PowerPoint Files: ppt Vs. pps Extensions

PowerPoint files can have a number of different extensions: ppt, pps, pot, etc. We need to look at each of these individually to determine what the differences are and which one Curt should use to distribute his presentation.

ppt

PPT files are regular PowerPoint files. When double-clicked on a computer which has PowerPoint installed, PPT files open in the editing interface for PowerPoint. (The normal interface we have been using to edit and change presentations throughout this book.) If PowerPoint is not on the system, but the viewer is, PPT files are opened in the viewer.

pps

PPS files are PowerPoint Show files. They are no different from PPT files, other than the last letter of the extension and what that extension is associated with. PPS files are supposed to open directly in show mode. This means when a PPS file is doubleclicked in Windows Explorer, the show should start.

To open a PPS file for editing, open PowerPoint and then use File ’ Open (or the folder button) to open the presentation.

pot

POT files are template files. They are the design templates used to set up a standard look for slides within a presentation. We will discuss where they are hidden on a machine at the end of this chapter. We will discuss how to create them in Chapter 16.

POT files do not generally contain any content. Instead they contain master slides, color schemes, font attributes and the other master pages.

ppz

You may come across one other presentation file extension in PowerPoint 2002 or earlier, PPZ. In Chapter 15, we will discuss Pack and Go, which was the distribution mechanism for PowerPoint 2002 and earlier. When you Pack and Go a presentation, the process creates two files: one is the same as the presentation, but with an extension of PPZ and the other named Setup.exe The PPZ file contains the packaged presentation but, unfortunately , it can't be opened on its own. It can only be opened by opening the Setup.exe file created with the same Pack and Go.