How To Convert Your Photos Into A PowerPoint Presentation

By Dwight Davidson

Whether you are communicating with an audience, your colleagues at work or a group of clients or potential clients, a PowerPoint presentation is a great way of getting you message across. But did you know, you can base a PowerPoint presentation around a group of images and, what's even better, PowerPoint will create the presentation for you.

You can use the techniques described in this article whenever you have a group of images whose content are at the core of the presentation you need to create. One example might be giving a presentation to introduce a new range of products based around a series of product photos.

Creating a presentation in this way makes use of a PowerPoint feature called Photo Album. To access this feature, click on New in the File menu. Next, in the New Presentation task pane which appears on the right of your screen, click on Photo Album.

Clicking on the Photo Album option displays a window in which you begin by choosing the images required for your presentation. Just click on the button labelled File/Disk and select the images. Alternatively, click on Camera/Scanner and load the images directly from your scanner or digital camera.

The Photo Album window is very versatile. Once, you have imported your pictures, it allows you to reorder them by selecting and image and clicking on the up and down arrows. If you change your mind and decide to delete an image, no problem. Just click on the name of the image then click the Remove button.

Next, you can check the tonal quality of each image. You can increase or decrease the brightness or contrast as necessary by just clicking on one of the four image control icons. In addition, you can rotate images clockwise or anti-clockwise by clicking on one of the two image transformation icons.

However important a part your images will play in the presentation, every presentation will need some text. The Picture Layout drop-down menu lets you specify whether you want one, two or four images with a title. (You can omit the title, though it is unlikely you will wan to do so.) You can also place the title above or below the image.

If you wish, you can also change the shape of your images. This is done in a drop-down menu called Frame Shape. The default shape is rectangular but also available are rounded rectangle, bevelled, oval, corner tabs, square tabs and plaque tabs.

That's pretty much it. Click OK to exit the Photo Album dialogue box and PowerPoint will go ahead and create your presentation using the images and parameters you just specified. Add some text into the title box on each slide and your presentation is good to go! - 30530

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Time To Purchase A Slide Scanner. What You Need To Know!

By Andy Zain

Do you have old family photos that you would like on your computer? Do you use a film camera but want your photos online? Well, a slide scanner is the answer. These scanners transfers the image from your slides to the computer. It even comes with software that makes editing a breeze! Digital pictures offer a wide variety of conveniences not available with film. Find the scanner that fits your needs!

Film slides come in a variety of sizes based on your camera type. You may have a film strip. A strip contains several photos per item. There are also individual slides, which contain only one picture per slide. Slide scanners may not accommodate both types. Be sure to research the types of slides you have and what you need before investing.

Scanners cannot improve photo quality. If the original slide is blurry or out of focus, a digital image will also be blurry. Yet, you may be able to enhance your photo using the software that accompanies the scanner. Most often, you will be able to manipulate the contrast, sharpness, and level of color. Additionally, you will be able to crop the photo to create focus on the key elements.

A slide adapter may come with your scanner. This is a useful tool in scanning. A slide adapter fixes the location of the scan. By stabilizing the photo, you will decrease editing time once the photo is transferred.

Compare the specifications between scanners before purchasing. Scanners should indicate the resolution capacity. The specifications may indicate the maximum resolution of the hardware and the maximum resolution, interpolated.

Quality of the scan can be evaluated by resolution and sharpness. Resolution is reported as dpi. This stands for dots per inch. A typical number may be 4800x9600. The first number indicates the dpi for the x-axis, and the second number is for the y-axis. Higher numbers indicate a better resolution.

Interpolated resolution indicates the size of the digital output. This is always larger than the hardware resolution. This is especially important in slide scanning because the slide is very small. However, keep in mind that the quality of the scan does not increase.

Sharpness of the scan is dependent on the light source of the scanner. Florescent bulbs produce lower quality scans. A light source utilizes a CCD array to convert light into electrical charge. Each electrical charge sends a signal to the scanner in order to recreate the image. Dark images reflect less light, creating a darker image in the scan.

Depending on the model, the speed at which the machine scans will vary. Typically, higher end models scan faster and will not lose photo quality. Less expensive models may produce high quality copies, but the scan speed is slow. This is of most importance when scanning a large amount of slides.

A slide scanner offers a wide range of advantages to photographers. Digital images are easier to manipulate, and the software provided helps accomplish simple improvements. Additionally, digital images can be uploaded onto the Internet and used for social networking, email, and more. A slide scanner is an important addition to the toolbox for photographers today. - 30530

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Instant PowerPoint Presentations Using The PhotoAlbum Feature

By Andrew Whiteman

PowerPoint presentations are a superb tool for getting a message across to an audience, to potential clients and to your own company and images are great for adding impact to a PowerPoint presentation. So much so that PowerPoint includes a feature that lets you automatically create a complete presentation from a group of images.

You can use the techniques described in this article whenever you have a group of images whose content are at the core of the presentation you need to create. One example might be giving a presentation to introduce a new range of products based around a series of product photos.

Creating a presentation in this way makes use of a PowerPoint feature called Photo Album. To access this feature, click on New in the File menu. Next, in the New Presentation task pane which appears on the right of your screen, click on Photo Album.

When the Photo Album window appears, you begin identifying the images you want included in the presentation. You can click on the button marked File/Disk to browse for the images or you can import them straight from your digital camera or scanner.

The Photo Album window is very versatile. Once, you have imported your pictures, it allows you to reorder them by selecting and image and clicking on the up and down arrows. If you change your mind and decide to delete an image, no problem. Just click on the name of the image then click the Remove button.

Next, you can check the tonal quality of each image. You can increase or decrease the brightness or contrast as necessary by just clicking on one of the four image control icons. In addition, you can rotate images clockwise or anti-clockwise by clicking on one of the two image transformation icons.

Not many presentations will consist solely of images. So the next step will be to specify the layout of text and images. The Picture Layout drop-down menu lets you choose one, two or four images per slide either with or without a title and a separate check-box lets you specify whether the title will be displayed below the image or above it.

Next, there is the shape of the image. In the drop-down menu labelled Frame Shape, you can choose rounded rectangle, bevelled, oval, corner tabs, square tabs and plaque tabs. If you don't want anything fancy, just leave the shape set to the default value of rectangle.

That's pretty much it. Click OK to exit the Photo Album dialogue box and PowerPoint will go ahead and create your presentation using the images and parameters you just specified. Add some text into the title box on each slide and your presentation is good to go! - 30530

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