Reduce size of a Word handout in PPT 2013 (review)

You can make a hand-out of a PPT file by sending the file to Microsoft Word. This subject has already been treated in my blog, but for version PPT 2003. This is an update for PPT 2013/2016. This time I added some screenshots and new items. 

In PPT 2013 you can convert a presentation to a Word handout by clicking on the File menu, choosing Export and then Create handouts.

There are some formats to choose from, Paste is the default method.

Pasting is by no means the best choice, PPT creates an Ole object from each slide which increases the size exponentially. You can edit each slide though by right clicking it and choosing Slide object, Edit. Changes are only active in the Word document.

The second choice is Paste link. This on itself will generate a serious reduction of the file size. You still can edit the slide by double clicking it, changes are recorded in the Word and PPT file.

Once the handout has been generated you can break the links. In Word go to File - Info - click on the Edit links to files option, bottom right hand side ot the screen. In the dialog click the first link then shift+click the last link, click the Break link button.

You can also sever the links in Word by selecting the complete text and pressing Ctrl+Shift+F9, in the message click Yes if you want to break the links and save the document.

I have tested with a PPT file of 6,5 Mb.
If you choose Paste (default) the file is 177,9 Mb.
If you choose Paste link the file is 135,8 Mb.

Reduce it further

Still a very large file. To reduce it further you can do the following. Select the picture of the slide, right click it, choose Edit picture. Word will ask if you want to convert the picture into a Microsoft drawing object. Click Yes and repeat the process for the other slide thumbnails. A very time consuming job.

After saving the file it is only 8,7 Mb. Do keep in mind that the conversion will generate some quality loss. Charts, WordArt objects, fill patterns will look less sharp. Slides can still be edited, but it is not easy nor very practical to do so.

As an alternative, but time consuming. Copy the thumbnail in Word, delete the thumbnail then paste special back in as a png file. That gives an enormous reduction, I tested on a 19 Mb file which resulted in a 384 Kb file. The presentation consisted of only 18 slides which is still doable.

Consider exporting to PDF

Finally you can break the links in the Word document and save it as a PDF. File - Export - Create PDF/XPS document. Choosing Standard delivered a document of 479 KB, choosing Minimum size delivered a document of 365 Kb. Some quality loss may be expected.