iSpring Free

Pros

• Freeware
• Fast conversion
• Adheres to all PowerPoint rules

Cons

• Lacks graphics output options

iSpring Free is a tool to convert PowerPoint presentations into Flash movies.

PowerPoint by Microsoft is a presentation program that is part of the Microsoft Office suite. The core purpose of the program is to provide visual presentations to groups, and while it was first developed with the business world in mind, people have discovered many applications for it.

Flash by Adobe is also a presentation program, and while it is not as pervasive in the business world, it does offer certain advantages over PowerPoint, such as better data-driven graphics support, arguably. In fact, presentation designers often face the choice of using PowerPoint or Flash.

iSpring Free is freeware that eliminates the need to make that decision in many cases. It lets the presentation creator create in PowerPoint and then convert to Flash in order to take advantage of those features. Flash generally allows for a smaller file size and is supported by practically any web browser and operating system, and that makes it a great fit for the Web generally than PowerPoint.

iSpring Free integrates perfectly with Microsoft PowerPoint. There has certainly been great attention to detail in this area by the developers, and you can use iSpring Free to convert knowing that it will adhere to every rule that you established in PowerPoint for your presentation. The conversion is also impressively fast even when you are converting very large presentation files.

When converting you have the option to Publish or Quick Publish. Neither mode is faster than the other. Quick Publish is a one-button publish whereas Publish gives you much greater control over the output. You can, for instance, insert Flash elements into PowerPoint presentations for user there or prior to conversion. The program does come up a little short in this area in that you cannot change compression levels for specific elements, such as sounds or images, but rather just across the board.

The developer iSpring Solutions has an excellent website that includes a knowledge base as well as slew of tutorials that will teach you how to handle more complex conversions. The website even allows you to publish your Flash files online on its website at no charge. You do have to create a website account, but there are no costs or requirements associated with that either.

Pros

• Freeware
• Fast conversion
• Adheres to all PowerPoint rules

Cons

• Lacks graphics output options