problems exporting from Keynote to Powerpoint and then back to Keynote

Question

Level 1

8 points

problems exporting from Keynote to Powerpoint and then back to Keynote

Hello all

first post here

So I have a nice looking, simple Keynote presentation - 31 slides in all. Nothing fancy - no embedded movies or sounds or transitions…..

Yes, i have the current version of keynote - 4.0.2 - and OS 10.4.11 on a PPC. Yes, I have repaired permissions…..i'm working on one of my many Apple computers.......

So all the slides look good in Keynote - and I then export it to PowerPoint format for an upcoming lecture.

All goes well. Then to check the .ppt file to ensure i is going to open up and look right, I then open up the .ppt file with Keynote. (note - I do not own any Microsoft products, so I can’t open it with Powerpoint. The presentation will eventually be made at a place that has Powerpoint, however)

When I open up the .ppt file i exported moments ago back in Keynote…. some of the pages look ok, however about 1/3 of them are very messed up.

Problems include:

*- extra boxes superimposed on the slide that say “click here to edit text” (the kind you get when you first create a new page*

*- some of the text runs off the slide to the right…..*

*- on one slide the text is tiny……*

*- on some of the slides, there is weird extra text superimposed over the slide…*

the WYSIWYG formatting of the source Keynote file has been all messed up - either in the translation to Powerpoint format, or back to Keynote for me to check it….

HELP! This is a serious problem. I’m sure there must be a fix…. I just can’t find it ….

Many thanks!!

🙂

John

Mac Mini, Mac OS X (10.4.11), keynote - 4.0.2 - on a PPC

Posted on Jan 31, 2008 11:46 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Tulse

Level 5

5,812 points

Jan 31, 2008 12:03 PM in response to John Rodd

Welcome to the forums!

If the final presentation will be in given in PowerPoint, then I strongly recommend that you create it in PowerPoint (or one of the open-source Office clones, such as NeoOffice). Keynote presentations look gorgeous when presented from Keynote, but many of the excellent graphics features are lost when exported to PowerPoint, and in addition, as you have seen, the export process is by no means foolproof. There is no real advantage to using Keynote to create a PowerPoint presentation (unless you export the Keynote slides as individual images to preserve the sharp text, translucency, drop shadows, etc.). You really will be less frustrated if you simply start using a natively PowerPoint-formatting application.

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Answer 2

John Rodd Author

Level 1

8 points

Jan 31, 2008 12:13 PM in response to Tulse

thanks for the thoughts.... but.... hold on

something must be seriously broken, and it is late in the game to find this out!!

I only own Keynote, but the presentation MUST be given in PowerPoint..... this has to be possible!!!

otherwise the whole Keynote thing is a complete waste of time, and completely broken!!!

????

anyone?

I have a 31 page Keynote presentation (as imple one at that) that i HAVE to show in Powerpoint.

HELP

😟

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Answer 3

John Rodd Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 6, 2008 5:27 PM in response to John Rodd

so - it is broken for sure!

i had to export my presentation, and simply show it using a pdf - lame.

APPLE - any thoughts as to why the export to PowerPoint does NOT work?!?!?

John

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Answer 4

Kyn Drake

Level 7

21,597 points

Feb 6, 2008 6:47 PM in response to John Rodd

Have you looked at the PowerPoint export IN PowerPoint? Keynote is a great presentation program but it isn't a PowerPoint replacement. Anyone who needs to work in PowerPoint should be working with PowerPoint. Even though PowerPoint for the Mac and PC are slightly different, the output there will be a whole world closer than when using Keynote.

It's great to be able to use Apple's products and show them off especially since they tend to be head and shoulders above other products. But the rule of thumb is if you need the final output to be a .ppt file, you're going to need a copy of PowerPoint at least in order to check your work.

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Answer 5

John Rodd Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 6, 2008 6:56 PM in response to Kyn Drake

As I said in my original post:

(note - I do not own any Microsoft products, so I can’t open it with Powerpoint. The presentation will eventually be made at a place that has Powerpoint, however)

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Answer 6

Tulse

Level 5

5,812 points

Feb 6, 2008 7:22 PM in response to John Rodd

John, as I pointed out in my reply to your original post, there are various MS Office compatible suites out there, including the free NeoOffice. If the final version needs to be in PowerPoint but you do not want to get PowerPoint, I would recommend looking into NeoOffice.

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Answer 7

Kyn Drake

Level 7

21,597 points

Feb 7, 2008 2:51 AM in response to John Rodd

I understand you don't own any Microsoft products, but have you also stated that "but the presentation MUST be given in PowerPoint" which I thought meant that at some point you have access to a computer which does have PowerPoint, even if it's only a few minutes before the presentation. I apologize for the assumption.

The point being made is that Keynote is not a substitute for PowerPoint if your final output is going to be PowerPoint. If you have not opened the file in PowerPoint, then you don't know what it will look like in PowerPoint. As Tulse has posted, there are free alternatives to PowerPoint that would be better than using Keynote. BUT the same caveat still stands.

I love using Keynote, have used it since it was first released and, enjoy the freedom to create the interface gives me. However, the right tool for the job is sometimes PowerPoint.

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