I also want the final file to open and save fast in the editing application, as there is a lot of materials in the lectures.
Read on to see how I have converted these PDF files into one, or however many, small PowerPoint files, using only FREE tools. If you use Microsoft PowerPoint software you will find that it opens and saves slowly. This article will introduce an alternative which makes things a lot faster and smoother.
This tutorial does not just apply to iOS programming lecture slides. This guide applies to any general situation where you want to combine a bunch of PDF files into one PowerPoint file.
This tutorial has been tested on my Macbook and all the software utility tools I use are free. I assume identical software tools exist for other platforms such as Windows. If not let me know!
Download all the PDF files
Obviously the first step is to download all the PDF files you would like to convert into a PowerPoint file.
Download and install PDF Merger Free
PDF Merger Free is a free tool that merges multiple PDF files. Again if you are using a platform other than Mac and run into problems let me know.
Use PDF Merger Free to merge multiple PDFs into one single PDF
Use PDF Merger Free to merge the PDF files into one single PDF file. Follow the software's instruction if you don't know how to do it. Note that in my case, the resulting PDF file is 40MB. Let's keep it in mind.
Minimize the PDF at smallpdf.com
Go to smallpdf.com to minimize the file size of this PDF file. Your output is still one single PDF. In my case the resulting PDF file's size is 25.2MB. The file size dropped from 40MB to 25.2MB!
If you want to download the lecture slides for Stanford CS193P Fall 2013-14 please go to Lecture Slides for Stanford CS193P Fall 2013-14 for Download!
Download and install PDF Converter Free
Download and install PDF Converter Free. It is a free tool that converts a PDF file into a PowerPoint file. Again if you are using a platform other than Mac and run into problems let me know.
Use PDF Converter Free
Use PDF Converter Free to convert the PDF file into a PowerPoint file. In my case the resulting PowerPoint file size is 424.9MB. I am assuming that the file size jump is due to the fact that PDF Converter Free needs to make the data editable; whereas they were not editable in the PDF file. Therefore the file size increased significantly.
The resulting file should end in pptx.
Read on to see how we can reduce the file size as much as we can.
Open it in Keynote!
If you are using Windows you can stop here. Or you can proceed and download Windows' version of Keynote.
Tada! We do NOT use Microsoft PowerPoint software to open this PowerPoint file because Microsoft PowerPoint is not free and it is slow. Instead, we use Keynote. Keynote is a software application that comes with any modern Mac OS. It may not have all the features that PowerPoint has, but Keynote is extremely fast.
The PowerPoint file may open slowly in Keynote. Don't worry. We'll fix it now.
When it has been opened, go ahead and save it as a .key file. In my case the file size dropped from 424.9 MB to 183.9 MB!
Open the .key file in Keynote and it opens instantaneously. You can edit any text in the Keynote file. Some may insist on using Microsoft PowerPoint instead of Keynote. In that case go ahead and use Microsoft PowerPoint.
I have personally tested this solution and I believe this article presents the best solution for combining multiple uneditable PDF files into one single small, editable PowerPoint file.
If you have any questions let me know and I will do my best to help you!
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