A simple way to create stunning slides is to layer an image, a shape, and text placeholders. Here are 2 examples:
Here are the steps to create these slides:
4 secrets to choose the best images for your slides
You use images in a presentation for 3 reasons:
- To help your audience understand what you are saying
- To help them remember what you are saying
- To persuade them to change their mind and take action
How do you choose the best images for your presentation?
A common question people ask me is how I choose the best images for my presentations. I’ve come up with a 4-part method, BARE: [Read more…]
Using picture treatments to portray diversity or hide identity
In my previous post, I explained 4 ways to get images of people. In this post, I explain some additional picture treatments that you can use when you need to portray diversity (in this case, change skin color) or hide identity. You might take a photo of an employee or friend to show a situation, but not want the person’s identity to be evident. (Thanks to Michael Schwartz for a comment last week that was the inspiration for this tip!)
Watch the 6-minute video to see these techniques!
How to create unique picture placeholder shapes
Julie Terberg has written a great blog post about creating picture placeholders. A placeholder is an element in a slide layout. The secret here is to use any shape, even a custom shape, to define the shape of the placeholder. By using this technique, you can create very unique slides.
Stop automatic compression of pictures in PowerPoint 2007
A reader wrote me the following:
I import graphics from InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop. I say import, but sometimes I do copy/paste out of indesign…a NO-NO i’m sure. Anyway, the deck looks great. I send it out to everyone — they make any last minute changes and sometimes send back for me to approve. This is where I’m guessing the compression is taking place and making most every graphic look awful. Is there a way to stop this?
The reader is right. A new “feature” of PowerPoint 2007 is that PowerPoint automatically compresses pictures when you save the file. This is usually OK, but in certain situations, it degrades the images unacceptably. (And it makes animated GIFs stop working, but few people use them any more.)
Selecting an image in another program and pasting into PowerPoint is not a good idea. Save the image as a separate file and then insert it as a picture in PowerPoint.
You can stop PowerPoint 2007 from compressing images automatically, but it’s very hard to find this setting! When you change the setting, it applies to the file, so the setting should stick with the file.
Here are the steps:
- Select a picture on a slide.
- Under Picture Tools, on the Format tab, go to the Adjust group and click Compress Pictures. You see this Compress Pictures dialog box
- Click the Options button to display the Compression Settings dialog box.
- Uncheck Automatically Perform Basic Compression on Save check box.
- Click OK twice.
Luckily, PowerPoint 2010 doesn’t automatically compress pictures when you save.