Keynote 2.02 cannot open PowerPoint .pps or ppt file.

Question

Level 1

27 points

Keynote 2.02 cannot open PowerPoint .pps or ppt file.

Hi, using keynote 2.0.2 I tried to open a PowerPoint file that originally had the .pps filename. This file was downloaded from an education site that stated that the latest edition of PowerPoint was needed to view this file. My version of PowerPoint is 2004 for Mac and I am unable to open it using my PP version, so the originating file must have been made using a later version.

I changed the filename to .ppt and tried to open it from within Keynote, but wasn't able to. Is there a solution to this dilemma?

G5 Dual, Mac OS X (10.3.9)

Posted on Jan 26, 2007 4:20 PM

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Answer 1

bransom

Level 1

10 points

Jan 26, 2007 8:57 PM in response to Jody Joy

A .pps file is a PowerPoint "show" file and isn't editable (even in PowerPoint).

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Answer 2

Brian Peat

Level 6

18,216 points

Jan 27, 2007 7:24 AM in response to bransom

sure it is, just change the pps to ppt and it'll work fine in either PPT or Keynote.

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Answer 3

Jody Joy Author

Level 1

27 points

Jan 27, 2007 7:42 AM in response to Brian Peat

As you can see by my post, I DID change the filename extension to .ppt however Keynote would not open it. I don't really use MS Office at all except to pull in Word docs, so I don't want to upgrade.

But this really isn't the issue. Can Keynote open a .pps file, even when the filename extension is changed to .ppt? Does the version of Keynote make a difference? i.e. if my Keynote version is older than the PowerPoint version used to create the file?

G5 Dual

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Answer 4

Brian Peat

Level 6

18,216 points

Jan 27, 2007 11:27 AM in response to Jody Joy

Sorry, I skimmed over yours and read the next one in more detail.

Some PPT files have issues and can't be opened...but there's no lock on different versions of Keynote.

The best way to get it to work is to use PPT to chop up your presentation and see if there's an image or something else on a particular slide that Keynote doesn't like (Excel charts sometimes cause problems).

Now, if your ppt file was made with version 2007 on Windows, you're out of luck.

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Answer 5

Jody Joy Author

Level 1

27 points

Jan 27, 2007 6:42 PM in response to Brian Peat

Thanks for your reply. I did not create this presentation, it is posted on an educational website, and my guess is that it was created on a PC - Windows version of PPT.

So, as you indicate, it's probably a no-go.

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Answer 6

Jan 28, 2007 10:04 AM in response to Jody Joy

Jody,

could you direct me to the educational website? I'd like to have a look at the presentation and would try to export a ppt that's maybe readable by Keynote.

(Click on my name above the atavar to see my e-mail address.)

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Answer 7

Jan 28, 2007 10:56 PM in response to Jody Joy

Jody sent me the link to the file.

The problem is not the file but the link. The link states to point to a pps file but when I downloaded the file (option-click), I got "<filename>.pps.txt" which, of course, cannot be opened by Keynote. The usual procedure of renaming the file to "<filename>.ppt" worked.

There are actually two links pointing to different places on the server but providing the same file. The HTML tags of the links look okay to me and I expected a download dialog when clicking on the links but I just got gibberish -- the digital content of the pps. So, I guess that the server doesn't handle pps files properly.

Matthias

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Answer 8

Jan 28, 2007 11:34 PM in response to Matthias Rempe

(I forgot to write this and waited too long, so I cannot edit my post above.)

I wrote that both links refer to the same file. That's wrong as a second try showed. The file downloaded from the first link cannot be opend after renaming neither with Powerpoint nor with Keynote.

The file from the second link can be opened after renaming. However, there are some problems opening the file in Keynote. Keynote complains

* rotated or flipped title and body placeholders are not supported. Placeholders were imported without being rotated or flipped.
* re-ordered animations on an object are not supported. Animations were imported sequentially.
* some fonts are missing

So, the file will definitely look different to the original file.

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Answer 9

Jody Joy Author

Level 1

27 points

Jan 29, 2007 9:16 AM in response to Matthias Rempe

Many thanks to Matthias for managing to get the file into PPT in some form and sending me an archived file with a PPT, Keynote and pdf file. His quick and thorough response is terrific and greatly appreciated.

I can now get back to the author with specific suggestion on how to make the file be more accessible from her website. Thanks!

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Answer 10

Jan 29, 2007 11:56 AM in response to Brian Peat

Well, it looks like there is a lock -- on the Powerpoint side (sorry Brian, I couldn't resist 😉

I was able to open the ppt file with Powerpoint 2002 on Windows. The file is password protected and I'm quite sure that that's the cause of the trouble.

Is it a bug in Keynote to not handle password protected ppt files properly (i.e. ask for a password or open the file read-only) or is it a feature request?

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