Office 2019 For Dummies
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One way to enhance the appearance of your PowerPoint 2019 presentation is to include graphics on one or more slides. The graphics can be informative, such as a chart that displays sales results, or 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 follow:

  • Picture files: Displays clip-art images or images you may have stored on your hard drive, 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 PowerPoint 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:
  1. Click a slide (in either Normal or Outline view) to which you want to add a picture.
  2. Click the Insert tab.
  3. In the Images group, click the Pictures icon.

    The Insert Picture dialog box appears. You may need to change folders or drives to find the picture file you want.

  4. Choose 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 PowerPoint slide

Clip art consists of drawings available on the Internet. To add a clip-art image to a slide, follow these steps:
  1. Click a slide (in either Normal or Outline view) to which you want to add a picture.
  2. Click the Insert tab.
  3. In the Images group, click the Online Pictures icon.

    An Online Pictures window appears, giving you a choice of typing a picture description to look for clip art through the Bing image-search engine.

    online pictures PowerPoint 2019 You need an Internet connection to search for clip art with the Online Pictures command.

    You need an Internet connection to search for clip art with the Online Pictures command.

  4. Click in the Bing search text box and type a word that describes the type of image you want to find.
  5. Press Enter.

    The window displays all the clip-art images it can find that match the descriptive word you typed in Step 4.

  6. Choose the clip-art image you want to use and then click the Insert button. PowerPoint displays your chosen image on the current slide. (You may need to move or resize the image.)

    Be careful when using clip-art images from the Internet. Ideally, look for images clearly identified as in the public domain. Otherwise, you may need to obtain the rights to use a particular image by contacting the owner of the image.

Creating WordArt in PowerPoint 2019

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:
  1. Click the slide (in either Normal or Outline view) to which you want to add WordArt.
  2. Click the Insert tab.
  3. In the Text group, click the WordArt icon.

    A WordArt menu appears.

  4. Click a WordArt style to use.

    PowerPoint displays a WordArt text box on the current slide.

    PowerPoint WordArt A WordArt text box also displays the Drawing Tools Format tab.
  5. Click in the WordArt text box and type text.

    WordArt text doesn't appear when you view slides in Outline view.

Capturing screenshots in PowerPoint 2019

Sometimes you may want to include an image of a computer screen to show how a program works or to show what a competitor’s website looks like. If you need a screenshot, PowerPoint can import all or part of a screen.

To capture a screenshot, follow these steps:

  1. Click the slide (in either Slide or Outline view) to which you want to add a screenshot.
  2. Click the Insert tab.
  3. In the Images group, click the Screenshot icon.

    A menu appears, showing all currently open windows.

  4. Click a screenshot that you want to capture.

    PowerPoint displays the screenshot on the current slide.

    If you choose Screen Clipping from the bottom of the menu, you can drag the mouse to select just a portion of a screen to capture and store on your slide.

Resizing, moving, and deleting graphic images in PowerPoint 2019

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:
  1. Click the graphic (picture, clip art, screenshot, or WordArt) that you want to resize.

    PowerPoint displays handles around your chosen object.

  2. Move the mouse pointer over a handle.

    The mouse pointer turns into a two-way-pointing arrow.

  3. Hold down the left mouse button and drag the mouse.

    PowerPoint resizes your chosen graphic image.

  4. Release the left mouse button when you’re happy with the new size of your graphic image.
To move a graphic image, follow these steps:
  1. Move the mouse pointer over the edge of the graphic image you want to move.

    The mouse turns into a four-way pointing arrow.

  2. Hold down the left mouse button and drag the mouse.

    PowerPoint moves your graphic image.

  3. Release the left mouse button when you’re 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:
  1. Click the graphic image you want to delete.

    PowerPoint displays handles around your chosen graphic image.

  2. Press Delete.

    PowerPoint deletes your chosen graphic image.

Rotating graphics in PowerPoint 2019

You may want to rotate graphic images for added visual effects. To rotate images or to flip them vertically or horizontally, follow these steps:
  1. Click the graphic image you want to rotate.

    PowerPoint displays handles around your image along with a green rotate handle.

  2. Move the mouse pointer over the rotate handle.

    The mouse pointer turns into a circular arrow.

  3. Hold down the left mouse button and move 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.

  4. Release the left mouse button when you’re happy with the rotation of the image.

Layering objects in PowerPoint 2019

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.

layered PowerPoint object A layered object can obscure another object.

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:

  1. Click the graphic image you want to move.

    The Picture Tools Format tab appears.

  2. Click the Format tab.
  3. In the Arrange group, click the Bring Forward or Send Backward icon.

    PowerPoint rearranges the layering of your graphic images.

    You can also right-click an object and choose the Bring Forward or Send Backward command.

About This Article

This article is from the book:

About the book author:

Wallace Wang is the bestselling author of more than 50 computer books, with over three million of his For Dummies books in print. They include numerous versions of Office For Dummies as well as Beginning Programming For Dummies. When not playing with computers, Wallace splits his time between teaching, writing, game designing, screenwriting, and stand-up comedy.

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