Dateiformate und Exportoptionen in PowerPoint – Teil 3

File formats and export options in PowerPoint – Part 3

|Tom Schweitzer

Selecting older file formats and the correct file format

The many different file formats supported by PowerPoint can sometimes be quite confusing, for example, regarding compatibility between the formats and different versions of PowerPoint. Deciding which file format is best suited to one's own applications and upcoming tasks is also not always easy. This article will tell you more about how to save presentations for older operating systems and versions of Microsoft Office, as well as what considerations and questions might play a role in choosing a file format.

Older file formats and their compatibility

With the introduction of Microsoft Office 2007, all document types in the Office suite switched to XML-based file formats, such as DOCX for Word, XLSX for Excel, and PPTX for PowerPoint. These files offer several key advantages over older formats like DOC, XLS, or PPT. For example, the files are automatically compressed, resulting in significantly smaller file sizes than previous standard formats. Furthermore, the modular structure of the files allows recovery functions to better access individual file segments, enabling even a partially damaged file to be partially restored. XML-based file types are easily recognizable by the "X" suffix in the filename. A new file type with its own "M" suffix has been introduced for files containing macros. Accordingly, XML-based PowerPoint files containing macros have the file extension PPTM.
File formats of different PowerPoint versions Example of different file formats
You can easily convert older Office documents to the new file format. To do this, for example, open an older presentation file (.PPT) in a PowerPoint version from 2007 onwards and save the presentation as a PPTX file using the "Save As" function. Similarly, you can also save newly created presentations in the old file format to use them in earlier versions of Microsoft Office. However, please note that some of the new features of Office 2007 and later versions may not work with the old file formats.

This is how you decide which format is right for your needs.

Who are the target audience and my employees?
An important aspect when choosing the file format is the expected target audience as well as the employees and colleagues who will be contributing to the presentation. For example, if you cannot assume that all contributors will have access to PowerPoint, it is advisable to use the open ODP format, as this allows colleagues using LibreOffice or OpenOffice to also access all the presentation's features. Furthermore, you should consider your target audience and the content of your presentation to determine whether supplementary handouts or other materials would be beneficial. If your audience consists of younger people who have laptops or tablets, a PDF is a suitable supplementary document. If your target audience is less tech-savvy, printed handouts are likely more practical. If you're providing a video of your presentation, you should briefly consider which video format is most suitable. If the video will be made available online, a format that allows for good compression is preferable to keep the file size as small as possible. If the majority of attendees are Mac users, it's more practical to use MP4 instead of Windows Media Video.
Should it be possible to edit the presentation?
If you are sending your presentation to colleagues in other departments or to specialists outside your company, it may not be necessary or even desirable for your presentation to be editable. In such a case, exporting it as a PDF or XPS document is a suitable option, as the slides can then be viewed in their original format but not edited in PowerPoint. If it's important that the presentation can be edited, the standard PPTX format is the best choice, or PPTM if you're using macros. If your colleagues are using an older version of PowerPoint, you can choose the PPT format. To ensure compatibility between different Office products, the ODP format is recommended.
What technical requirements will I find for the presentation?
Depending on where you are giving your presentation and how you want to structure it, you may need to adjust the format of your presentation. If you are unsure what kind of presentation equipment will be available, it is advisable to prepare several versions of your presentation – for example, in addition to the PPTX file, also a PDF export and a video in case you encounter a computer without PowerPoint or only a video player. If you know a laptop is available but won't have access to it before the presentation, it's advisable to prepare alternatives in case PowerPoint isn't installed. Besides using a video, exporting the slides as individual images is another option, as this allows you to manually switch between them. In the first two articles of this series, you will learn which file formats are available in PowerPoint, what they are suitable for, what limitations they entail, and how to use the export function in PowerPoint. File formats and export options in PowerPoint – Part 1: The export function File formats and export options in PowerPoint – Part 2: File formats supported in PowerPoint