This article describes how to configure your Asset Bank so that users can download images as a PowerPoint presentation file (either PPT or PPTX).

Configuring a Download Option

In the Admin > Download Options area create a new download Usage Type by clicking the 'Add a new usage type' link.

Give your Usage Type a sensible name and options and make sure that the 'Can download as ppt/pptx' option is ticked. If you want to add some download sizes click 'Edit sizes' next to your new Usage Type, otherwise, the default sizes will be used. You can ignore the sizes if you are planning on using PowerPoint Templates (see below).

Downloading as a PowerPoint Presentation

To download a collection of assets as a PowerPoint Presentation, perform a bulk download either from your lightbox or directly from browse/search results. Select the Usage Type that was configured and you will see a 'Download as PowerPoint Presentation' option which is ticked by default. You will also see any sizes that have been configured. If templates are configured (see below) you will be taken to a page to select which template you wish to use.

PowerPoint Templates

By default, Asset Bank will create a blank PowerPoint presentation into which the assets are inserted, one per page. If however, you have templates that you use, these can be uploaded to Asset Bank and selected on download.

Firstly, a new folder or category will need to be created for your templates in the Admin > Folder or Admin > Categories area. It does not matter if this is a sub-folder. Edit the folder/category you've just created and you will see a categoryID in the URL of the page.

Next, in the ApplicationSettings.properties file, update the ppt-template-category-id setting to the ID you just found. If you host Asset Bank with us then please contact the Customer Support Team who can update this setting for you.

Upload your templates to the new folder. If you upload more than one template then your users will be given a choice of template on download.

Considerations

Only 4:3 Powerpoint templates are supported. Currently, it is not possible to insert assets into a 16:9 PowerPoint.

If the template file selected by a user is PPT, then the images will simply be placed on a new slide (each) which is copied from the last slide in the template. If the template contains more than one slide then the first slides are just left at the top of the presentation (this is so your templates can contain, for example, introductory text).

If the template is PPTX then you should add one or more slides containing 'shapes' to determine how the images are positioned on the slides. Note that each slide should contain only one of the positioning shapes - this generally means the templates should contain at least two slides - one containing a shape to use for 'landscape' images and one containing a shape to use for 'portrait' images. You should also consider having a third slide for 'square'.

The following logic is used when deciding which slide from the template to use for a particular image, and how to position the image:

• AB starts at the beginning of the slides in the template and examines slide one by one. The largest shape on each slide is located.
• The slide that contains the shape that has the closed aspect ratio to the aspect ratio of the image is copied and added to the end of the new PPTX being created for download.
• The image is placed on that new slide in the position and size of the shape that was located. Note that the 'shape' from the template will still be present underneath the image.
• By default the image will be positioned so that it fits within the shape and the aspect ratio of the original image will be maintained. You can instead get Asset Bank to crop the images so they fit within the shape exactly by changing the following setting: pptx-template-crop-images=true. Note that this setting will apply to all templates, i.e. it is global for your Asset Bank.