iSpring Converter: The Indezine Review

Introduction
Using iSpring Converter
Pricing and Support
Conclusion

Introduction

iSpring Converter is a PowerPoint add-in that converts your existing PowerPoint slides into interactive HTML5 content suitable for viewing on iOS devices like the iPad. This conversion attempts to preserve all movements in PowerPoint such as animations and transition effects including complicated 3D transitions and trigger animations. In addition, the conversion also supports embedded audio and video, and retains all PowerPoint styles, keeping the original PowerPoint look in HTML5. The converted output can be viewed easily in most contemporary browsers without additional plug-ins. Also your presentations are optimized for viewing on iPads and other mobile devices.

iSpring Converter is from iSpring Solutions, a New York, USA based entity. You can learn more about the iSpring Converter and download it as a trial version from their site. My contact at iSpring Solutions for this review was Polina Khizhnyak - thank you, Polina.

Using iSpring Converter

Download the installer from the link given above. You can also download their trial version -- this works the same way as the full version of the add-in, but is limited to 30 days. Once installed, you will see a new iSpring Converter tab on the Ribbon within PowerPoint 2010, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 1. Although this tutorial is done in PowerPoint 2010, iSpring Converter also works within PowerPoint 2007 -- in fact we also used this add-in within the new PowerPoint 2013 Customer Preview release.

Figure 1: iSpring Converter tab of the Ribbon

Follow these steps for a small walkthrough that shows how you can use iSpring Converter:

1. Open a presentation that needs to be converted into HTML5, as shown in Figure 2.
2. 
   Figure 2: Presentation opened for conversion
2. Now, access the iSpring Converter tab of the Ribbon, and click the Publish button, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 2.
3. This brings up the Publish to HTML5 dialog box, as shown in Figure 3.
4. 
   Figure 3: Publish to HTML5 dialog box
4. Within the Publish to HTML5 dialog box, you'll find two options in the sidebar:
1. a. Web allows you to save your presentations to a local folder, upload to an FTP server or send it via email.
2. b. LMS enables you to prepare a package for a Learning Management System.
3. Make sure you select the Web option on the sidebar to get two tabs: General and Advanced for conversion options. The options within both the tabs are explained below:
4. a. General (see Figure 3, above): Here you can provide names for your presentation title and the output file, choose the local destination folder, select a slide range for the conversion, and also set Player options.
5. b. Advanced (see Figure 4): Provides options to set Player properties such as dimensions, background color, etc. You can also opt to compress images, audio, and video files, and set their quality.
6. 
   Figure 4: Advanced tab within the Publish to HTML5 dialog box
5. Optionally, you can also insert Web Object and YouTube content straight into your presentation with a single click before conversion. To do that access the iSpring Converter tab of the Ribbon, and within the Insert group, click the YouTube button or Web Object button, as shown in Figure 5. Clicking any of these two options summons dialog boxes where you need to make choices.
6. 
   Figure 5: Insert group within iSpring Converter tab
6. Once the properties are set, click the Publish button, highlighted in red within Figure 4 above. This starts the conversion process -- the time taken for conversion will depend upon the size and complexity of your source presentation.
7. Test your published output in a web browser -- you can also upload the output to your web site and test it on an iPad or any other device. We tested the output on an iPad, as shown in Figure 6, below -- and almost everything including embedded movie clips worked. One caveat though: iSpring Converter will not convert any inserted Flash movies since their output is intended to be iOS friendly -- and that platform does not support Flash.
8. 
   Figure 6: iSpring Converter output being tested on iPad

Pricing and Support

iSpring Converter costs US$99.00. Multiple licenses are available.

Support is through e-mail, telephone, and online FAQ.

Conclusion

iSpring Converter is an amazing product considering this is a version 1 release -- there is so much to like about this PowerPoint add-in. If you need to often create iPad friendly output from your PowerPoint slides, then iSpring Converter is a product you should certainly explore. The price is right too.