Super High Resolution Image Export for PowerPoint & Misc Raster Image Programs

Super High Resolution Image Export for PowerPoint
& Misc Raster Image Programs

Introduction and Overview

     We like to create final event and history charts using PowerPoint.  Until now it has been difficult to near downright impossible to export the images out for super high resolution printing.  After hours of frustration we finally discovered how to export bmp images from Power Point to around 700mb and 13500 x 18000 pixels.  There seems to be a barrier at this point with this procedure and it will NOT go any larger than 700mb.  That said this level of resolution is probably more than adequate for even commercial printing.  We hope that this guide will help you get the most out of PowerPoint.
     This procedure works by simply enlarging the raster graphics that PowerPoint uses by doing a super large virtual print.  This enlarges your raster graphics without losing any quality.  (Imported images may be stretched.  So use super high res. photos when importing into your PowerPoint.)  Then you simply save your virtual print using the Poster Printer program.  It's basically that simple.

Things you will need:

• PowerPoint (obviously) (This procedure was developed using PowerPoint 11 from the 2003 Office Suite.)

• Windows XP, 2003 or prior due to restrictions of Poster Printer (below)

• Poster Printer (FREE, currently only works on XP, 2003 or prior)

• PDFCreator (FREE)

• Lots of hard drive space to work with.  Images will be around 700mb and 13500 x 18000 pixels.

How to guide:

1. Make sure you meet the above requirements and have install the above free programs.

2. Open your PowerPoint presentation.  (If you are making charts or highly detailed drawings you must first set your page size to the maximum dimensions in PowerPoint BEFORE YOU CREATE THEM.)

3. Select the slide you wish to print.  (It's highly recommended that you only do one slide at a time due to the very large file sizes.)

4. Click file, print.

5. Select "Poster Printer" for the printer.

6. Click the printer "properties" button.

7. Select "PDFCreator" for the output of Poster Printer.

8. Click the "configure" button.

9. Click the "advanced" button.

10. Select "PostScript Custom Page Size" from the paper size dropdown menu.

11. Click the "Edit Custom Page Size" button that is now present.

12. Enter a width of 45 inches and a height of 60 inches. (These are the approximate dimensions for an 8.5x11 sheet blown up. You can also reverse these dimensions for horizontal type slides.  These numbers can be adjusted to just about anything as long as you don't exceed 2700 square inches. Hint: Get out the calculator if you are going to play with these.)

13. Click OK.

14. Select a DPI setting of 300.  (The default is usually 600.) (Higher DPI's than 300 with the above width and height will usually cause partial image loss during the next steps.)

15. Click OK 3 times to bring you back to the main print window.

16. Select "current slide".  (It's highly recommended that you only do one slide at a time due to very large file sizes.)

17. Make sure that "color" is selected.

18. Check the "scale to fit paper" box.

19. Click OK.

20. The Poster Printer spooler will be seen for a moment while your image is processed in at this very large size.

21. Congratulations you have now exported your image to approximately the maximum page dimensions of PowerPoint.

22. The Poster Printer Utility window should now be open.  Your image should be shown in the middle.

23. Click file, save original page as a bitmap.  This opens the file save box.

24. Select your directory and filename.

25. Select 300 DPI.

26. Review the stats that are available, they should reflect your original page dimensions and your output dimensions.  It is critical at this step to make sure that the file size being reported is just under 700mb.  Anything larger and IT WILL FAIL.  (I don't understand this limitation, but it's definitely there.)  If your file size is over 700mb for some reason, you will need to cancel the print and go back to step 12 and reduce the dimensions slightly.  (Yes this a pain, but we spent hours finding these numbers for you.  Don't complain!)

27. Click Save.

28. A popup box will open confirming the file size and that you are sure you want to save a bitmap this large.  Click OK.

29. As long as your image was less than 700mb it should have saved correctly.

30. You can now use your favorite photo editor to crop it further if needed, resize, or save as jpg, tiff, etc. (If you need a FREE high quality photo editor try GIMP. We use it exclusively.)

31. If you want to save this large exported image to a pdf you can simply click print in the Poster Printer Utility Window with the PDFCreator as the selected printer and it will allow you to save it as a super high resolution PDF file.  Yes, you could have done that directly from PowerPoint, BUT that quality is much higher doing it through Poster Printer.  Why is this?  I have NO IDEA, but IT WORKS!

32. You can also go back to your Power Point slide again and print to Poster Print to achieve EXTREMELY LARGE posters/charts on nothing but 8.5x11 or legal paper by simply selecting your real physical printer then enlarging the zoom function in the Poster Printer Utility window to achieve the desired size.  Then all you have to do is carefully tape together the printed sheets (backside works best but is difficult) and you now have a great big wall poster of your work/chart.  (Click here for a step by step guide on how to do this.)

33. Enjoy and consider donating to support this ministry!  You will not find another way to export to this high of a resolution from PowerPoint anywhere else on the web.  (At least that we have found, and we been doing this several years.)  God bless.

Contact us with any questions or comments.