Change the transparency of the background of online picture in PPT 2019

When you need a picture in your presentation and you haven't got a suitable one you can select an online picture. Suppose you need a picture of a mouse pointer. Go to:

Insert - Pictures - Online pictures - type your search word cursor and press enter.

If you don't want to risk copyright infringement put a check next to the Creative commons only (free available pictures). Select the picture you want and click Insert.

Unfortunately the inserted picture has no transparant background.

You can resolve this in two ways. 

Set one colour with transparency.

Select the picture, on the contextual tab Picture format in the Adjust group click on the Color button. Choose Set Transparent color. Click in the part you want to make transparent. 

In example below it worked on the second picture but not on the first one.

Remove the background of the picture

On the first picture we will have to remove the background. Use the Remove background button in the Adjust group of the contextual tab Picture format.

The pink areas will be removed if you click on the Keep changes button.

If you're in luck all will be perfect. If you are not you will see that some parts may have vanished as you can see in the below sample.

If you have a better and closer look you can notice some lighter coloured parts which should be kept.

Use the Mark areas to keep button and drag carefully in the missing parts.

You will see the colour change, finally click on the Keep changes button.

Give letters the background of a picture (method 2)

Add a textbox, click Insert - Textbox - drag a suitable size. Adjust the font and the size. In this example I made a size 254 pt and added bold.

Select the textbox, under Drawing tools click the Text fill button, choose Picture. Browse and select your picture and click Insert.

Result:

Give letters the background of a picture - PPT 2013

Here is an example of a picture with a textbox on top of it. I want to preserve only the letters but with the background of the picture.

Add the picture to your slide using Insert - Picture - navigate to your picture select it and click Insert.

Add a textbox on top of the picture. Click Insert - Textbox - drag a suitable size. Adjust the font and the size. In this example I made a size 166 pt and added bold.

First select your picture then the textbox using Shift+click. Under Drawing Tools click the Format tab. In the Add shapes group click the Merge Shapes button and choose Intersect.

This is the result:

Make a picture transparant in PPT 2013 (method 2)

In my previous article I showed you how to make a picture transparent using a shape background.

There is an alternative to make a picture transparent.

If your picture is already in your presentation you can copy the picture to the Clipboard to get the shape background transparent.

Draw your shape covering the original picture.

Move the shape.

Select your picture and copy it.
Remove the picture.
Select the shape.
Right click it and choose Format Shape.

Choose Picture or texture fill.
Click the Clipboard button, set the transparency using the slider. Your done.

Make a picture transparant in PPT 2013

There is no such thing as picture transparency in PPT 2013 and previous versions. Here's a workaround.

Place your picture on the slide in the appropriate dimensions.
Draw a rectangle that overlaps your picture.

The shape covers the picture completely once you have released the mouse button.

Select the shape, right click it and choose Format Shape.

Choose Picture or texture fill, click File and select your picture, finally click Insert.

Change the transparancy using the slider:

All that remains is to remove the original picture which is behind the shape. Click on your slide so that nothing is selected. Press the tab key, when you see the Format tab under Picture tools you can delete the picture. (alternative: use the selection pane).

Original picture - Transparent picture

Attention
In PPT 365 you now can make a picture transparent. Microsoft added a tansparency button on the Picture tools format tab. If you click the transparency button you will be presented with presets from 15 to 95 %.

If you have PPT 2019 this is still not available.

Afbeelding transparant maken in PPT 2013

Als je een afbeelding wil transparant maken moet je deze opnemen in een getekende vorm.

Plaats je afbeelding op je dia in de gewenste grootte.
Teken een rechthoek eroverheen met exact dezelfde afmetingen.

De vorm bedekt volledig de originele afbeelding als je de muisknop loslaat.

Selecteer de vorm, klik er rechts op en kies voor Vorm opmaken.

Kies Opvulling met afbeelding, selecteer via Bestand je afbeelding, selecteer en klik op Invoegen.

Wijzig de transparantie via de schuifbalk:

Rest alleen nog de oorspronkelijke afbeelding te verwijderen. Klik op de dia tot er niets meer geselecteerd is, druk op de tabtoets tot het contextueel tabblad Opmaak onder Hulpmiddelen voor Afbeeldingen verschijnt en druk Delete. Enkel de transparante vorm blijft nog over.

Opgelet
In PPT 365 kan je nu een afbeelding transparant maken. Microsoft heeft een knop toegevoegd aan het tabblad Opmaak onder de Hulpmiddelen voor afbeeldingen. In de groep Aanpassen kan je via de knop Transparantie de transparantie instellen tussen 15 to 95 %.

Dit is niet beschikbaar in PPT 2019 stand alone versie!

Transparency when dragging picture over another gone?

In PPT 2007-2010 when one dragged a picture on top of another it became transparent, allowing to position it accurately.

In PPT 2013 this seems no longer the case. Luckily you can use the ctrl-key to get a transparent picture. So hold the ctrl-key and drag your picture over the other one, just be sure to release the ctrl-key first once the picture is correctly positioned otherwise you will have a duplicate.

PPT 2013 - dragging

PPT 2013 - ctrl+drag