PDF to PowerPoint Tutorial

How do I copy a section of a
report page (PDF) to display in PowerPoint?

Step 1 | Preparation

Make sure you have the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer. With "Reader" open, you can check for updates by clicking the Help menu, then click Check for Updates. Or, you can go directly to Adobe's free download page by clicking the button below.

Now, open Microsoft PowerPoint and open a PowerPoint presentation to the first slide you'd like to insert an image into.

Step 2 | Open a PDF File

If you have the PDF file you would like to use saved to your computer, you can double-click the file to open Adobe Acrobat Reader, or you can open the file by clicking your left mouse button on a PDF link from a Percept web page, which will open "Reader" inside your internet browser. Zoom in to the area of the page you want to copy. The larger the area on your screen, the better quality the image will be in your PowerPoint Presentation.

Step 3 | Add SNAPSHOT TOOL to your Acrobat Reader taskbar

Using your right mouse button click on a blank area of the Reader Tool Bar (pictured above) to open the Tool Bar Menu.

With your left mouse button, click on "More Tools...". The More Tools menu will appear.

Scroll to the bottom of the More Tools menu. Under "Select & Zoom Toolbar", click the checkbox for the Snapshot Tool. Then click OK.

Step 4 | Take a "snapshot" (copy) of a section of your report

You will now see the Snapshot button (camera) on your Adobe Reader Tool Bar. To capture your image, begin by clicking the button, then position your cursor at one corner of the area you want to copy.

You'll now draw a marquee, or dotted rectangle box, around the area you want to copy. Simply start at one corner, hold down your left mouse button and drag the cursor across the area you'd like to "take a picture" of. Don't let go until you've completed your rectangle. If you do let go prematurely, or you're not happy with the area you created, simply draw another one until you're happy with your selection--then let go.

You will notice that the area is highlighted (brown) and you'll see a message confirming that the area has been copied. (You'll also see the following message: "Don't show this message again". Click the checkbox, then click OK to save yourself extra clicks the next time you need to copy a PDF.) The image you just created has now been temporarily held in memory on your computer's "Clipboard". You must complete the following step to preserve your image. It will not stay on the Clipboard if you try to come back later to complete these steps.

Step 5 | Paste the image onto a PowerPoint slide

Now switch the view on your screen to your PowerPoint application with a blank slide (or a slide you have prepared to place your image onto) displayed in Slide View. With your right mouse button click anywhere on the blank area of the slide. A menu will appear.

Click Paste with your left mouse button.

You will see your image has now appeared on the slide. This is a good time to save your PowerPoint file so that if you accidently delete the image you can close and re-open your file to get back to this point. The image may not be the size that you want it, but you can easily resize it. You will see nodes, or small boxes, on each corner of the selected image. Simply position your cursor over one corner, click and hold your left mouse button, then drag the corner in or out to either reduce or enlarge the image.

For this exercise, the image above was enlarged about 25% by stretching one of the corners. Then the image was re-centered on the page simply by clicking on it with the left mouse button and dragging it into position. You should normally not enlarge your image more than 20-25% of the original size. For quality and sharpness it is always better to reduce your image than it is to enlarge it.

You've now completed this tutorial. Congratulations! Once you practice these steps a few times you'll find it incredibly easy to capture images from a PDF file anytime you need. You can enhance any PowerPoint Presentation with the graphical display of information available in Percept's demographic reports.