TechCrunch reports on the availability of PPTshare a new software tool that compresses PowerPoint presentations to a more manageable size. The company claims that the software compresses slide presentations up to 95%. The software has multiple compression options according to TechCrunch including "normal, extra, high quality, mobile and custom". Interestingly in a quick look at the features on the PPTshare website I didn't see a discussion of these options.
According to the company, the software "intelligently" reduces the size of graphics and other embedded documents. Recipients of a compressed file do not need to have PPTshare installed on their systems to be able to view the file in the PPT or PPS formats. The software is currently only available for PCs using Windows 98 or later.
The single user price is $45. There is a free trial available that allows you to have up to 10 "compressions" after which you are required to purchase the software using a key.
One of the comments on the TechCrunch blog suggested that this type of tool had been available for a long time and pointed readers to NxPowerLite 2 , a similar compression utility with interestingly enough a downloadable price of $45.
PPTshare also has a tool called PPTshare desktop slide manager that is currently in Beta and is designed to help you organize your slides into a library for picking, choosing and assembling a new presentation.
Update - 10.25.06
InDesign had an interview with Bronwyn Lane at TopBytesLab in Germany about their software package called PowerShrink, another PowerPoint compression tool. She claims in the interview that the software compresses PowerPoint files an average of 62%.
Update - 11.17.06
Another tool that I've come across is Fortress Gate Ltd's PowerPressed. Their web site claims a compression rate up to 95% and a single user price of $11.99.
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All of these tools sound like they could have utility and are ones that I will plan on testing in the near future. I'll also be adding them to my Powerful Presentation Techniques Resource Listing for the next revision.
If you've used any of these or have additions for my PPT Resource Listing, please let me know how well they have worked for you.
