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A source file in Shaman refers to the PPTX, PDF or PNG/JPG files you have uploaded to your presentation. In other words, a source file is the content of a presentation.

In Shaman, you can easily upload a newer version of the original source file you have uploaded, allowing you to quickly and easily update the content in your presentation, whilst maintaining the links, structure and additional content you have created in Shaman.

Let’s take a look at an example:

You have uploaded your presentation to Shaman. The presentation has been structured into chapters, links and interactivity has been added as well as some videos and PDF documents. But! You notice a typo in your presentation. Instead of starting from scratch, you can replace the presentation file (we call this the source file) you have originally uploaded.

When you upload a new version of the source file, the update automatically detects and replaces the slides that have been modified. The rest of the slides will remain unchanged. The structure of the presentation, links, and other settings that remain can be used as they have been set up before.

And when using PDF source files:

You have the option to compare, add or delete on a slide by slide basis, giving you complete control of what content is used to update the existing presentation. Take a look at this section of the article to find out more.

Click the “Overview” tab in the presentation where you wish to update the source file. Scroll down to the “Content” section. In the content section, you will find all source files of the content you have used in your presentation.

Click the three dot menu which corresponds to the source file you wish to update. Three options will appear:

Click the option to “Update to a new version”.

A pop-up window will appear directing you to upload the new, updated source file of your presentation from your computer.

Once you have selected the updated source file from your computer, Shaman will start uploading it.

If there is not any change detected in the newest version of the source file updated, you will receive an error message stating that the source files are the same. Try making the change to the original source file again, save it and upload again through the "Update to new version" function. If you continue to have difficulties, please contact support@getshaman.com

If changes are detected, Shaman will now compare each slide of the original source file next to the new version. It will display all slides where it detects a change before asking you to confirm if you wish to continue with the proposed changes.

Good to know!

When working with PPTX files, you will see that you have the option to "Replace" only. This is because during the upload of the new PPTX file, the existing and new slides are matched using unique slide IDs, meaning any slides which are not in the updated file will automatically be removed. And vice versa, any new slides will be automatically added during this process.

When working with PDF files, you have the options: "Compare", "Add" or "Delete". You can select any of these options on a slide by slide basis (check out this section for more information.)

To proceed with the proposed changes, click continue. A pop up message will appear in the right hand corner to confirm that the smart update has been successful.

And that’s it! You can now take a look at your presentation to make sure the content in the slides have been correctly updated.

The steps to follow when updating content for PDF source files are almost exactly the same as the previous section, the difference being you have more options to select when choosing which slides to compare, add or delete when updating your existing presentation.

To recap the steps:

Once Shaman has finished comparing the existing source file with the new source file you are updating, you will see a list of existing slides next to the new slides where changes have been detected.

There are three options you can choose from:

Good to know!

You can click the "All slides" option at the top of the smart update to confirm all proposed changes in the list.

Then click "continue" to complete the Update of new content in your presentation.