PowerPoint comes with a lot of features, but many of them are often overlooked. Instead of downloading a third-party software or web app to edit photos while creating a presentation, you can actually just stay on the Microsoft PowerPoint. There are plenty of built-in tools that you can use to enhance images.
Here’s how to blur either a photo for background or a portion of an image in PowerPoint:
How to blur image backgrounds on PowerPoint
1. Open the Image on PowerPoint
Open your PowerPoint and on the Insert tab, click on Picture. From the dropdown menu, choose the source of the photo that you will use (e.g. from a device or online). For other versions, there might be no dropdown menu for options, so you will have to add photos from your desktop.
2. Use Built-in Artistic Effects
Once the image is on the Slide, you’ll automatically see the Picture Tools on your toolbar. If not, you can click on the Format Picture tab. Click on the Artistic Effects and choose what style you want your blur effect to look.
3. Adjust your Artistic Effects Radius
To blur just the background, use Artistic Effects formatting options to adjust the blur effect. Depending on your Windows version, the Format picture menu may appear on the side of your screen or as a pop-up menu.
Once you click the Artistic Effect, it will either automatically make a Format Picture menu appear on the side of your screen. If there’s none, click on the Artistic Effects, and from the drop-down menu of effects, look for the Artistic Effects Options at the bottom
You’ll be prompted to an option to adjust the Radius of your effect. It is often set to 10 but you can tweak it if you need to.
How to blur a portion of an image on Powerpoint
To blur just a portion of the picture you can also make use of the Insert Shape tool. Here’s how:
1. Select the Area You want to Blur
Once you have a photo on the slide, click on Insert > Shape from the Menu Bar to draw a shape over the area you want to blur.
2. Select the Color Tone of the Blur Effect
On the Format tab, select Shape Fill > Eyedropper then select a part of the picture with the color you want the blurred shape to be.
If your PowerPoint version does not have the Eyedropper function yet, you can simply choose a color by clicking Shape Fill > More Colors, then choose a color you prefer. We suggest you choose a color near the hue of the area you want to blur.
3. Apply Soft Edges Effect
Afterward, on the Format tab, select Shape Effects > Soft Edges. Point at one of the Soft Edge Variations to see a preview of the effect and select the one you think would look best on the project. You can also adjust the size and placing of the blur effect if needed.
4. Save as Photo
To save or use the edited phot, select the shape then press Ctrl and click the border of the picture. On the Format tab, select Group > Group.
Right-click the grouped objects and select Save as Picture. You can now use the edited picture in PowerPoint, or insert it in any Office file.
Posted November 26, 2013 by Lê Hoàng in Microsoft Powerpoint
If you find a suitable object for your presentation but its color does not match the theme of your slides, you can recolor the object directly inside PowerPoint without using any third-party program.
Below is an example of how you can change the color of an object easily inside PowerPoint. I changed a lotus from yellow to blue in just a few clicks. However, this feature is helpful for single-colored objects only. If your objects have multiple colors, filling it with one solid color may make it look strange. Transparent parts in the objects remain unaffected.
1. Launch PowerPoint, and open the presentation that contains the object whose color you want to change.
2. Navigate to the desired slide, select the object, and click the Format tab, which is the option farthest to the right on the ribbon.
3. In the Format tab, under the Adjust section, choose Color. You will then see a list of predefined colors from which you can chose. Move your mouse over the option to preview the change on your object in real time. If you cannot find the color you want in the list, choose More Variations at the bottom of the menu.
4. Under the More Variations menu, you can choose one of the provided theme colors or click More Colors and set your own color. If you already have an object that contains your desired color, you can use the Eyedropper feature to get the color code from it quickly.
5. Please note that this is destructive editing. This means that you may not be able to revert back to the object’s original color, unless you use the Undo function. If you still have a copy of the object on the hard drive, re-inserting it into your presentation will help, but you may have to re-add additional effects to it.
In this course:
You can use a picture as the background for a slide or slides.
You can adjust the picture’s transparency after you add it to the slide.
Tip: Check out these YouTube videos from Microsoft Creators for more help with pictures and graphics!
Insert a background picture on a slide
Right-click the margin of the slide and then select Format Background.
In the Format Background pane, choose Picture or texture fill.
Under Insert picture from, choose where to get the picture from:
Insert a picture from your computer or network drive
Insert a copied picture
(This option is unavailable if you haven’t Copied a picture.)
Search the web for an image
To adjust the picture’s relative lightness, slide the Transparency bar to the right.
To apply the background picture to all slides in your presentation, choose Apply to All. Otherwise, simply close the Format Background pane.
Remove a background picture
In Normal view, select a slide that has the background pattern or picture you want to remove.
On the Design tab of the toolbar ribbon, in the Customize group at the far right end, select Format Background.
In the Format Background pane, under Fill, select Solid Fill.
Select the down arrow next to the Color button. A gallery of colors appears. Select the white color.
Your current background is removed, and the background of the slide is now white.
If you want to make the same change to the other slides in the presentation, choose Apply to All at the bottom of the Format Background pane.
Insert a background picture on a slide
Right-click the margin of the slide and then select Format Background.
Under Fill, choose Picture or texture fill.
Under Insert from, choose where to get the picture from:
Insert a picture from your computer or network drive
Insert a copied picture
(This option is unavailable if you haven’t Copied a picture)
Search the web for an image
To adjust the picture’s relative lightness, slide the Transparency bar to the right.
To apply the background picture to all slides in your presentation, choose Apply to All. Otherwise, select Close.
Remove a background picture
In Normal view, select a slide that has the background pattern or picture you want to remove.
On the Design tab of the toolbar ribbon, in the Background group at the far right end, select Background Styles and then select Format Background.
The Format Background dialog box opens.
In the dialog box, on the Fill tab, select Solid Fill.
Select the down arrow next to the Color button and from the gallery of options select the white color.
Your current background is removed, and the background of the slide is now white.
If you want to make the same change to the other slides in the presentation, choose Apply to All.
If your background image is drawing unnecessary attention, or you need to blur part of an image that contains sensitive information, you can do so directly in PowerPoint. We’ll show you how.
Blur an Entire Image
First, open PowerPoint and navigate to the slide containing the image you want to blur. Select the image, and that automatically opens the “Picture Format” tab.
Next, select “Artistic Effects” from the “Adjust” group.
In the drop-down menu that appears, click the Blur option.
Your image in its entirety is now blurred. If it’s not as blurry as you’d like, you can adjust it manually. Back in the “Artistic Effects” drop-down menu, select “Artistic Effects Options.”
The “Format Picture” pane appears on the right side of the window. Under “Artistic Effects,” find the bar next to “Radius” and drag the setting to the right to increase the blurriness of the image until you’re happy with it.
What if you only want to blur a specific part of an image instead of the entire picture? While it’s not a straightforward process, there is a way you can do it.
