Making handouts, Word files, web pages, and JPGs from your finished files

It is possible to convert your slides into Microsoft Word files (with or without images) and HTML files.  If you are a Mac OS user and/or own the full version of Adobe Acrobat, you should be able to make your slideshows into PDF files as well, but this is not covered here.  You can also save individual slides or an entire show as JPG files.  None of the above options currently support audio, video, or animations.

Printing a handout directly from PowerPoint

Go to >File - Print Preview.  At the top left of your screen there should be a drop-down menu where you can choose to print full-page slides or handouts with various numbers of slides per page.  You can also choose to just print the text of your slides (Outline View).  Click Print when you are ready.

Creating a Word document handout

This creates a lecture handout file which can be printed, emailed, or uploaded onto WebCT.  Go to >File - Send To - Microsoft Office Word.  You are given very limited options here, but you can always edit the result just like any Word document.  If you want only the text from your slides, choose Outline Only.  You also have a choice between Paste or Paste Link.  Paste creates a Word document from your slide show the way it is now.  Paste Link does the same thing, but also maintains a link to your PowerPoint presentation and automatically updates the Word file if you make changes to the slideshow.  If you choose Paste Link, you should save the Word file in the same folder as your PowerPoint presentation and keep it there.  If you move either file, the link will no longer work.

Creating a web page

This creates a web page with your slide titles in a frame on the left-hand side.  When you click on one of these titles, its slide appears in the main part of the screen.  This tool is not that reliable (it tends to do wacky things like inexplicably change fonts), but it is still the fastest way to share your slides on the internet.  Go to >File - Save As, and pull the drop-down menu to Single File Web Page.  (This saves all the necessary files as one single file, which makes it simpler to upload or email).  Type a title for your file and save it.  You can then open it in your web browser, and/or upload it to the internet (including WebCT).

Creating JPG files from your slides

If you want to distribute a few slides to your students electronically or via WebCT, this is a good option.  Open the slide you wish to make into an image.  Click on >File - Save As, and choose JPG from the drop-down menu.  Type a title and hit Save.  You will then be asked if you want to save just the selected slide, or the entire presentation.  (If you choose to save the entire presentation, you will get a separate JPG file for each slide).  You can then open, edit, and distribute these files just like regular images.

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