How to Extract Images From a PowerPoint or Google Slides Presentation

In various situations, people need to extract images from a PowerPoint presentation they’ve received or downloaded online. Although this sounds like a simple task, it’s actually not so easy, as it’s impossible to just right-click the image and save it. Sometimes users employ the Snipping Tool to do the job, but this affects the image’s original quality. This tutorial covers a simple and effective way to extract images from a PPTX file.

Good to know: learn how to snap a scrolling screenshot on Windows.

How to Extract Images From a PowerPoint Presentation

PowerPoint files usually boast a .PPTX extension (or .PPT for older versions). This is a zipped, XML-based file format that stores all elements of the presentation. To extract images from a .PPTX, follow these steps:

1. Instruct Windows to show file extensions. Open the File Explorer, and click the “View” menu at the top. If you’re having issues with File Explorer, we can help.

2. Hover over the “Show” menu and select “File name extensions.”
3. Locate the PowerPoint file you want to extract the images from, select it, and press F2 to rename the file (Fn + F2 for notebooks). At this point, you only need to delete the .PPTX extension and type .ZIP instead.

4. Right-click the new .ZIP file and select “Extract All.”

5. Access the newly created folder (should be the name of your presentation file) and navigate to “ppt -> media” to find all the images used in the PowerPoint file at their original quality.

6. You can extract images from Word files using the same method. It is applicable to most Microsoft Office file types, including DOCX and XLSX. Did you know that you can open a DOCX file even without having Office installed? We show you how.

Tip: expand your Excel knowledge by getting educated about PowerPivot – a feature that lets you work with massive data models.

How to Save PowerPoint Slides as Images

The previous method showed how to extract images from a PowerPoint presentation. However, if you want to save the slides themselves as images, you can do that as well.

1. Open the PowerPoint file.
2. Click on the “File” option in the ribbon menu.

3. Select “Save As,” then “Browse,” and select the location where you want to save the slides.

4. Click on “Save As,” select “PNG,” then click the “Save” button.

5. A pop-up window will ask whether you want to export all the slides. Click “All Slides.”

6. You will find all images pertaining to the presentation in a folder at the destination you specified.

Tip: check out our Google Slides keyboard shortcuts cheatsheet and improve your workflow while using the app.

How to Extract Images from a Google Slides Presentation

If someone shares a Google Slides file with you, it’s possible to extract all the images at their full quality and reuse them as you wish.

1. Open the Google Slides file.
2. Click the “File” menu in the top-left corner, then hover over the “Download” option and select “Microsoft PowerPoint (.pptx).”

3. Once the file is downloaded, proceed with the steps covered in the first section, which involve renaming the file to .ZIP. You can do the same to extract images from a Google Docs or Google Slides.

4. Alternatively, if you want to quickly save an image from a Google Slides presentation, right-click the image and select “Save to Keep.”

5. The Google Keep sidebar will pop up, and the image will be saved as a note. At this point, you can right-click the image and save it in full resolution.

Tip: all of these methods extract the images at their optimal quality, but if the original image is of poor quality or has been compressed, that won’t help. You can try to enhance image quality using online tools, however.

How to Save Google Slides as Images

Alternatively, you may want to save individual Google Slides as images. This is also easy to do.

1. Open the presentation and click on the slide you want to download as an image.
2. Go to “File -> Download” and select either “JPEG image” or “PNG image.”

How to Save SlideShare Slides as Images

SlideShare is the most popular destination for PowerPoint presentations and hosts thousands of well-made presentations that people refer to. Follow the steps below to extract images from a SlideShare presentation.

1. The first and most straightforward option is to save the slide as an image. When you’re browsing any presentation on SlideShare, you can right-click the image of the slide and save it.

2. By default, the image will be saved in .WEBP format, which is not what you want. Click on “Save as” at the bottom and select “All files.”

3. Delete the .WEBP extension and replace it with .JPG. This will allow you to open the file as a regular image.

4. Alternatively, click the “Download Now” button under the presentation. This will allow you to download the file as a PDF or PPTX, but it requires you to sign up for an account (and in some cases, have a subscription).

Good to know: you can also add charts to your PowerPoint presentation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I reduce the file size of a PowerPoint presentation?

The main reason for a large PowerPoint presentation is the size of the images you’ve embedded into it, but there is an option to compress all images to reduce their size. Open the PPT file in Microsoft PowerPoint, and click “Files -> Save As.” In the “Save as” window, click on “Tools -> Compress Pictures” to reduce the size of the images.

Where can I find free and editiable PowerPoint and Google Slides templates?

There are a ton of sources to supply you with editable PowerPoint files, such as SlideShare. Another one worth mentioning is Slidesgo, which allows you to download an editable PPTX version of a presentation or directly access a copy of it on Google Slides.

How do I convert a PowerPoint (PPTX) to PDF?

If your presentation file is hosted on Google Slides, you can easily click “File -> Download -> Download as PDF.” But if you have it on your disk, just open it in Microsoft PowerPoint, then select “File -> Save File As -> PDF.”

Alternatively, use the Convertio.co website, which lets you convert PPTX/PPT files into tons of different extensions, including PDF (and vice versa).

All screenshots by Mustafa Ashour.