There are often multiple ways to accomplish a task in PowerPoint and this is the case when inserting photographs into a slide show. One approach is well suited for a presentation that needs only a few slides but becomes quite painful if one has a large collection of images to present. The other approach facilitates the creation of a show with multiple images, and offers some potentially useful setup features. I will describe both in this article.
First, just a recap of an earlier article: When preparing images for projection we have found that scanning at an output size of 9" x 6" and 100 dpi is best for our projection systems. Files might best be saved as .jpg files to save drive space. For more information, you may want to review a previous column, Scanning for Projection , at http://www.lehigh.edu/~inllnote/issues/issue2/ScanningforProjections.htm
Ok, lets say you have a few photos that you want to put into your show. After they are digitized in some fashion and are accessible to your computer, select your template and begin to build your slide show. When you are ready for a picture, add a New Slide and pick your slide type, perhaps a blank or title and blank slide layout ( format, slide layout, select a new layout ). Next select Insert from the text bar at the top of the edit screen, then Picture and From File . Use the various drop down boxes to navigate to the desired image and select it and click Insert . You may resize the image using the corner buttons, rotate it using the green dot at the top or use the picture tool bar to adjust the brightness or contrast of the image. The picture tool bar will appear whenever an image has been selected. You can also use the Crop Tool (two intersecting right angles on the picture toolbar) to eliminate portions of the image. The crop tool changes the size adjust dots to thick lines. Click and hold one of these lines with the left mouse button and slide it into the picture area. Material will be cropped as you slide the bars. By adjusting size or cropping you may add multiple images to each slide. When you are done you can add another slide and repeat this process as needed. This is also the approach to use when you are adding a slide to a text slide or a chart.
Clearly, this can get tedious if you have a large collection of images you wish to share in a presentation. The Photo Album feature in PowerPoint 2003 offers significant enhancements for this type of slide show. Gather all of your images in one folder or CD. Open a new show but don't add any slides or type any text. Next, select Insert and Picture from the tool bar as you did before, but this time select New Photo Album from the drop down menu. Click the button that says " File/Disk." and use the drop down menu at the top to navigate to the place you have your images. I find it useful to display images as thumbnails (click the arrow on the icon on the navigation page that looks like a list and select Thumbnails ). Select the images you want to add to your show: repeat Control and Click to select individual images, or Click on the first desired slide and hold down Shift and Click on the last desired slide to select all the slides between them; or Control plus A selects all the items in the folder. Once your images are selected click Insert . The images you've selected will be listed by name and each can be seen in the preview window. If you wish you can use the up and down arrow buttons to change the order of your slides, and each slide, when selected can have its brightness and contrast adjusted using the buttons below the preview window. There are also buttons that will allow you to rotate each image and see the result in the preview window. The Remove button will allow you to delete any images inserted in error. Of course all of these changes can be made later in PowerPoint.
Another reason to use Photo Album involves the options available in the Album Layout section towards the bottom of the Photo Album window. The default layout is Fit to Slide . This will enlarge or reduce each image in a way appropriate to create slides where your images fill the screen as best as is possible. Note the other options: 1, 2 or 4 pictures per slide, with or without titles. If you select any of these options, the check box next to Captions below ALL pictures become active. If you check this box the file name you have given the photo will be inserted below each image in your slide show. If you select a title option, a place holder will be added to each slide for you to type in an appropriate title. If you select multiple slides, your photographs will be scaled to fit appropriately on the page. You will also have the option of selecting a variety of Frame Shapes for your images. You'll have to experiment with these options to see which is best for your show. When all options are selected, click Create to make your show. PowerPoint will make a new slide show. This new show will have a title slide that you can edit and a collection of slides representing your selected images arranged in accordance with your album layout and related options. You can now change the design template ( Format , Slide Design ), or your background ( Format , Background ), or add transitions ( Slide Show, Slide Transition ). You can insert a new slide, for example a bullet list, anywhere you'd like and you can use the Slide Sorter view (four rectangles at the bottom left of the edit screen) to change the slide order. Basically, once you make the album, the slide show functions like any other show. There is one problem, however: for some reason it seems that the crop tool does not work for images that have been prepared using the Photo Album feature.
One more step: PowerPoint shows with photographs can be very big, especially if the images were scanned or shot at a high resolution. The Compress Picture tool on the Picture Toolbar can make a big difference. Select a picture so the Picture Toolbar appears. The Compress Picture tool is the rectangle with arrows pointing in at each corner. To use it first save your show, then click the tool. Click the radio buttons indicating All pictures in documen t, and Web/Screen resolution. Make sure the boxes for Compress pictures and Delete cropped areas of pictures are checked. Click Ok . Save your file under a different name ( File , Save As..). Compare the size of the two files and examine the quality of the images to decide which is more suitable for your use. Delete the redundant version of your show to avoid later confusion.
Contact Elia Schoomer ( ens0@lehigh.edu ) for additional information or assistance with inserting photographs or any other PowerPoint questions.
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