Converting PowerPoint Presentations to a Chalkboard (for Mac Users)

Now that we’ve created a guide for Windows users to convert PowerPoint presentations to a chalkboard element, it’s time to create a guide for Mac users.

How to Save Your PowerPoint Presentation

The suggested image size is 640 x 480, this will ensure the best quality on the DigitalChalk platform. It’s an easy process to set the appropriate image size, to do this you will:

1. 1. Select “Save As” under the File menu.
   2. Click on the Format drop down menu and select “PNG”.

1. Select the “Options” button in the lower left corner; at the bottom you will see a width and height option. Fill in 640 for the width and 480 for the height and click “Save”.
2. Once you have saved, a window will open notifying you that the files have been saved in a folder (the folder will be titled same as the presentation).
3. Find the folder and open it – select all of the individual slides within the folder and right click. In the list of options, select “Compress Items”. This will create a Archive.zip file (it will be in the same folder), and this is what you will be uploading to the DigitalChalk chalkboard element.

*Helpful hint: Simplify the process by saving the file to your desktop – this makes it easier to find when compressing the slides into a zip file and when uploading it to a chalkboard.

Uploading Your Slideshow to a Chalkboard

To upload your slideshow you will:

1. Go to the “Manage Courses” tab.
2. Select “Manage Course Elements” for the course you want to add the slides to.
3. Create a new chalkboard by clicking on “Add a Chalkboard” option underneath the “Course Elements” menu on the left. If you have already created a chalkboard you will choose “Edit Chalkboard” or “Edit the Live Version” if it has already been activated.
4. Now that you are in the edit screen for the chalkboard, go to the “Mange Slides” option.

*Important Tip: Remember to customize the layout of your chalkboard, giving you the option to add slides.

Uploading an Audio File

Before you can add your slides to the timeline you must now upload an audio file, this can be any audio file you’d like – or if you would prefer to not have sound accompany the slide DigitalChalk has provided blank audio files for you to download and use. You can choose from 5 to 20 minutes, 25 to 40 minutes, and 45 to 60 minutes.

Once you have chosen the audio file that you want to:

1. Select “Manage Media” – this is to the right of the “Manage Slides” option.
2. You will also see a “+” symbol as you did on the “Manage Slides” section, select it.
3. Choose the audio file you want to go with the slides and click the “Upload” button.
4. It will take a few minutes for the audio file to upload and encode.
5. After it has been uploaded you will be given a green window, notifying you that it has been successfully encoded.
6. Now that you have successfully uploaded your file to the chalkboard, you will need to “choose” it so that it is added to the chalkboard timeline.

Need a guide for adding slides to the chalkboard timeline? Check out this video that takes you through each step on adding slides to the timeline.