Convert PowerPoint to PDF online, free and without uploading

Convert a PowerPoint to PDF online, step by step

Converting a PowerPoint to PDF is the safest way to share a presentation: the recipient sees it exactly as you designed it, without needing PowerPoint, without being able to change it by accident and without missing fonts. The tool on this page works in any recent browser, on a computer, tablet or phone, with no account or software to install. Here is the full process, from the .pptx file to a PDF ready to send.

1. Save the presentation one last time in your presentation software. If it is still in .ppt format, save it as .pptx: the old pre-2007 format is rejected.
2. Drop the file into the reader at the top of this page, or pick it from your files. The .pptx, .ppsx (slide show) and .potx (template) formats are accepted, up to 150 MB.
3. The conversion starts right away on your device. Every visible slide becomes a page of the PDF, at the presentation's size: 16:9, 4:3 or other.
4. Scroll through the PDF in the reader. Stop on slides that contain charts or SmartArt: a discreet gray frame marks their position.
5. If everything looks right, save the PDF. Its title is the presentation's title, which makes it easier to file and find.

As long as you have not saved, every operation done in the reader can be reversed with the Undo button. So you can safely try page numbering or a watermark, and go back if you do not like the result.

What the PowerPoint to PDF conversion carries over from your slides

A PowerPoint presentation is not just a sequence of images: each slide inherits from a layout, which itself inherits from a master, and that is often where the background, the logo or the position of titles is defined. A converter that ignores this inheritance produces misplaced titles and empty backgrounds. Here is what Certyneo Reader rebuilds.

The text is not turned into an image: it is written as vectors, with the same text engine as the Word to PDF conversion. It stays sharp at every zoom level, can be found with the reader's search and copies cleanly. Non-Latin scripts, such as Chinese, Arabic or Hebrew, are drawn by the browser with the system fonts, and an invisible text layer keeps search and copy-paste working.

Why turn a presentation into a PDF before sending it

Sending the original .pptx file seems simpler, but it leaves you open to several unpleasant surprises: the recipient does not have the same software or the same fonts, or opens the presentation on a phone that shifts the text boxes. A PDF locks the layout and can be read anywhere.

• A meeting or training deck: participants read it on any device, annotate it and print it with nothing shifting.
• A sales proposal: the client cannot change your figures by mistake, and you can then have the proposal PDF signed online.
• An application file or a thesis defense deck: many platforms accept only PDF.
• An email attachment: the PDF contains neither the speaker notes nor the hidden slides, which therefore stay between you and your source file.

That last point deserves attention. Speaker notes often contain internal remarks, and hidden slides contain working versions. In the PDF produced here, they do not appear: only what would be projected is converted.

Charts and SmartArt: what to do before converting a PowerPoint to PDF

This is the tool's main limitation, and it is better to know about it before sending the document: charts (bar, line, pie) and SmartArt are not redrawn. Rather than a rough drawing that could misrepresent your figures, their position is marked with a discreet gray frame. There are three solutions, depending on your situation.

Replace the chart with an image

In your presentation software, copy the chart, then paste it as an image in the same place (Paste Special, picture format). The slide keeps the same look, and the conversion carries the image over like any photo. Keep a copy of the original presentation, since a chart pasted as an image can no longer be edited.

Export from PowerPoint

If PowerPoint is installed on your computer, the File > Export > Create PDF/XPS Document command produces a PDF with the charts and SmartArt. You can then open that PDF in the free online PDF reader to number its pages, protect it or compress it.

Use another office suite

LibreOffice Impress and Google Slides can also export a presentation to PDF. It is a good fallback if you do not have PowerPoint at hand and your presentation contains many charts.

The other missing elements have a simple reason: a PDF is a sequence of fixed pages. An animation or a transition has no equivalent there, so each slide is rendered in its final state, as if all the animations had been played. Videos and sounds are not carried over; if a video is essential to your point, state on the slide where to watch it before converting.

Other limits to know about, and how to work around them

Slide rendering is very close to the original for the vast majority of presentations. A few cases, however, call for a check.

• Rotated shapes appear straight: a tilted arrow or a slanted banner does not keep its angle. If the angle matters, replace the shape with an image.
• The presentation's fonts are replaced by free equivalents of the same width: a line may break slightly differently, especially in a very full text box.
• The old .ppt format is rejected: open it in PowerPoint, LibreOffice Impress or Google Slides and save it as .pptx.
• Speaker notes are not printed: if you want a document with notes, export it from PowerPoint and choose the Notes Pages layout.

In every case, get into the habit of scrolling through the PDF before sending it. The reader shows it immediately after the conversion, which makes this check quick.

Why convert without uploading your presentation

Many online converters send your file to their servers to transform it. For a presentation, that is no small matter: a strategic plan, unpublished results, a reorganization project or a pricing proposal travel there in the clear, and you know neither where nor for how long they are kept.

With Certyneo Reader, the presentation is read and drawn by your browser, on your device. The file is never sent to a server: Certyneo does not receive it and does not store it. The tool is free, with no account, no added watermark and no limit on the number of conversions. If you prefer to work offline, the same conversion is available in the free desktop app for Windows, which also comes in a Linux version.

This approach has a trade-off: speed depends on your device. A presentation of a few dozen slides converts quickly on a recent computer; on an older phone, allow a little longer for an image-heavy presentation.

After the conversion: number, slim down, protect, sign

The PDF stays open in the reader after the conversion, and the tools can be chained on the same document before saving. Here are the most useful sequences for a presentation deck.

• A photo-rich presentation produces a heavy PDF: reducing the PDF's size for emailing avoids rejected attachments.
• For a deck that is printed or discussed over the phone, adding page numbers to the PDF lets everyone say “page 12”.
• For a provisional or confidential version, a “Draft” or “Confidential” watermark on every page removes any ambiguity.
• To restrict reading to the intended recipients, protect the PDF with a password before sending it.
• To remove a transition slide or a blank page, delete that page from the PDF without reconverting the whole presentation.
• To add an appendix at the end of the deck, insert it after the last page instead of reconverting the presentation.

Putting together a complete file, with a written report and a figures table in addition to the slides? Word and Excel documents convert the same way: convert a Word document to PDF, then turn the Excel table into a PDF on its dedicated page, before assembling everything.

More questions about converting PowerPoint to PDF

Does the PDF keep my presentation's widescreen 16:9 format?

Yes. Each page of the PDF matches the slide size exactly: 16:9, 4:3 or a custom size. If you need to print on A4 paper, the PDF keeps this wide format; when printing, choose fit to page. You can also switch the PDF's pages to A4 size: the content is reduced without distortion and centered.

Can I convert a template or a read-only slide show?

Yes. A .potx template and a .ppsx slide show are handled like a .pptx presentation: same rendering, one page per visible slide. This is handy for archiving a company template or sharing a slide show you received without having PowerPoint.

Can I do the reverse and turn a PDF into a PowerPoint?

Yes, the reader's Convert tool also offers PowerPoint output, even though it does not have a dedicated page yet. Open your PDF in the reader and choose that output. To rework the text of a document rather than slides, converting the PDF to Word is often a better fit.

How do I combine several presentations into a single PDF?

Convert each presentation one after the other and save each PDF. Then simply merge the presentations' PDFs into a single document, in the order of your choice. It is the simplest way to put together the file for a training day or a seminar from each speaker's deck.