Q. How can I reduce the size of a Microsoft Office PowerPoint file?

A. If you embed lots of pictures in a PowerPoint file, it will get very large. Luckily, there's a built-in capability to reduce this size.

1. Click on any picture in the presentation.
2. Click the "Picture Tools" tab that appears on the ribbon, shown here (click to enlarge).

   

3. Click "Compress Pictures."
4. Select "Options..." from the dialog.
5. Set your option to fit your needs. Options include specifying a desired resolution, deleting cropped areas of pictures, and automatically performing basic compression. Click OK to close the dialog.
6. Save the updated file.