Transferring Keynote Files

When you see a Keynote presentation file in the Finder, it looks like any other file, but you can run into problems when you need to send that file via email or if you want to burn it onto a CD-ROM. The reason for this is that a Keynote file isn't a single file at all; it's a special kind of Mac OS X file called a package . The Keynote package file looks like a document icon in the Finder, but it is really more like a folder, containing many other files within.

To look inside the Keynote package file, Control-click a Keynote document file in the Finder. A contextual menu will appear ( Figure 11.23 ). Choose Show Package Contents and a Finder window will open and display the contents of the package ( Figure 11.24 ).

Figure 11.23. You can see the contents of a Keynote document's package by Control-clicking the document's icon in the Finder.

Figure 11.24. The contents of a Keynote document package.

The possible problems with sending Keynote files via email or burning them onto a CD-ROM are because the email or CD creation program has problems working with package files.

Email

The most common problem when attempting to send Keynote files via email is that the file arrives in the recipient's inbox as a folder, rather than as a file. Email programs such as Qualcomm Eudora will send or receive package files as folders. Similarly, Microsoft Entourage will receive a package sent from Eudora incorrectly; the package will arrive as many individual attachments (the contents of the package file), rather than one file.

The solution for sending and receiving problems with package files is to use a compression program such as the archiving feature built into the Finder (Mac OS X versions 10.3 and later), or Allume Systems' StuffIt to compress the package file before you send it. The Finder uses a compression format called Zip.

A compression program converts a file or a folder of files into a single smaller file, using a mathematical algorithm to reduce the size of the zipped or stuffed file. On the other end, the recipient will need a decompression program to unzip or unstuff the file. Some email programs, such as Entourage, have the built-in ability to compress using StuffIt. If your email program does not, you should use the Finder's Zip compression, or purchase one of the versions of StuffIt.

To compress a Keynote file with the Finder

1.	Select the Keynote file in the Finder.
2.	Choose File > Create archive of " filename ", where filename is the name of the item you selected in Step 1. or Control-click (right-click if you have a mouse with multiple buttons ) and choose Create Archive of " filename " from the contextual menu ( Figure 11.25 ). Figure 11.25. You can create an archive of a selected file in the Finder by Control-clicking it. The archive will appear, named the same as the selected file's name, with the suffix .zip ( Figure 11.26 ). Figure 11.26. The resulting archive file has the .zip suffix.
3.	Attach the zipped file as an enclosure to an email message.

Tips

• If you use Apple Mail under Mac OS X 10.3 or later, it automatically zips package files before sending them as email attachments.

• Mac OS X comes with a free program (you'll find it in /Applications/Utilities/) called StuffIt Expander. That program allows you to decompress any StuffIt file, but not to create StuffIt files. You'll need to get either StuffIt Standard or StuffIt Deluxe to make StuffIt files.