Optimum PowerPoint Resolution

[Kirk Gittings]

I have to prepare some files for a client for a PowerPoint presentation. Without knowing the projector or the screen projection size, can you know what the optimum resolution of the files should be? Is there a standard resolution? I rarely do these things.

[Ed Richards]

SVGA - 1280 x 1024 - is a good compromise. A lot of projectors use it, and if you get a 1600x1200 projector, it will still look fine. The images I use on my Katrina WWW site are scaled to 1000 on the long side, and they have worked beautifully in PowerPoint displays on LCD projectors in many different venues.

[Kirk Gittings]

Cool, thanks. The last time I did one for myself, it was really uneven, because I used files that were created for a variety of purposes. It was frankly a mess.

[norajeanne]

Hello, I have a question about the same topic. I've been using powerpoint to create presentation for years, and have never really been sure how much resolution to give the bitmap images I use. My question is, if I create a presentation in PPT at the default 10 x 7.5 inches, that's 720 x 540 at 72 dpi, but I've noticed that images of higher resolution look better when projected. So, if the projector is going to output at, say, twice that size, then if I have 72 dpi graphics imported into PPT and if I format the size to 50% in PPT, is the 72 dpi image scaled to 50% in PPT now equal to a 144 dpi image, and will that resolution be maintained (depending on the projector settings) when the presentation is projected? Or is the data dumped when you scale it down in powerpoint? Thank you in advance for your helpfulness! :)

[Richard M. Coda]

I generally do 96 dpi... I think that's PPT's default. 10" x 7.5" = 960 pixels wide by 720 high. But then again, I hate PPT... it is the scourge of the graphic design world. I have successfully weaned several clients off PPT, creating their work in InDesign and providing interactive PDFs.

[norajeanne]

Thank you for your advice, Richard, and I totally agree about Powerpoint. It's the one software that can actually make me angry. I've been trying to steer my clients to Flash, and if that doesn't work, Keynote. PPT's been around so long, they've had plenty of time to improve it, but it never changes for the better. I've looked for a Powerpont "wish list" online for my many gripes and suggestions, but never found one. You know, it really seems like the programmers have never had to actually use the software, because the interface is so poorly planned, as though to make sure everything has to be done singularly and in the most time-consuming way.... don't get me going ;)

Thanks again for your advice. It makes sense to me and I'm going to go with it :)

[Frank Petronio]

I don't know why you wouldn't use a higher res, like 1600 to 1920 pixels wide consistently, since PP will resize to suit?

Just run the Photoshop Batch or make an auto web gallery in Bridge and steal the images from the resources folder.

Even if it is overkill now, in a couple of years your clients will be using higher resolution devices so why not leave them something useful for the future?

And yes, PowerPoint in general sucks.

[Struan Gray]

The presentations I give tend to be distributed after the event as pdf handouts. Using higher pixel counts than the currently prevalent ones for projectors makes for a much more readable document. You can always force a low-quality screen resolution on an exported pdf if you want to avoid piracy.

I prefer Apple's Keynote for making Powerpoint slides. Some formatting sometimes gets lost, but it's no worse than when swapping a nominally native powerpoint file between Mac and PC authors. Keynote does a great job of keeping line art and scanned diagrams looking good as the resolution changes.

[Richard M. Coda]

PowerPoint (and Word) destroy images when you "insert" them. They also bloat the file size.


I don't know why you wouldn't use a higher res, like 1600 to 1920 pixels wide consistently, since PP will resize to suit?

Just run the Photoshop Batch or make an auto web gallery in Bridge and steal the images from the resources folder.

Even if it is overkill now, in a couple of years your clients will be using higher resolution devices so why not leave them something useful for the future?

And yes, PowerPoint in general sucks.

[norajeanne]

Frank and Richard, this is the very question/controversy that causes me confusion. Some say Powerpoint destroys resolutions, and others say it preserves it and outputs it up to the projector's capacity. I wonder if microsoft even knows for sure ;)

Struan, that's good to know about Keynote. I use it to create large presentations, too, but to add to the confusion, at this point, consumer level macs have a limitation of 1920 x 1080 for output. So, currently, no matter what res your Keynote file is, when it's projected, it will be 1920 wide tops.