Photography in Powerpoint® Slides

I was asked today by a student to give advice about finding and using photography in Powerpoint® for your presentations.

FIRST, I think it is a good idea to use photography in your presentations. Photographs often have a strong impact on your audience if you choose good images. Of course, in addition to finding and choosing good-looking images, you need to be careful about using copyrighted materials.

One way to avoid problems is to use your own photographs. Consider if you and your teammates can take photographs that suit your point.

Another option is to use stock photography. There are both paid and free options. Sometimes I buy photographs from a website called iStockphoto.com. After paying one time for the photo, I am able to use the photo again and again.

However, most of you probably do not want to pay for your photographs. There are some free options on sites like Flickr. You need to be careful though, because each photographer who puts their photos on Flickr can choose what kind of license to give to people who download their images. You need to find images with a Creative Commons licence (click here to read about the CC license and to browse photos with those licenses).

SECOND, you should consider filling your entire slide with one photograph instead of using a small image inside your slide. Also consider if you really need text, or if the image alone is enough to support what you are saying. If you do need to use words on the slide, write them in an empty space inside the photograph (if there is any). If possible, use white or black with a shadow.

Most of Flickr's photos are not large enough to fill a slide though. I recommend photos that are 1024 x 768 pixels or larger (at least 800 x 600 which you can stretch). So, I suggest another site called stock.xchange. There images are free to download and come with a license that allows you to use the images in presentations (read here for more details about the license). Just don't use those images to earn money for some other project. There is a search bar where you can write in key words that can help you find good images.

THIRD, give credit to the photographer. Some people will write the photographers name and/or the website link on the photograph. This is OK, but you can also make a slide at the end of your presentation with all of the credits (or even a handout). Whatever you do, don't take credit for someone else's work.

Have fun in your preparations. I look forward to seeing what you do with your presentations!