Trevor wrote:

> Allow me to venture an argument in favor of such a feature.  I've only used 
> it once in PowerPoint 2003, but I found it handy.  
> * How Handy? * 
> A friend handed me a PowerPoint presentation in the ballpark of 110MB. (!)  
> After running 'Compress Images' I handed back a copy that was a mere 16MB.

Alternative solution:

A friend handed me a 16MB PowerPoint file. (!)
I opened it in OOo and saved as .sxi. The new file fit inside a floppy 
disk. :-)

Just by eliminating all the garbage PPT produces and compressing the file 
as a whole, you can get much smaller files, without compromising quality.

> * How does PowerPoint do it? *
> I can't speak authoritatively, but I'll offer my impression, using my 
> friend's horrendous .ppt file as an example.
> 
> 'Compress Images' appears to work on images in two ways:

Both of which essentially mean, lowering the quality of the image.

> * Should OOo Have a Compress Images Feature? *
> I don't know, but it seems like it could only be a benefit to users.

It certainly wouldn't hurt. And if we have the resources, we should do it. 
However, this feature is less necessary in OOo than in PowerPoint because 
our file format is much better designed to begin with.

> Perhaps it is not an issue with OOo.  Nor do I know if Impress handles 
> images in some unique way that would have kept the file size down.

Actually, there's no trick to it. Just use a standard image file format 
like JPEG and PNG. That's what OOo does. Those formats are already very 
well designed to give you a good compression ratio. Use JPEG for photos, 
PNG for everything else, and you'll be good. OOo will keep JPEGs as JPEGs 
and PNGs as PNGs. If you give it a BMP, OOo will do the right thing and 
turn it into a PNG the way God intended it. Sadly, OOo doesn't do the same 
for GIFs, but oh well.

> Perhaps someone with more knowledge in this area can 
> address these points.

I hope the above helps.

Just to make sure I'm being clear. I am not saying that this feature is 
not useful. I'm saying that OOo's superior design make it much less 
important than it is when you have to put up with a crappy format like 
PowerPoint does.

Cheers,
-- 
Daniel Carrera          | I don't want it perfect,
Join OOoAuthors today!  | I want it Tuesday.
http://oooauthors.org   | 

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