye.

I already talked to the client and told him that the "Edit" concerns are out of the question since the speed is king in this job. If he needs changes i would edit the graphics on the Illustrator again. The Powerpoint doesn't have a lot of text but it does have a lot of Graphs of Process like charts (the graph some people would do with Omnigraffle).

By the way, just if you know, i read in a forum that i can extract the Master Slide Images in Powerpoint which have some corporate graphics in it by doing a "save as web"...i never found anything remotly similar to "save as web" in my menu.

Thanks again for the very good tips!

Report · Apr 21, 2011

I'd just supply them with a PDF - http://www.ehow.com/how_4865489_make-pdf-presentation.html

Report · Apr 21, 2011

Thanks for that good info Eugene. I will definetly suggest my client to use a PDF Presentation. I will read the step to check is that is quite universal. You know Murphy's Law..."So the computer will not have the right Powerpoint, Acrobat Version or Driver the day of the Presentation".

Report · Apr 21, 2011

SebastiaoV wrote:
[...]
By the way, just if you know, i read in a forum that i can extract the Master Slide Images in Powerpoint which have some corporate graphics in it by doing a "save as web"...i never found anything remotly similar to "save as web" in my menu ...

That's odd, I would have expected this for PowerPoint as well.

If you have a modern version that also supports PPTX, you can do this:

1. Save as PPTX

2. Change the file extension from PPTX to ZIP

3. Extract with any PkZip compatible software (Windows' own "Extract All ..." is fine; Windows 7 even lets you open and work with the file as if it's a folder)

4. Locate the sub-folder "ppt/media". In there you can find all of the original bitmaps!

You have to be careful, though, because these are original and unmodified bitmaps. Their presentation forms may have been cropped or otherwise edited, and text and artwork on top of it will not be visible in these images.

Report · Apr 21, 2011

Amazing Powerpoint trick! works 1000 better than a Print Screen. The master slide images has a very good resolution

As the French would say "Chapeau" (hat off)!

Report · Apr 21, 2011

...an extremely unpleasant software.

Perhaps you find it unpleasant to use, but if you're tasked with delivering a Powerpoint presentation, Powerpoint is by far the best tool for that. There are really only a few quirks to get over once you make yourself stop wanting it to be something it's not. I can draw like a fiend in Illustrator, but am befuddled by CAD-type drafting software, so I simply don't take on any jobs for which the deliverable is CAD-based output.

I hope i can import image in Powerpoint without problem later...

If your client is expecting a Powerpoint file, there is a very good chance they are also expecting to have Powerpoint-native edit-ability. Making pictures of text and tables in other applications will certainly foul their ability to make even minor edits in the future, (and believe me, they'll want to do that).

Basic vector art copies/pastes nicely from Illustrator to Powerpoint using Paste Special > Enhanced Metafile. Please don't set text outside of Powerpoint and then bring it into Powerpoint rasterized to JPG or PNG. You won't be making nice slides. You'll be making enemies.