Storyline 360 - PowerPoint import not working

Update part 1 of 2:

This is the reply from the support engineer:

Thanks for your reply and for sending your sample presentation.

I tried importing the file that you sent, and I experienced the same error message. It looks like the presentation contains corrupted information.

To troubleshoot the problem, I tried to recreate them by using the Reuse Slides feature of PowerPoint to create a fresh copy of it, and I was able to import them to Storyline successfully. I did this 5 slides at a time to make sure I can pinpoint what's causing the problem. I encountered the problem around slides 17-18.

To fix the problem, try to use the Reuse Slides feature of PowerPoint to create a fresh file before importing them to Storyline. You may import them to Storyline 5 slides at a time. Should you encounter the error on certain slides, please try to recreate them in PowerPoint before importing them to Storyline or just create them in Storyline. Here are the steps in using Reuse Slides in PowerPoint:

1) Create a new PowerPoint presentation.
2) Go to the Home tab on the PowerPoint ribbon, click the drop-down arrow beside New Slide, and choose Reuse Slides.
3) In the Reuse Slides panel, click the Browse button and choose Browse File.
4) Browse to your original PowerPoint file and click Open.
5) Mark the box to Keep/Use source formatting.
6) Select Insert Slide on the slides that you want to include
7) Save the new presentation and import them to Storyline

You can download my test files here:

Let me know if you need anything else!

Chester Arvin Morales
Customer Support Engineer
Articulate Support - https://articulate.com/support/

P.S. When I start closing applications, I find a "buried" window that says there is not sufficient memory or system resources to start PowerPoint.  This sounds like it could be preventing my import from working.  HELP!

P.P.S. Of course, I have a number of files to convert - and when none worked at all, I put together a test sample and it doesn't work either.  If I can get this working, I can more forward.  So far, it's not working at all.

So sorry you're at this roadblock, David. I'd love to help!

Storyline 360 works with 32-bit and 64-bit desktop versions of Microsoft Office 2010 and later, but it isn't compatible with:

• Office 365 web apps
• Office 365 mobile apps
• Click-to-run versions of Office 2010

Do you have a version of PowerPoint that's installed to your local computer? I'll be here, ready to explore our next steps!

It sounds like Storyline 360 doesn't work with the latest version of Office?  I think I'm running the most up-to-date version of Office = 365 ProPlus... and it is installed on my computer (everything works even when I'm not connected to the internet).

It seems that Storyline 360 cannot import PowerPoint decks from a PowerPoint *file* - it has to actually cause PowerPoint to *run* in order to import the slides?

And something about this latest version of Office/PowerPoint will not let Storyline 360 start it successfully... right?

The only way to do this is to *downgrade* my version of PowerPoint to run an older version?

I no longer have an older version of PowerPoint to install.  What would you do if you were me?

Any "next steps" would be appreciated.

Hi David,

Thanks for sharing those details. It sounds like you do have a compatible version. You mention that it's installed locally and desktop apps for Office 365 are supported.

In the meantime, I've imported the file you shared above to Storyline 360 and attaching here. 

It sounds like you are not able to import any of your PowerPoint files. I see that you mentioned a memory error above as well when Powerpoint was starting. 

Are you importing your slides as described in this documentation? Is PowerPoint closed when importing the slides?

Here are some common reasons you may run into difficulty when importing PowerPoint slides.

If you need our assistance converting a couple of files while you troubleshoot, feel free to share the .pptx file.

Here are a couple of other things you can try:

• Copy your PowerPoint file to your local hard drive. 
• Check to see which is the default app for opening PowerPoint files.  You can do this in Windows 10 by going to settings and then searching for Default apps.  For more information on how to do this: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4028161/windows-10-change-default-programs

Hi Leslie;

I went through all the common reasons and tried *everything* - so far nothing's working.  I would usually have PowerPoint *closed* when trying to import the file - for some reason it tries to start itself (unsuccessfully) when Storyline tries to import the file.  I have uploaded images of the error message and the "buried" memory error window.

I have tried saving the PowerPoint deck into a 1997-2003 file format (.ppt instead of .pptx), but that still does not work.

One more interesting bit of information - I have access to Captivate 7.  It gives me the same problems with importing a .pptx file, but it WORKS with a .ppt file.  Since we use mostly Storyline, I would prefer to get this working, but if I have to, I guess I can use Captivate to build these modules.

Hi Thor;

Thanks for your suggestions.  I do keep the powerpoint file on my local drive (actually, on my desktop) - and I am using PowerPoint as the default app for all .ppt and .pptx files.  I would welcome any other suggestions, too.

Thanks,

Dave

Hi David,

It sounds like it's specific to your installation of PowerPoint. 

I found another recent case submission and reinstalling Office was able to correct the issue.

Do you have an IT Team that can help you with this or perhaps this documentation from Microsoft will suffice?