Updated October 14, 2026. Written for DeckCraft 0.6.1 (what changed since).
Steps to save a PowerPoint as PDF
- Open the editor at deckcraft.run/editor. The first visit downloads the app (about 12 MB compressed) and opens a sample deck; later visits load from the browser cache.
- Open your file. Click the Home icon at the top left of DeckCraft and choose Open…, or drag the .pptx onto the window. Templates (.potx) and slide shows (.ppsx) open the same way. The old .ppt format does not.
- Open the Export… dialog. Click the search icon at the top right, type Export and pick the Export… entry that opens a dialog. The search lists a second Export… entry that only shows an error; ignore it.
- Choose the PDF and its layout. Select PDF document (.pdf), then pick a Print layout: Full Page Slides, Notes Pages, or one of the Handouts options. Tick Include hidden slides if you want them; they are left out otherwise.
- Click Export. The browser downloads the PDF under the deck's title.
Which print layout to pick
The layouts match the ones PowerPoint offers when you print. Notes pages and handouts come out on US Letter paper in portrait, with a page number at the bottom.
| Print layout | Page | On each page | Use it for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full Page Slides | The slide's own size | One slide | Sending the deck to read on screen |
| Notes Pages | Letter, portrait | The slide at the top, its speaker notes below in 12 pt text | A speaker's script, or reviewers who need the talk track |
| Handouts, 1 or 2 per page | Letter, portrait | One or two large slides | Printed copies where detail matters |
| Handouts, 3 per page | Letter, portrait | Three slides down the left, ruled lines beside each | Audience handouts people write on |
| Handouts, 4, 6 or 9 per page | Letter, portrait | A 2 by 2, 2 by 3 or 3 by 3 grid | A compact reference copy of a long deck |
Every layout keeps the text as real text: readers can search the PDF and copy from it, links on the slides still work, and each slide title becomes a bookmark in the PDF reader's sidebar.
No speaker notes in the deck yet? The AI panel in the editor can draft notes for every slide from an exported .pptx. Paste each one into the notes area under its slide, then export Notes Pages.
Printing speaker notes or handouts
DeckCraft has no Print command yet, in the browser or in the desktop app. Printing goes through the PDF: export Notes Pages or a Handouts layout, open the file in your browser or PDF reader, and print it from there. The margins are at least three quarters of an inch, so Letter pages print on A4 paper with the print dialog's fit-to-page option and nothing gets cut off.
For a talk, Notes Pages is the layout to bring to the lectern: one page per slide, with the slide across the top as a cue and your notes below it.
Check the PDF before you send it
- Fonts. The browser editor carries one Latin typeface, Inter, in regular and bold. Text set in Calibri, Aptos, Times New Roman or a brand font is drawn in Inter, in the editor and in the PDF, so a title can wrap onto a second line or text can run past its box. Page through the slides in the editor before exporting. The desktop app uses the fonts installed on your computer.
- Sharpness and size. Each slide goes into the PDF as a picture at print resolution, with the real text laid invisibly on top. That reads well on screen, but the file is larger than a PDF saved from PowerPoint, and edges turn soft when someone zooms in far or prints a slide large. For a print shop or a poster, ask for a PDF made in PowerPoint.
- Pictures and charts. EMF and WMF images, common in decks made on Windows, come out blank, and the newer chart types (waterfall, funnel, treemap, sunburst, histogram, box and whisker) aren't read. Look at every slide with a logo, a pasted chart or a diagram.
- Right-to-left text. Arabic and Hebrew show as empty boxes in PDFs exported from the browser. Use the desktop app for those decks.
When a PDF isn't the right file
If the other person needs to edit the slides, choose PowerPoint Presentation (.pptx) in the same dialog; opening and re-saving a .pptx covers what carries over. For a single slide as a picture, choose PNG or JPEG of the current slide. The "PNG images (all slides)" option currently exports only the selected slide in the browser, so the PDF is the way to get the whole deck in one file. Transitions and animations don't exist in a PDF; send the .pptx when they matter.
FAQ
Can I export only some of the slides?
The Export dialog has no slide range. It exports every slide that isn't hidden, so hide the ones you want to leave out (Slide Show tab, Hide Slide), export, then unhide them.
Can I open the PDF in DeckCraft again later?
No. DeckCraft opens .pptx, .potx and .ppsx files and its own .deckcraft format, not PDFs. Keep the .pptx, or save a .deckcraft with the Save icon, next to the PDF so you can change the deck and export again.