How to extract images from PowerPoint

If you need to extract one or more images from a PowerPoint presentation to use in another project, it’s not obvious how you get the best quality images to reuse. When you use PowerPoint’s save as picture - you are asked to choose a format which it converts to as it is saved, potentially reducing quality. However, all is not lost, there are a few good ways to get your hands on the original source graphics, which we’ve outlined below.

3 options for getting source images

1. Slidewise PowerPoint Add-In
   Makes it easy to export multiple original images in seconds

2. “Save as original picture” feature in PowerPoint
   Hidden PowerPoint feature to export individual original images

3. Rename presentation to .zip and copy images using Explorer
   OK if you need to export multiple images and you are technically confident

In this post we will show you how to export images using each of these methods, and also share the benefits and drawbacks of each approach.

Export images using Slidewise

Slidewise PowerPoint add-in makes light work of managing the various types of media content in your presentations. Exporting multiple images at the same time is so much easier and quicker than using the built-in feature to export them one by one.

Slidewise is available free forever with just the essential features, or you can buy a license for the advanced features. It has a 30-day fully functional trial so why not give it a go on your presentations to make your own mind up.

How to export images from PowerPoint using Slidewise

1. Find the images, or type of images you want to export in the Slidewise index.

2. Right-click, or click on the menu to the right hand side.

3. Choose Export Original Image… or Export Original Media...

4. Select a folder to place all of the images.

5. Slidewise will now extract the original images to your chosen location.

NOTE: You can export a single image, all images of a particular type (e.g. PNG), all images or even all media in the presentation.

You can also select images on the slide, right-click and choose Export Original Images from the menu. This extracts the original source images for each selected images and save them to the folder of your choice.

Pros:

• You can export a single image, all images of a specific type e.g. all SVG files, or save all images regardless of type.

• It will export the original high quality images from inside the deck, so no changes to format or image dimensions.

• You can do it all from inside PowerPoint, you don’t need to close your presentation and convert it to a zip file to find your media.

• It’s faster than exporting images one by one.

• It can export any media: video, audio and images.

• You can also see image file size, dimensions, cropping, number of times used and scaling to decide if the image will be suitable for your intended use. Click on an image in PowerPoint to show the details in the Slidewise Inspector (see below).

Cons:

• It's Windows only

• It only exports original images, so cannot convert to different image formats

Get started with Slidewise — download a 30-day free trial. At the end of the trial switch to free mode, or buy a license to use advanced features.

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Export pictures from PowerPoint using “Save as picture” feature

If you only need to export a small number of images, it’s pretty easy to do this using PowerPoint’s “Save as picture” feature:

1. Right-click on the image you want to export.

2. Click on Save as Picture…

3. Choose where to save your file and what name to give it.

4. Choose the format that you want to export as from the Save as type: options and click “Save”:

Note: To export the original high quality image, click on the small arrow on the Save button to reveal the Save Original Picture option.

Pros

• No additional software required.

• For one or two images it is fast and convenient

• It can save images in a range of formats

Cons

• You can’t tell what format the image is, or what its dimensions are until you export it, so you can’t easily tell if it will be suitable for your requirements.

• If you want lots of images from a presentation, then this method is slow and can get really annoying really quickly.

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Change presentation to a zip file and extract pictures manually

You can save all images from PowerPoint by changing the file format to zip and exporting the media folder by hand. This works, but as it is a little technical, it is not for everyone.

1. Make sure that you have Explorer set to show File name extensions. In Explorer, go to the View menu and select the File name extensions check box.
   
2. Create a copy of your presentation - Click to select the file, press Ctrl+C to copy your file, then Ctrl+V to paste it into the same location.
3. Right-click the copy and select Rename to change the file extension from .pptx to .zip. Windows will warn you this might be a problem, in this case it is fine just click ‘Yes’
   
4. Double click the file to open the zip. All of the images and other media used in the presentation will be under “ppt > media”.
   
5. Click on the Extract all button on the ribbon and select where you want to place the images. You can also copy files using Ctrl+C and paste them into a folder you have prepared.

Pros

• You can extract all of the original media (images, audio or video) used in a presentation to a new folder for use in other presentations.

• It’s free

Cons

• You have to close your presentation and leave PowerPoint.

• Not everyone will be comfortable renaming their file and digging around inside the zip file for the images.

• It is quite a cumbersome process.

• You have to extract the images to a new location before you can see what they look like.

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Summary

If you regularly need to extract high resolution images or media from presentations, then Slidewise will make this job much easier and save you many hours in the long term. If you have a one-off requirement then using the built-in feature in PowerPoint, or changing the format to zip will probably be sufficient.