Left Image Right Image
Articles in this section

Imported files look strange in Classroom

Updated

Sometimes, you may find that some imported files look different in Classroom. This can often happen with PowerPoint files or particular types of PDFs. 

Supported formats

Classroom supports the following formats for importing, however be aware that formats marked with * may sometimes have compatibility issues:

  • PDF
  • Image (.jpg, .png)
  • Word (.doc, .docx) and PowerPoint (.ppt, .pptx) (iPadOS/iOS only) (*)
  • Goodnotes document (.goodnotes)
  • Goodnotes backup (.goodnotes.zip). See Back up and restore your library manually.
  • Comma- or Tab-Separated Values file (.csv, .tsv). The app can import a file in this format to create a study set. See Study with Study Sets.

(*) Classroom can handle these formats directly, but the internal conversion to PDF may not preserve the original layout perfectly. Importing PDF versions of these files can avoid this issue and give you better results.

If you are having issues importing

If your file is one of the above but is still having issues, it may be because either:

  • The PDF is too big or has graphical elements that Classroom is struggling to render
  • The Word or PowerPoint file includes features that Goodnotes does not support or the size is not compatible with your template. 

To fix this, it is recommended to:

  1. If a document is coming from Word, PowerPoint or similar program, export this as a PDF in it's given program, then import that PDF into Classroom. 
  2. If a PDF is giving you problems, try exporting it again if you still have its original source, or use an online compression tool to reduce the size and flatten any layers. 

If your imported document is missing information

When you export a Goodnotes document from Classroom, all edits such as Answer Zones and student annotation will not be included, as this is a unique feature to Classroom. Meaning that if you export and reimport a Classroom Lesson or document it will be missing student work, whiteboard annotations and Answer Zones.

If not a Goodnotes or Classroom docucment and if compression or exporting from the original source is not helping, or you are having different issues you can:

  1. Double check this is being caused by the document and not your copy of Classroom by asking a colleague to import the same file. 
  2. See if your students are also effected by this issue.
  3. Contact your Admin for further support.