How to add a background picture in PowerPoint

When presenting a PowerPoint to an audience, it is an unavoidable fact that looks matter. An attractive presentation will not compensate for bad content. But it will augment good content, making it both easier to understand and more memorable. In fact, many of the principles of good content organization — symmetry, hierarchy, color coding — are aesthetic principles as well.

Your choice of a background image, or your decision to not use one, is important. In most cases, it will be seen on every slide. It has to look good sitting behind the various kinds of content (text, images, tables, etc.) in your PowerPoint. And it has to project a unifying theme that reinforces the main message of the presentation. Fortunately, you can switch background pictures as often as you need to, and the procedure is fast and easy. Let’s review how to add or change (or remove) a background picture in PowerPoint, so you can make sure your slideshow is looking its best.

How to add or change the background image in PowerPoint

Open your .ppt file (or start a new one). Click on the first slide you want to apply a background image to, then click on the Design menu.

In the upper right, click on Format Background.

In the dialogue box, under Fill, click on Picture or texture fill.

A Picture source dialogue will come up. Click on Insert.

Choose the source for your background image. It can be a file on your computer, an online image, or one of Microsoft’s stock images.

Select the file you want to use by clicking on it, then click on Insert.

The image will fill the entire background of the slide. Any content already present will be in front of the image. If you are happy with your background and want to use it throughout the presentation, click on Apply to All at the bottom of the Format Background window. If you do not have any other slides in the presentation yet, clicking on Apply to All will automatically add your selected background image to any further slides you insert.

How to remove the background picture in PowerPoint

With the PowerPoint presentation open, click on the Design menu.

Click on the Format Background button in the top right.

In the dialogue box, click on Solid fill. A Color dialogue will show up below. Choose a color from the picker (usually white or black, but you decide based on your project needs) and the background of the slide will change immediately.

If you want to apply this solid fill to all slides in the presentation, click on the Apply to All button at the bottom of the Format Background dialogue box.

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