- 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
Compressing Pictures
With today’s cameras and phones that take mega-megapixel pictures, it’s easy to end up with huge files. When this happens, you might consider using the Compress Pictures feature to bring them to a more manageable size.
You should know a few things about picture compression. First is that it’s on by default. Yes, PowerPoint automatically compresses your pictures when you save your file. It uses a target pixels-per-inch resolution of 220, which gives an adequate balance of quality versus file size for most uses. Second is that you can still use Compress Pictures to compress more. Third is that after PowerPoint has compressed your images, it won’t compress them again at a higher resolution because that would cause your pictures to look really bad.
Compress Pictures to Reduce File Size
Apply picture compression according to how you intend to use your file. For example, if you need to email it, you might want to apply maximum compression.
- Select a picture on a slide. Ideally, use a presentation that includes a number of pictures.
Click the Compress Pictures button on the Picture Tools Format tab. This opens the Compress Pictures dialog box.
- To apply compression to all images in the file, uncheck Apply Only to This Picture.
- Uncheck Delete Cropped Areas of Pictures if you want to leave the cropped areas available.
Select the target output resolution, which will depend on how you intend to use the file. Select E-mail (96 ppi) for maximum compression. Use Web (150 ppi) if you plan to post your presentation online or project it. Choose Print (220 ppi) if you intend to print. The HD option (330 ppi) is now available for high-definition displays.
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It’s Not All Good: Change or Disable Automatic Compression
You can change the automatic picture compression setting for any open file by going to File, Options, Advanced. In the Image Size and Quality settings, opt to discard editing data such as cropped areas that are used to restore an image to its original state, turn off compression altogether, or choose a different target resolution setting. (The 330 ppi option is new in PowerPoint 2016.)
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The biggest drawback here is you must remember to do this for every file. If you’re willing to edit your registry (or know someone who’s willing to do it for you), you can turn off automatic image compression for all PowerPoint files. To learn how, see the instructions at http://www.pptfaq.com/FAQ00862_PowerPoint_2007_and_2010_make_pictures_blurry_loses_GIF_animation.htm. (Substitute 16.0 for 12.0 in the registry key listed.)
After disabling image compression this way, you’ll have to use Compress Pictures any time you want to compress the file. But at least that way you, not PowerPoint, choose when and how much it happens.