If you build presentations long enough, chances are pretty good that you’ll eventually run into a situation where you’ll need to import some graphic files into your slide deck. Microsoft is making PowerPoint’s design tools better and better with each new release, but let’s face it – trying to replicate your own diagrams and charts in PowerPoint’s clumsy design interface is heartburn inducing to the highest degree. Even the TemplateGraphix team of designers struggle with it, and we’ve been building presentation graphics for a long time
With that said, you should always try to build as many graphics and diagrams as you can with PowerPoint. While the interface is clumsy and confusing sometimes, any graphics that you create within the application will be fully editable should you choose to make some changes later (for example: making it bigger to fill the slide). This isn’t the case with imported graphics. To modify the appearance of any graphic that you have imported into your presentation, you will have to edit it outside of PowerPoint, and then import it back into your slide deck. Pain in the rear end, right? You betcha. So what is more important for you? Probably the best rule of thumb when deciding between imported and native (editable) graphics is this: if you are building a presentation that will be edited by many people, keep imported graphics to a minimum. Better yet – don’t do it at all. There is no quicker way to make enemies then to give someone a PowerPoint document that they can’t edit
But what about those times where you have some graphics you need to import? Which file type is best? That all depends on the kind of image you want to include. Here are some simple explanations of the pros and cons of each graphic type:
JPG
When in doubt, use jpg files. They compress very cleanly to keep file sizes small, and PowerPoint handles them very well.
GIF
The nice thing about gif files is that they support simple (one channel) transparency. In other words, you can have transparent elements in your graphic, and PowerPoint will support that. Just like jpg’s, gif’s are very efficient and do not create a lot of file-size bloat in you presentation.
PNG
Think of png files as gif files on steroids. In a high-level nutshell, png files are the file of choice to use if you have complex transparency in your graphics. Examples of this type of transparency: soft drop shadows over a transparent background, subtle opacity, and transparent gradients. To help explain the differences between png and gif files a little better, here is a quick diagram to show the attributes of each:
Use PNG files with transparency for visually rich diagrams
BMP
There is no quicker way to look like a PowerPoint newbie (and general idiot) than there is by using bitmap files in your presentation. Yes, they will look fine. However, bitmap (.bmp) files are not compressed like jpg, gif, and png files so the file size of your document will become very large very quickly.
EPS
This is where things get interesting. You can import vector files in eps format from design software such as Adobe Illustrator and Corel Draw! PowerPoint handles these types of files quite well, and all effects such as shadows and transparency will be retained. The best part of using eps files is that they are fully scalable, meaning that once you import them into your slide deck, you can scale them to any size you want without loss of quality.
As you can see, a PowerPoint designer has many choices when it comes to graphic file types. Although nothing you import will be editable, JPG is usually the best (and least problematic) – but it is very limiting if you are trying to create a complex design. But then again, remember that complex design is not a good attribute for any presentation.