# MS Powerpoint: can it be converted to plain text? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 18, 2003, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-powerpoint-can-it-be-converted-to-plain-text/162358 "2003-03-18T20:17:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnac_the_Magnificent)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2003, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-powerpoint-can-it-be-converted-to-plain-text/162358/1 "2003-03-18T20:17:56Z")
I was recently given a CD with a large PowerPoint presentation on it. Is there some simple way to convert this presentation to straight text. IOW, I don’t want to see the fancy graphics, just what it printed. thanks. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2003, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-powerpoint-can-it-be-converted-to-plain-text/162358/2 "2003-03-18T20:25:42Z")
PowerPoint 97 has a “Save as” option for Outline/RTF, which would be very nearly plain text. Hope this helps. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2003, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-powerpoint-can-it-be-converted-to-plain-text/162358/3 "2003-03-18T21:31:13Z")
IAAPPTD. (I am a PPT Dev) > [@](#): > > Is there some simple way to convert this presentation to straight text. Aside from what **Knead to Know** said about RTF export, which is available in every version both Win and Mac, you can go to File | Send to Word and choose to send just the text. From there, you can clean it up in Word and export from there in a number of different Text formats. > [@](#): > > I don’t want to see the fancy graphics, just what it printed. If this is the case and you’re only interseted in printing what was visible in the Slide view, (not Notes Text), you can goto File | Print, and under “Print What” choose “Outline View.” No exporting or manipulating of the PPT file would be required. ---
**Author:** ![Whiskey-Hotel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e68b1a/32.png) [@Whiskey-Hotel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whiskey-Hotel)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2003, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-powerpoint-can-it-be-converted-to-plain-text/162358/4 "2003-03-18T22:58:40Z")
The limitations to the above methods is that any text created in a text box or table will not be exported/printed. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2003, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-powerpoint-can-it-be-converted-to-plain-text/162358/5 "2003-03-18T23:24:48Z")
Correct. The RTF parser cannot distinguish between graphic objects and objects such as shapes with text, textboxes and tables. ---
**Author:** ![Whiskey-Hotel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e68b1a/32.png) [@Whiskey-Hotel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whiskey-Hotel)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2003, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-powerpoint-can-it-be-converted-to-plain-text/162358/6 "2003-03-18T23:45:40Z")
Yeah. Unfortunately I’ve seen way too many ppts that were created by persons who had no clue as to how to enter text onto a slide. Little text boxes everywhere with no body text to be found at all!