How to blur an image in powerpoint

PowerPoint comes with a lot of features, but many of them are often overlooked. Instead of downloading a third-party software or web app to edit photos while creating a presentation, you can actually just stay on the Microsoft PowerPoint. There are plenty of built-in tools that you can use to enhance images.

Here’s how to blur either a photo for background or a portion of an image in PowerPoint:

How to blur image backgrounds on PowerPoint

1. Open the Image on PowerPoint

Open your PowerPoint and on the Insert tab, click on Picture. From the dropdown menu, choose the source of the photo that you will use (e.g. from a device or online). For other versions, there might be no dropdown menu for options, so you will have to add photos from your desktop.

2. Use Built-in Artistic Effects

Once the image is on the Slide, you’ll automatically see the Picture Tools on your toolbar. If not, you can click on the Format Picture tab. Click on the Artistic Effects and choose what style you want your blur effect to look.

3. Adjust your Artistic Effects Radius

To blur just the background, use Artistic Effects formatting options to adjust the blur effect. Depending on your Windows version, the Format picture menu may appear on the side of your screen or as a pop-up menu.

Once you click the Artistic Effect, it will either automatically make a Format Picture menu appear on the side of your screen. If there’s none, click on the Artistic Effects, and from the drop-down menu of effects, look for the Artistic Effects Options at the bottom

You’ll be prompted to an option to adjust the Radius of your effect. It is often set to 10 but you can tweak it if you need to.

How to blur a portion of an image on Powerpoint

To blur just a portion of the picture you can also make use of the Insert Shape tool. Here’s how:

1. Select the Area You want to Blur

Once you have a photo on the slide, click on Insert > Shape from the Menu Bar to draw a shape over the area you want to blur.

2. Select the Color Tone of the Blur Effect

On the Format tab, select Shape Fill > Eyedropper then select a part of the picture with the color you want the blurred shape to be.

If your PowerPoint version does not have the Eyedropper function yet, you can simply choose a color by clicking Shape Fill > More Colors, then choose a color you prefer. We suggest you choose a color near the hue of the area you want to blur.

3. Apply Soft Edges Effect

Afterward, on the Format tab, select Shape Effects > Soft Edges. Point at one of the Soft Edge Variations to see a preview of the effect and select the one you think would look best on the project. You can also adjust the size and placing of the blur effect if needed.

4. Save as Photo

To save or use the edited phot, select the shape then press Ctrl and click the border of the picture. On the Format tab, select Group > Group.

Right-click the grouped objects and select Save as Picture. You can now use the edited picture in PowerPoint, or insert it in any Office file.

Posted November 26, 2013 by Lê Hoàng in Microsoft Powerpoint

If you find a suitable object for your presentation but its color does not match the theme of your slides, you can recolor the object directly inside PowerPoint without using any third-party program.

Below is an example of how you can change the color of an object easily inside PowerPoint. I changed a lotus from yellow to blue in just a few clicks. However, this feature is helpful for single-colored objects only. If your objects have multiple colors, filling it with one solid color may make it look strange. Transparent parts in the objects remain unaffected.

1. Launch PowerPoint, and open the presentation that contains the object whose color you want to change.

2. Navigate to the desired slide, select the object, and click the Format tab, which is the option farthest to the right on the ribbon.

3. In the Format tab, under the Adjust section, choose Color. You will then see a list of predefined colors from which you can chose. Move your mouse over the option to preview the change on your object in real time. If you cannot find the color you want in the list, choose More Variations at the bottom of the menu.

4. Under the More Variations menu, you can choose one of the provided theme colors or click More Colors and set your own color. If you already have an object that contains your desired color, you can use the Eyedropper feature to get the color code from it quickly.

5. Please note that this is destructive editing. This means that you may not be able to revert back to the object’s original color, unless you use the Undo function. If you still have a copy of the object on the hard drive, re-inserting it into your presentation will help, but you may have to re-add additional effects to it.

In this course:

You can use a picture as the background for a slide or slides.

You can adjust the picture’s transparency after you add it to the slide.

Tip: Check out these YouTube videos from Microsoft Creators for more help with pictures and graphics!

Insert a background picture on a slide

Right-click the margin of the slide and then select Format Background.

In the Format Background pane, choose Picture or texture fill.

Under Insert picture from, choose where to get the picture from:

Insert a picture from your computer or network drive

Insert a copied picture

(This option is unavailable if you haven’t Copied a picture.)

Search the web for an image

To adjust the picture’s relative lightness, slide the Transparency bar to the right.

To apply the background picture to all slides in your presentation, choose Apply to All. Otherwise, simply close the Format Background pane.

Remove a background picture

In Normal view, select a slide that has the background pattern or picture you want to remove.

On the Design tab of the toolbar ribbon, in the Customize group at the far right end, select Format Background.

In the Format Background pane, under Fill, select Solid Fill.

Select the down arrow next to the Color button. A gallery of colors appears. Select the white color.

Your current background is removed, and the background of the slide is now white.

If you want to make the same change to the other slides in the presentation, choose Apply to All at the bottom of the Format Background pane.

Insert a background picture on a slide

Right-click the margin of the slide and then select Format Background.

Under Fill, choose Picture or texture fill.

Under Insert from, choose where to get the picture from:

Insert a picture from your computer or network drive

Insert a copied picture

(This option is unavailable if you haven’t Copied a picture)

Search the web for an image

To adjust the picture’s relative lightness, slide the Transparency bar to the right.

To apply the background picture to all slides in your presentation, choose Apply to All. Otherwise, select Close.

Remove a background picture

In Normal view, select a slide that has the background pattern or picture you want to remove.

On the Design tab of the toolbar ribbon, in the Background group at the far right end, select Background Styles and then select Format Background.

The Format Background dialog box opens.

In the dialog box, on the Fill tab, select Solid Fill.

Select the down arrow next to the Color button and from the gallery of options select the white color.

Your current background is removed, and the background of the slide is now white.

If you want to make the same change to the other slides in the presentation, choose Apply to All.

If your background image is drawing unnecessary attention, or you need to blur part of an image that contains sensitive information, you can do so directly in PowerPoint. We’ll show you how.

Blur an Entire Image

First, open PowerPoint and navigate to the slide containing the image you want to blur. Select the image, and that automatically opens the “Picture Format” tab.

Next, select “Artistic Effects” from the “Adjust” group.

In the drop-down menu that appears, click the Blur option.

Your image in its entirety is now blurred. If it’s not as blurry as you’d like, you can adjust it manually. Back in the “Artistic Effects” drop-down menu, select “Artistic Effects Options.”

The “Format Picture” pane appears on the right side of the window. Under “Artistic Effects,” find the bar next to “Radius” and drag the setting to the right to increase the blurriness of the image until you’re happy with it.

What if you only want to blur a specific part of an image instead of the entire picture? While it’s not a straightforward process, there is a way you can do it.

Blur Part of an Image

As Office states, there’s not a blur tool explicitly designed to blur part of an image. This trick requires a little manipulation of the other tools.

The first thing you need to do is insert a shape that covers the area of the photo you want to blur. You can use one of the default shapes from the “Illustrations” group on the “Insert” tab, or you can draw a freeform shape.

Once you have your shape, adjust it to cover the part of the image you want to blur.

After you insert the shape, you’re moved to the “Shape Format” tab. In the “Shape Styles” group, select “Shape Fill,” and then select “Eyedropper” from the drop-down menu.

This allows you to choose a part of the image that is close to the color you want to make the shape.

Next, head back over to the “Shape Styles” group of the “Shape Format” tab. Click “Shape Effects,” and then select “Soft Edges” from the drop-down menu that appears.

A sub-menu appears showcasing several different soft edge variations. Choose one that works best for you. For this example, we selected the 25-point variation.

That specific part of the image should now appear blurred without drawing unnecessary attention.

Now, we need to group the image and shape so they stay together if you need to adjust something else later. To do this, hold the ctrl key and click both objects.

Now, in the “Picture Format” tab, select “Group” from the “Arrange” section. In the drop-down menu, click “Group.”

The two objects are now joined together. This allows you to adjust the background while the blurry shape stays in the correct location.

Related Articles

• How to Create an Overlay in Powerpoint
• How to Make Letters Curve in Word
• How to Fragment in Photoshop
• How to Make Animated Characters in PowerPoint
• How to Use Looping Backgrounds in PowerPoint
• How to Add a Caption Directly Onto a Picture in a JPEG File

PowerPoint includes several artistic effects that you can use to edit or enhance your embedded images. The blur effect softens an image to obscure it, blurring the picture strongly or weakly depending on the options you set. If a slide’s background image appears to attract unnecessary attention, you can blur it to return focus to the foreground material. You can also blur images to keep their content private. For example, you can include a blurred image of an upcoming product if you are not yet ready to fully unveil it.

Step 1

Open PowerPoint and find the image to blur. Click the image to select it.

Step 2

Click the “Format” tab on the ribbon and click “Artistic Effects” in the Adjust group to open a drop-down menu.

Step 3

Click “Artistic Effects Options” to open the Format Picture dialog box.

Step 4

Click the “Artistic Effect” button and click the thumbnail for the blur effect to blur your image.

Step 5

Drag the Radius slider to the right or left to increase or decrease the strength of your blur.

Step 6

• Microsoft: Apply an Artistic Effect to a Picture
• Teach Yourself Visually PowerPoint 2010; Bill Wood

Ryan Menezes is a professional writer and blogger. He has a Bachelor of Science in journalism from Boston University and has written for the American Civil Liberties Union, the marketing firm InSegment and the project management service Assembla. He is also a member of Mensa and the American Parliamentary Debate Association.

Blur Images on Your PowerPoint Slides

by Avantix Learning Team | Updated July 31, 2020

Applies to: Microsoft ® PowerPoint ® 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019 and 365 (Windows)

You can achieve some interesting effects in your PowerPoint presentations by applying a blur effect to a picture. Blur is an artistic effect and you can increase the blur using the Format Picture task pane or dialog box. After you blur an image, you could then place shapes, text or even another picture on top of the image.

You may want to blur images to:

• Add visual interest
• Remove focus from an element on a slide
• Create interesting backgrounds

Note: Some Ribbon tabs may appear with slightly different names if you are working on Office 365 and have a smaller screen or different display settings.

Applying a blur effect to an image

To apply a blur effect to a picture:

1. In Normal View, click the picture you want to blur. You could also select a picture in Slide Master View.
2. Click the Picture Tools Format or Picture Format tab in the Ribbon and select Artistic Effects in the Adjust group. A drop-down menu appears.
3. Select Blur (the last option in the second row).

The Artistic Effects gallery appears as follows in PowerPoint:

Increasing the image blur

You can increase the blur applied to an image using the Format Picture task pane in PowerPoint 2013 and later versions:

1. Right-click the blurred image and select Format Picture. A task pane appears.
2. Click the Effects button at the top of the task pane.
3. Click the arrow beside Artistic Effects to expand it.
4. Drag the slider line beside Radius to increase the blur.

Below is the Format Picture task pane:

You can increase the blur applied to an image using the Format Picture dialog box in 2010:

1. Right-click the blurred image and select Format Picture. A dialog box appears.
2. Click Artistic Effects in the categories on the left.
3. Drag the slider line beside Radius to increase the blur.

The Format Picture dialog box displays as follows when Artistic Effects is selected:

Check out the following examples of pictures before and after a blur effect has been applied:

You can also combine other effects with blur such as brightness, contrast or color.

Blurred images can be used effectively as slide backgrounds. Simply blur the image, right-click it and select Save As Picture from the drop-down menu. Enter a new name for the image, save it in the desired folder and then insert it as a slide background.

Although you can blur pictures, you cannot blur text in the same way. You would need to copy the text and paste it as an image using Paste Special. Once the text has been pasted as an image, you would then be able to apply a blur effect to it.

Subscribe to get more articles like this one

Did you find this article helpful? If you would like to receive new articles, join our email list.

Related

Recommended Microsoft Office courses

Avantix Learning instructor-led classroom courses are held in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Contact us if you’d like to arrange custom training at your site or ours.

To request this page in an alternate format, contact us.

You may also like

How to Create, Save, Use and Edit Templates in Microsoft Word

You can create, save, use and edit templates in Microsoft Word for frequently-used documents such as letters, reports, proposals and manuals. Templates include basic character, paragraph and page formatting and may include text, custom styles, tables, images, macros, sections, headers and footers.

14 Word Shortcuts to Quickly Select Text (Words, Lines and Paragraphs)

In Microsoft Word, you can save lots of time if you can quickly select characters, words, lines, paragraphs and blocks of text in your documents. You can use keyboard shortcuts or mouse shortcuts to select text.

10+ Great Microsoft Word Navigation Shortcuts to Move Around Quickly in Your Documents

In Microsoft Word, you can save lots of time if you can move around quickly in your documents. You can use keyboard shortcuts to jump to the beginning or end of your document and move up or down by page or paragraph.

Learn techniques for adding blur to specific areas of a photo and how to use a blur effect to express motion in your static image.

Use the blur tool to enrich focus and add style.

Adding blur to a photo can bring focus, amplify motion, and add other artistic elements to your photos. A blurred background or a radial blur in an image can imitate the high-focus look of a shallow depth of field. You can also add a linear blur to mimic tilt-shift photography or even use motion blur to add movement to a static object.

Blur images with a brush or directional tool.

Add a blur effect with a brush.

Soften certain areas and draw focus to your subject by applying blur with your favorite brush. Select the Blur tool in Photoshop, choose a brush tip and strength, and drag it over the spots you want to blur. You can do the same in Lightroom.

Show movement with motion blur.

Add movement to a static object or person in a photo by applying a directional Path Blur filter in Photoshop. See how art director Kathleen Martin adds a motion blur effect and learn more about how to add drama with blur filters.

Apply radial blur around a fixed focal point in an image.

See how you can create a radial blur that surrounds a specific focal point by applying Iris Blur in Photoshop. Select one area to keep in focus and control the amount and gradient of the blur.

In Photoshop, go to Filter > Blur Gallery and select Iris Blur.

Click the pin at the center of the ring and place it on your focal point.

Click and drag single points to elongate the ellipsis or drag the outer line to resize the blur area.

Click and drag the dots inside the blur preview ring to adjust the size of the blur transition area.

Adjust the round blur dial to control the amount of blur applied.

When you’re finished, press Enter or click OK at the top of the Blur Gallery window.

Discover how blur can be used as an artistic tool.

Get creative using blur as a tool to create a composite image or transform photos into color palette explorations.

Use blur in a composite image.

Radial or directional blurring can be used to blend together composite images in Photoshop. Use blur to add motion to your composite with radial blur, or add texture to lessen noise in the background of a photo.

Use blur to explore color.

Watch Julieanne Kost’s tutorial on how she created her Colors of Place artwork — a creative use of Photoshop’s blur tool to distill the color palettes of photos in a series.

Understanding each of the ways to blur an image can do more than just enhance the look of a photo, it can open new doors to creative expression. Try each of the various blurring effects in Photoshop to discover all that’s possible.

The PowerPoint Ninja Blog covers practical PowerPoint topics, tips, and tricks.

• Contact
• Resources
• About
• Home

• Animations
• Bullet Point Therapy
• Charts
• Design Tips
• Fonts
• For Fun
• Graphics
• Philosophy
• PowerPoint 2007
• PowerPoint 2010
• Presentation Books
• Presentation Delivery
• Presentation Planning
• Templates
• Toolbox
• Video

• January 2013
• October 2012
• July 2012
• May 2012
• March 2012
• February 2012
• December 2011
• November 2011
• June 2011
• May 2011
• April 2011
• February 2011

Image fades can be useful in many situations (just like a good pair of jeans). (c) Thinkstock

You may have run into a situation where you wanted to fade a part of an image for a PowerPoint slide. By fade, I don’t mean the fade animation effect in PowerPoint. By fade, I mean blending the image into the background color or another solid color of your choice. You may have thought you needed Photoshop to create a fade effect with your images. However, you can achieve a fade effect directly in PowerPoint using an object with a blended transparent gradient fill.

Step 1 – Identify where a fade is required

Typically, I use the image fading technique in two ways. First, you can use it to emphasize a key part of an image and still leave the audience with a sense for the bigger picture. Second, you can also use it to hide or de-emphasize less important parts of an image. In the example below, I wanted to soften or remove the edge of the image so that it didn’t stand out so much on the slide. I’ve used this approach to allow bullet points to overflow on to an image and not have the text become lost in the image.

On the left, the edge of the image stands out. On the right, using the fade technique I was able to soften the edge so the image blends into the slide better (c) Thinkstock.

Step 2 – Choose an appropriate shape and size

I used a long, narrow rectangle for this fade effect.

Normally, I use rectangles to fade out parts of an image (objects need to be positioned on top of images). However, you can use other shapes to create more interesting fade effects. Sizing also becomes an issue with the fade effect as a wider shape makes the fade more gradual while a narrower shape makes the fade more sharp or abrupt.

Step 3 – Add a two-stop gradient fill to shape

With the shape on top of the image, you right-click on the shape and click on “Format Shape” at the bottom of the pop-up menu. Under the Fill tab, you select Gradient fill. Under the Gradient stops, remove one of the stops so you only have two (by default you get three stops but the third one is unnecessary).

Step 4 – Ensure the direction of the fade is correct

While still in the Fill tab, click on the Direction and choose the appropriate orientation of the fade. For example, if you want the fade to go left to right (or vice versa), make sure you select Linear Right or Left.

You need to make sure the direction of the fade is correct to achieve the desired effect.

Step 5 – Change stops to desired color for fade

Within the Format Shape > Fill tab, you configure your fade object.

In the Fill tab under Gradient stops, you select each stop and choose your desired color. For example, if your background is white and you want to fade an image into the background then you would select white as the color for both stops.

Step 6 – Change transparency of one stop to 100%

Next, you’ll need to adjust the transparency setting of one of the stops under the Gradient stops section to 100% (transparent). The other stop will be 0% (opaque). You may need to reverse the transparency settings of the stops depending on whether the fade flows the way you need it to.

With the image fading technique added to your toolbox, you’re better equipped to emphasize or de-emphasize key parts of images in your PowerPoint slides. This technique can add polish to your slides and help them communicate better. Good luck!

Related Articles

• 3D PowerPoint Effects on a Mac
• Making 3D Spheres in PowerPoint
• How to Animate All Slides on PowerPoint for Mac
• The Polaroid Effect Using Picasa
• How to Make a 3D Cylinder in PowerPoint
• How to Fade a Picture From Color to Black & White for PowerPoint

When you’re putting together a PowerPoint presentation to use in a business meeting, you’ll eventually reach the point that you’re ready to begin fine-tuning the elements of your slide show. This includes minor changes to animations and various effects you prefer on images. One effect you may want is feathering an image or shape, which is one of many features available in PowerPoint’s image options. You can apply a preset feather effect or specify your own preference.

Feathering

An image that is “feathered” has faded edges, so that its edges fade into the background instead of maintaining a clear border. This gives images a softer look and can make them look more distinct from other images that do maintain their border. The term “feather” isn’t present in PowerPoint’s features, but the same effect is available in the “soft edges” feature, which is available for images you insert as well as shapes you may insert, such as arrows.

PowerPoint Feathering

If you want to feather an image or shape in PowerPoint, you need to click it and then click the “Format” tab below “Drawing Tools.” There you can click the drop-down menu for either “Picture Effects” or “Shape Effects,” depending on whether you’re feathering an image or a shape. This option is within the “Picture Styles” or “Shape Styles” group, respectively. If you hover your mouse over “Soft Edges,” options will appear for various strengths of feathering, and all you need to do is click the one you want. If you hover your mouse over each option, you’ll see a preview in your slide of the feathering effect.

Feathering Options

You can also choose a more specific feathering option if the standard options don’t meet your needs. This feature is available by clicking either “Picture Effects” or “Shape Effects,” then highlighting “Soft Edges” just as you would normally. Then, instead of clicking a preset option, you can click “Soft Edges Options,” which brings up a window where you can choose the strength of the feathering by adjusting the “Size” slider.

Feathering Slides

You also have the option to make an entire slide have a feathered appearance if you want. One method for this is to simply select a theme, available in the “Design” tab, that has a feathered appearance for its background. You can also look for more themes by clicking the drop-down arrow beside the available themes and then clicking “More Themes on Microsoft Office.com.” You can also insert your own image that is already feathered as a slide background. This is available by clicking the “Design” tab and then the “Background Styles” option in the Background group. There you can click “Fill” and then “Picture,” where you can navigate to and select the image you want from your computer.

• Microsoft Office Support: Add or Change an Effect for a Picture
• Microsoft Office Support: Add or Delete a Shape Fill or Shape Effect
• Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2010 Support: Remove or Change the Current Theme
• Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2010 Support: Insert a Background Picture, Color, or Watermark to Your Slides

A lover of technology in all forms, Matt Skaggs began writing professionally in 2010, specializing in Windows computers and Android devices. His writing has appeared on many websites providing a plethora of technology information and tutorials. In 2008 Skaggs graduated from Bob Jones University with a Bachelor of Arts in humanities.