PowerPoint Tips & Tutorials

Layer two fill effects

Geetesh Bajaj let me know about a great technique that he calls, "Transparent Montages in PowerPoint."

This technique combines an image file with another fill, for example a photo and a gradient, to create a Photoshop-like, layering effect.

I encourage you to read Geetesh's thorough article, but here is the technique in brief:

Insert any AutoShape onto a slide.
Double-click the AutoShape to open the Format AutoShape dialog box.
On the Color and Lines tab, in the Fill section, click the Color drop-down arrow and choose the Fill Effects option.
Choose the Picture tab and click the Select Picture button. Choose any image file and click Insert. Then click OK to return to the Format AutoShape dialog box.
In the Line section, click the Color drop-down list and choose the No Line option.
In the Fill section, drag the Transparency slider to around 70% and click OK to return to your slide.
Your image filled the entire AutoShape. If that process distorted the image, you may want to resize the AutoShape until you are satisfied with the look of the image.
Here comes the trick. Select the AutoShape and choose Edit > Cut. Then choose Edit > Paste Special from the menu. In the Paste Special dialog box, choose Picture (PNG) and click OK.

Note: The PNG format supports many colors like the JPG format, but also supports transparency like the GIF format. It's a great marriage of the two.

Double-click the image to open the Format Picture dialog box and choose the Colors and Lines tab. As Geetesh notes, the Color drop-down list in the Fill section now shows No Fill which means that you can now apply another fill to your picture. That's what's so special about this technique. You can add a gradient, texture, pattern or even another picture.
Click the Fill drop-down list and choose Fill Effects. Choose one of the tabs and add your new fill.

Because the first fill is transparent, the second fill shows through. I added another picture. Here's my original photo, of a tree at sunset.

Here's the second photo, of the court house in the town where I live.

Finally, here is the layered combination of the two.

Go to Geetesh's article and see the effects he created. He combined a photo with gradients.