If you have ever tried to edit an image within PowerPoint – or any other part of the Office suite, for that matter – you will be only too aware of how limited your options are. But this is now changing.
Microsoft has announced the introduction of new image editing tools in PowerPoint. Designed to let you perform in-place edits, there are numerous advanced tools included such as background removal and more.
Announcing the availability of the new image editing tool, one of the PowerPoint team — Rachelle Dong – says that Microsoft is bringing “a new way to edit images directly in PowerPoint so you can enhance, refine, and perfect visuals without leaving your deck”.
Explaining that this includes tools such as “Remove background, Erase, Move, resolution upscaling, and more”, she continues:
Images are a core part of storytelling in PowerPoint, and switching tools can disrupt your flow. You can now edit images directly inside PowerPoint for Windows, Mac, or the web, saving you the time and the hassle required to switch to a separate image-editing app. It’s easy to make improvements like removing backgrounds, erasing or moving unwanted elements, enhancing image quality, upscaling resolution, or even editing text that appears on an image.
There are number of usage scenarios that Microsoft sees these new tools helping with:
- Clean up screenshots, photos, or online images.
- Remove distracting backgrounds from photos before placing them into layouts.
- Add text annotations with cool text effects.
- Improve low-resolution images copied from the web or scanned documents.
- Auto‑enhance lighting and contrast to make images presentation‑ready.
- Remove objects or artifacts that don’t belong with Erase.
- Improve clarity for images that look pixelated on large screens with Upscale.
The company also provides simple instructions for getting started:
- Select an image in your PowerPoint slide.
- Click the Edit Image button (first button from the left) in the Picture Format tab on the ribbon, or right click the image and select Edit Image from the menu.
- Edit your image with actions like Remove background, Erase, Move, Upscale, Auto enhance, Add text, Edit text, or Effects. Preview the changes in real time, and then select Update to update the image directly on your slide.
Microsoft says that this feature is rolling out to PowerPoint for the web users and is available to users running:
- Windows: Version 2510 (Build 19422.20000) or later
- Mac: Version 16.104 (Build 25121423) or later
Find out more in the blog post here.
