Converting an InDesign file into a PowerPoint presentation

Written By Matthew Densley

So you’ve tweaked your InDesign presentation to perfection and now you’ve been asked to deliver it in PowerPoint format!

While it’s not possible to convert it into a native, and easily editable PowerPoint (that I know of), it is possible to export your InDesign pages and bulk import them into a new PowerPoint.

Note: This file conversion method will only work with the Windows version of PowerPoint.

Step 1

Establish what ratio your InDesign document is in. Standard ratios include A3, 16:10 and 16:9.

Step 2

Export all your pages from your InDesign document as PNG files.

  1. From InDesign go to File > Export

  2. Set the format to PNG

  3. Navigate to a folder (preferably a new, empty one)

  4. Hit Save

  5. On the export screen choose the settings as below. You may need to experiment with the quality and resolution settings. Check your exported PNGs after export and increase the resolution if the quality is too low.

PNG export settings

Step 3

Start a new PowerPoint presentation then go to: Design tab > Slide size. Check that the ratio matches your InDesign file (normally 16:9, 16:10 or A3)

Step 4

  1. With a single blank slide showing go to your Insert tab > Photo album > New Photo Album…

  2. On the Photo Album window select the button labeled File/Disk

  3. Navigate to your PNG export folder, select all your files and click Open

  4. Ensure the Picture Layout field is set to Fit to Slide and select the button labelled Create.

Step 5

You will have to delete the first slide in the resulting file but the rest of the slides will match the order of your exported InDesign pages.

This a pretty quick process so any changes to the InDesign document can easily be reimported into a fresh PowerPoint file.

For a range of presentations specifically designed for architects check out our InDesign screen presentation templates.

Matthew Densley https://www.matthewdensley.com