Linked vs. Embedded Sound

Linked vs. Embedded Sound

Do you use a lot of music in your PowerPoint presentations? Do you then use these presentations on a different computer?

Ever had a problem with the music? Maybe the music you've used isn't on the new computer and you didn't know that you had to copy that file too. Oh no, what do you do now?

Well, you could always train yourself to copy sound files or you could take a minute or two to find out what rules PowerPoint is playing by and then see what options you have.

I vote for the second choice since it puts the knowledge and power in your corner, so let's take a look at what PowerPoint is doing behind the music scene.

Here's the deal: PowerPoint has a setting in the Options window that's a cutoff for sound file size. Below the specified file size, PowerPoint embeds the file into the presentation. (No need to copy embedded files to the other computer, because it's already in the presentation file).

This, of course, means that sound files larger than that size will be linked to the presentation but not a part of its file. (Linked files must be moved with the presentation file).

To make changes to this cutoff file size, you'll need to go to the Tools menu, Options choice.

Once in the Options window, you're looking for the General tab.

There's an option that says "Link sounds with file size greater than xxx Kb." This is the setting you need to pay attention to. If you want larger sound files to be embedded (increasing the size of your presentation file), you can increase this number so that the files you're using are below the cutoff.

When you've made whatever change you deem necessary, click OK.

Voila! To embed or to link, it's all up to you.

~ April