The basics
PPTminimizer is very easy to get to grips with, and one of the things that appealed to me about it was its small file size and ability to run independently of PowerPoint itself. This is not a 'plug in' that you use from within PowerPoint, but rather a quick-to-load, easy to use stand-alone application geared up to compressing your presentation files.
That said, the program will play nicely with your existing applications, integrating itself with Windows Explorer so that you can right-click and choose to compress presentations straight from the desktop, and with Outlook (and other email applications) so that you can optimize and send presentations with a single click.
The interface is very intuitive, and it really is as simple as opening a presentation, choosing your compression settings and then setting the program into motion. The main function of optimizing your PowerPoint presentations makes them easier to send, and also speeds up the lag that sometimes occurs between slides while they load images. Added to this primary function is the ability to pack and send presentations with a single click, thanks to the aforementioned Outlook integration, and a useful search function that will seek out PPT presentation files from your cluttered hard drive.
These are nice additional features, but what we're really interested in is whether PPTminimizer will do a good job of compressing, optimizing and retaining the quality of the PowerPoint files fed through it. Let's take a look.
Compression settings
There are basically four compression settings, geared up to different functions. Three of these settings are presets:
- Low compression - which is recommended for files that will be printed out, as print resolution is greater than screen resolution
- Standard compression - which is recommended for presentations being shown on a screen, projector or other visual media
- Strong compression - which is recommended for files being sent by email or over the web
Obviously, the stronger the compression, the smaller the file is likely to be, and consequently, the poorer the image quality. Most users will find themselves happy with these three presets, but for those who like to get a little bit more hands-on, a fourth option allows for customized compression settings, which allow for:
- The selection of screen resolution - there are a range of screen resolutions to select from, which means that you can tailor your optimization to the display you will be using
- JPEG compression - which allows you to retain the original images quality, or else further compress images by a percentile
Power users putting the program through its paces on a regular basis will doubtless experiment with these settings and find those that are most suitable for the task at hand, and the inclusion of the customized optimization setting is a nice touch in this respect.
The results
The first thing that I wanted to do was to test PPTminimizer at the upper end of its compression scale, to see how far it could be pushed. To do so, I used a presentation that has a lot of large, high resolution photographic images along with the usual text.
Setting the program to work at the strong compression preset, I sat back and waited for the results. This took some time, and if you are using a less than top of the range computer, you shouldn't expect results in seconds, as the compression of a reasonably large, image-rich presentation will give you enough time to make a cup of coffee, and maybe even drink it. This isn't really a problem, as PPTminimizer will happily do its job as you go about other tasks - but anyone looking to optimize their presentation a few minutes before they head out of the door may be unpleasantly surprised.
The results I got are displayed below, and as you can see, I managed a reduction of some 93.6%, which is pretty close to the 96% given as the top end of the scale.
The difference between a 4.66 MB and 0.3 MB file is obviously a huge one in terms of sending it over the Internet, and this aside, the presentation now zipped from slide to slide nicely without any lag. So how did the images hold up?
Remarkably well is the answer. At a screen resolution of 1024 x 768 I found it very hard to distinguish some images from the original presentation, and there certainly seemed to be a less than obvious difference between strong and standard compression settings, as I hope will be apparent in the images below.
Slide using strong compression
Doubtless the differences between this first and second slide would make themselves known if projected, or set to print, but for the simple sharing of presentations of the web, the results are very impressive indeed, especially when you take into account the enormous file size reduction.
The same slide using standard compression
Some images did show slight signs of compression, and artifacts were evident here at the highest compression setting, but nothing that render the presentation unusable in a screen-based environment. Even then, the old dictum of ''what you put in, you get out'' should be kept in mind. If you use very high quality images in your presentations to begin with, you are less likely to see evidence of compression in your optimized files.
Evidence of slight compression artifacts in a slide from the same presentation
At these levels of compression I am frankly shocked that I didn't see negative side effects across the board in a presentation made up of photographic images. That the vast majority of images lost very little in quality, even at the highest compression setting, says a lot for PPTminimizer.
Pricing and specifications
Pricing: Prices start at €29.95 for a single license, and go down to €5.00 at the 1000+ user end of the scale.
Compatibility: PPTminimizer supports .PPT and .PPS files. It can handle these files when outputted from PowerPoint® 97 to 2003, in addition to OpenOffice® or StarOffice®.
The Outlook Add-In works with Outlook® 2000 onwards.
System requirements:
The main program requires:
- Windows 98, ME, 2000, XP, 2003
- 128 MB RAM
- 60 MB Hard disc space
- Min. 266MHz Pentium or compatible CPU
In addition to which, there are further requirements for the programs different Add-In options.
Conclusions
PPTminimizer does exactly what it promises to, and does so remarkably well. While it isn't going to win any prizes for speed of delivery, this is to be expected when optimizing 40-slide+, visually rich presentations and doesn't detract from the fact that it is very good at its job.
If you are looking to send your presentations across the web, or to make sure that they move from slide to slide quickly and efficiently, even on older computers with limited memory capabilities, this is well worth considering.
I managed to get a very good facsimile of my original presentation, even after compressing the file by 93.6%, and this alone makes PPTminimizer a worthy contender in the field of PowerPoint optimization tools.
Another thing I liked about PPTminimizer is its stand-alone status. You don't even need to have a copy of PowerPoint on your machine to run and make use of the application, and it supports the open-source, free alternative office suite OpenOffice and the cheap StarOffice, so long as they are set to export to the PowerPoint .PPT file type.
Overall, then, a very impressive tool that could prove itself a useful addition to regular PowerPoint users, especially those who send a lot of presentations back and forth using the Internet.
Additional resources
Credit
The presentation used in this review was BioTeaming by Ken Thompson
