How to Make a Photo Transparent in PowerPoint Quickly

You can fade a photo in PowerPoint to be partially transparent with a bit of a workaround trick. Let's learn how in this quick video. 

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How to Create a PowerPoint Transparent Picture

Watch this short tutorial screencast or follow the quick steps below.

1. Draw a Shape

Instead of just inserting an image, let's start off by drawing a shape on the Insert tab. I'll grab a rectangle shape, and then click and drag over the slide to draw a box to put an image inside of.

2. Choose a Fill for Your Image

Now I'm going to right-click on the shape and choose Format Shape to open up some additional options. On the right side, let's open up the Fill option.

 Now we'll go ahead and choose Picture Fill here. This fills the box with an image of our choice. 

3. Insert the Image

I'll click on File and then browse to the image that I want to use as the background.

I'll click to insert the image. Now, our shape is replaced with the image. If your picture is stretched or doesn't fit the square properly, you could tick this box that says Tile picture as texture. 

4. Make a Photo Transparent in PowerPoint

Finally, let's add the transparency effect. Just pull the transparency effect slider up to fade the image into the background. 

You could pull the image further to the right for more transparency when needed. It takes a bit of a trick, but you can add image transparency right inside of PowerPoint. 

Finishing Up!

Creating a transparent photo in PowerPoint is a good way to a bit of design flair to your presentation.

More PowerPoint Tutorial and Template Resources

Learn more in our PowerPoint tutorials and quick video tutorials on Envato Tuts+. We have an assortment of PowerPoint material to help you make better presentations:

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  What Is Microsoft PowerPoint? How to Start Using It (Now)
  
  
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  How to Quickly Add Pictures to PowerPoint in 60 Seconds
  
  
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  How to Flip a Picture in PowerPoint in 60 Seconds
  
  
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You can also find great PowerPoint presentation templates with premium
designs on GraphicRiver or Envato Elements. Or, browse through our selection of
the best Microsoft PowerPoint designs:

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  We also have the perfect companion to this tutorial, which will walk you through the complete presentation process. Learn how to write your presentation, design it like a pro, and prepare it to present powerfully.  

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