Converting a Beamer Presentation to Powerpoint
The good news is that it is actually possible and it does not require too much effort.
- Install pdf2svg (I am using a Debian package, but you can find a Windows version).
- Install python-uniconvertor for Windows.
- Install inkscape for Windows.
- Run pdf2svg to convert all pdf pages to svg:
pdf2svg talk.pdf 'test%d.svg' all
- Execute the following command (in cmd.exe) to convert each svg file to the enhanced metafile format:
for %i in (*.svg) do "c:\Program Files (x86)\Inkscape\inkscape.exe" --export-emf %~ni.emf %i
- Create a new powerpoint presentation, choose “Insert” tab and then “Photo Album”. Give it all the generated *.emf files and that is it.
- To change a slide, right click on a figure and pick group/ungroup two times. Now you can edit the slide as a normal powerpoint vector graphics.
Warning: Powerpoint does not ungroup a figure, if it contains dotted or dashed lines. This is a well-known problem with powerpoint and inkscape. In many cases, it is easy to just change the lines to solid.
Igor