PowerPoint 2007 and 2010 have a feature that makes creating similar slides a snap: Change picture. You can duplicate a slide and easily change its picture without deleting the old one or fiddling with the side or placing. This feature is ideal for creating product brochures and facilitates customizing presentations for multiple customers. Here you […]
Use PowerPoint as a graphics program
You can use PowerPoint as a graphics program — and many people do. It’s not high end, but if your needs are simple, the fact that you know and have it is a great plus. PowerPoint 2007 improved the graphics engine and you can add many more effects, such as soft edges, beveled edges, and […]
Magnify or enlarge an image
A reader e-mailed me asking how to enlarge part of an image that is encircled within an oval. Here’s a slide with a map of Long Island. The idea is to magnify the section inside the oval. To avoid a somewhat blurry image, you can start with the enlarged image, invisibly shrink it, and enlarge […]
Recolor graphics in PowerPoint 2007
PowerPoint 2007 introduced the ability to recolor and adjust bitmap graphics. Bitmap files types include GIF, JPG, and PNG. You can recolor both inserted images and background images. These are exciting, new capabilities. Previously, you had to use third-party software to accomplish this task. To insert a picture from a file, choose Insert>Picture and choose […]
Cool contour shadows
PowerPoint can create shadows that follow the contour of objects in an image. Here is an example: Here you see a close-up of the big tulip: Do you see how the shadow is contoured around the shape of the tulip? Did you know that you can do this in PowerPoint? Here’s how I did it: […]