Guide to Moodle

If you created a Microsoft Word or PowerPoint documents but have realized that it is too large to be shared by email; or you’re low on disk space; or even can’t upload it to Moodle, don't fret! Follow this guide to get your document file size compressed.

Use compressed graphics file formats

If you have images in graphic formats like bitmap (.bmp) in your documents, you should convert them into one of the following graphic file formats: .jpg(jpeg); .gif or .png.

Insert graphics instead of copying and pasting

People like to use copy and paste to add graphics into a document. The feature is effortless, but it’s not efficient as the pasted image is a bitmap file. The differences in file sizes can be astounding especially if you’re using a file format such as JPG as your source.

Choose E-mail (96 ppi) output

Inside your document, click one of your picture, you will see a tab “Format Picture” appears at the toolbar area. Click the “Compress” button on the “Format Picture” tab; select the “Best for sending in e-mail (96 ppi) from the “Picture Quality” dropdown menu; tick the “Remove cropped picture regions” checkbox; and select the “(Apply to) All picture in this file” radio button. Then, click “OK”. This would change all the pictures used in your document to an optimal size.

If you are using the latest version of Word or PowerPoint, you can simply go to File > Reduce File Size…

Insert a hyperlink instead of inserting an object

When you insert an image or a media file, you have the option to insert it either as an embedded object or as a linked file. Insert > Photo/Audio/Movie > Photo/Audio/Movie from File.. > Select the file you want to insert; tick the “Link to File” checkbox. 

By inserting it as a linked file means it will not become a part of the final document file. But you should always make sure that the linked file is with you and in the computer where you will open the document. Otherwise, the hyperlink won’t work.

Turn off Preview Picture

The preview picture is the thumbnail of the document’s first page. This thumbnail shows in the Details section of Windows Explorer when you highlight the file. Usually, this isn’t an issue unless your first page displays a graphic.

To turn off Preview Picture in Microsoft document, go to File > Properties, Select the “Summary” tab, then deselect the check box for ‘Save preview picture with this document’, click OK.

Save your document a second time

Open your document, go to File > Save As… and give it another name. Then click “Save”.

Doing this you will have a second document that often is smaller than the original copy. This is because Microsoft Document usually stores lots of redundant information such as earlier drafts and previous used images. Once you save it as another file, the unnecessary redundant information would be purged.