Corporate Multimedia Presentations

A stretched or compressed image can make even the best presentations look unprofessional. Resizing an image by grabbing one side or the other distorts the image and makes it look out of proportion. The problem arises because you have changed the relative values of the length and height of the image, or its aspect ratio.

What is aspect ratio?

Aspect Ratio refers to the width-to-height ratio of an image. The aspect ratio of an image is its displayed width divided by its height (usually expressed as "x:y"). For instance, the aspect ratio of a traditional television screen is 4:3, or 1.33:1.

     

Using PowerPoint to change the size of an image in your business presentation

You can also change the size of an image right in PowerPoint without distortion. Simply click the “Insert” menu and select “Picture” and then click “From file…” to insert your picture directly into PowerPoint.

Once your image is in PowerPoint, you can adjust the size of your image by “dragging” the image from the corner. You have to drag the image from the corner while holding the “Shift” key. If you drag from the side or top of the image or don’t hold the “Shift” key, you will cause the image to distort.

Maintaining the aspect ratio is the only way to avoid distortion for any picture or image in PowerPoint.

     

Using Photoshop to change the size of an image in your business presentation

You can also bring your image into a graphics application such as Photoshop. If you know the pixel dimensions of the new aspect ratio, such as 1280x720 pixels, you can enter that number to reduce the image size. All you need to do is to choose the Crop Tool and enter the new dimensions in the Crop Tool's Options bar before you start dragging the crop rectangle.

To crop an image to a new aspect ratio without altering its resolution, you can use the Marquee Tool in PhotoShop in the Fixed Aspect Ratio mode. Here is how: Select the Rectangular Marquee Tool. On the Options bar, choose Fixed Aspect Ratio from the Style popup menu, and enter the aspect ratio you want. For example, to set a 10:5 aspect ratio, enter 10 into the Width box and 5 into the Height box. Drag the Marquee Tool to position the selection box.