- Inserting Pictures
- Cropping and Resizing Pictures
- Formatting Pictures
- Compressing Pictures
- Creating a Photo Album
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Cropping and Resizing Pictures
It’s important to learn to crop and resize pictures properly rather than simply stretching them to fit into a space. Not only does this avoid the warped “funhouse mirror” images that result from stretching, but a good crop will often increase the drama factor of your image and make it stand out that much more. You can also crop pictures into shapes such as an oval or a rounded rectangle.
Resize Pictures
Always resize pictures proportionately; otherwise, people and objects will look too wide or too narrow.
Insert a picture onto a slide and select it. Click and drag a corner handle of the image to resize smaller or larger.
Don’t drag from any of the side handles; this will distort the picture even if you do press Shift!
If your picture is distorted, click Reset Picture on the Picture Tools Format tab, and then click Reset Picture & Size. The Reset Picture option above it removes artistic effects and other formatting options, but it doesn’t restore the proportion.
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Crop Pictures
Use PowerPoint’s crop tools to get rid of parts of pictures and help them better fit into their designated space. Insert a picture onto a slide to get started.
- Select the picture and click the Crop button on the Picture Tools Format tab.
- Crop handles will appear on the sides and corners of the image, indicating that you’re ready to crop.
- Move your mouse pointer toward a crop handle. When it turns into a black crop tool, click and drag the crop mark to crop the picture.
Notice that cropped areas of the picture will become semitransparent so you can easily see what you’re cropping out and what you’re leaving in.
After you’ve positioned the crop handles, you may want to resize the picture inside the crop frame. To do this, click and drag one of the round corner handles. If necessary, press Shift to keep the picture from distorting.
To reposition the picture inside the crop frame, click anywhere on the picture. When the cursor becomes a four-headed arrow, drag it into position.
- When you’re finished, click away from the picture, press Esc on your keyboard, or click the Crop button on the Ribbon to apply the crop.
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>>>Go Further: Cropping by the Numbers
If you need finer control than the crop handles can give you, or if you want to further refine a rough crop you did with them, use the Crop settings in the Format Picture pane.
Right-click the picture and choose Format Picture (to open the formatting pane), and then click the Picture icon. Click Crop to expand those settings.
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When you’re cropping by the numbers, it helps to think of the crop as a frame sitting on top of the picture. You can adjust either the picture or the crop frame itself.
Picture Position Width and Height settings indicate the size of the original picture. You probably don’t want to change either value here because the aspect ratio isn’t locked the way it can be in the Size & Position settings. If you change one value, the other one won’t automatically change proportionately, and your picture will become distorted.
The Picture Position Offset X and Y settings indicate how far off-center the picture is inside the crop frame. For example, if Offset X and Offset Y are both zero, the picture is exactly centered inside the crop frame. Changing these settings moves the picture inside the frame.
The Crop Position Width and Height settings indicate the size of the crop frame, which is also the size of the cropped picture. Changing these settings changes the size of the frame. If you make either one too big, it may be larger than your picture, in which case it will look like the picture is cut off. If this happens, you can always resize the picture inside the crop. See step 5 in this exercise for the easiest way to accomplish this task.
The Crop Position Left and Top settings indicate the position of the crop frame on the slide. Input 0 for Crop Position Left, and the crop frame will be flush with the left edge of the slide. Add a 0 for Crop Position Top, and the crop frame is flush with the top edge of the slide.
Crop to Aspect Ratio
Crop to Aspect Ratio is the fastest way to create pictures that will perfectly fit your slide. To begin, insert a picture onto your slide and select it.
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On the Picture Tools Format tab, click the Crop button arrow, point to Aspect Ratio, and then choose 16:9.
- Crop marks will appear so you can see how the picture will be cropped in order to fit the desired aspect ratio. Resize and reposition the picture inside the crop frame if necessary. See steps 5 and 6 in the previous exercise for instructions.
- Click the Crop button again when you’re finished cropping.
- If necessary, select the picture again to resize it. On the Picture Tools Format tab, input 7.5 as the Height value and press Enter. Assuming you cropped to the 16:9 aspect ratio, the width will automatically change to 13.33”. If you cropped to the 4:3 aspect ratio, the width would automatically change to 10”.
- Drag the picture into place to cover the slide or use the Align tools to position it.
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Crop to Shape
You can fill a shape with a picture, but sometimes it’s easier to crop the picture into a shape. To begin, insert a picture onto your slide and select it.
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- On the Picture Tools Format tab, click the Crop button arrow, and then point to Crop to Shape.
- Select a shape from the shape gallery that appears. The picture will be cropped to the selected shape.
- If necessary, select the picture again and click the top of the Crop button so you can resize and position the picture within the shaped crop frame. Use the instructions in steps 5 and 6 of the Crop Pictures exercise.
- Apply more formatting as desired, for example, soft edges or artistic filters.