Sometimes when you are placing a picture into a slideshow, that picture is completely ready for the presentation. It’s already been edited in a different image-editing program, or the picture was created expressly for the presentation, and therefore requires no edits.

But we aren’t always that lucky, and it’s quite common that a picture you want to use on one of your slides needs some sort of adjustment before it looks the way that you want it to look. Google Slides has some image-editing tools for the pictures that you add to your slides, and one of those tools lets you increase the transparency of the image. You can continue reading below to see how you can make a picture transparent in your presentation.

How to Make a Picture Transparent in Google Slides

The steps in this article were performed in the desktop version of Google Chrome. This guide assumes that you already have a picture in your presentation, and that you want to make it transparent. This will allow you to see the presentation elements on the layers below the picture. For example, if you have a theme with a background, you will be able to see the background through the picture.

Step 1: Sign into your Google Drive and open the Slides file that contains the picture you want to make transparent.

Step 2: Right-click the picture, then choose the Format options button.

format picture options in google slides

” data-medium-file=” data-large-file=” svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=%22http:// data-src=” alt=”format picture options in google slides” width=”562″ height=”689″ data-srcset=” 562w, 245w” data-sizes=”(max-width: 562px) 100vw, 562px” />

Step 3: Click the arrow to the left of Adjustments.

increase picture transparency in google slides

” data-medium-file=” data-large-file=” svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=%22http:// data-src=” alt=”increase picture transparency in google slides” width=”453″ height=”491″ data-srcset=” 453w, 277w” data-sizes=”(max-width: 453px) 100vw, 453px” />

Step 4: Drag the slider under Transparency to the right to increase transparency in the image, or drag it to the left to reduce transparency.

how to make a picture transparent in google slides

” data-medium-file=” data-large-file=” svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=%22http:// data-src=” alt=”how to make a picture transparent in google slides” width=”474″ height=”515″ data-srcset=” 474w, 276w” data-sizes=”(max-width: 474px) 100vw, 474px” />

Does your Google Slides presentation have a slide that you don’t need anymore? Find out how to delete an entire slide in Google Slides so that it’s no longer a part of the slideshow.

Kermit Matthews is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with more than a decade of experience writing technology guides. He has a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Computer Science and has spent much of his professional career in IT management.

He specializes in writing content about iPhones, Android devices, Microsoft Office and many other popular applications and devices.

Image editing is one of things that can seem a little daunting. However, Google Docs and Google Slides both include some basic image editing tools that are very easy for anyone to use! In this blog post, we’ll show you how to use each of the tools available to put your own flair on images.

Step 1 – Insert an image

The first step is to insert the image into your Google Doc or Slide. If you’re looking for an image to get started with, check out Lara Kirk’s post on five smart ways you can find images to use in your documents and presentations.

Step 2 – Access the image editing tools

To access the image editing tools, simply click once on the image you have inserted into your document or presentation.

In Google Docs, this will display buttons for Crop, Image options and Replace image, as shown below.

In Google Slides, this will display buttons for Crop, Mask, Reset Image, Replace Image and Format options, as shown below.

Step 3 – Start editing

Crop image

The crop image tool is available in both Docs and Slides. It allows you to ‘trim’ the sides of your image to make it smaller and more focussed on the important parts. To crop your image, click the Crop button then use the black lines on the corners and sides to trim the image. Press Enter when you are finished.

Mask image

The mask image tool is only available in Google Slides. It allows you to change the shape of your image. To mask your image, click the little arrow next to the crop button. Choose the shape you want for your image.

Re-colour image

The re-colour tool is available in both Docs and Slides. It allows you to change the colour shade of your image, including making it black and white. To re-colour your image, click the Image options (Docs) or Format options (Slides) button. Click the re-colour drop-down box and choose the shade.

Adjust transparency, brightness & contrast

Both Google Docs and Slides have tools to adjust an images transparency, brightness and contrast. This is great for creating backgrounds (in Slides) and correcting low-quality images. To use these tools, click the Image options (Docs) or Format options (Slides) button. Open the Adjustments section and use the sliders to adjust each element.

Add a drop shadow

The drop shadow tool is only available in Google Slides. It allows you to add a shadow to your image. To use the drop shadow tool, click the Format options button and tick the Drop shadow option. Expand the drop shadow section to customise your shadow further. You can choose the colour, transparency, angle, distance and blur radius of the shadow.

Add a reflection

The reflection tool is only available in Google Slides. It allows you to reflect your image onto the slide. To use the reflection tool, click the Format options button and tick the Reflection option. Expand the reflection section to customise your reflection further. You can choose the transparency, distance and size of the reflection.

Reset image

In both Google Docs and Google Slides you can use the reset image tool to remove some of the edits you have made to the image, including cropping and masking. However, changes such as re-colour, drop shadow and reflection need to be removed by de-selecting the options.
Note: In Google Docs, the reset image tool is located within Image options.

Replace image

The replace image tool is available in both Google Docs and Google Slides. It lets you choose a new image without losing the size, edits and formatting you have applied to the existing image. For example, if you have applied a mask or a drop shadow to your existing image, the new image will also have these edits.

With these simple tools you no longer need to be daunted by the idea of image editing! If you want to learn more about the power of Google Docs and Slides, join our online professional learning community.

Google have announced that users can now edit images in Drawings and Slides, here’s how to do it in a Google Doc.

The Google Blog announced this week that images can be edited in Google Slides and Drawings. Using the edit features in Drawing means you can also edit images in Documents too ! Just follow these steps:

• From your Google Doc, select the Insert menu and choose Drawing
• In the drawing click on the Insert Image icon and upload your image or choose one from other options
• Once the image uploads, click on it to select it and you can now crop and edit the image
• When you Save and Close to return to your doc, you have the cropped image
• If you later edit the drawing, the image’s cropping can be adjusted.

(Google Apps Release Track: Rapid)

Try this tip out and let us know what you think in the comments below.

• Drive
• Gmail
• Docs
• Overdrive “>”>Calendar
• Sheets
• Sites
• Chrome
• Contacts
• Slides
• Chat
• Meet
• Forms
• Keep
• More.
  • Admin
  • Android
  • Images
  • iOS
  • Migration
  • Scripts
  • Security

About Us

Latest Tips

Suspend tabs in Chrome without The Great Suspender

The Tab Freezing feature built into Chrome is the most convenient alternative to The Great Suspender. Users that like to have a lot of tabs open at the same time are familiar with extensions such as The Great Suspender, which has now been removed from Chrome Web Store for containing malware. Before you begin looking for an alternative, you should know that Chrome has a built in feature that “discards” any tabs you haven’t used for some time, in order to save memory and prevent your PC or Mac from running slow. To make sure you’re taking advantage of this feature, update Chrome to the latest version. This feature is enabled by default in Chrome and works in the background without needing the user’s input. Tab Freezing only suspends unused tabs when system memory is running low. The tabs continue to appear in the tab strip and reload when clicked. More advanced users can also decide to keep an eye on what tabs are suspended and prevent Chrome from feezing any important ones. Check out this tip if you’re looking for a way to stop Chrome from suspending your tabs.

The Tab Freezing feature built into Chrome is the most convenient alternative to The Great.

Google File Stream: How to change the cache location

Once you’ve installed Drive File Stream, the default cache directory is called DriveFS. If you want to change this or your organization requires you to do so, follow these instructions.

Once you’ve installed Drive File Stream, the default cache directory is called DriveFS. If you want.

I love to use collaborative Google Slides. I am frequently asked about how to keep students from editing my slides in the template. While you can not restrict editing on Slides like you can a Google Sheets spreadsheet, there is a trick that will help keep the slide from being edited.

First, create the slide with the images and text that you wish.

With the slide selected, go to the File menu and choose “Download as” and choose “PNG image.” This will download the image of that slide to the computer.

Delete the slide. The current slide has the ability to move the text and images around.

From the layout options, insert a blank slide.

From the toolbar, choose the “Background” button.

Choose the Image and upload the image of the slide you downloaded. This will set the slide content as the background image, which can not be easily manipulated by students.

Mehvish

23 Jun 2020

Apps like Microsoft Word, Google Slides, etc., let you overlap images or text over another image without any fuss. But when users try to achieve the same in Google Docs, they are left disappointed. The capability to put an image or text in front of another image is missing in Google Docs. That doesn’t mean it’s not possible to achieve layering of text over pictures. You can do it with the methods mentioned in this post.

Layering in Docs can add words to a picture, add a logo or watermarks to an image, or merge two images. There are two ways to layer images in Google Docs. Firstly, with the help of Google Drawings and secondly, using the wrap text feature.

Let’s check both the methods to layer images or text on another picture in Google Docs.