Converting PowerPoint presentations into PDFs will provide a better format for long-term preservation in digital archives. However, this will lose any animations, transitions, and embedded video and audio files (not notes, these can be saved as PDF annotations on conversion). The first two may not be a loss as they are less likely to contribute to the intellectual content of the presentation. Embedded media files, on the other hand, probably need preserved separately from the PDF with their relationship to the presentation recorded in the metadata. Pulling the media files out of PowerPoints can be a pain unless you first convert a copy to a compressed file directory.

  • Copy the file
  • Change the file extension on the copied version from .pptx to .zip

  • Open the zip file
  • Navigate the new file directory to ppt > media to see a list of all the embedded video and audio files

For Mac users:

If you are having trouble opening the zip file with Archive Utility, try another program or unzip via the terminal.