PowerPoint shrinks pdf?

Question

Hi. I'm trying to create zoomed callouts in PowerPoint using a one page pdf file. 

I can insert the pdf as an object. I then double left click the pdf to open it in Acrobat, so I can select and copy the portion of the pdf I want to zoom; however, when I close Acrobat and return to PP, it has shrunk the original document significantly. The size/frame of the object seems to stay the same, but the pdf page itself is so tiny as to be almost unrecognizable.

To fix this, I can either delete the shrunken pdf and re-insert it, or first create a duplicate (Ctrl+D) and then when PP shrinks the duplicate I delete that; however, this seems cumbersome and unnecessary.

This problem seems present in both PP 2011 and my beta version of PP 2013.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

Answer 1

There's a way around that.

Import PDF content into PowerPoint

http://www.pptfaq.com/FAQ00054\_Import\_PDF\_content\_into\_PowerPoint.htm

Scroll down to the part about exporting high resolution bitmaps from Reader.

By the way, since you mention PowerPoint 2011, there's a group specifically for Mac PowerPoint:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/mac/forum/macpowerpoint

We're mostly Windows PPT here.

Answer 2

Well, as an attorney most exhibits/documents I want to work with in PPT are either provided to me by opposing counsel as a pdf, or are scanned in my office as a pdf. Also, it's my limited experience that a crop of a png file, when increased in size (to emphasize the cropped portion) becomes unreadable/illegible, whereas a crop of a pdf does not.

Answer 3

Why should you want to use a PDF? Inserted objects usually add an unnecessary layer of complexity to a document. Even more, if you try to combine it with an animation.

Use an image (PNG and JPG work well) instead and apply the animation to that.

Best,

Ute