Formatting Pictures PowerPoint 2010

 

Introduction

Once you've added pictures to your presentations, you can format them in various ways. The picture tools in PowerPoint 2010 make it easy to incorporate images into your presentations and modify these images to make them look even better.

In this lesson, you will learn how to change the picture style and shape, add a border, crop and compress pictures, and add artistic effects.

Basic image formatting

Video: Formatting Pictures in PowerPoint 2010

Have you inserted a picture onto a slide that you want to trim or make appear smaller on the slide? Perhaps you'd like to add an artistic effect or border to the image to make it stand out from the slide's background. You can use PowerPoint's picture tools to help you modify the picture style and shape, add a border, crop, add artistic effects, and even compress pictures.

Optional: You can download this example for extra practice.

To crop an image:

1. Select an image. The Format tab will appear.
2. Select the Format tab.
3. Click the Crop command. The black cropping handles appear.
   
4. Click and drag a handle to crop an image.
5. Click the Crop command to deselect the crop tool.

Corner handles will allow you to simultaneously crop the image horizontally and vertically.

To crop an image to a shape:

1. Select the image. The Format tab will appear.
2. Select the Format tab.
3. Click the Crop drop-down arrow (below the Crop command). A drop-down menu will appear.
   
4. Select a shape from the drop-down menu.
5. The image will take the shape you have selected.
   

You may want to crop the image to the desired size before cropping it to a shape.

To add a border to a picture:

1. Select the picture.
2. Select the Format tab.
3. Click the Picture Border command. A drop-down menu will appear.
   
4. From the drop-down menu, you can select a color, weight (thickness), and whether the line is dashed.
   

Image adjustments

To make image corrections:

1. Select the image. The Format tab will appear.
2. Click the Format tab.
3. Click the Corrections command. A drop-down menu will appear.
   
4. To sharpen or soften the image, hover over the Sharpen and Soften presets. You'll see a live preview of the presets in the slide.
5. Select the desired Sharpen and Soften preset.
6. Click the Corrections command again.
7. Hover over the Brightness and Contrast presets to see a live preview.
8. Select the desired Brightness and Contrast preset.

You can also select Picture Corrections Options from the drop-down menu to refine the settings.

To adjust the color in an image:

1. Select the image. The Format tab will appear.
2. Click the Format tab.
3. Click the Color command. A drop-down menu will appear.
   
4. From the drop-down menu, you can choose a preset from each of the three categories:
   • Color Saturation: This controls how vivid the colors are in the image.
   • Color Tone: This controls the temperature of the color, from cool to warm.
   • Recolor: This controls the overall color of the image. Use this option to make the image black and white, grayscale, or to colorize it with a different color.

You can also select Picture Color Options from the drop-down menu to refine the settings.

To apply an artistic effect:

1. Select the picture. The Format tab will appear.
2. Click the Format tab.
3. Click the Artistic Effects command. A drop-down menu will appear.
   
4. Hover over the different presets to see a live preview of each one.
5. When you've found a preset you like, click it to select it.
6. To adjust the settings for the effect, click Artistic Effects again and select Artistic Effect Options.

Many clip art images do not allow you apply artistic effects. Generally speaking, the ones that look hand-drawn or painted do not work, while photographs do.

To apply a picture style:

1. Select the picture. The Format tab will appear.
2. Select the Format tab.
3. Click the More drop-down arrow to display all picture styles.
   
4. Hover over a picture style to display a live preview of the style in the slide.
5. Select the desired style.
   
6. To refine the picture style, click the Picture Effects command to see the Effects drop-down menu.
   

Compressing pictures

You'll need to monitor the file size of your presentations that include pictures, especially if you send them via email. Large high-resolution pictures can quickly cause your presentation to become too large, which may make it difficult or impossible to attach to an email. In addition, cropped areas of pictures are saved with the presentation by default, which can add to the file size. PowerPoint can reduce the file size by compressing pictures, lowering their resolution, and deleting cropped areas.

To compress a picture:

1. Select the picture. The Format tab will appear.
2. Select the Format tab.
3. Click the Compress Pictures command in the Adjust group. A dialog box appears.
   
4. Place a check mark next to Delete cropped areas of pictures. You can also choose whether to apply the settings to this picture only or to all pictures in the presentation.
5. Choose a Target output. If you are emailing your presentation, you may want to select Email, which produces the smallest file size.
   
6. Click OK.