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Exporting .emf (Enhanced Metafile) vector from Illustrator CS5 [and other versions tested] for use in MS office documents such as PowerPoint, can be a right pain.

If you export them at a sensible size, the vectors don't have enough points and you end up losing accuracy on your shapes and strokes - so they look very low quality.

If you make them bigger in Illustrator before exporting, the filesize remains approximately the same, but the vector accuracy is far better. But when you import into PowerPoint you have to shrink them down, which is frustrating.

I searched for a solution for hours, downloaded all the metadata editors I could find, but eventually worked out an easier method to resize / change resolution of the emf file - answered below...

Anders Marzi Tornblad
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Jamie G
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1 Answers1

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The answer is just use PowerPoint to re-save the emf file:

  • Export your emf file 10 times bigger than required
  • Drag in into PowerPoint
  • Right click image and choose "Size and position"
  • Change the scale to 10%**, then on the "Position" tab, set it to be 0cm, 0cm from the Top Left Corner (so you don't lose it off screen). Then press OK.
  • Right click this (now correctly sized) image, and choose "Save as picture"
  • Save as an emf - it'll be the right size, and still high quality

Note that fonts can really screw up this process. Make sure all your text is outlined otherwise you're likely to run into problems.

** A commenter has found that their emf is about 15% too big when dragged into PowerPoint (so will be 11.5 times bigger instead of 10 times bigger). If you find this, instead of setting the scale to 10%, change the width in PowerPoint to the exact measurement (in cm) that it should be then continue instructions as above. Job done.

Jamie G
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    This problem of PowerPoint has annoyed me for years! Thanks – Dženan Aug 23 '14 at 10:24
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    Jamie, you are my new best friend. I have having a dozen different problems trying to get a vector into Word and this resolved them ALL! – johnw182 Sep 18 '14 at 19:00
  • OP mentioned that scaling is not an option, yet this is the suggested answer. I do not find that an acceptable solution but more a hack. In any case, if you do so: Text does not need to be outlined, it scales along well without (and possibility to edit remains), just make sure you tick "scale strokes & effects". – SCBuergel Sep 24 '15 at 10:08
  • @Sebastian scaling is not a problem with this solution - the end result is the perfect size, not scaled (note that I've answered my own question here so lets hope it's right!). The exception is when you have a font included - then the scaling seems to go wrong and objects end up the wrong size (I think this is PowerPoint's fault). Outlining text solves this. Up to you to decide if you want objects to size correctly or if you want selectable text. – Jamie G Sep 24 '15 at 11:10
  • I cannot reproduce the scaling issue of text. However, (in word) re-scaling does not work: I scaled my file in illustrator to 1000% (with text, lines and paths), then scale it down to 10% in word and the size is about 10% bigger than expected. – SCBuergel Sep 24 '15 at 11:15
  • @Sebastian the answer suggests using PowerPoint to resize the emf and re-save. You would then pull the new file into Word. I find it's the perfect size if text is outlined and about 10% bigger if text is not. I'm using Illustrator CS5 and PowerPoint 2013. Perhaps your setup is different. A possible solution for you: in PowerPoint instead of setting the new size to 10%, set it to the exact size you expect (in cm) then resave and finally pull this file into Word. Let me know if it works and I'll add it to the answer. – Jamie G Sep 24 '15 at 11:36
  • importing it to power point has the same effect as moving it into word: The size is approximately 15% bigger than it should be (as measured in illustrator). – SCBuergel Sep 24 '15 at 15:01