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Limitations, caveats, bugs
PPT2HTML stops working when Scansoft's PDF-Converter is installed
Several users have reported this problem. We don't know the cause, but when PDF-Converter is uninstalled and PPT2HTML is reinstalled, PPT2HTML works again. Apparently Scansoft's installer or their software is doing something rude.
Error 13 while making HTML using DiagnosticTemplate.htm
This is a side effect of a feature we're currently testing; we apologize for the problem. Luckily there's a simple fix:
In the PPT2HTML Preferences dialog box:
- Click MAKE DIAGNOSTICS. This creates a DiagnosticsTemplate.htm file and selects it in the Templates listbox.
- Click EDIT to open the new template in Notepad.
- Press Ctrl+F to and search for Slide.Shapes.HTML. That'll take you to a section that looks like this:
<tr>
<td valign=top><strong>{:}Slide.Shapes.HTML{:}</strong></td>
<td valign=top>Experimental </td>
<td valign=top>:Slide.Shapes.HTML: </td>
</tr>
- Select and delete all five lines and save the template.
- Go ahead and create HTML as you normally would. There should be no further errors.
- You'll need to make this same edit each time you create a new DiagnosticsTemplate file.
We expect to have an update to fix this soon.
Text in exported images looks looks jaggy
PowerPoint 2002 and later often do a bad job of exporting images. We've added many tests and tricks to give you FAR better quality images than PowerPoint on its own.
Better yet, the update is free. Simply visit our Downloads page, download the PPT2HTML installer to your PC and run it. If you already have a registered version, this will update it too. You don't have to re-enter your registration information, and none of your templates or other files will be affected.
Arial text appears as Times New Roman in images exported by PPT2HTML
PowerPoint sometimes turns Arial into Times New Roman in exported images or on printouts. It's a PowerPoint bug, not a PPT2HTML one; there's no known cause or fix for this, other than to delete and re-create the slide(s) where the problem occurs.
The same slide number appears on every HTML page
If the Slide Number placeholder on the Slide Master has been reformatted extensively, it may get "broken" such that PPT recognizes it but PPT2HTML doesn't.
Result: all slides get numbered the same, apparently whatever the starting number is in Page Setup.
PPT2HTML attempts to repair this problem automatically, but it may not always detect it. If you find a particular presentation has this problem, here's how you can repair it:
- Choose View, Master, Slide Master to go to the Slide Master.
- Select and delete the Slide Number placeholder (the one that looks like <#> )
- Choose Format, Master and in the dialog box that comes up, put a checkmark next to Slide Number, then click OK.
- Do the same for the Title Master if necessary.
- Return to Normal or Slide view, save the presentation and try making HTML again. The numbers should now work as expected.
Action buttons from slide masters appear on incorrect pages
When you convert the presentation to HTML, PPT2HTML may incorrectly put the action buttons from the first master onto every slide and ignore action buttons on the other masters. This is usually because the presentation was created in PowerPoint 2002 (XP) or later and has multiple masters but is being converted to HTML in PowerPoint 2000 or earlier.
Earlier versions of PowerPoint don't give PPT2HTML any way to distinguish between multiple masters. If you need to convert presentations with multiple masters, you'll need use a version of PowerPoint that supports them.
Links to PDF open in the browser instead of a separate window
Links to PDF open in a separate window instead of in the browser
This isn't something PPT2HTML can control. It's an Acrobat or Reader setting; it's up to each individual Acrobat/Reader user to choose the way they want to view PDFs, in the browser or in a separate Acrobat/Reader window.
Here's how individual Reader or Acrobat users can set the preference (details may vary in different versions of the software but the general idea is the same):
- Start Acrobat/Reader
- Choose Edit, Preferences
- Look for Internet Options or just Options
- If you want to see PDFs in a separate window, remove the check mark next to "Display PDF in browser"
- If you want to see PDFs in the browser, add a check mark next to "Display PDF in browser"
- Click OK
- Close Acrobat/Reader
Why is there a blue border around the slide image?
Browsers may add a blue border around images that have an image map, such as the one PPT2HTML creates from the links and other action buttons in your presentation when you include the :Nav.Map: placeholder in your template.
If you'd rather not see this border, use BORDER="0" in the slide image link in your template. For example:
<IMG SRC=":slide:" BORDER="0" ALT="Some alternate text here">
PPT2HTML ignores my placeholders
If PPT2HTML doesn't replace a placeholder with a value:
- Check the spelling of the placeholder in your template. Click Codes in the Preferences dialog to get a listing of all possible placeholders and make sure it's spelled the same way in your template as in the Codes listing.
- Check the capitalization of the placeholder in your template. You can type placeholders in all UPPERCASE, all lowercase, or MixedCase, but if you use MixedCase, the capitalization must match what's shown in the Codes display.
- Make sure there's a : (colon) character at both ends of the placeholder and that there are no extra spaces in the placeholder
When in doubt, copy the placeholder directly from the Codes listing into your template.
Why don't my PowerPoint buttons work?
You've probably specified the size for your :Slide.Image: in percentages rather than in pixels in your template file.
PPT2HTML properly places the imagemap coordinates to match up with the buttons on your slide no matter what output image size you choose. These coordinates are specified in pixels relative to the upper left corner of the image. So long as you display the image at its "natural" size in the browser (ie, you don't specify a particular size for it) or you specify the image size explicitly, the browser can adjust the imagemap coordinates to the displayed image.
When you specify the image size in percentages, the browser won't adjust the imagemap coordinates to the displayed image size, so the clickable link may not appear where it's supposed to be.
For example, suppose you have PPT2HTML output images at 500 pixels wide and you have a "Next" button at the lower right corner of each slide. Let's say the button is 1/5 of the width of the image, so when PPT2HTML creates the imagemap, it positions the link for this button starting 400 pixels from the left of the slide image and extending to the right for 100 pixels.
Now suppose your template calls for the image to be displayed at width="50%"
When the browser displays it, it'll be sized to 50% of the current browser window rather than to any specific number of pixels wide, but the imagemap coordinates are all in absolute pixels from the edge of the image. If the size of the browser window forces the image, displayed at 50%, to be 400 pixels wide, your clickable imagemap link (which starts at 400 pixels, remember, will be just past the right edge of the image. The browser chops off links at the edge of the image, so your link simply doesn't work, and even if it did, it would no longer be over the button that created it.
Moral: If you use action buttons in your PowerPoint slides, design your template with the :slide: image specified in pixels, not percents. Note that you can use the :Slide.Image.width: in your templates to automatically pick up the image size you choose in PPT2HTML's preferences dialog.
Runtime Error 91 while generating HTML
You start the HTML conversion and almost immediately get a Runtime Error 91.
This happens as PPT2HTML starts to export an image from your first slide.
Probably the graphics export filter needed to create image files of the type you chose in Preferences (ie, JPG, GIF or PNG) isn't installed or isn't working correctly.
Some graphics filters are optional features and aren't included by default when you install Office or PowerPoint. Without the needed filter installed, PowerPoint causes errors. PPT2HTML tests for this condition but may not always be able to detect it.
To learn whether this is the problem:
- Choose GIF as your image format and try converting to HTML again. If it converts without problem, you're probably missing the filter. Or ...
- Choose File, Save As and see whether your chosen file type is available in the "Files of Type" dropdown listbox. If it's not there, the filter isn't installed.
To fix the problem:
- Re-run Office or PowerPoint SETUP.
- Setup will detect that you've already installed the product and will start in Maintenance mode.
- Choose Custom install and in the graphics filters section, put a checkmark next to the JPG and PNG options.
- Don't change any other checkmarks or other options (unless you want to add or remove features from Office/PowerPoint)
- Let the installation complete.
Please note:
PPT2HTML makes PowerPoint perform tasks automatically. Because of this, PPT2HTML may be affected by bugs in PowerPoint. An add-in can't correct flaws in PowerPoint itself, though wherever possible we try to include workarounds for known problems.
Sometimes we just have to live with problems until Microsoft fixes them.
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