Consistent issue displaying powerpoints (and other formats). No actual solutions have be provided in previous requests

[CraigVD3]

This is a consistent issue with every class I have that uses powerpoint. Is canvas's stance to simply ignore the issue? That seems insane to be. Text completely overlaps each other and makes it near impossible to fully glean the information from classes if I miss a lecture. Every slide across multiple classes share the same issue, text is too large for the text box that its in and it doesn't scale properly when displayed on canvas. This issue is NOT solved. The "solution" is to not use your platform?? Why not fix it for every user? I double checked if its an issue with resolution or app scaling size and nothing helped the issue. Its consistently your platform. I HAVE to use this platform to complete my schooling. So do millions of other students. The universities don't provide an alternative. I've asked many classmates and they also experience the same issue.

Here's the "solutions" they provided before:

gnoack

Community Champion

 ‎12-29-2023 09:40 AM

Hi @LucasCrosbie 

I believe this is an issue with the preview generator in Canvas.  There isn't much you can do about if you want to use .pptx files. 

Some alternatives would be to export your PowerPoint as a PDF file and upload that file instead.  The only downside to this option is it will likely result in a file that is not accessible to screen readers. 

Another alternative would be to upload your file to office.com, Google Drive, or other online drive, then share the link to it in your course with the share setting set to "anyone with the link can view".  This has the downside that the file resides outside of your Canvas Course, and it is likely students can download it. 

There are a few other ways to export or share files, perhaps one of those would work for you. 

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/export-a-presentation-6ee4272e-8f64-47f6-bd32-12fe50eef47...

[dbrace]

Hello @CraigVD3,

I understand the frustration. This challenge is something that I hear from users at my school (not all of them and only in more unique circumstances) when it comes to how Canvas displays previews of compatible files. This can happen for files that teachers upload to share with students and when students submit their assignments to their teachers.

What I can say is that this challenge is similar to what can also happen when other programs (or websites) such as Google's Drive/Slides, Google's Gmail, Apple's macOS, or Apple's iWork/Keynote try to either preview or fully open a Microsoft PowerPoint (or other file from within the Microsoft Office suite) file.  I have also seen situations when the web-based or online version of Microsoft PowerPoint could not properly display a Microsoft PowerPoint file.

While Microsoft PowerPoint files are mostly considered to be an "industry standard", there are times that other programs (or websites) are not able to properly display what is inside of them. This is something that also happens (not as much but it still does) with Adobe Acrobat PDF files (another "industry standard") when they are previewed or opened by something else other than the free version of Adobe Acrobat Reader or the paid-for version of Adobe Acrobat Professional.

I can only provide you with two recommendations:

1. download the Microsoft PowerPoint files and open them in Microsoft PowerPoint instead of relying on Canvas to preview them (I would recommend that you reach out to your school's IT Department and ask them for help on how you can obtain a copy of Microsoft Office because most - but not all - schools make it available to their students for free)
2. tell your teacher that you and your classmates are not able to preview the Microsoft PowerPoint files from inside of Canvas and ask that they upload a new version that does not have as much formatting

I know that neither option is ideal and not a "fix" or "solution" but they are the best that I can offer.

-Doug

[JeffCampbell]

I am curious, only because I have never seen this before. Can you share a screenshot or two of what this looks like on your end? One thing I noticed is that you mention the scaling and text box size. The PowerPoints I have in mine open full screen and do not display this issue. Any chance you can download the powerpoint and send it via DM? Also curious to test on my end to see if it replicates the issue.

[dbrace]

@JeffCampbell, they have already provided two screenshots.

-Doug

[JeffCampbell]

Thank you. I missed that.