Why Do My PowerPoint Images Get Messed Up When I Go From a Mac to a PC?

Incompatible images can get messed up.

The Mac images you're using are not compatible with PCs. Incompatible PowerPoint images can be distorted when they're opened on a PC, or they might not open at all.

Background

PowerPoint allows you to insert or link to many different image types and formats. GIF, BMP and JPG images display well on both Macs and PCs. Other formats, such as PICT and some TIFF images, look fine on Macs but can cause problems on PCs.

Significance

Your presentations won't get messed up if you only use images that will display on both a Mac and a PC. Be sure to check images after resizing or manipulating them on the Mac since this may cause them to be automatically converted to another format.

Prevention/Solution

Run PowerPoint's Compatibility Report to see if you might have trouble using your images on a PC. Save your presentation as a PowerPoint Package to avoid compatibility problems with images you link to. Use a program like GraphicConverter or iWinSoft Image Converter to change images to a compatible type.

Warning

Changing the name of an image does not change its type. Your compatibility problem won't be solved by simply renaming a PICT file to JPG, for example.

References

• File Extensions: Library
• Microsoft Office for Mac: Best Practices for Working with Windows

Resources

• Microsoft: Cross Platform PowerPoint Compatibility