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How to export slides as images on a Mac
By Himanshu Ranjan · Updated 8 November 2026
Select the presentation in Finder, open FileDial and choose Images › Slides to PNG or Slides to JPG. You get a folder with one image per slide. Without Keynote or PowerPoint, charts and SmartArt are left out. It runs offline.
What you get
Slides as images are handy for a blog post, a thumbnail, a social carousel or a document that cannot embed a deck. FileDial's Images › Slides to PNG and Images › Slides to JPG each write a folder with one image per slide.
The caveat comes from the note: without Keynote or PowerPoint, charts and SmartArt are left out. With either installed, the deck is rendered by it and those elements are included.
PNG or JPG
PNG is lossless and sharp for text and diagrams, which is what most slides are. JPG is smaller and better for photo-heavy slides. If you plan to post the images, JPG often keeps the file sizes lower.
Pick PNG for decks with fine text and flat colour. Pick JPG for decks that are mostly photographs.
- Select the presentation in Finder.
- Open the dial with the right Option key and choose Images, then Slides to PNG or Slides to JPG.
- Open the new folder and check the first and last slide.
- Check any slide with a chart; if it is missing, install Keynote or PowerPoint, or use the app's own export.
Shrinking and sharing
Image sets can be large. Compress › Compress images is listed for slides and shrinks pictures to 1920 px inside the deck. For an exported folder, the image tools in the catalogue can resize and compress the files; see our compress image guide.
If the audience needs a single file, run To PDF › Convert to PDF instead; see the PowerPoint to PDF guide.
Built-in alternative
Apple documents a Keynote export to images: choose File > Export To > Images, select which slides to export and pick an image format, where higher quality means a larger file. That is an excellent route for one deck and gives you control over the slide range.
PowerPoint can also save slides as pictures. For many decks, or when you want a clear folder per deck, use the batch tool.
Privacy
Slides can hold confidential material. Online presentation converters upload the deck. Exporting images on your Mac keeps it local.
Using the images
A folder of slide images drops straight into a blog post, a chat, or a document. For a carousel on social media, check the platform's size limits and crop in Preview if needed. For a thumbnail, the first image is often enough.
If you need smaller files, the image tools in the catalogue can compress and resize a folder of images. If you are putting the slide images into a PDF instead, see our images to PDF guide.
Common mistakes and when FileDial fits
Slides as images carry whatever is on screen, including speaker names, internal numbers and comments that appear on a slide. Check each image before you post it. Privacy › Remove metadata clears author, company and comment authors from the deck, but it does not alter what is visible on a slide, so cleaning the deck first is a sensible habit before exporting.
Exported images contain no editable text, which is a small privacy plus, but also means anyone who wants the text has to retype it.
It is the right tool for fast, whole-deck image exports and for folders of decks. Pick the app's export when you need only some slides, want a particular image quality, or when charts must render and neither Keynote nor PowerPoint is installed for FileDial to use.
For pictures that will go online, remember to compress them. Large PNGs of full slides add up. JPG is smaller, and you can lower size further with the image tools in the catalogue.
Posting slide images without checking them for confidential detail comes first. Second is picking PNG for photographic slides and ending up with large files. Third is expecting every slide to include charts without Keynote or PowerPoint installed. Fourth is exporting at the wrong shape for a platform: slide images keep the deck's aspect ratio, so a 16:9 deck will need cropping for a square post.
If you need very small files, export as JPG and then run the image tools to resize. Keep the deck itself; images cannot be edited like slides.
For accessibility, remember that an image of a slide has no text for screen readers. If you post slide images publicly, add a short description beside each one that says what the slide shows, and consider sharing the PDF as well, which keeps selectable text when it was made from a deck with real text on its slides.
Questions
Do charts and diagrams show up in the exported images?
With Keynote or PowerPoint installed, the deck is rendered by that app and charts and SmartArt are included. Without either, the note says charts and SmartArt are left out. Check any slide that depends on a chart, and install one of the apps if it matters.
Should I choose PNG or JPG?
Choose PNG for slides with fine text, flat colour and diagrams, since it is lossless and sharp. Choose JPG for photo-heavy slides, where the files are smaller. Both tools write a folder with one image per slide, so you can try both and compare file sizes.
Can I export only some of the slides?
The FileDial tools export every slide into a folder, so delete the images you do not need afterwards. Keynote's own File > Export To > Images lets you choose which slides to export and an image format, which is the better route if you want a range.