MacPPT: File Size Is Increased by More Than Expected with Embedded Sounds

When you insert an embedded sound into a presentation, the file size of the presentation may increase by two-or-more times the size of the sound file.

For example, if you insert a 500-kilobyte (KB) MP3 file into a PowerPoint presentation, the file size grows by 3,500 KB.

This behavior occurs because sound files inserted into PowerPoint presentations are converted to Wave (WAV) audio files. WAV files are not as compact as other sound file formats.

NOTE: PowerPoint uses the WAV file format because this format is supported by both Microsoft Windows and Macintosh versions of PowerPoint.

To work around this issue, use the appropriate method for your situation.

Method 1: Use a Link to the Sound File Instead of an Embedded Sound File

To always use links instead of embedded sound files, follow these steps:

1. In PowerPoint, click Preferences on the Edit menu, and then click the General tab.
2. Select the number that you want in the Link sounds with file size greater than box, and then type 0.

Method 2: Convert the Sound File to Another Format

Use a third-party program to convert the sound file into one of the following sound formats:

• WAV
• AIFF
• MacSound
• AVI

Use this method in situations where the links may be broken. For example, use this method if you are going to transfer the presentation to a different computer, or burn it on a CD.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

For additional information about how to link and embed sound files, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: