How to Include a PDF in PowerPoint

PDF files can be added to PowerPoint slides in several ways.

Including portable document format (PDF) material in your professional Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 presentation can be a challenge. If you use the "Insert Object" command to insert a PDF in the slide show, you only add the first page of the PDF file. Including more pages requires more effort. Linking to the PDF file from PowerPoint is one option, but a simpler method is to use Adobe Acrobat Reader's "Snapshot Tool" to take pictures of PDF pages to include in your slideshow.

Instructions

Insert Object in PowerPoint

1. Open PowerPoint and a slideshow. Click on the "Insert" tab in the Ribbon. Click on "Object" in the "Text" group to display the "Insert Object" dialog box.

2. Click on the "Create from File" radio button in the dialog box. Click on the "Browse" button and navigate to where your PDF file is located and select the file.

3. Click "OK" to open the first page in PowerPoint.

Adobe Acrobat's Snapshot Tool

1. Open the PDF file in Adobe Acrobat Reader. Click on "Tools" in the toolbar. In the dropdown list, click on "Select & Zoom," and then click on "Snapshot Tool." Your cursor becomes a dashed cross when you move it into the page. Drag the tool from the top left corner to the bottom right corner of a PDF page to take a snapshot (a copy) of the page. Release the mouse and a dialog box tells you the page is copied.

2. Open the PowerPoint presentation. Move to the slide where you want to add the PDF page and click on the "Home" tab, and then "Paste." You can also press the "Control" key plus the letter "V" to paste the page.

3. Move back and forth between Adobe Acrobat and PowerPoint using the "Snapshot" tool to take pictures of the PDF pages you want to include and paste them into your slide show.

Tips & Warnings

• Another method is to link to a PDF file from PowerPoint. This saves space in your presentation. To link to a file, click on "Insert," and then "Object." Click the "Create from File" radio button, and then click "Browse." Select your file, and then click the "Link" check box. Click "OK" to make the PDF file a link to click on during your presentation.

• According to Microsoft, you can insert all the text from a PDF file by opening the PDF in Acrobat Reader and clicking on "Edit" then "Select All" to get the text contents of the file. Return to PowerPoint, click on the "Home" tab, and then click "Paste." The text contents of the PDF are dumped onto your PowerPoint slide. Depending on the size of the PDF file, the text will need to be broken up to fit in your presentation.

References

• Microsoft: How to Insert Adobe Acrobat Reader .PDF Files or Parts of .PDF Files in a Slide in Microsoft PowerPoint
• Utah State University: How to Use the Insert Tab in PowerPoint