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**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 21, 2005, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/powerpoint-how-to-include-backgrounds-in-html-export/291174 "2005-02-21T14:22:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 11\
**Page:** 1
**Author:**  [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\
**Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/powerpoint-how-to-include-backgrounds-in-html-export/291174/1 "2005-02-21T14:22:54Z")
Using MS PowerPoint 2000, I want to export a PPT file to an HTML format, but the background image from the slide master does not get included. Does anyone know if there a switch to turn this function on?
BG images on individual slides don’t get exported, either, and white text on a white background is a mite difficult to read. 🙂
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**Author:**  [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\
**Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/powerpoint-how-to-include-backgrounds-in-html-export/291174/2 "2005-02-21T17:53:23Z")
To my knowledge there isn’t a switch. You would need to access the HTML code directly and insert the reference to the background image manually.
PowerPoint to HTML is an internal function for the convenience of folks who want to make web pages from PpowerPoint presentations. It’s quick and dirty and that about it.
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**Author:**  [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\
**Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/powerpoint-how-to-include-backgrounds-in-html-export/291174/3 "2005-02-21T18:20:49Z")
> [@Duckster](#):
>
> To my knowledge there isn’t a switch. You would need to access the HTML code directly and insert the reference to the background image manually.
>
> PowerPoint to HTML is an internal function for the convenience of folks who want to make web pages from PpowerPoint presentations. It’s quick and dirty and that about it.
Since a powerpoint presentation consisting of only images would then export to all blanks, if your claim is true, that’s a little quicker and dirtier than I would call practical. I can hardly call background images unimportant enough to ignore.
In the example I am working with, the background image has superimposed text. If I have to modify the HTML to make it look like that, I run the risk of things being improperly placed. They were placed in PP and I need to preserve that.
The PP-\>HTML code generated is far from simple, including XML stuff and much other code that is excess for a simple task. If I can’t find a better way, I am going to export each slide as a JPG, then hand-code a simple HTML template page around it. But there doesn’t seem to be any control over the compression ratio during export, so I might have to go to TIFF first, then convert to JPG in a paint program where I have more control (if the JPG looks bad, that is).
Seems like a lot of work for such a simple task that MS could have provided. Hasn’t PP been around for a decade or so?
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**Author:**  [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\
**Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/powerpoint-how-to-include-backgrounds-in-html-export/291174/4 "2005-02-21T22:57:43Z")
> [@Musicat](#):
>
> Since a powerpoint presentation consisting of only images would then export to all blanks, if your claim is true, that’s a little quicker and dirtier than I would call practical. I can hardly call background images unimportant enough to ignore.
It’s not designed to be practical in any common sense view of the world. It’s only as practical as Microsoft chose to make it (meaning compatible only with itself and iyts own tools and the rest of the world be damned.
> [@](#):
>
> In the example I am working with, the background image has superimposed text. If I have to modify the HTML to make it look like that, I run the risk of things being improperly placed. They were placed in PP and I need to preserve that.
Then you will need to manually insert the backgreound images into the PP-created web pages.
> [@](#):
>
> The PP-\>HTML code generated is far from simple, including XML stuff and much other code that is excess for a simple task. If I can’t find a better way, I am going to export each slide as a JPG, then hand-code a simple HTML template page around it. But there doesn’t seem to be any control over the compression ratio during export, so I might have to go to TIFF first, then convert to JPG in a paint program where I have more control (if the JPG looks bad, that is).
Best way to go. The PP-generated code is designed to be compatible with Microsoft products. However, if you want a set of web page slides that meet current standards I’m afraid you will need to hand code or use a web tool that will do it for you.
> [@](#):
>
> Seems like a lot of work for such a simple task that MS could have provided. Hasn’t PP been around for a decade or so?
See comment above.
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**Author:**  [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\
**Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/powerpoint-how-to-include-backgrounds-in-html-export/291174/5 "2005-02-21T23:43:28Z")
Obviously you’re not a Microsoft fan, **Duckster.** I certainly share your views.
Meanwhile, unless I find an easier way, I exported all the slides at once, to separate JPG files – PP has that batch option – and inserted them into a simple, hand-coded HTML page [here.](http://doorbell.net/ts/peg19/index.htm)
Because this is a TV schedule, I expect to have to revise one or more slides during the week and replace 3 each Sunday, so I took that into consideration. I don’t like the JPG compression PP makes – it’s too high and there are no options available to change it – but exporting to TIF, then resizing in a paint program is more work than I want to do frequently. This way works.
BTW, these slides are the ones we use for our community TV channel inbetween taped presentations. On TV, a PP slide show runs continuously whenever nothing else is on. So whatever we format for the TV screen I can port over to the web page. A pseudo-PP HTML using frames might be nicer, but this’ll do for now.
Thanks for your advice.
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**Author:**  [@Caught\_Work](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caught_Work)\
**Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/powerpoint-how-to-include-backgrounds-in-html-export/291174/6 "2005-02-22T00:52:05Z")
Rather than set a background for the entire presentation, grab the background image and insert it into each slide.
Then send that image to the ‘back’.
Now when you save as HTML, it ‘should’ keep that background image in the right place with your text on top of it looking like a background image.
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**Author:**  [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\
**Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/powerpoint-how-to-include-backgrounds-in-html-export/291174/7 "2005-02-22T12:03:13Z")
> [@Caught@Work](#):
>
> Rather than set a background for the entire presentation, grab the background image and insert it into each slide.
>
> Then send that image to the ‘back’.
>
> Now when you save as HTML, it ‘should’ keep that background image in the right place with your text on top of it looking like a background image.
Does this work in your computer? That was the second thing I tried:
> [@Musicat](#):
>
> BG images on individual slides don’t get exported, either…
The export still didn’t include the BG image.
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**Author:**  [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\
**Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/powerpoint-how-to-include-backgrounds-in-html-export/291174/8 "2005-02-22T12:21:26Z")
Are you doing it [the Microsoft Way](http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HA010552021033.aspx) ?
> [@](#):
>
> Publish a presentation or HTML file to the Web
>
> 1. Open or create the presentation you want to publish to the Web.
>
> 2. On the File menu, click Save as Web Page.
>
> 3. In the File name box, type a name for the Web page.
>
> 4. In the folder list, select a location for the Web page.
>
> 5. To change the Web page title (the text that appears in the title bar of your Web browser), click Change Title, type the new title in the Page title box, and then click OK.
>
> 6. To publish only certain slides or a custom show, to turn on or off speaker notes, and to specify the level of browser support for the Web page, click Publish and then select the options you want.
>
> 7. To select additional Web page formatting and display options, click Web Options, select the options you want, and then click OK.
>
> 8. Click Publish.
>
> For more information about the requirements for publishing presentations in HTML format, type publish Web pages in the Office Assistant or on the Answer Wizard tab in the PowerPoint Help window, and then click Search.
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**Author:**  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\
**Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/powerpoint-how-to-include-backgrounds-in-html-export/291174/9 "2005-02-22T12:29:43Z")
This doesn’t help much, I know (and I’m sorry), but in the long run, you’d probably be better off originating the thing in HTML and embedding _that_ into a PP slideshow (or something else) for display on the TV.
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**Author:**  [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\
**Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/powerpoint-how-to-include-backgrounds-in-html-export/291174/10 "2005-02-22T12:30:42Z")
> [@scotandrsn](#):
>
> Are you doing it [the Microsoft Way](http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HA010552021033.aspx) ?
Exactly. I know of no other way. No dice, no BG image.
And #3,4,5 are irrelevant (file name, location, page title have no effect on the slides). If there’s a “include/exclude BG image” option, I am missing it.
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**Author:**  [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\
**Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/powerpoint-how-to-include-backgrounds-in-html-export/291174/11 "2005-02-22T12:35:06Z")
> [@Mangetout](#):
>
> This doesn’t help much, I know (and I’m sorry), but in the long run, you’d probably be better off originating the thing in HTML and embedding _that_ into a PP slideshow (or something else) for display on the TV.
Probably so, but the person who is supplying the data to me outranks me and he isn’t going to change what he is used to or learn a new technique.