How to Insert PDF into PowerPoint? 3 Easy Ways
(Note: This tutorial on how to insert PDF into PowerPoint is suitable for PowerPoint 2013 and later versions including Office 365)
In Microsoft applications, you can embed and insert files of different formats into different platforms. For example, you can add a word document to an Excel sheet, or vice versa. Likewise, you can also insert PDF files into your PowerPoint slides.
In this article, I will tell you 3 ways to insert PDF into PowerPoint presentations.
You’ll Learn:
Watch this video to learn how to Insert PDF into PowerPoint
Why Insert PDF into PowerPoint?
Before we learn how to insert a PDF into PowerPoint, let us see some scenarios where we need to insert PDFs into PowerPoint and why we do so.
Imagine you are a researcher presenting at a conference, a team leader presenting stats to your clients, or a teacher teaching in a school. You might have to include any reference materials, proofs, or citations from different sources. And, most of these files are in the form of PDFs. So, what is a PDF format?
PDF format stands for Portable Document Format. This format was created by Adobe as a metric for users to read and exchange documents irrespective of their hardware and software configurations.
You can copy and paste from a PDF onto other platforms. But for some professional or academic purposes, you would need proof and citations to prove your point. In such cases, you will have to insert PDF files into the PowerPoint slides you’re presenting.
Also, adding PDFs to your presentations help in maintaining your privacy. It helps mitigate some unnecessary steps involved to open the PDF file. You do not have to minimize the presentation, locate, and open the file. You can directly click on the PDF file and open them.
Also having more tabs or files open might hamper your device’s RAM. In these cases, inserting a PDF into PowerPoint greatly helps increase the efficiency of your presentation. It also makes your presentation more professional.
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How to Insert PDF into PowerPoint?
There are multiple ways to insert PDFs into PowerPoint. You can either insert a whole PDF file or just a part of the file. Now, let us see how to insert PDF into PowerPoint.
Using the Insert Option
This is one of the most common ways to insert PDFs into PowerPoint. You can insert the whole PDF file as a click button into the PowerPoint slide.
First, select the slide where you want to embed the PDF file.
Navigate to Insert. Under the Text section, click on Object.
Note: When inserting the PDF file as an object, make sure the original file you’re embedding is closed. If you have the file open, it will not be inserted and PowerPoint will throw an error.
This opens up an Insert Object dialog box. Click on Create from file and click Browse. Once you have located the file, click Open. Finally, click OK.
This inserts the selected PDF file in the center of the slide.
You can move and resize the PDF file icon using the anchor points. You can also add multiple PDFs in the same slide to easily help you open multiple files from a single location.
You can double-click on the PDF file in the PowerPoint slide to open and view the original file. Sometimes, PowerPoint throws a popup asking you whether the file is safe to open. If you trust the source, click Open. Else, click Cancel. To prevent this dialog box from popping up again, uncheck the Always ask before checkbox.
Copy and Paste
This is one of the easiest and most efficient ways to insert a PDF file into PowerPoint.
To insert a PDF file into PowerPoint, first, navigate to the location of the PDF file. Right-click and copy the file or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+C.
Now, open PowerPoint and choose the slide where you want to paste the file. Paste the file by right-clicking and selecting Paste or use the keyboard shortcut keys Ctrl+V.
This pastes the selected file onto the PowerPoint slide.
Double-click on the icon to open the PDF file. You can move or resize the PDF file icon by clicking on them and using the anchor points.
Another advantage of this method is that you can very efficiently insert multiple PDFs into the PowerPoint slide. You don’t have to individually browse and insert files. Just copy the files and paste them onto the slide all at the same time.
Open the File in Slideshow
Inserting a PDF file into PowerPoint adds them to the slide. The end-user can double-click and open them to read them for reference. But, when presenting the slides in slideshow mode, the files just appear as elements on the screen and you cannot open them. Clicking on them will move to the next slide.
To view the PDF file as a part of the slideshow, first, click on the PDF file. Navigate to Insert and click on Action in the Links section.
This opens up the Action Settings dialog box. Under the Mouse Click tab, from the Object action: dropdown, select Activate Contents. Click OK.
This enables you to open the PDF file in a slideshow.
Insert a Part of the PDF
In some cases, you might not need to insert the whole PDF file into the slide. You can just add a part of the PDF file. Inserting a part of a PDF is especially helpful to provide an emphasis on certain parts of the document.
To add a part of a PDF file, open the file and navigate to the section you want to insert into the slide. Consider an example, where you want to insert the second page of the PDF file into your PowerPoint presentation. So, open it and leave it.
Now, immediately open PowerPoint without switching between tabs.
Navigate to Insert. Under the Images section, click on Screenshot. From the dropdown, select Screen Clipping.
Clicking this option takes you back to the PDF file and it appears as a white transparent screen. Click on the left mouse button and drag the mouse to select the area you want to include in the slide.
Once you leave the left mouse button, the selected area is automatically inserted into the PowerPoint slide.
Note: In case you are not satisfied with the current page or you don’t want to take a screenshot of the current page, press the Esc key to revert to PowerPoint.
Once the image is inserted into the slide, you can move or resize them using the anchor points. Additionally, you can customize the inserted section using the Picture Format main menu.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the PDF file lose quality when we insert them into PowerPoint?
Yes, the PDF file does undergo a little loss of quality when inserted into PowerPoint. This usually happens with larger files. However, there is not much quality loss that disrupts the readability of the file.
How many PDF files can we insert into PowerPoint?
There is no certain limit as to how many PDF files we add to PowerPoint. However, when there are too many files attached, the file size goes up, and also the PDF files tend to lose quality.
Can we convert PDF files to PowerPoint?
There is no direct way to convert a PDF file to a PowerPoint presentation. However, there are certain third-party software and websites to help you convert PDF files to PowerPoint.
Can we open the PDF file in PowerPoint after changing the location of the PDF file?
Yes, you can open the PDF file even after changing its original location in your local drive. This is because when you insert the files, they are created as a copy in the PowerPoint file.
Closing Thoughts
Adding PDFs to PowerPoint makes your presentation worthy and authoritative. It also boosts the credibility of your research and content.
In this article, we saw how to insert PDF into PowerPoint in 3 easy ways. You can either add the PDF to the PowerPoint slide as a whole or just a part of the file as a screenshot.
If you need more high-quality PowerPoint guides, please check out our free resources center.
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Simon Calder
Chris “Simon” Calder was working as a Project Manager in IT for one of Los Angeles’ most prestigious cultural institutions, LACMA.He taught himself to use Microsoft Project from a giant textbook and hated every moment of it. Online learning was in its infancy then, but he spotted an opportunity and made an online MS Project course - the rest, as they say, is history!
