Adding Graphics to a Slide
Another way to spice up the appearance of your presentation is to include graphics on one or more slides. Such graphics can be informative, such as a chart that displays sales results or they can be decorative, such as a cartoon smiley face that emphasizes the presentation's good news. Three common types of graphics you can add to a PowerPoint slide include:
Picture files:
Includes clip art images as well as images you may have stored on your hard disk, such as photographs from your digital camera.
Charts:
Displays bar, column, line, pie, and other types of charts.
WordArt:
Displays text as colorful text.
Placing picture files on a slide
To liven up a presentation, you can add pictures you may have already stored on your computer. To add a picture to a slide, follow these steps:
- Click a slide (in either Slide or Outline view) to which you want to add a picture and then click the Insert tab.
- Click the Picture icon in the Illustrations group. The Insert Picture dialog box appears. You may need to change folders or drives to find the picture file you want.
- Click the picture file you want and then click Open. PowerPoint displays your chosen picture on the currently displayed slide. You may need to resize or move your picture.
Placing clip art on a slide
Clip art consists of drawings that come with PowerPoint. To add a clip art image to a slide, follow these steps:
- Click a slide (in either Slide or Outline view) to which you want to add a picture and then click the Insert tab.
- Click the Clip Art icon in the Illustrations group. The Clip Art window appears on the right side of the screen.
- Click in the Search For text box and type a word that describes the type of image you want to find and then click Go. The Clip Art dialog box displays all the clip art images it could find that matched the descriptive word you typed.
- Click the clip art image you want to use. PowerPoint displays your chosen image on the current slide. (You may need to move or resize the image.)
- (Optional) Click the Close box of the Clip Art pane to make it go away.
Creating WordArt
WordArt provides another way to display text. Unlike ordinary text that you can format, WordArt lets you create graphically oriented text to use as headlines for added emphasis. To create WordArt, follow these steps:
- Click the slide (in either Slide or Outline view) to which you want to add WordArt and then click the Insert tab.
- Click the WordArt icon in the Text group. A WordArt menu appears.
The WordArt menu lists all the different styles you can choose to display text. - Click a WordArt style to use. PowerPoint displays a WordArt text box on the current slide.
- Click in the WordArt text box and type text.
Resizing, moving, and deleting graphic images
When you add graphics to a slide, you may need to resize or move them to another location. To resize a graphic image, follow these steps:
- Click the graphic (picture, clip art, or WordArt) that you want to resize. PowerPoint displays handles around your chosen object.
- Move the mouse pointer over a handle. The mouse pointer turns into a two-way pointing arrow.
- Hold down the left mouse button and drag (move) the mouse. PowerPoint resizes your chosen graphic image.
- Release the left mouse button when you are happy with the new size of your graphic image.
To move a graphic image, follow these steps:
- Move the mouse pointer over the edge of the graphic image you want to move. The mouse turns into a four-way pointing arrow and then hold down the left mouse button and drag (move) the mouse. PowerPoint moves your graphic image.
- Release the left mouse button when you are happy with the new position of your graphic image.
After you add a graphic image to a slide, you may later decide to delete it. To delete a graphic image, follow these steps:
- Click the graphic image you want to delete. PowerPoint displays handles around your chosen graphic image and then press Delete. PowerPoint deletes your chosen graphic image.
Rotating graphics
You may want to rotate graphic images for added visual effects. To rotate images or to flip them vertically or horizontally, follow these steps:
- Click the graphic image you want to rotate. PowerPoint displays handles around your image along with a green rotate handle.
- Move the mouse pointer over the rotate handle. The mouse pointer turns into a circular arrow.
- Hold down the left mouse button and move (drag) the mouse. PowerPoint rotates your graphic image.
If you hold down the Shift key while dragging the mouse, you can rotate an image at 15 degree increments. - Release the left mouse button when you are happy with the rotation of the image.
Layering objects
PowerPoint treats graphics and text boxes as objects that you can move around on a slide. If you move one object over another, it may block part of another object, as shown in Figure below.
When one object covers another one, PowerPoint considers the first object to be on top and the other object (the one being obscured) to be on the bottom. By moving objects from top to bottom (or vice versa), you can create unique visual effects (or just cover up parts of other objects by mistake). To move a graphic image to the top or bottom when layered over another object, follow these steps:
- Click the graphic image you want to move. The Format contextual tab appears and then click the Bring to Front or Send to
Back icon in the Arrange group. PowerPoint rearranges the layering of your graphic images.
When objects overlay one another, they can obscure part of another object.
