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Laura M. Foley Design
Cheat Death by PowerPoint!

What size should my slides be, 16:9 or 4:3?
July 3, 2017 by Laura Foley 2 Comments
Deciding on a slide format used to be easy when there was only one choice. Nowadays, you can choose between 4:3 format or 16:9. What do these numbers mean and which size should you choose for your presentations?
What the numbers mean
The above notation is called the “aspect ratio,” or the ratio of the width to the height of the slide. In the 4:3 aspect ratio, the dimensions are 1024 x 768 pixels (10.67″ x 8″); the height is 3/4 of the width. Back in the Ye Olde Days of PowerPoint, it was your only choice. Why? Because that’s the aspect ratio of actual slides, pictured above, television screens, and early computer monitors.
When high-definition screens came on the scene in the early 2000s, they were built in a 16:10 aspect ratio. But as more and more high-definition screens were manufactured, it became clear that screens with a 16:9 aspect ratio were cheaper to manufacture. So the 16:9 aspect ratio (1920 x 1080 pixels or 13.3″ x 7.5″) became the new standard.
What size should you choose?
From boardrooms to computer monitors to smartphone screens, 16:9 is the default screen aspect ratio so that’s the slide size I always go with. The 16:9 format gives you a lot of slide real estate to play around with! The legacy 4:3 aspect ratio, while still used, creates smaller slides and doesn’t look that great on newer screens.
How do you change an old 4:3 deck to the new 16:9 format?
Oh, this is super-fun to do and you’re a lucky duck if it becomes your job.
To resize your slides go to the Design tab on the ribbon and select Slide Size/Widescreen on the right side of the screen.

After you select the new size, this window will appear:

Now you’re faced with either everything on the slides being stretched out or squished to fill the space. Oh boy! Either way, after you make your selection you’ll need to go through the presentation slide by slide to ensure that everything looks good. This can be fairly straightforward if the creator of the presentation stayed within the template or a real pain in the rear if he/she didn’t. But do go through the deck to ensure that everything looks right.
If you’re a production artist that charges by the hour, reformatting an organization’s slides from 4:3 to 16:9 could be a nice little gig for you!
Other slide sizes for special events
Now, the 16:9 format is great for everyday use but what if you’re designing a presentation for an event? Last year, I was designing slides for a corporate conference where the setup included multiple, massive screens. For that event, the slides measured 52″ x 17″ and had a “leave this space blank” area on the bottom. Each event is different, so if you’re working on slides like these you need to become friends with the AV folks and find out what size slides they recommend for optimal viewing on that particular setup. The last thing you want to see on a gigantic stage are distorted graphics!
Bottom line
Unless you’re told otherwise, use the 16:9 format. You get a lot more space on each slide for your visuals and it’s really the way things are going.
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Change the size of your slides
Basic steps.
To change the slide size:
Select the Design tab of the toolbar ribbon.

Select Standard (4:3 aspect ratio) or Widescreen (16:9) or Custom Slide Size .

For more about the predefined sizes (including formats like Overhead, A3, A4, Banner, B4, and B5) or your own custom sizing, click a heading below to expand it and see the details .
Detailed steps
Choose the standard or widescreen slide size.
On the Design tab of the Ribbon, locate Slide Size in the Customize group, near the far right end of the toolbar.

Select Slide Size , and then select either Standard (4:3) or Widescreen (16:9) .

When PowerPoint is unable to automatically scale your content, it prompts you with two options:
Maximize : Select this option to increase the size of your slide content when you are scaling to a larger slide size. Choosing this option could result in your content not fitting on the slide.
Ensure Fit : Select this option to decrease the size of your content when scaling to a smaller slide size. This could make your content appear smaller, but you’ll be able to see all content on your slide.

The 16:9 widescreen setting is the default value for new presentations you create. When you change the slide size for a presentation, the size you choose only applies to that presentation. However, you can make it easy to create a new 4:3 presentation for yourself whenever you want—by defining a custom theme that uses the 4:3 aspect ratio. See the section below named "Make a default size to start from when creating new presentations."
Choose another size, such as A3, B4, or Overhead
Select Slide Size , and then select Custom Slide Size .

In the Slide Size box, click the down arrow next to Slides sized for and select an option. Their dimensions are listed below:
Overhead provides an aspect ratio very close to the standard 4:3 slide size.
There are two options for 16:9 aspect ratios:
On-screen Show (16:9) sets the slide dimensions to 10 in x 5.625 in.
Widescreen sets it to 13.333 in x 7.5 in.
Both of these options are the same aspect ratio so they will look the same in Normal View , since PowerPoint automatically adjusts the zoom level. Widescreen (13.333 in x 7.5 in.) provides more slide surface area for the content, so that is the best choice for presentations. Widescreen won’t fit on an 8.5" x 11" sheet of paper without you having to scale it down.

Select OK to accept the dimensions and close the Slide Size dialog box.
Choose custom dimensions (in inches, centimeters, or pixels)
The Slide Size dialog box opens.
In the Slide Size dialog box, ensure the orientation is set the way you want it.
In the Height and Width boxes, PowerPoint accepts measurements in inches , centimeters , or pixels . Type a number followed by a space and then the appropriate abbreviation: in , cm , or px .
PowerPoint then converts measurements, if necessary, to the type of unit your operating system uses.
You can change the unit of measure that is shown in PowerPoint dialog boxes if you like.
Make a default size to start from when creating new presentations
This version of PowerPoint has a default size of 16:9 for new presentation, but you can create a different default for yourself.
Start PowerPoint.
On the File tab of the toolbar ribbon, select New . Then double-click the Blank Presentation to create a new, empty presentation.
Then on the Design tab, click Slide Size and choose the size you want for a default.
(If you want a different default slide size than what's listed there, select Custom Slide Size and then choose your size in the Slide Size dialog box, and then click OK .)

Select Save Current Theme .
Give your theme a name that you'll remember easily and click Save . Don't change the folder that the new theme is to be saved in.
On the Design tab, click the More arrow again in the bottom-right corner of the Themes group. You'll see your newly saved theme under a Custom heading.
Right-click that new custom theme under the Custom heading, and then select Set as Default Theme :

Close PowerPoint. Don't save any files if it prompts you.
Open PowerPoint again. On the File tab of the toolbar ribbon, select New .
The custom theme that you just saved is listed at the top left corner, named Default Theme . The thumbnail image looks like a widescreen slide, but in reality, when you create a new presentation based on that theme, the presentation has the aspect ratio that you've defined for this default theme.
The next time you open PowerPoint, you'll see your default theme in the upper-left of the theme gallery. When you select it, all the slides will be the custom size you chose by default.
Sizing applies to all slides in a presentation
PowerPoint isn't able to resize one slide within a presentation. All slides in a presentation are the same size.
If this is a feature you’d like to request, please send us your feedback to help us prioritize new features in future updates. See How do I give feedback on Microsoft Office for more information.
Orientation applies to all slides in a presentation
PowerPoint isn't able to change the page orientation of certain slides. All slides in a presentation have the same page orientation.
Change the page orientation in PowerPoint between landscape and portrait
Use portrait and landscape slide orientation in the same presentation
Reduce the file size of a picture
Important: Office 2010 is no longer supported . Upgrade to Microsoft 365 to work anywhere from any device and continue to receive support. Upgrade now

In the Page Setup dialog box, under Slides sized for , choose the predefined size you want, or choose Custom and specify the dimensions you want.
Choose a predefined slide size
On the Design tab of the Ribbon, select Page Setup .

The Page Setup dialog box opens.
Select the Slides Sized for list to open it, and then select one of the options.
The choices and their measurements are listed below:
When PowerPoint is unable to automatically scale your content, it will prompt you with two options:
Choose custom dimensions
Select the Slides Sized for list to open it, and then select Custom at the bottom of the list.
In the Height and Width boxes, specify the dimensions you want.
The unit of measure for these boxes is determined by your computer's operating system. If you need to convert from one system to another, see an online converter such as UnitConverters.net .
The minimum and maximum dimensions that PowerPoint accepts are:
You can change the unit of measure that is shown in PowerPoint dialog boxes .
Some folks have asked about resizing one slide within a presentation. PowerPoint isn't able to do that. All slides in a presentation are the same size.
Some folks have also asked about changing the page orientation of certain slides. PowerPoint isn't able to do that. All slides in a presentation have the same page orientation.
On the File menu, select Page Setup .
In the Page Setup dialog box, under Slides sized for , select the predefined size you want, or choose Custom and specify the dimensions you want.

Select Slide Size .

Select Standard (4:3) or Widescreen (16:9) .

PowerPoint may prompt you about scaling your content. Choose one of the following options:
Scale: Select this option to decrease or increase the size of your slide content. When scaling to a smaller slide size, this could make your content appear smaller, but you’ll be able to see all content on your slide.
Don't Scale: Select this option to maintain the size of your slide content. Choosing this option could result in your content not fitting on the slide.

Choose Page Setup from the menu that appears.
Page Setup gives you an assortment of predefined slide/page size options. The options and their dimensions are listed below:
In the Slide Size box, click the down arrow next to Slides sized for and select an option.
Widescreen sets the dimensions to 13.333 in x 7.5 in.

Choose custom dimensions (in inches, centimers, or pixels)
Select Slide Size , and then click Page Setup .

In the Width and Height boxes, PowerPoint accepts measurements in inches , centimeters , or pixels . Type a number followed by a space and then the appropriate abbreviation: in (inches) or cm (centimeters) or px (pixels).
PowerPoint then converts the measurements, if necessary, to the unit of measurement your operating system uses.
Make a new slide size the default for new presentations
Select Slide Size , and then select Page Setup .
Follow the steps in the prior section to choose the slide size you want.
On the Design tab, click the More arrow below the standard themes.

Click Save Current Theme at the bottom of the window.

Give your theme a name that you'll remember easily and click Save .
On the Design tab, click the More arrow below the standard themes again. You'll see your newly saved theme under Custom .

Right-click your new custom theme, and then click Set as Default Theme .

The next time you open PowerPoint, you'll see your default theme in the upper-left of the theme gallery. When you select it, all the slides will be the size you chose for your default theme.
On the Design tab of the toolbar ribbon, click Slide Size in the Customize group.

Click Standard (4:3) or Widescreen (16:9) .
When PowerPoint for the web is unable to automatically scale your content, it prompts you with two options:

The 16:9 widescreen setting is the default value for new presentations you create. When you change the slide size for a presentation, the size you choose only applies to that presentation.
You can also change the orientation of all the slides in your presentation. See Change the page orientation for instructions.

In the Width and Height boxes, type a measurement in inches . PowerPoint doesn't accept measurements outside the minimum and maximum shown below:

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Best Resolution For PowerPoint Presentations
Sep 30, 2015 | DataPoint , DataPoint Real-time Screens , How-To , iPoint

77 Comments
I do not have inch on powerpoint, What would 13.333 x 7.5 be in metric?
Mike, don’t worry. You can enter you number with the cm suffix too! The 13.333 in by 7.5 is the default slide size setting for a widescreen presentation in Inches.
Dear Admin,
Thanks for an awesome tutorial.
I am using windows computer and my office version is 2016. I have the following question please.
” Is it possible to setup a Powerpoint slide resolution in windows computer that will work perfectly on Macbook Pro Retina Display? If yes, How?”
Note: I am searching this solution for a long time. i think you can help me to get a solution regarding this.
Regards and Thanks
Thanks for the message. To set up that presentation for your Macbook, look what the resolution is. Maybe it is 2880 x 1800. When you have that, go to your PowerPoint, click Design and then Slide Size and choose Custom Slide size. There you see the width and height in inches or centimeters. Just enter here 2880 px and 1800 px and PowerPoint converts it automatically into the corresponding inches or centimeters.
I have been doing posters for years now and I always get a problem when I make my poster to be an A1 size,it never apear clear, it so not clear that you can’t see the picture clearly even the writing. How do I do my settings?
Hi Lucky, I need some more info on your process. Are you changing the slide size to the dimension of the A1 size? So 59.4cm x 84.1 cm or 23.4″ by 33.1″? I guess you did that already. How to you see it then that the picture is not clear? Are you insert pictures on your slide? Is the slide unclear on your screen? Or maybe, is a print-out or save-as-picture not clear? Please let me know. Maybe attached a sample.
My version of PowerPoint does not allow me to insert a custom setting of 1080px X 1920px. However it does allow a ratio of 16:9 in portait which automatically converts the size settings to 14:29cm width and 25.4cm height. Is this the same as 1080px X 1920px?
Thanks for your help!
Hi Ann, it all sounds correct. You can enter your dimensions as 1080px and 1920px. But indeed, the pixel values are automatically translated into cm or inches. That is normal. The new values fully correspond to your chosen px values.
Thanks for your Power Point How To! Unfortunately I lack a lot of knowledge on this subject, but am interested in learning how to create a better quality, higher resolution jpeg on PP. I often create and send flyers by email, or post them in Facebook. When I do so the text and pictures are somewhat blurry. I assume they are automatically compressed and therefore lose quality. Of course I know they can’t be too large for either of these mediums. I don’t know much about width and height or resolution. Any direction you can give me as to how best to determine that, and how to turn out a higher quality flyer would be very much appreciated. Thanks Sally
Hi Sally, I assume that you are using PPT 2016. In PowerPoint, click File, Options, Advanced. Then at the group ‘Image Size and Quality’, change the ‘Default resolution’ option. I always set this to ‘High fidelity’ for the best results.
That should do the trick!
I have PP 2016. A projector with native res of 1024 x 768. My screen is a 4:3 (6′ X 8′) and having trouble filling the screen. Should I tic the “Best scale for slide show” box and input 1024 x 768? How about using “Play full screen” under the video Playback tab. It’s all confusing.
Hi Frank, Your resolution of 1024 x 768 is a perfect match with your screen, since that is 4:3 too. According to this info here, I would say that the result is a full screen image. Video playback tab: no impact on your slide show page setting. Is for videos only. But have you set you slide design setting to 4:3 too? See Design, Slide Size. Is that 4:3?
Yes, I have slide size set to 4:3 (Slide still not filling the screen. Here are my specs: Projection screen size: 8′ x 6′ (4:3 ratio) Shows a 10″ X 7.5″ slide size. Projector has a native resolution of 1024 X 768 I should make the slide size setting 4:3 and leave default size or put in pixel sizes for height/width? That is 1024 px X 768 px?
What should my laptop display resolution be set to?
At 4:3 the slides fit the screen but the inserted videos do not fit screen–not sure what is causing that. Should “Play Full Screen” be checked?
When “Best scale for slide show is selected” a resolution is requested. (?) The default is showing 640×480)
At what point in the process do I bring in my slide show template? After all settings have been completed?
Sorry about the ton of questions Admin, there are so many settings it boggles the mind. Thanks Frank
Frank, since your projector is 4:3, then you should choose 4:3 on your slide design as well. If you want, you can always enter the pixel value, there whee you see the inches values. Just type in your e.g. 1024 px (with px!) and it will be converted to inches again. Could be a good test to try.
Best is to open your template first, and then apply the screen and slide design settings.
Hi Admin, Thanks for the suggestions.
When I select 4:3 for the 6′ x 8′ projection screen, there are no options to input H & W but I selected “Custom” and input 1024 px in width box and 768 in height. When I exited then re-entered “custom” the box showed 10.667 in and 8.0 in. (PowerPoint 2016).
Is placing the projector’s native res (1024 X 768) in the “Slide Size” box the only location in PP that the res is entered? (I see all kinds of slide dimensions in different places in PP.)
Thanks again, Frank
Thanks is correct. The px values that you can enter manually, are automatically converted into inches or centimetres, based on your regional settings. The only place where you should set/change the presentation slide design, is at (for ppt 2016) Design tab, Slide Size, Custom Slide Size. Maybe try with a new and clean presentation first!
Thanks Mr. Admin, you have been great. Saying that, nothing is working so I’m starting to think my new HDMI over Cat 6 cable that I got from Amazon might be the culprit. It uses two powered baluns but the cable itself was cheap.
For example, when I change the laptop display setting to match the projector’s, 1024×768 I lose the projector image entirely. I don’t get it back until I go back up to several higher re settings. AND, none of the slide sizes change the output to any degree at all. (Very frustrating.)
Frank, I understand that this is very frustrating for you. But I would suggest to bring down the resolution to 800×600 pixels. That is the most standard and lowest resolution that every device should be able to handle. Try that first. Secondly, try to use a VGA cable maybe, to check out your new HDMI cable (or another HDMI cable that you borrow somewhere).
And maybe try your chance at a PowerPoint forum or at other resources where more PowerPoint experts are watching. They might have the experience that you need here. Check out e.g. http://www.msofficeforums.com/powerpoint/ and https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Connect-with-other-PowerPoint-users-ce0fd093-41c0-406c-92b8-65603b89aa6e
Many thanks Admin, I’ll try those resources you suggested.
Hi Admin – we have a ppt template that by itself is over 5MB and is causing problems when we start to add additional pages we quickly get up to 20-40MB! We mainly present on a range from computer screen to normal boardroom sized screens. We have 2 solutions we’re looking into and would appreciate your expertise. 1) reduce all of the images in the master to 96 dpi, 2) remove all images in the master, only have templates, and then have separate files that can be inserted that contain images, etc. Any recommendations? Thoughts?
Hi Deborah, Shrinking your images before you insert them, is a good option. But, even when they are inserted already, you can compress the images on your slides, and thus, reduce the total size of the presentation. To do this, select your image, and go to the Picture Tools, Format tab. Click the Compress Pictures button. Now you get the option to compress the images to a given resolution, and to crop the pictures.
Normally a presentation of 20-40MB should not give you problems. What are the problems that you are experiencing then? Slow starting?
Hello — I have a PowerPoint presentation with slides that are set up as 10in x 7.5in (960 pixels x 720 pixels). If my .jpg images are set up as 96 pixels/inch, is that a high enough resolution? There will be 210 slides in the presentation, and each slide will have one .jpg that fills the screen. I am creating each slide first in InDesign (so that I have full design control over image/text) and exporting it as a .jpg file. I will not be adding anything else to the slide in PowerPoint (no additional text or images).
Thank you, Kathy
Hi Kathy, So your real question is, is a resolution of 96 pixels/inch enough for my presentation. First of all, 210 slides in one presentation is a lot. So, I guess you are creating some kind of brochure or business reporting, and not a sales presentation. So, with this number of slides, you will face probably a larger file. Using 96 px/in will keep your file size to a minimum. That’s for sure.
Important is: what is your priority? Small file size for easy distribution? Then you are fine already with this small resolution. But, if you want to use this presentation as an advertising or promotion presentation with your company’s products, then you should look at the resolution of your display device. When you are using a large 4K television screen (this is 4096 x 2160 px) for this, then of course this resolution of 960 x 720 pixels in total, is way too low. This would mean, that one pixel of your image would be stretched out and serve 4 pixels on your television. That results in an unsharp image on the TV.
So, the resolution set for your images, is not that important. You need to know the resolution of your display device (computer or projector/television) and the purpose of your presentation. Based on that info, you can make decisions on the image resolution, before importing them into PowerPoint.
But maybe a tip, or what I would do. Export the images from InDesign, in the highest resolution possible. Use them in PowerPoint. It will result in a large file, but you will have the maximum of information or details on your slides. Next step is to make a copy of the presentation and then you select your first picture, go to Picture Tools, Format tab, Compress Pictures. There you will have the option to compress the image to a lower resolution (for this or all images of the presentation). Save the presentation and evaluate it size or quality (whatever is your priority).
Hope this helps!
This is very helpful — thank you for all of the information and suggestions. It will help my workflow greatly. Thanks again.
Hi Do you have any particular advice on creating a PP presentation for a cinema screen. The cinema has specified 1990px x 1080px. Do you have any other advice?
Sure, at the boxes where you typically enter your values in inches or centimeters, just enter there the values with ‘px’ as suffix. So type in: 1990px and it will be translated automatically into inches or centimeters (according to your regional settings). That should help you.
Thanks for the article!
I have one question, I am creating a presentation that will be projected at a film theater and will include a variety of images. I want it to have the best possible quality. Is there something specific that I should do if it will be projecting at such a large size? Do I have to figure out the size of the projection in order to design something accordingly?
Thanks again
Hi Paul, thanks for your message.
Well, let me try to help you. The resolution of the presentation that you are designing is probably not relevant since you are probably using a projector on a wall. When presenting on a television screen, then you must respect the aspect ratio of your presentation and your television. More is explained here: https://www.presentationpoint.com/blog/powerpoint-aspect-ratio/ . But, that is not relevant when you are projecting on a e.g. white wall. Then you are not restricted at all, with regards to the aspect ratio.
More important is the possible loss in quality of your images. You might want to work with high resolution images, but by default, PowerPoint is compressing the images to a much lower resolution! That you don’t want to happen with a professional and largely projected presentation. Force PowerPoint to not compress your images. Set this already before you start adding images and definitely before your first save of the presentation. More info at https://www.presentationpoint.com/blog/powerpoint-compress-images/
Good luck with your event.
Whatis the real, true, actual maximum width in pixels for powerpoint 2016? I not talking about the scale up to fit the gpu (video card) but the actual physical pixel width limit. In 2010I was always told it was 4000 pixels. I do working with really wide screens in the video world. And by wide screen, I am talking 4096×4=16,384 pixels wide is a small canvas for us.
Microsoft will not generally answer this question and I have asked them this as microsoft shows like ignite 2017. Their responce is we base things on the printed world.
Good question James! Let’s play with it. PowerPoint 2016 (on Win platform) allows you to enter a custom slide design of 56″ width and 56″ height. Those are the maximum values that it allows. When you set a width in pixels, e.g. you enter 100px as value there, then that is translated into 1.042″. You know that you can enter px values in PowerPoint, right? So 100 pixels = 1.042″. This is means that the maximum pixel size of a PowerPoint presentation is limited to 5835 x 5835 pixels. 5835 pixels is the highest resolution that you can go. You can go higher, but you are losing quality. Hope that answers your question!
I send my customers PowerPoint files with mockup images of UI designs. I often receive comments saying the designs are either too small or too large, but I discovered this is largely because they use different devices with different dimensions/resolutions to review the mockups. Is there a way I can “force” images onscreen to stay fixed (let’s say at 4.2″x6.8″) regardless of what device they use?
I am preparing a photography dense Power Point presentation on a Mac that serves informational needs to both regional public offices and local mayors. I understand that these clients will be using PC computers. My online research warns the Mac lettering fonts may distort on PC oriented screens. To solve this issue, a suggestion was to take a image of a page’s entire the layout of images and text. How is that done successfully? Is a full size screen shot of a computer screen going to work? I am thinking that is not. So how do I get a good page image resolution? What file resolution am I after? 300dpi, 400dpi? It also warns of the sizes of each image done in this manner would be larger than if I had it done in PC’s Power Point. How much larger? What are the variables I need to understand?
Hi Judy, I would not export your nice presentation as (high-res) images between your Mac and PC users just for that. Why don’t you use safe fonts? A safe font is a font that can be used (normally without problems) on PC and Mac. There is a nice article that I found about this matter at https://www.indezine.com/products/powerpoint/learn/textandfonts/safe-fonts.html . Hope that helps!
I created a show at a custom size (10.5×8) and saved the slides as images. When I went to insert the images into a slideshow with the same dimensions as backgrounds, they were super fuzzy. Is there a way to fix this?
Thanks! Sarah
Hi Sarah, I think that you need to read and apply this article! https://www.presentationpoint.com/blog/powerpoint-low-resolution-pictures/
Is a 220 ppi good enough to have a crisp high quality presentation on a 16:9 projector with a resolution of 1,536 pixels x 960 pixels? Thank you!
Oh yes. 220 is still a very good quality! It will be looking much better already with this change!
What is the resolution settings of powerpoint JPG for 43″ LED TV?
Dear Jose, thanks for your question. At the stage, it is not possible for me to say that you have to use a resolution of x by y, because it depends on 2 things: a) what is the maximum display resolution that you can use on your television. For this info, check out the technical specifications of your brand/model. b) and more important: what is the maximum resolution or the current resolution of the computer that you want to connect to the screen?
Note that maybe your screen can handle a 4K resolution of 3840 by 2160 pixels, but your computer can handle only 1920 by 1080 pixels. In that case you best set up your presentation for 1920 by 1080 pixels, because that is the highest resolution that your computer can generate and send to your screen.
But on the other side, 3840 by 2160 is a ratio of 16:9 and 16:9 is definitely the ratio that is used on all modern televisions. So I would suggest to use 3840 by 2160, aka 4K, because that would fit on every 16:9 screen, even if the resolution is lower (whenever it is 16:9). So use and design in 4K and the output will be ok.
All clear? Success with your setup.
Dear Admin, thank you for the tutorial on the screen resolution. Please, I use windows 2010 and I can’t locate where to change the slide size like you illustrated using windows 2013. My presentation on my laptops come out so tiny and faint on the Flat Screen during my presentation. My audience can’t read what is on the screen. I need your help in this regard. Thank you. Phil.
Hi Phil, Have a look at this great article by Ellen Finkelstein where you see instructions and screenshots for 2010 specifically. https://www.ellenfinkelstein.com/pptblog/how-to-create-a-poster-in-powerpoint-2007-powerpoint-2010/ Does that help?
Sorry, gang… You included a lot of good information and suggestions here, but you never gave the correct answer. The Best Resolution for PowerPoint Presentations is:
“I resolve to use fewer text bullet points on my slides!”
Hello! I am working a Widescreen HD project– the default slide size is 13.333 x 7.5 in. When I insert the specifications of 1920 x 1080 px, the slide size reduces to 9.999 x 5.624 in. The slide size is *smaller*– it doesn’t seem logical that a smaller slide size would have increased projected resolution. What am I missing?
That sounds a bit low yes. AFAIK this value is calculated based on your current DPI settings. Could this be low too? In order to build e.g. a higher resolution presentation, I would double here your values in inches. The bigger, the better. It will always be reduced when too big. But starting small is, as you expected, not ideal.
Thank you so much for this great post. I want to create how-to-presentations and how-to-videos for internal teaching purposes at my company. First, I plan to create PowerPoint presentations with each >50-100 slides, lots of pictures and animations, afterwards I want to use the presentations as basis to produce the videos. The company I am working for deploys 4k widescreen TVs. Most of the pictures at our disposal are in 1920 x 1080 px format or lower.
First question: Above you mentioned “So I would suggest to use 3840 by 2160, aka 4K, because that would fit on every 16:9 screen, even if the resolution is lower”. I am not sure if I understood you correctly. Would it be of any benefit to me to use a 4K PowerPoint resolution, as you suggested, even if our pictures are of lower quality? If yes, why?
Second question: In order to produce the videos which of the two options would be better according to your experience? To use (a) the PowerPoint video feature or (b) to use a screen recorder (e.g. obs) to record my presentations as video? (Please keep in mind there are many animations which have to be executed manually in real time)
Third question: Which resolution should I use to produce a video given my company uses 4K TVs? (Full HD or 4K, given that our pictures are of lower quality than 4K)?
Sorry for the many questions I need your help. Thank you!
Thank you so much for your great article. I hope you can help me.
I would like to create high quality how-to-presentations and how-to-videos (both with many slides, pictures, animations and verbal comments) for internal education purposes at the company I am working for. We deploy 4k widescreen TVs. The format of the pictures at our disposal is 1920 x 1080 px or lower. First, I want to create the presentations, afterwards I want to use them as basis for the videos.
Above you mentioned “So I would suggest to use 3840 by 2160, aka 4K, because that would fit on every 16:9 screen, even if the resolution is lower”. I am not sure if I understood you correctly. Would it be of any benefit to me to make 4K PowerPoint presentations even if our pictures are 1920 x 1080 px or lower? If yes, why?
In order to create the videos which of the two options would you prefer according to your experience? (A) to use the PowerPoint video feature to create the videos? (I heard that PowerPoint is now able to do 4k videos) or (B) to use a screen recorder (e.g. OBS)? (Please keep in mind the format of our pictures; Also the many animations & verbal comments which I need to record in the video in real-time).
Would you also recommend to produce 4k videos instead of HD videos (1920 x 1080 px) given our picture quality?
I already finished a couple of presentations but they are in the format 4:3. Thanks to your article I understood that I have to switch the format to 16:9. When I attempt to set the settings for a new presentation to 16:9 (1920 x 1080 px) I get a PowerPoint-question asking me if I want to maximize the content or if I want to scale it down. Which of the two options do I have to take?
Your help would be very much appreciated. Thank you!
First question: I would still use 4K resolution. The higher the better. Even when your pictures are not directly in 4K, then still you can have the other shapes like texts etc in very high quality. Second question: ‘Animations that have to be executed manually’: that is conflicting with videos. Once it is a video, you have no manual options unless you would pause or start new videos. When it is manual advancing and animations (on click), then PowerPoint remains the best option. Not? Third question: Is related to the first one and I would give the same answer. I would produce and render at 4K.
This message is more or less identical to your first request. Overall I would suggest using 4K slide size. Maybe your images are not directly 4K, all the rest can be displayed in better quality. So when your TV output is 4K, then design in 4K for the best results.
Thanks so much for your great help! Since I have already completed a few presentations I was wondering whether I have to completely remake them. The presentations where saved in 220ppi mode (PowerPoint-Version 2016). My goal is to have a very high presentation quality (I guess high-fidelity will do) and a 4k resolution (I changed the settings after reading your post accordingly). Because of the standard PowerPoint settings of 220ppi I have to replace the pictures, this I understood. But what about the PowerPoint shapes like arrows etc? Are they automatically in high quality when I change the settings in the existing (old) presentations from e.g. 220ppi to high-fidelity or do the shapes still keep their 220ppi?
What would be the best solution? a) To simply replace my pictures (220ppi) in the current presentations. In case the shapes adapt automatically from 220ppi to high-fidelity this option would be preferred. b) To start a new presentation from scratch with the setting of high fidelity. I still have to replace the pictures but could I just copy the shapes from the existing (old) presentations into the new presentation? (Of course only good if the shapes would get changed from 220ppi to high-fidelity via the copying-process) c) To start a new presentation from scratch having to add new pictures and make new shapes?
Sorry for the delay due to the Christmas period. Correct. First make sure to use high-res images and make sure that PowerPoint is not compressing them by default when you save the presentation.
You can perfectly change the slide design to 220 and everything will be adjusted. That is the advantage of PowerPoint. Then ‘calculation’ is done when you run the slideshow, so your ‘low-res-shapes’ will become ‘high-res-shapes’ automatically. Easy, not?
Quick Question… Why using 4k slides when the text and shape are vector, only images should be High-res so what is the main advantage of using the 4k and not the full hd?
Hi Mike, Good question. Basically you are right. Texts and other shapes are saved as vectors, so that makes no real sense. Images and videos need to be in high resolution, without having the risk that they are shrunk. Maybe it is a personal thing, but when you are using high res images and high quality on a small resolution screen like 800×600 pixels, and when you are applying fine and precise animations to your slides, then you want to design and test the results on the more-or-less same quality. It is absolutely not mandatory, but a Ferrari is preferably tested on the highway or on a test track:-).
I appreciate your article and I have a question on avoiding image distortion in ppt.
I am trying to take a ppt presentation that had originally started in 2007 and continued to work omn in ppt 2016. According to my settings it shows under properties as 35 mm slide format.
I used ppt to createsome of the more recent images, i.e. prototype designs at various different perspective, because I found it easier than using photoshop.
When I decided to migrate certain images and slides from ppt 2016, into a higher resolution (1920×1080, per your article) the images were grossly distorted to beyond recognizable, and any repair.
I tried both “made images fit the slide,” as well as the “maximize options.” in setting up the 1920 x 1080 without success.
The results were quite a mess, either way.
Before you comment I want to let you know that several images were worked on one slide so that I could demonstrate different “product variations,” and I recall that I often had to work at 350 to 400x zoom in creating them on that single slide. I thought I could work on them and then copy and paste them into seperate slides as needed. That actual slide of images took about 3 weeks+ to complete.
The presentation will be to investors and VCs. What is the best way to avoid gross distortion, and best resolution as I start to transfer images over to ppt in 1920×1080? Help!!!
Do I need to utilize any program or save images in any different format, (jpeg,tiff/ etc?) to convert things and then import the images into the higher res presentation??? Or am I competely unfortunate to have these critical images that won’t scale up or work????
Hi Brent, Have you also read these articles? https://www.presentationpoint.com/blog/convert-powerpoint-to-jpeg/ https://www.presentationpoint.com/blog/powerpoint-compress-images/ When this is not helping either, send in a trouble ticket on our website with a one-slide-one-picture sample.
Will do. Thanks so much for the prompt response. I will read those articles later today.
Hi, if the ppt is made in the ratio of 16:9 And if we r displaying it on the led wall of 8/6 ft will the display be full or will it look cinema scope
Well, on an 8/6 ft wall, it will have cinema-style with black borders for sure. A shame that not all pixels are used of your expensive LED wall. To fill your 8/6 ft LED wall, please redesign your presentation as a 4:3 ratio presentation. All clear?
I have a couple of questions I’m hoping you can help me with but first I’ll give you the details. I am creating a powerpoint presentation for a funeral. I started out with 600 dpi images but the PP file quickly got huge (200MB). I optimized all my images to 96 dpi and they are all at least 2000 pixels wide or high. That optimization has currently taken the Powerpoint file size down to 20 MB. There are many, many pics in this presentation. At 20MB optimized I am only half done. It will likely end up with around 100 pics so I think it is wise to optimize all these images because I have also read that a huge powerpoint file will cause the presentation to drag. The church where this will be presented uses a projector and it projects onto a 12′ x 12′ screen. I am not in the city where the funeral is being held so I can’t test to see what this looks like and won’t be there until the day of the funeral. I have a surface pro tablet that I’ll use to plug into the projector. I spoke to the church caretaker who helps to set this up and he said that, without knowing all the technical details, that what seems to have worked best for people is for them to plug their laptop directly into the projector with an HDMI cable and project it onto the screen. I have a big screen tv that I plugged my tablet into and played the presentation and it looked as good on the large tv screen as it did on my tablet.
My questions/concerns are: Will the projector just project what is on the tablet screen and it will look as good on the big projector screen as it does on the tablet or big screen? (when being projected is dpi of the source relevant. My concern is can I projector a large version of the presentation and still preserve nice detail or do I project it much smaller than the available screen dimensions of 12′ x 12′?
I just hoping to project a large version with ice detail and don’t want to arrive to set it up and not have it display nicely.
Sorry for the long story but would really appreciate your opinion.
Dear Dell, presentations are fun, funerals are not at all. My condolences with your loss! I was in the same situation as you earlier this year. Well, if you would use your own computer and connect it to the projector, then the file size of the PowerPoint is not that relevant anymore. Right? Everything starts with the resolution of the projector. Note that most projectors use a lower resolution than the televisions and computer screens that are sold nowadays. Most likely the projector can handle the size of HD (High Definition), 1920 x 1080 pixels. So your idea to use images of 2000 pixels is an excellent choice and personally, I would continue to work on 1920 or 2000 pixels. That is a safe choice for a good resolution!
But, note that when the tablet has a lower resolution than the projector, then most likely the output on the projector will not be better than what the tablet can handle (its video graphics card). So use a laptop or tablet with at least the HD resolution and then you are safe. To be completely safe, it is best to take your laptop or tablet with the original PowerPoint file on it. Using your own computer is also better when you have used special (not common) fonts. Otherwise, you have to install or embed the fonts you used. Just as a backup, I would take with me: the PowerPoint file on a memory stick, but also render the PowerPoint as video (MP4). Then you are completely independent of what software is installed (or not) on a potential foreign computer.
All clear? Got luck with your important job at the funeral!
So I am creating this powerpoint presentation and I’m losing my hair over the fact that all sizes are in cm. I understand that I can simply enter my wanted size in pixels, and powerpoint will then convert this to cm. Is there a way to make pixels the default measurement? It would simply make one’s workflow so much easier. Thanks in advance!
Hi Andreas, I would love to work in pixels too, but currently, PowerPoint is only working in inches or centimeters. You can upvote this feature request here: https://powerpoint.uservoice.com/forums/288949-powerpoint-for-windows-desktop-application/suggestions/19595893-change-units-from-inches-to-pixels
Thanks for such an informative article. I was struggling to create a photographic presentation for a powerpoint presentation and you have saved me so much time!
Great to read that we could help you out with this information!
Hi i need help.. I m preparing certificates in ppt. But when I’m sharing to other person somewhere changes happening. Same file on my side is correct but other side it is not correct in size wise… Is it happening because of computer resolution? Kindly let me know why it is happening?
How do you see that? Are you looking at the slide design settings? Are they modified?
I saw directly in my coullegue’s computer. Without modification same file when she sent that was right and same file when i sent to same person he said that was not right It’s screwed as he always complained before in terms of dimensions (A4 stretched to wide-screen). Why this is happening? Please let me know.. It’s important for me
Sorry but I think you can better explain your problem here at https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/newthread . There are some better specialists and experienced people looking into individual problems. OK?
Thank you for an excellent article! I have been scouring the internet for this information and I have found your guide extremely useful. It’s a testimony to you that people are still adding comments some 5 years after you wrote this article!
I have a question if I may. I am using PowerPoint to create 1 minute animated infographics (in video form). The targeted output for the final videos needs to be 1280px by 644px (which is fine). Here’s my question: Would I get better quality videos if I set my slide size in PowerPoint to HD 1920px by 1080px for the design and then exported to video using the PowerPoint export function set at 1920px by 1080px and THEN resized the final video to 1280px x 644px using software like Handbrake?
Or should I simply set my PowerPoint slides size for the design to the final desired output of 1280px by 644px?
I’d be really grateful for any help/advice you can offer as I’m really not sure which way to go!
Many thanks
Hi Alex, thanks for commenting. I love when people are using PowerPoint for other purposes than just 16:9 slides! Personally I would design on the same size as you would output the video! Why? The risk of using small font sizes, will not be obvious when you are designing at 2x. So at 2x, your text might be readable, while it is too small on the normal size. So just be careful with that, because you might forget to check at 1x. On the other hand, when you suspect that maybe next year, you need a larger video because the output screen got bigger or so, then for that reason, I would suggest to design now already at 2x, and resize the video afterwards. Hope this helps.
Thank you so much for replying!
Hi,how can I get the 1920×1080 resolution ,windows 10? I followed the described way,but unit is ‘inch’ and it is not changing.I can’t type px inside the box
You can type in the pixel value with px behind your number, and that is then translated into the corresponding cm or inch value. Try it, it works.
If a powerpoint resolution is greater than the screen it is being displayed on, will that screen not be able to display it?
Wondering if there is any reason not to always go with a larger resolution?
Thanks! Nate
Yes sure, that should not cause any problem. PowerPoint will adjust itself automatically based on the screen resolution, lower or higher.
Hello Admin, I have to run my ppt on a big LED Panel wall whose size is W: 34 ft and H: 12 ft and I don’t want any black bars when running my ppt. Which ratio size will be apt for my PPT? 16:9 or any other?
You don’t want to black bars? Easy. Go to Design, Slide Size, and choose custom slide size. 34 foot or 408 inches is too large for PowerPoint. The highest value you can enter in PowerPoint is 56″ horizontally and vertically. When you have 34 x 12 ft, which is 408 x 144 inches, then this is too high for PowerPoint (bigger than 56″). Your screen ratio is then 17×6. So the maximum is 56″ in width, so you can set your height to 19.766″ (so that you have 17:6) at the PowerPoint custom slide size dimensions. OK?
I would love to see real-time data on that size of screen. Are you going to use our DataPoint plugin there?
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Creating Slide Backgrounds in Photoshop for PowerPoint
Learn how to create slide backgrounds for PowerPoint in Photoshop. Changing some Photoshop settings can make this task easier.
Author: Geetesh Bajaj
Product/Version: PowerPoint
OS: Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X
Date Created: June 11, 2015 Last Updated: June 11, 2015
If PowerPoint represents something more than anything else, it is the slide—and while you can use a white slide bereft of any graphic treatment, more often than not you will want to use something else. That's because the background elements of a slide are a representation of the brand of your company, or even an expression of your personality.
To explain this better, look at the slide in Figure 1 , below. Notice that the plain text on a white background is readable, but it is certainly not memorable.

Compare what you saw in Figure 1 to the slide shown in Figure 2 , below. This slide is branded for a fictitious company called El Rotate . Notice that this slide has several graphic elements. It has a background, a logo, and the name of a company. Additionally, it also uses custom typefaces and colors.

In PowerPoint parlance, the background is just one choice that you must make to create that complete appearance. You will also need to explore fonts, colors, effects, slide layouts, and more. And all of these elements must work together to create and represent a cohesive brand. We cover all these other elements elsewhere on this site—but for this tutorial, we will only explore backgrounds. And more importantly we will explore how you would create them within Adobe Photoshop . That does not mean that you cannot use another image editor; the principles of image editing are important and you are welcome to replicate them in any other program.
To begin, you must identify if your PowerPoint presentation will be in a Standard or a Widescreen resolution.
Standard or Widescreen?
Standard slides have a 4:3 aspect ratio whereas Widescreen slides sport a 16:9 aspect ratio. Read our Should You Create Widescreen Slides article to understand more.
Thereafter you can proceed with these steps. Do note that we have no recommendations for any specific version of Photoshop for this tutorial; we did however use Photoshop CS6 for the screen shots you see on this page.
- Create a new image in Photoshop. If you are creating a Standard resolution background, choose 1024 x 768 pixels as the dimensions. On the other hand, choose 1365 x 768 pixels for Widescreen backgrounds. But you can also get the best of both worlds, as we will show you! To do so, type in 1365 and 768 within the Width and Height fields respectively (see Figure 3 , below). We also changed the Resolution to 100 Pixels/Inch. You can match your settings to what you see in Figure 3 .

- Now within Photoshop, add a guide at the position where the width spans 1024 pixels (see Figure 4 , below). If you are not too familiar with guides, you can download this pre-formatted Photoshop file that includes everything you need to start with— download here .

- Now do something: ) Use Photoshop's tools, or explore our tutorials on creating quick backgrounds . Just remember to place anything that is important within your background leftwards of the guide. Look at Figure 5 , below, and you will notice that the main visual content has been placed in the larger area leftwards of the guide.

- Once you have created the background, you can decide whether you want this exported as a Standard or Widescreen graphic—or even both! For Widescreen, just save to a graphic file format such as JPG or PNG. However for a Standard aspect ratio, use Photoshop's Crop tool to retain all areas leftwards of the guide (see Figure 6 below).

- Once the cropping is done, you'll be left with a Standard (4:3) aspect ratio background, as shown in Figure 7 , below.

- Don't save your file yet! Just export as a JPG or PNG. Then undo to get your cropped areas back! Photoshop does not have a progressive Undo option like PowerPoint, but you can use the Edit | Step Backward option multiple times.
- Tip: Explore Photoshop's Save for Web option that exports high quality PNG and JPG graphics (see Figure 8 , below). This option is to be found in Photoshop's File menu.

- Once you have exported the image as a JPG or PNG, set it as your presentation's background. Refer to our Slide Background Fills: Picture page for more info.
Other Tutorials: Creating Slide Backgrounds in Photoshop for PowerPoint (Index Page)
You May Also Like: Presentation Summit 2017: Conversation with Julie Terberg | Turnip PowerPoint Templates
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Learn how to set up image size and resolution for your image in Photoshop.
Topics in the article:
Printed image resolution
Resolution specs for printing images, monitor resolution, printer resolution.
Dimensions are the total number of pixels along the width and height of an image.
Resolution is the number of image pixels assigned to each inch when an image is printed - measured in pixels per inch (ppi). Thus, the more pixels an image has per inch, the greater will be its resolution. And, a high-resolution image will produce a better quality printed output.
When changing the Dimensions or Resolution , remember that the image data remains constant until you resample it. If you change the resolution, the width and height will change accordingly to maintain the same amount of image data.
Note the relationship between Image Size and Resolution in the Image Size dialog box.
To navigate to the Image Size dialog box, follow these steps:
Go to Image > Image Size .

The Image Size dialog box displays the many interpolation options that you can use to make images look crisp and sharp even after enlarging them.
To your left is the preview window which displays a live preview of what the image will look like based on the chosen settings. To your right are the settings themselves.
To learn more about Resample option checkbox, go to its detailed description . You can also go through the following table:
You can adjust the Width and Height of your image in two ways - either i n pixels for images to be used online or in inches (or centimeters) for images to be printed.
Click the link icon to highlight it and preserve proportions, which will help you automatically adjust the height when changing the width. If you do not click the link to preserve proportions, you will get a tall, thin or short, wide image that looks stretched when changing one dimension.
Learn more about the different interpolation methods by referring to Resampling .

Choose the Automatic option, which will help you with default interpolation. For more refined control, you can opt for the other options as well. Each one of these options is designed for specific image enlargement or reduction workflows.

Monitor resolution is measured in pixels. If the resolution of the monitor and pixel dimensions of the image are the same size, the image will fill the screen when viewed at 100%.
Factors that decide how large an image appears on screen
- Pixel dimensions of your image
- Size and resolution settings of your monitor
In Photoshop, you can change the onscreen image magnification, so you can easily work with images of any pixel dimensions.

When preparing images for onscreen viewing, you should consider the lowest monitor resolution that your photo is likely to be viewed on.
The file size of an image is the digital size of the image file, measured in kilobytes (K), megabytes (MB), or gigabytes (GB). File size is proportional to the pixel dimensions of the image. Images with more pixels may produce more detail at a given printed size, but they require more disk space to store and may be slower to edit and print. Image resolution thus becomes a compromise between image quality (capturing all the data you need) and file size.
Another factor that affects file size is file format. Because of the varying compression methods used by GIF, JPEG, PNG, and TIFF file formats, file sizes can vary considerably for the same pixel dimensions. Similarly, color bit-depth and the number of layers and channels in an image affect file size.
Photoshop supports maximum pixel dimension of 300,000 by 300,000 pixels per image. This restriction places limits on the print size and resolution available to an image.
Printer resolution is measured in dots per inch (dpi). The higher the dpi, the finer the printed output you’ll get. Most inkjet printers have a resolution of approximately 720 to 2880 dpi.
Printer resolution is different from, but related to, image resolution. To print a high-quality photo on an inkjet printer, an image resolution of at least 220 ppi should provide good results.
Screen frequency is the number of printer dots or halftone cells per inch used to print grayscale images or color separations. Also known as screen ruling or line screen , screen frequency is measured in lines per inch (lpi), or lines of cells per inch in a halftone screen. The higher the resolution of the output device, the finer screen ruling you can use.
The relationship between image resolution and screen frequency determines the quality of detail in the printed image. To produce a halftone image of the highest quality, you generally use an image resolution that is about 1.5 to 2 times the screen frequency.
With some images and output devices, a lower resolution can produce good results. To determine your printer’s screen frequency, check your printer documentation or consult your service provider.
Some imagesetters and 600‑dpi laser printers use screening technologies other than halftoning. If you are printing an image on a nonhalftone printer, consult your service provider or your printer documentation for the recommended image resolutions.

A. 65 lpi: Coarse screen typically used to print newsletters and grocery coupons B. 85 lpi: Average screen typically used to print newspapers C. 133 lpi: High-quality screen typically used to print four-color magazines D. 177 lpi: Very fine screen typically used for annual reports and images in art books
A resolution of 300 pixels/inch is the industry standard for high-quality prints. This resolution will ensure that your image looks sharp and detailed when printed.
A resolution of 300 pixels/inch is perfect for viewing small prints from up close, but you can also opt for lower resolutions for large prints if they are intended to be viewed from far away. For example, if you are printing a billboard to be erected off a highway, you can print it at a lower resolution without compromising on the quality, because high resolution becomes less important as you move farther from the image.
Default resolution in printers
Usually, printers have their default print resolution at 300 pixels/inch, and if you print an image with a lower resolution, they will adjust their image settings to print your image at the default resolution.
This means, you cannot print an image at less than the printer's default resolution, and if you don't enlarge the image, your printer will.
View the print size onscreen
You can do either of the following to view the print size onscreen - either g o to View > Print Size . Or, select the Hand tool or Zoom tool and click Print Size in the options bar.
The image is redisplayed in its approximate printed size, as specified in the Document Size area of the Image Size dialog box. The size and resolution of your monitor affect the onscreen print size.
Resampling is changing the amount of image data as you change either the pixel dimensions or the resolution of an image.
Downsampling is decreasing the number of pixels - when you downsample, information is deleted from the image.
Upsampling is increasing the number of pixels - when you upsample, new pixels are added.
You specify an interpolation method to determine how pixels are added or deleted.

A. Downsampled B. Original C. Resampled up (selected pixels displayed for each set of images)
Keep in mind that resampling can result in poorer image quality. For example, when you resample an image to larger pixel dimensions, the image loses some detail and sharpness. Applying the Unsharp Mask filter to a resampled image can help refocus the image details.
You can avoid the need for resampling by scanning or creating the image at a sufficiently high resolution. If you want to preview the effects of changing pixel dimensions onscreen or to print proofs at different resolutions, resample a duplicate of your file.
Photoshop resamples images using an interpolation method to assign color values to any new pixels based on the color values of existing pixels. You can choose your method in the Image Size dialog box.
- Nearest Neighbor A fast but less precise method that replicates the pixels in an image. This method is for use with illustrations containing edges that are not anti-aliased, to preserve hard edges and produce a smaller file. However, this method can produce jagged effects, which become apparent when you distort or scale an image or perform multiple manipulations on a selection.
- Bilinear A method that adds pixels by averaging the color values of surrounding pixels. It produces medium-quality results.
- Bicubic A slower but more precise method based on an examination of the values of surrounding pixels. Using more complex calculations, Bicubic produces smoother tonal gradations than Nearest Neighbor or Bilinear.
- Bicubic Smoother A good method for enlarging images based on Bicubic interpolation but designed to produce smoother results.
- Bicubic Sharper A good method for reducing the size of an image based on Bicubic interpolation with enhanced sharpening. This method maintains the detail in a resampled image. If Bicubic Sharper oversharpens some areas of an image, try using Bicubic.
You can specify a default interpolation method to use whenever Photoshop resamples image data. Choose Edit > Preferences > General (Windows) or Photoshop > Preferences > General (MacOS), and then choose a method from the Image Interpolation Methods menu.
Change pixel dimensions of an image
Changing an image’s pixel dimensions affects not only its onscreen size but also its image quality and its printed characteristics—either its printed dimensions or its image resolution.
Choose Image > Image Size .
To maintain the current ratio of pixel width to pixel height, select Constrain Proportions . This option automatically updates the width as you change the height.
Under Pixel Dimensions , enter values for Width and Height . To enter values as percentages of the current dimensions, choose Percent as the unit of measurement. The new file size for the image appears at the top of the Image Size dialog box, with the old file size in parentheses.
Make sure that Resample Image is selected, and choose an interpolation method.
If your image has layers with styles applied to them, select Scale Styles to scale the effects in the resized image. This option is available only if you selected Constrain Proportions .
When you finish setting options, click OK .
For best results when you produce a smaller image, downsample and apply the Unsharp Mask filter. To produce a larger image, rescan the image at a higher resolution.
Change the print dimensions and resolution
When creating an image for print media, it’s useful to specify image size in terms of the printed dimensions and the image resolution. These two measurements - referred to as the document size - determine the total pixel count and therefore the file size of the image.
Document size also determines the base size at which an image is placed into another application. You can further manipulate the scale of the printed image using the Print command; however, changes you make using the Print command affect only the printed image, not the document size of the image file.
If you turn on resampling for the image, you can change print dimensions and resolution independently (and change the total number of pixels in the image). If you turn off resampling, you can change either the dimensions or the resolution—Photoshop adjusts the other value automatically to preserve the total pixel count.
For the highest print quality, it’s recommended to change the dimensions and resolution first, without resampling. Then resample only as necessary.
To change only the print dimensions or only the resolution and adjust the total number of pixels in the image proportionately, select Resample Image and then choose an interpolation method.
To change the print dimensions and resolution without changing the total number of pixels in the image, deselect Resample Image .
To maintain the current ratio of image width to image height, select Constrain Proportions . This option automatically changes the width as you change the height.
Under Document Size , enter new values for the height and width. If desired, choose a new unit of measurement. For Width , the Columns option uses the width and gutter sizes specified in the Units & Rulers preferences.
For Resolution , enter a new value. If desired, choose a new unit of measurement.
To restore the initial values displayed in the Image Size dialog box, hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (MacOS), and click Reset.
What affects file size?
File size depends on the pixel dimensions of an image and the number of layers it contains. Images with more pixels may produce more detail when printed, but they require more disk space to store and may take more time to edit and print.
Make sure your files are not too large - for large files, reduce the number of layers in the image or change the image size.
You can view the file size information for an image at the bottom of the application window.
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Top Contributors in PowerPoint: John Korchok - Steve Rindsberg - Jim_ Gordon - John SR Wilson - Bob Jones AKA: CyberTaz
June 9, 2023
Top Contributors in PowerPoint:
John Korchok - Steve Rindsberg - Jim_ Gordon - John SR Wilson - Bob Jones AKA: CyberTaz
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How to adjust slide and shapes by pixel
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Unlike Word, in which you can set the units of measurement, PowerPoint pulls the units of measurement from your computer system. So to change from inches to something else in PowerPoint, you have to make the change in the measurement system settings in Windows Control Panel. Unfortunately your only choices here are US and Metric, so pixels isn't an option.
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PowerPoint slides must have some kind of finite resolution or dimension that could be measured in pixels or points though.
The standard 4:3 presentation for example is 1024x768 because if you add a 1024x768 to the presentation it fills the slide 100% with no scaling of the image. Or if you make text 576 points high it fills the slide 100%.
The pixel density of the image has no bearing, PowerPoint just reads the total pixel dimensions.
This is why I don't understand why it uses cm or inches (from the computer's settings) when it is primarily created for on-screen or projectors.
When the slideshow is running it plays full screen irrespective of the res of the playback device right?. For example playing back a 4:3 slideshow on a 1920 x 1080 screen just means that the graphics which are 1024x576 are getting blown up to fit the output screen resolution.
Having said that, if I insert a large image in (like 1920x1080) it is automatically scaled to 50%.
So in that case if a 4:3 show was played back on a 1920x1080 monitor that particular graphic would look crisper as I am guessing it retains its own native resolution (i.e. it's not being down-sampled before playback).
So in terms of actually creating the slides in the first place we should be able to use measurement units like points/pixels. Not centimetres or inches. Using points is probably a better way to think of it as that is how fonts are handled. Makes sense (I hope!).
>> PowerPoint slides must have some kind of finite resolution or dimension that could be measured in pixels or points though. SR: No, not really. PPT displays presentations at whatever resolution it finds itself talking to when you start the slide show. >> The standard 4:3 presentation for example is 1024x768 because if you add a 1024x768 to the presentation it fills the slide 100% with no scaling of the image. Or if you make text 576 points high it fills the slide 100%. SR: While this is all true, it doesn't mean much in terms of creating pixel-accurate drawings. There are really two measurement systems at work here: the slide size, which is sort of imaginary, but usually expressed in inches, and there's the number of pixels PPT tosses out to the video display when you view a slide show. SR: If you know up front that the display will be, say, 1024x768, then it's fairly easy to make pixel-accurate drawings. You know that the 10" (or whatever) width will display at 1024 pixels, so each pixel is equivalent to 10/1024. Do the math, enter the number you want. >> So in terms of actually creating the slides in the first place we should be able to use measurement units like points/pixels. Not centimetres or inches. Using points is probably a better way to think of it as that is how fonts are handled. Makes sense (I hope!). Again, if you know up front what size the display will be, you can enter the equivalent of pixels, or if you set up your slide size to something friendlier, you can make it even simper. Slide size 10.24" / 1024 --> A very easy number to work with per pixel when entering sizes. ;-) But as soon as that slide gets displayed on a different size projector/monitor, all your pixel calculations go out the window; rather than lead you into thinking it'll work, when in fact it's bound to break, I'm guessing MS decided not to let you used pixels. You can use points if you prefer. Instead of entering just a number in any of the size dialog boxes, enter the number followed by pt. 72pt for example rather than 1 inch.
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How to export high-resolution (high-dpi) slides from PowerPoint
- 10 contributors
- Applies to: PowerPoint for Microsoft 365, PowerPoint 2019, PowerPoint 2016, PowerPoint 2013, PowerPoint 2010, Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007, Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003
You can change the export resolution in Microsoft PowerPoint by saving a slide in a picture format. There are two steps to this process: Use the system registry to change the default resolution setting for exported slides, and then save the slide as a picture at the new resolution.
Step 1: Change the export resolution setting
Follow the steps in this section carefully. Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Before you modify it, back up the registry for restoration in case problems occur.
By default, the export resolution of a PowerPoint slide that you want to save as a picture is 96 dots per inch (dpi). To change the export resolution, follow these steps:
Exit all Windows-based programs.
Right-click Start , and then select Run . (In Windows 7, select Start , and then select Run .)
In the Open box, type regedit , and then select OK .
Locate one of the following registry subkeys, depending on the version of PowerPoint that you're using:
PowerPoint 2016, 2019, PowerPoint for Microsoft 365
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\PowerPoint\Options
PowerPoint 2013
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0\PowerPoint\Options
PowerPoint 2010
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\14.0\PowerPoint\Options
PowerPoint 2007
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\PowerPoint\Options
PowerPoint 2003
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\PowerPoint\Options
Select the Options subkey, point to New on the Edit menu, and then select DWORD (32-bit) Value .
Enter ExportBitmapResolution , and then press Enter.
Make sure that ExportBitmapResolution is selected, and then select Modify on the Edit menu.
In the Edit DWORD Value dialog box, select Decimal .
In the Value data box, specify a resolution of 300 . Or, use the parameters from the following table.
See the Limitations section for more information when you set this value.
Select OK .
On the File menu, select Exit to exit Registry Editor.
Step 2: Export the slide as a picture
In PowerPoint, open your slide presentation, and then open the slide that you want to export.
On the File menu, select Save As .
In the Save as type box, select one of the following picture formats:
- GIF Graphics Interchange Format (.gif)
- JPEG File Interchange Format (*.jpg)
- PNG Portable Network Graphics Format (*.png)
- TIFF Tag Image File Format (*.tif)
- Device Independent Bitmap (*.bmp)
- Windows Metafile (*.wmf)
- Enhanced Windows Metafile (*.emf)
You may want to change the picture's save location in the Save in box. You may also want to change the name of the picture in the File name box.
Select Save . You will be prompted by the following dialog box:

Select Current Slide Only . The slide is saved in the new format and resolution in the location that you specified in the Save in box.
To verify that the slide is saved in the resolution that you specified, right-click the picture, and then select Properties .
Limitations
When you set the ExportBitmapResolution registry value in PowerPoint, there's a maximum DPI limitation to consider for some versions of PowerPoint.
Maximum DPI is dependent upon the slide size. The formula is as follows: maxdpi = (sqrt(100,000,000 / (slide with * slide height)), where slide width and height are in inches.
For example, for a standard 13.3" x 7.5" slide, the equation would be: sqrt(100,000,000 / (13.333 * 7.5) ) = 1000.
PowerPoint 2019, 2016, 2013, and 365
There is no fixed DPI limit. Slide export is limited only by how large the resulting bitmap gets. PowerPoint can support bitmaps up to 100,000,000 pixels (width x height). For standard widescreen slides (13.3" x 7.5"), this means a maximum DPI of 1,000. For the older style 10" x 7.5" slides, this typically means a maximum DPI of 1,155.
PowerPoint 2010 and older
The maximum resolution that PowerPoint can export is 3,072 pixels, based on the longest edge of the slide. For example, the standard 10" × 7.5" slide has a maximum effective DPI value of 307. The 3,070-pixel result (10 × 307 = 3070) falls within the 3,072-pixel limit. However, any DPI setting that's greater than 307 for a standard slide reverts to the limit of 3,072.
The 3,072-pixel limit also applies to saving the slide programmatically.
For example, the following code programmatically saves a picture that has the dimensions of 3072 × 2304 pixels:
More information
For information about changing the size of your slides, see Change the size of your slides .
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What's the pixel dimensions of a presentation slide for Open Office / Libre Office Impress?
What's the dimensions of a presentation slide in pixels?
I'm having a hard time trying to get it right. I keep guessing and checking and it's taking too long. I googled some results and they're a bit off as well.
The other issue is that I'm using .opd format; the format proprietary to open office / libre office in windows 7.
I'm just trying to design a decent background for my presentation.
- presentation-design
- microsoft-powerpoint

7 Answers 7
I create Powerpoint templates regularly for clients.
I use RGB / 1504px x 1129px or 20.889" x 15.681" / 72ppi jpg or png files for full page backgrounds in PowerPoint. This image size will cover the entire slide. Any thing smaller will need to be scaled to match the slide dimension.

- This will be too tall for modern widescreen ratios, though. – e100 Jul 5, 2012 at 18:19
- 1 I'm simply posting what I use every day. I realize it may not fit with screen sizes, but this is the max size of a Powerpoint slide. How Powerpoint squishes and squirms to fit a screen is somewhat irrelevant. This is the size of the full slide. – Scott Jul 5, 2012 at 18:44
- As e100 pointed out above, thankfully you can choose the aspect ratio now. You can actually create the image to fit the screen. Personally, I just use Google Presentations now anyway. – plainclothes Apr 4, 2014 at 16:25
Both PowerPoint and Impress slides are specified in inches or cm, rather than pixels, and these real-world units are somewhat arbitrary given that the presentations are normally scaled proportionally to fit whatever screen they're shown on. (Or non-proportionally, if somewhat's got the screen settings wrong)
I'd go with an image that's big enough in pixels for any screen you're likely to show it on; just scale it proportionally to fill the background.
But for best results try to match the proportions of the presentation itself to the screen you're going to use . Both PowerPoint (at least up to 2003) and Impress (latest version in mid 2011) "sized for on-screen show" slides defaulted to a 4:3 ratio, which is too tall for modern widescreens. In PowerPoint 2010 (and perhaps 2007?) you have the choice of 4:3, 16:9, 16:10.
- 1 It occurs to me that I'm probably in the minority of people on this site who remember when Powerpoint's output was actual slides -- the film kind. There were these projector things with carousels on top and even the remotes and auto change used analog signals -- the Neolithic period of Powerpoints. – Alan Gilbertson Jul 6, 2011 at 21:22
- Transition animations must have been a bit fiddly ;-) – e100 Jul 7, 2011 at 10:14
- If I recall correctly, those involved something with smoke, mirrors and a sacrificial goat. :-D – Alan Gilbertson Jul 7, 2011 at 18:55
Inside Libre Office / Open Office Impress
- File -> Export as JPEG
- Open the .jpg export reveals the PX Dimensions
1058px x 794px at 72 DPI
- 1 I'm not sure the exported px dimensions are necessarily the same as the best dimensions for the background, which is what you seemed to be asking. – e100 Jul 7, 2011 at 10:13
The reason everyone is TOTALLY confused here is that Powerpoint uses 72 POINTS Per Inch (28.346 per cm) NOT PIXELS. It works with the old print standards. if you take the standard 960x720 document size of 25.4cm x 19.05cm and do the maths it doesn't work out and funnily enough the amount it's out by is EXACTLY the ratio of standard points (as used in font sizes) to pixels eg: 36pt = 48px (this isn't an EXACT ratio but near enough for this)
So take the dots per cm 28.346 * width in cm 25.4 should = 960 but actually = 720. divide this by 36 and times by 48 and WOOHOO we get the actual 960 pixels!
Powerpoint works in a completely different unit than pixels so if you look at the standard presentation.xml within the .pptx file you'll see this line that defines the standard slide size: p:sldSz type="screen4x3" cy="6858000" cx="9144000"/
This 9144000x6858000 size is the standard 960x720 pixel template. (25.4cm x 19.05cm)
if you get out your calculator you can work out that a 1280x720 template requires you to edit the .xml to read : p:sldSz type="screen4x3" cy="6858000" cx="12192000"/
You can do this by right clicking the .pptx and opening it with winrar ; )
Alternatively just use 33.86cm x 19.05cm ... it's a lot quicker :D
For 1920 x 1080 use 50.8cm x 28.575cm
If you want to check my settings use these sizes and save the slide out as a jpeg. You'll find they are correct : )
- I found this answer useful. If you want are creating a powerpoint document and you want to work in points multiply the value by 96 then divide by 72. – Keith John Hutchison Nov 26, 2015 at 2:11
PPT default presentation: 2200X1650. Pic resolution: 220. I got this size by creating a rectangle with a slide size in my presentation> save as jpg. I insert it in PPT and it was too small. I read that the default res in PPT is 220 so I resample my pic in Photoshop from 150 dpi to 220 dpi and got the exact size. It might be heavy so you can use 1500X? (I don't remember but keep it proportionally) - PPT save as default, and stretch it in PPT.
try: page size 50.80cm x 28.57cm. It seems to work for me so far. I created a full HD JPEG in Photoshop (1920x1080 pixels at 72dpi pixels per inch). Then created a new Impress presentation. Right clicked the page and entered: slide > page setup.
At first I tried 16cm across by 9cm high and then doubled each in turn, until I reached largest cm size possible (300cm is largest so finally reached 256cm x 144cm) but when I inserted the full HD JPEG, the image was really small. so I selected original size and it was still really small. So I investigated the JPEG size with a right click and it was 50.80cm x 28.57cm) so: Changed page size to 50.80cm x 28.57cm.
Then inserted picture. (have to right click > position & size and play with the settings a bit. ie: position x at 0cm and y at 0 cm. but then the image should fit perfectly).
I've not tested this as a presentation yet, but so far, this seems to be working.

PC's use a base resolution of 96 ppi. Mac's use 72 ppi.
A traditional PPT slide was 10" x 7.5" on the PC, totaling 960x720 pixels.
Now, PowerPoint will allow for larger resolutions for your images. However, when displaying, your images and fonts are rendered at the screen resolution -- which could be set by your monitor or a presentation switcher.
It is all very confusing.
So, if your goal is HD -- then 1920x1080 is great. If you don't know, a resolution of 150 ppi works great for both onscreen and desktop printing.
BTW, PNG images have great advantages in ppt. You can use Photoshop or illustrator to export them. They compress in PPT and print great, and allow for transparent backgrounds. If you are old-school, and have built massive decks, you know JPEGs can cause all sorts of problems.
Oh. I have told you too much ...
- 1 DPI resolution is fairly meaningless on screen. – DA01 May 6, 2014 at 0:22
Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged presentation-design microsoft-powerpoint or ask your own question .
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How Big Is a PowerPoint Slide in Pixels?

PowerPoint allows you to create awesome presentations with only a little effort. It has numerous customizable options to help you design the best way to show off your ideas and plans. However, you must ensure your content will fit on its slides before you can use it.
Generally, PowerPoint slides are big enough to hold a 1024 x 768-pixel image using the default settings. This resolution should work in most situations, but you can adjust the resolution of your slides as needed. Out of the box, PowerPoint will let you make slides up to 5376 x 5376 depending on your DPI.
While screen resolution is important, it is not the only factor that determines the size of a PowerPoint slide. By reading further, you will learn about these other characteristics and their available options.
The Default PowerPoint Slide Pixel Resolutions
Microsoft PowerPoint offers numerous customizable templates that allow you to quickly create awesome presentations. The user-friendly program makes it easy to look like a professional as you stand in front of the crowd with the full line of Office editing tools at your disposal. You even include attention-grabbing transitions, animations, videos, audio clips, and other forms of multimedia.
However, these benefits are nothing without fitting your content into the right resolution. Image resolution can greatly impact the quality and effectiveness of your presentation in seemingly unpredictable ways. As such, you always want to ensure everything has the right size on the screen.
Out of the box, that means your slides must be 1024 x 768 pixels in size with 96 dots per inch (DPI) resolution. These are PowerPoint’s default settings. This resolution will allow you to present your content on most PowerPoint-compatible display monitors and projectors regardless of their size.
What Other Resolutions Can I Choose On PowerPoint?
Fortunately, PowerPoint lets you customize the size of your slides to an extent. You must use one of the included resolution settings, but they can help you make your content fill the screen.
These size and resolution options are:
- 640 x 480, 72 DPI
- 1024 x 600, 72, DPI
- 1024 x 768, 96 DPI
- 1280 x 720, 96 DPI
- 1366 x 768, 96 DPI
Keep reading to learn how to adjust your slide size.
How to Adjust PowerPoint Slide Size
While these are the PowerPoint pixel size options, you never directly work with them.
Instead, you use descriptive names that represent the display output such as:
- Letter Paper
You can find these settings in the Slide Size window you access by clicking on the “Slide Size” button from the ribbon menu. Depending on your version of PowerPoint, the Size window may be a menu or a pop-up window. The menu format will list the more common sizes along with a button to choose a custom size to access the others.
With either version, you will find a few configurable options once the Slide Size window opens up. The first is a large dropdown box that lists the default size parameters. You just choose the one you want from the list. Doing so may or may not alter the other options.
For instance, you can adjust the height and width separately, or select how many slides will use the size. The text boxes will accept measurements in inches (in), centimeters (cm), pixels (px), or points (pt).
You can set these values to anything you like but PowerPoint will limit your input to under:
- 142.24 x 142.24 cm
- 4032 x 4032 pts
- 5376 x 5376 px
Now, let’s see the forms of measurement PowerPoint uses.
PowerPoint Does Not Use Pixels to Measure Size
New PowerPoint users may find it hard to believe, but the software does not use pixels to define the size of elements. Instead, it measures text and images in points. It then converts these point measurements into your preferred system, which can be either inches, centimeters, or pixels.
Points come from typography and represent a real physical distance. A point is 1/72 inch, which translates to around 0.75 of a pixel on a 96 DPI monitor. This choice of internal measurement has a few consequences that can affect the look of your slides.
Because of these consequences, you may want to consider other resolution indicators than just pixel size.
Aspect Ratio
For instance, PowerPoint only supports two aspect ratios. You can either use the Standard (4:3) or choose the Widescreen (16:9) option, and your choice can make a big difference.
Some common aspect ratios include:
- Laptops – 16:9
- MacBooks – 16:10
- Projectors – 4:3
- Large-format monitor – 16:9
Generally, you want to use the one that matches the aspect ratio of your display system. The wrong one can make your presentation look odd. If you watch movies adapted for television, you know how bad it can get.
DPI Resolution
PowerPoint displays its measurements based on the system specified by the operating system. As such, most of the time, you will want to set this option to inches. This is because most guides, projectors, monitors, and resolution options are in Dots Per Inch (DPI). DPI represents how many pixels fit in an inch of your display, letting you calculate the required slide size for various output devices.
For instance, the PowerPoint default of 96 DPI is not a high-definition format. As such, slides with the default settings can appear blurry if you display them on anything bigger than HD720p. If you lower them to 72 DPI, you can use displays that offer up to HD1080p. Though, you will want to set the DPI to around 144 if you want to use a 4k or 8k projector or monitor.
Monitor Scaling
If you normally project presentations onto a wall, screen, or a large monitor, you may want to know if your slides hold up to scaling. Scaling has the effect of changing the DPI, which can skew the look of your slides to your audience.
For instance, using the standard Windows scaling settings, a slide that is originally 96 DPI can appear as 1920 DPI when scaled to twice its size. Thus, your slide would require twice the pixel resolution than it normally would to maintain optimal quality.
PowerPoint slides have a default pixel size which you can adjust according to your needs. You generally do this by selecting one of the preset resolutions, but you can also create custom settings. However, your slide size must fit the constraints of your presentation display.

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Unravelling PowerPoint picture size and resolution
- Written by: Jamie Garroch
- Categories: PowerPoint design , PowerPoint productivity
- Comments: 5

If you come from a print media background you’ll be familiar with the importance of image resolution and how it affects quality. If you come from a web design environment you might be more familiar with pixels. But when it comes to PowerPoint, there’s an odd mix of measurements from the physical and digital worlds even though the majority of what is produced is shown on either a monitor or a projector. So what do presentation professionals need to know about picture size and resolution?
Pictures are made of dots
OK, so this might not be the most exciting news headline but we need to start from the beginning. A raster or bitmap picture (contrary to a vector image) is made up of thousands of tiny dots or pixels. Each of these dots is a single colour and the number of dots affects the file size of the picture. The image below shows how pixels are used to form an image. The first shows the image at a normal scale:

But when we zoom in you can clearly see each individual pixel that makes up the picture:

When you resize pictures in PowerPoint beyond their original 100% size, extra pixels have to be ‘invented’ by PowerPoint through a process of interpolation. This can cause pictures to appear blurry and degrade the quality of your slide show when displayed on a monitor or projector. In addition to the size of the picture in pixels, some image editors set a DPI (Dots Per Inch) parameter. This is usually only applicable for printed media and defines how many pixels (dots) are crammed into each inch. But PowerPoint does take DPI into account as you’ll see later.
So there are two aspects of a picture you need to be aware of:
Size : the number of pixels horizontally by the number of pixels vertically. This affects file size.
Resolution : the density of pixels per inch. This does not affect file size.
Points vs. Pixels
To add to the complexity of picture size and resolution, PowerPoint measures picture sizes in points under the hood and then converts them into your preferred measurement system, inches or centimetres, before displaying them in the user interface:

Points may mean prizes in game shows but in PowerPoint, points are not equivalent to prizes nor pixels. A point is actually 0.75 of a pixel on a 96 DPI monitor which comes from 96 DPI / 72 PPI ( dots or pixels per inch versus points per inch). The 96 number comes from the resolution of your monitor (more on that later) and 72 comes from the world of typography where a point is a physical unit of distance. A point (pt) is equal to 1/12 Pica, and 1 Pica = 1/6 inch. Hence 1 pt = 1/72 inch, meaning 1 inch contains 72 points. Phew!
Let’s see this in practice when examining a standard 16:9 widescreen slide in PowerPoint. If you click the Design tab followed by Slide Size and choose Custom Slide Size , you’ll see the size of your slide in either inches or centimetres:

Inches are actually easier to deal with here because you’re going to see conversions using DPI or Dots Per Inch. In the above example the slide has a size of 13.333 x 7.5 inches. Now, because there are 72 points per inch (don’t get this confused with dots per inch!) this translates to 960 (13.333 x 72) by 540 (7.5 x 72) points . This is what’s used to scale your picture as it’s inserted into your slide. That then translates to 1280 (960 / 0.75) by 720 (540 / 0.75) dots or pixels and that is what is used to project your picture during a slide show.
A little known secret is that regardless of the measurement system set on your computer, you can actually enter dimensions for your slide setup and/or objects on your slide by typing in a number followed by px for pixels or pt for points. As soon as you hit return, the number is converted to your default units of measurement. So entering 1in, 2.54cm, 72pt or 96px all yield the same result. Go ahead and try it!
Now, let’s take a look at what happens when you insert pictures into your slides at various sizes and resolutions.
Below are the settings for the stopwatch picture which we’ve scaled to 960 x 540 pixels at 72 DPI. Most decent image editor apps will allow you to set both the size and resolution and in this example we used the free GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) app which is available for both Windows and Mac.

When it’s inserted into the slide it occupies the full slide size and PowerPoint has kept it scaled at 100%. This is because we have the same number of pixels in the picture as there are points for the slide and the image is set to 72DPI:

You’ll get the same result if you rescale the source picture in your preferred image editor to 1280 x 720 pixels, but at 96DPI. This is because PowerPoint scales it by the ratio of 72/96 or 0.75.
Making this picture larger than the slide or projecting it at anything bigger than HD720p can cause it to become blurry.
If you now insert the same picture scaled to HD1080P (1920 x 1080 pixels) at 72DPI you’ll see that it’s automatically scaled down in PowerPoint to 50% of its original size or ¼ the size of HD1080P so that it fits on the slide:

In this case, even though the picture has been scaled to the slide size all of the pixel data is still there for use when projecting. That means you can display or project this slide at a maximum size of HD1080P without any degradation of the picture.

If you were to project at a higher size such as 4k or 8k HD, there’s a chance that the projected image will not be pin-point sharp. This depends on the image interpolation algorithms in use by the combination of PowerPoint, your graphics card and the projector. If you insert the same picture at HD1080p size but with the DPI set to 144, it’ll get inserted at 100% scale and fit the slide exactly.
When looking at file size, it’s clear to see that it’s the number of pixels in the file that makes the difference and that the DPI setting does not impact file size at all. This is the relevant information in Windows Explorer for our test pictures:

So what have you learned?
- That the DPI setting within a picture file is used to scale the picture as it’s inserted onto the slide but it has no impact on the projected quality nor the size of the picture file.
- 960 x 540 pixels at 72 DPI
- 1280 x 720 pixels at 96 DPI
- The second picture will have a larger file size as it contains more pixel data.
Monitor Scaling
Now you know how DPI has an impact on pictures in PowerPoint, you might be asking yourself how does the Windows scaling affect all of this? When you change the scale factor in Windows Settings what is essentially happening is that the display DPI is being changed. You might have one HD1080p monitor set to 100% scale and another set to 200%. The corresponding monitor DPI values for these are:
- 100% = 96DPI
- 200% = 192DPI
This means that there are twice as many dots/pixels in use on the second monitor. The impact on PowerPoint is therefore that you need twice as many pixels in the image to display it optimally, irrespective of the DPI setting in the picture file. That means taking your HD1080p picture and sourcing a 4k version of it, which is 3840 x 2160 pixels.
Other PowerPoint Considerations
If you dig around in PowerPoint you’ll find a couple of other features that affect picture quality. The first is in the ribbon and the second is in the backstage.
Compress Pictures is found in the ribbon when you have a picture selected and you click the Format Picture tab:

This open a window that allows you to compress the currently selected picture or all pictures in your presentation:

You can click the ? icon in this window for lots more detail from Microsoft on what each of these settings does but basically, the Resolution section scales the image down to the set ppi (ppi here means dpi not points per pixel!). It doesn’t scale beyond the current DPI setting of the image because this implies creating new pixel data, which is why you’ll see some options greyed out.
You might think that PowerPoint is just changing the DPI setting in the image but it’s not. It also changes the size of the image in pixels. To test this we took the original stopwatch picture sized to 2048 x 1203 at 330DPI. Using the compress pictures tool, the picture was set to the Web (150 ppi) setting. We then used the free BrightSlide Export Media Files to observe the result in Windows Explorer:

As you can see, the resolution was indeed changed from 300 to 150 but the pixel count changed too, by an ratio of 1:2.2 (330/150). PowerPoint did this so that the picture on the slide remained the same physical in/cm size.
This is obviously a destructive process as pixels are deleted from the picture so use it with care. Also destructive is the option to delete cropped areas which deletes all the picture data outside of your cropping mask.
The other place you’ll see DPI is in the backstage when you click File / Options / Advanced , which corresponds to the Use default resolution option in the widow above. How convenient!

Maximum Size
While you’re learning all about slide and picture sizes, let’s complete the picture (sorry!) by covering the topic of maximum slide size. You might want to know this if you’re printing your creation onto a large format printer or displaying it on a monster projector. Currently, the maximum size for a PowerPoint slide is as follows:
56 x 56 in | 142.24 x 142.24 cm | 4032 x 4032 points | 5376 x 5376 pixels
Conclusion & Recommendation
Pictures in PowerPoint can be tricky to get to grips with. Choosing the right size has an impact on both the file size of your presentation and the maximum monitor/projection size you can use without degrading quality. In general, if you’re projecting at a maximum size of HD1080p, make sure you’re using pictures that are created at 1920 x 1080 pixels in size. Set the DPI to 144 if you want them to be inserted into your slide at 100% scale but remember that the DPI setting doesn’t itself impact file size or the quality of your image or how it’s projected during your slide show. Only pixels do that.

Jamie Garroch
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Thanks Jamie. A helpful article
I have a related question to help complete my understanding. Suppose you have a screen resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels with PowerPoint slides sized set to match. What happens if you insert a picture with larger Pixel Dimensions eg 3840x 2160 pixels and then ‘Scale’ the picture to fit in the slide? Is the image ‘resampled’ down by removing pixels or is the image scaled down by shrinking existing pixels (which i imagine doesn’t make sense as presumably you can’t shrink pixels below the native pixel size for the screen) ? Similarly, if you inserted a smaller picture of eg 480 x 270 pixels and then ‘Scale’ up to fill the slide, are pixels added or are the existing pixels ‘stretched/made larger ?
Hope that makes sense and thanks for your help,
Hi Campbell. Great question! It depends on what is set for the file in File / Options / Advanced / Image Size and Quality. Take a look at the mouse hover tips for the options “Do not compress images in a file” and “Default resolution” for the answers to your questions.
Thanks for taking the time to reply to my question. The mouse hover ‘tips’ help explain what happens when the file is saved but I still have the same question when changing the size of the image on screen up/down before it is saved. I.e do you know if the images are ‘re-sampled’ by adding/deleting pixels or are existing pixels somehow stretched/shrunk. I hope that makes sense and thanks again for your help.
Useful. I did not realize ppt respects a units suffix in setting sizes in the Format pane.
I do not understand why Microsoft can’t make this app use pixels for the default dimensions. PPT is used for on-screen presentations at least 95% of the time, and yet they continue to use inches. Also, there is no easy way to see if an image (especially one used as a background image in a shape) is 100%.
How to Make PowerPoint Slide Backgrounds In Photoshop (PPT Size/Format?)
Microsoft PowerPoint is perfect for creating a presentation. Adobe Photoshop is the top choice for graphic design.
What's better than one powerful app? Two top apps brought together! Great PowerPoint slideshow use advanced graphics designed with Photoshop.

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to set a PPT slide size in Photoshop. This helps you design supplemental graphics in Photoshop.
You'll also see the best premium templates (from Envato Elements) with the PPT slide size for Photoshop already set for you. GraphicRiver is another great option with preset slides if you're concerned about PPT slide size .
Let's learn more!
Where to Source Perfectly Sized PPT Slides (With Unlimited Downloads)
For the savvy graphic designer, this tutorial features all the information you need to set the PPT slide size for Photoshop.
But maybe you're looking for the fastest way to create a presentation. You're on a time crunch with deadlines to meet, and you need help.
That's the usefulness of Envato Elements , an all-you-can-download service for creatives. It features thousands of pre-built PowerPoint templates. They already have the PPT slide sizes set perfectly.

Besides PowerPoint slides, you'll also unlock Photoshop templates . Align these to the dimensions for a PowerPoint background for creative slides. And again, it's all included for a single cost.
While Elements is a strong offer because it gives you unlimited downloads, it's not the only option. You can pay-as-you-go with another Envato Market option, GraphicRiver . It also features the top PowerPoint templates.

No matter which marketplace you decide to use, check out these articles. They show you some of the very best options for professional designs. Use these templates and never worry about the size of a PowerPoint slide for Photoshop!

Now, let's take a closer look at how Photoshop and PowerPoint work together to help you create the best PowerPoint backgrounds.
Photoshop and PowerPoint: Two Apps, Better Together
On their own, Adobe Photoshop and Microsoft PowerPoint are powerful apps. But use them together, and you're sure to benefit.
PowerPoint is all about ease-of-use. Photoshop gives you every graphic design tool you could need. Use them together to bring highly advanced graphics to presentations.
As you can see in the tutorial below, visual presentations are more important than ever. That means you need tools like Photoshop to bolster your presentation.

Here are a few questions that you may face when you start working with the two apps together:
- What's the size of a PowerPoint slide for Photoshop?
- What's the correct PowerPoint background size?
- How do you set your Photoshop document to match your PowerPoint presentation?
These are also the questions that we'll answer in this tutorial. Keep reading to find out more.
How to Choose and Check Your PowerPoint Document Size
Veteran graphic designers know that document size is critical. Setting the size of a PowerPoint slide for Photoshop is a must to avoid redesigning.
If you're accustomed to working in Photoshop, you probably think in terms of pixels. The challenge is that Microsoft PowerPoint's default unit of measure is inches. Setting the size of a PowerPoint slide for Photoshop requires converting the units.
To see your PowerPoint document size, go to the Design tab on PowerPoint's ribbon. Then click on the Slide Size drop-down. Finally, choose Custom Slide Size.

On the pop-up window, you can see the default options shown in inches. Type in the Width and Height boxes to change the presentation dimensions.
The size of a PowerPoint slide for Photoshop depends upon these options. Check these dimensions, then use the section below to convert the units.
The most critical choice you can make is between widescreen and standard . This choice changes the ratio of width versus height. Choose from a wide selection of presets tailored to standard sizes.
Checking your PPT slide size for Photoshop is essential to designing graphics and assets for your presentation. Make your Slide Size your first check before you start working in Adobe Photoshop.
How to Convert Your PowerPoint Document Size From Inches to Pixels
To set your PPT slide size for Photoshop, you've got two options:
- Set your Photoshop preferences to use inches instead of pixels
- Calculate your PowerPoint presentation's size in pixels and input those dimensions
For our first example, let's assume that we want to find the pixel dimensions of a PowerPoint document. PowerPoint doesn't use pixels, so we'll need to convert inches to pixels.
It helps to know that PowerPoint assumes a 96 dpi screen resolution. If you take the slide size in inches and divide it by the dots per inch, you'll arrive at the pixel dimensions.
Here's an example calculation:
13.333 inches wide / 96 dpi = 1280 pixels
Then, you can repeat the same math for the other side of your PowerPoint presentation:
7.5 inches wide / 96 dpi = 800 pixels
If your PowerPoint slide is already set up, pixel dimensions are helpful to know. Use your pixel dimensions to create a corresponding document in Photoshop.

Struggling with the math? Check out the Ninjaunits online tool . Make sure to set the "scanner DPI" dropdown to 96 dpi. Then, type in the pixel dimensions and convert to inches.
Learn more about PowerPoint slide sizes in our guide below:

Another Option: Change Your Photoshop Default Unit of Measure
Remember: the goal is to create a perfectly sized document or graphic for your Photoshop presentation. You've already seen how to find the perfect pixel dimensions for a PowerPoint background.
Another option is to set Photoshop to work in PowerPoint's units, inches . With a simple change to the preferences, you can work directly in inches.
In Adobe Photoshop, go to the Preferences > Units & Rulers option to set the default unit in the app.

On the Preferences window, find the section labeled Units. Change the drop-down section labeled Rulers from Pixels to Inches.
Don't forget to set the Screen Resolution to 96 pixels/inch to match PowerPoint's defaults. Now, all Photoshop's menus and dialogues will use inches as the default unit.

Changing your units means that you never have to convert. This helps you design PowerPoint backgrounds with the perfect size. Set Photoshop to Inches if PowerPoint and printed products are your primary output.
One More Option: Set Your PowerPoint Presentation to Pixel Size
Believe it or not, you can set your PowerPoint presentation to a specific set of pixel dimensions. This approach is helpful if you're starting with a Photoshop document that you need to migrate to PowerPoint.
In PowerPoint, return to the Design > Slide Size > Custom Slide Size menu. In both the Width and Height boxes, you can type in pixel dimensions by typing a numeric value, like "2560 px." The spacing and typing the unit in that exact format is important!

Once you click outside of the boxes, PowerPoint will automatically convert the units back to inches. But, it sets those inches to the proper size based on 96 dpi.
Remember: you can set the PowerPoint document to a set of pixel dimensions, but it's not possible to change the dots per inch. I recommend adjusting Photoshop to match PowerPoint and not the other way around.
That's it! Your PowerPoint presentation is now set to an exact pixel dimension. You can now design in Photoshop, working in the default pixels setting.
Designing For PowerPoint in Photoshop
So far, you've seen several ways to achieve the same goal: creating perfectly sized graphics for Photoshop. To do this, you can change your size, app preferences, or dimensions. Any of these methods saves you from re-working and adjusting your Photoshop document.
Setting the PowerPoint background size is the most important part of designing. Use one of the techniques above (like converting your PowerPoint presentation to pixels). Then open Photoshop.
Create a new Photoshop document with the corresponding pixel dimensions. Then, start designing a great graphic, like a background for your PPT slide.

When you're creating PowerPoint backgrounds, tone down the graphics so that they aren't distracting.
In my case, I used an abstract tropical geometric pattern from Envato Elements. But I pulled the opacity down so that it won't interfere with content.
When you're finished with your design it's time to export it. Go to the File > Save As option to export your finished design.
Then, it's time to jump over to Photoshop. I typically drag-and-drop my graphics onto the slide to add it to a presentation.

That's it! The graphics are far better than anything you can create inside of PowerPoint, so it helps to use both apps.
Learn More About Using Microsoft PowerPoint
If you're already an Adobe Photoshop master, maybe you want to build a similar skillset for PowerPoint. Both apps have a deep set of features, but also have a learning curve.
That's why it helps to follow our guide to master Microsoft PowerPoint. Our resource, How to Use PowerPoint (Ultimate Tutorial Guide) is the single most comprehensive guide. It features beginner to master level tutorials.
The Ultimate Tutorial Guide is so deep that it helps to have a roadmap. Here are three beginner tutorials that we highly recommend:

Use PowerPoint With Adobe Photoshop Today
Powerful apps are better when paired together. The perfect example is Adobe Photoshop and Microsoft PowerPoint. The advanced design features mesh well with PowerPoint's ease-of-use.
As you just saw, setting your PowerPoint document size to match your PPT slide size is important. Remember, templates from Envato Elements and GraphicRiver already have the size set.
Use PowerPoint and Photoshop together with the help of these tips. With this article, you'll always use the proper PPT slide size for Photoshop. Download a pattern and start creating great PowerPoint backgrounds today.

Graphic Design Forum
I’ve been a designer for years, but everytime someone asks me to design a PowerPoint slide/deck, I always struggle with what size and resolution to create in ID or Illustrator. When I Google this, I get different advice. I’m here to put this to bed once and for all. What size and resolution works for you (widescreen and standard)? Should I create a slide in pixels or inches?
Create it in PPT. Problem solved.
It really depends - what are they using it for Projector TV Monitor Internet based Print out presentation
This is all nailed during the briefing process.
Once you know what they are doing with it - then only can you create the correct dimensions.
It’s a background for a widescreen and standard projector.
So it needs to be ok stretched or cropped. As a background that suggests abstract rather than figurative. If you keep it simple, image resolution becomes less relevant.
This seems like a good guide;
Why are you creating PowerPoint slides in Illustrator and InDesign? Creating SVG graphic in Illustrator can be helpful, but I see little use for InDesign.
Are you doing this because you’re more familiar with them than PowerPoint? You can use InDesign to create nice layouts, but that rules out editing them within PowerPoint. This might be OK in some situations, but I’ve found that when I make PowerPoint decks for others, they always want to tweak the text right up until they make their presentations. Yes, you can design nice static images in InDesign, but PowerPoint presentations don’t typically need to look fancy. Simple, not much text, and a few animations usually work best.
PowerPoint is convoluted, comes with severe limitations, and violates the usual conventions of typical graphics applications. Even so, it works for what it’s intended to make — visuals to accompany a verbal presentation in a meeting.
Anyway, two standard dimensions are typical for PowerPoint: the old 4:3 (10x7.5" or 1024x768 pixels) and the newer, wider 16:9 (13.33x7.5" or 1920x1080 pixels). When in doubt, ask? When you get a blank stare, 16:9 is probably the right choice.
The standard resolution for either size is 96ppi. This is usually sharp enough for someone’s computer display. At 1920x1080 pixels, the aspect ratio of 16:9 will fit HD wall monitors. 150ppi might be better for imagery that might be enlarged within PowerPoint or for printing on an office printer.
Make it 1920x1080 pixels, but if it were me, I’d make it in Photoshop, not InDesign.
You can actually copy and paste directly from InDesign to PowerPoint and retain text, shapes etc
Or make a pdf and convert it to PowerPoint using acrobat.
In fact, with InDesign you could just make an interactive pdf if it’s just for display.
Here’s what I’ve always gotten when I’ve tried to do that. It’s never worked. Am I missing something?

Yes, and it retains the live text, but it comes with the problem of making sure end users have the correct fonts installed in their machines. Doesn’t it, or am I missing something else?
One of the more important things to consider is who will be using the deck and under what conditions. I’ve found it safest to build all the layouts in PowerPoint using only system fonts. Fonts that can be depended upon to be there when, at the last minute, the presenter needs to use the computer in the meeting room that doesn’t have the correct fonts loaded.
Yes, I have a client who specifically requests the PowerPoint-like animations in the InDesign booklets I design for them. This way they can print the InDesign document and place the more animated version online. Here are two I recently built for them:
https://indd.adobe.com/view/a1fdbb2c-9d69-47a3-af92-b3d86925b9dc https://indd.adobe.com/view/1364d62a-1e7b-4f57-a9ad-876d945dea38
Isn’t that always an issue.
Arial, Calibri, times… Comic sans…
Thanks for all your feedback. I should’ve been more specific:
It’s one slide. It will be shown on a HD monitor in the company’s lobby. I know about using the fonts that can be editable (Arial, Calibri, Times, etc.), but that won’t be necessary as no one will be editing the little type that will be on there. I guess what I’m asking is what will give the best clarity without a big file size. I would rather design in something other than PS. I know quite a few designers who design in ID and the slides always look great, but the times I’ve done it, my graphics are a little fuzzy so I didn’t know if I’m starting off with the right size and resolution.
Well, the additional information changes things.
The HD monitor is likely 1920x1080 pixels, but you probably want to check to make sure it’s not some odd size. Whatever the pixel dimensions, make the final size correspond to those dimensions.
What I’m not understanding is why you’re using PowerPoint for this. PowerPoint is for making presentation decks, not individual images.
I don’t know what the image will look like, but Photoshop would definitely be my first choice unless there’s lots of text on the image. If there is lots of text, yeah, Illustrator or InDesign might be better than Photoshop. Even then I’d convert the final image to Photoshop to ensure that the pixel dimensions correspond to those of the monitor. Depending on the software running the monitor, the final file might need to be a JPEG or PNG anyway.
Excuse me if I’m wrong, but based on what you’ve asked and your choice of software, I’m not quite sure you understand the issues involved. When making an image to fit a particular sized monitor (1920x1080, for example), the final image should be exactly that. There’s no PPI or DPI or high-res or low-res or inches or centimeters. There’s just the matter of the final format and making sure the pixel dimensions fit the pixel dimensions of the monitor. In other words, something that Photoshop excels at.
Then again, I’m assuming this is as straightforward as your last post indicated. There could easily be special requirements in this specific situation that I don’t know about.
I think Powerpoint creates confusion because by default it refers to everything in inches or millimeters. If you are designing for a kiosk you need to know pixels x pixels… which, like Just-B said, is 1920x1080.
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How Do I Create a PowerPoint Slide in Photoshop?

If you're not satisfied with the templates available for Microsoft PowerPoint, use Photoshop CC 2014 to design a single slide to use as a background when entering text and images in PowerPoint or to create every slide in Photoshop and import them into your presentation.
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Creating a Slide Background

Launch Photoshop and press "Ctrl-N" to create a new file. In the dialog box that opens, set the Width at "10" inches and the height at "5.627" inches. This is the standard size for Microsoft PowerPoint 2013 slides, which have a 16:9 aspect ratio. Select "OK."
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Click the "Layer" menu and select "New Layer" to add a new layer. Click the "Foreground Color" icon in the Toolbar and select a color to use for the background of your slide. If you'll be using a company logo, you may want to use a color in the logo or a complementary color. Click the "Paint Bucket" tool in the Toolbox and then click the slide to change the background to that color.

Click and hold the bottom-right corner of the Paint Bucket Tool and select the "Gradient Tool" from the drop-down menu that opens.

Select a Gradient Fill style by clicking the "Gradient Editor" icon in the Options bar. To have the background color fade to transparency, for example, click the second preset option displayed. Drag the cursor across the screen in the direction you want the color to begin fading.

Select the "Ellipse Tool" from the Toolbox. Select white or another appropriate color from the "Fill" icon in the Options bar. Drag the cursor across the screen to draw a white oval.

Select "Free Transform Path" from the Edit menu to change the oval's size or appearance. To rotate the oval, hover the cursor just outside of a corner "Handle" until it changes into a double-headed arrow, then drag the cursor. When you press "Enter" to save the changes, Photoshop warns you that it will change the live shape into a regular path. Click "Yes."

Click the "Layer" menu, select "Layer Style" and then select "Bevel & Emboss." Click the "Contour" check box. This adds some texture to the edge of the oval. Select "Outer Glow" to have the oval's edges shine over the background. Alternatively, you may want to add a drop shadow or another style to the oval.

Open an image that you want to appear in the slide. If you are doing a presentation for a client, for example, you may want to add the client's logo. Open the image in Photoshop. Select the "Layer" menu and click "Duplicate Layer." Click the "Document" menu, select the PowerPoint file as the destination and click "OK." The image opens as a new layer in that file so you can change its size and location as needed.

Add text to your slide by selecting the "Horizontal Text Tool" from the Toolbox. Drag the cursor from the left edge of the slide to the right edge and type your words. Highlight the words and change the formatting by using the Options bar. Remember that any text you enter here won't be editable in PowerPoint.

Click the "Warp Text" icon in the options bar to add a warp effect to your text. You can also use Layer Styles from the Layer menu to add things like an inner glow or drop shadow.

Save your slide as a PSD file so you can edit its layers for a new slide if needed. Save a copy of the slide for PowerPoint in JPG or PNG format by selecting "Save For Web" from the File menu. This creates a Web-optimized version of the slide with a small file size, which is perfect for PowerPoint.

Launch PowerPoint and create a new presentation by clicking the "Blank" template. Click the "Insert" tab, then "PIcture" to insert one of your Photoshop slides. Drag the corner handles to resize the image so it covers the entire slide.
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Sizing Digital Images For Powerpoint
One of the most prevalent uses of digital imagery is in powerpoint presentations. powerpoint has become the most used slide show program fror teaching and training and most everyone in science will have to use it at some point. inserting digital images and movies into powerpoint is easy, but care must be taken to optimize the file size of the images to keep the program from hanging up or crashing during the presentation. to optimize the file sizes of your images, it's important to understand how to use the image size function of photoshop., image size for powerpoint.
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How to Change Slide Size in Powerpoint

Ben Stockton is a freelance tech writer from the United Kingdom. In a past life, he was a UK college lecturer, training teens and adults. Since leaving the classroom, he's been a tech writer, writing how-to articles and tutorials for MakeUseOf, MakeTechEasier, and Cloudwards.net. He has a degree in History and a postgraduate qualification in Computing. Read more...

PowerPoint allows you to format and present the content of your slides in different ways. If you want to print out or display your PowerPoint slides in a bigger or smaller-than-average size, you can change the slide sizes to match.
Changing PowerPoint Slide Sizes
PowerPoint has two common slide sizes. The first, 4:3, is a good option if you’re using older hardware to present your slides. If you’re planning on presenting your PowerPoint presentation using a modern projector or display, then the 16:9 slide size should be your preferred choice.
By default, PowerPoint will default to the 16:9 side slide. To print your slides (full size, one per page), you’ll likely need to use a custom slide size, rather than one of these options.
Switching to another size is thankfully an easy process—open your PowerPoint presentation to begin and then click the “Design” tab on the ribbon bar.

In the “Customize” section of the “Design” tab, select the “Slide Size” button. This will display the two common slide sizes in a drop-down menu.
Click either the “Standard (4:3)” or “Widescreen (16:9)” option to switch all of your PowerPoint slides to that size.

Unfortunately, it isn’t possible to use multiple slide sizes in a PowerPoint presentation. Just as if you were making PowerPoint slides vertical , any changes you make to your PowerPoint slide sizes will apply to all slides.
RELATED: How to Make Slides Vertical in PowerPoint
Changing to a Custom PowerPoint Slide Size
It’s possible to use a custom PowerPoint slide size if the default 4:3 or 16:9 options are unsuitable. You might choose to use a custom slide size if you’re printing full-size PowerPoint slides using a custom page layout, for instance.
To do this, select Design > Slide Size > Custom Slide Size to display the “Slide Size” options menu.

Various preset slide sizes, such as A3 or A4 paper sizes, are shown under the “Slides Sized For” drop-down menu.
Select one of these preset options, or set your slide dimensions manually using the “Width” and “Height” option boxes. From there, click the “OK” button to save.

If you’re scaling down to a smaller size, PowerPoint will ask you how it should handle any slide content.
Choose “Maximize” if you want the slide contents to remain at a similar scale, but with the risk that some of the content may be cut. Alternatively, click “Ensure Fit” to scale the slide contents down in size to match the new slide size without losing any content.

Once saved, the custom slide size you selected will be immediately applied to all of your slides, with slide content being resized or cut to match.
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PowerPoint Slide Sizes: General Information + Instructions for Resizing a Slide
The customization of standard powerpoint slide sizes.
- The customization PowerPoint slide dimensions
PowerPoint templates from TemplateMonster
Microsoft PowerPoint is a program that allows you to create unique and creative presentations. This product is perfect for beginners and professionals alike. Microsoft PowerPoint has all the editing tools you would expect from an Office product, as well as an impressive selection of options for presentation, such as transitions and animations. You can also add and edit many other non-text elements such as images, videos, audio, hypertext, and graphics. This guide is about powerpoint slide size.

Overall, PowerPoint is an amazing product. It is user-friendly and easy to use, but with advanced functions that are necessary to make truly professional presentations.
If you want to create a presentation as quickly as possible, without much effort and time spent, then pay attention to PowerPoint presentation templates from TemplateMonster. These are original and unique templates for different purposes and projects.
Now, let’s talk about PowerPoint slide dimensions.
The PowerPoint slides size depends on where and how you show this presentation. For example, it can be a PowerPoint presentation on:
- laptop screens (most laptop screens have an aspect ratio of 16:9, MacBook 16:10)
- projectors (many projectors have a 4:3 aspect ratio, while others imitate widescreen laptop monitors)
- large-format monitors (here the aspect ratio is usually 16:9)
The same PowerPoint file will be displayed differently on each device, as the aspect ratio may vary. Therefore, again, TemplateMonster offers templates that adapt to the size of the screen.

PowerPoint gives the possibility to change the size of the slides for any purpose. Most often, users change the current format to portrait or landscape. This is very easy to do. First, we will tell you how to change the standard PowerPoint slide size. So:
- Open the PowerPoint presentation, and among the various tabs ( Insert, Transitions, Animations, Slide Show, etc.) select the Design tab.
- Here you will see the themes, their variants, and Format Background . You should click Slide Size . In PowerPoint 2016, this button is located in the last field that is called Customize . In other versions of PowerPoint, Slide Size can be found in Page Settings .
- By clicking on Slide Size , you will see a menu with Standard (4:3) and Widescreen (16:9) options. The variant will be selected here depending on your presentation.
Here is the example:

Basically, this is all about changing the standard PowerPoint slide size.

The customization of PowerPoint slide dimensions
Next, we would like to share with you a quick guide on how to set up the exact dimensions for your slides. To do this, you need to take some similar actions that were specified above, namely:

- Open the PowerPoint presentation, and select the Design tab .
- Among the suggested options, click Slide Size .
- Next, you need to select the Custom Slide Size . This will bring up a special window where you can select Slide Size for Width, Height, Number Slides From, Orientation, Notes, handouts & outline.
- In the Slide Size for box, you can choose from a variety of predefined slide sizes. For example A3, A4, B5, Letter Paper, Overhead, Custom, Banner, etc.
- Next, in the Height and Width , you can customize the desired size for your presentation, or project.
- At the end, click OK , and the changes will be saved and applied to your slides.

After resizing PowerPoint slides, be sure to check everything, and make certain that the elements of the presentation are within its scope. Keep yourself out of trouble.
The PowerPoint slide is both a normal page (absolute values measured in centimeters) and a screen form (values measured in pixels). You can specify the height and width of the slide in inches, centimeters, and pixels. For PowerPoint slide size pixels, you need to specify the desired size and add “px” in the column with numbers. If you want to specify the size in inches you must add “in,” and if centimeters then “cm.” PowerPoint then converts the sizes (if it is necessary) into the type of units used by the operating system.
We would also like to clarify that the PowerPoint slide sizes in pixels can be 1366 x 768; 1280 x 720; 1024 x 600; 640 x 480. The larger the size - the better the quality.
Since we've already figured out the issue of PowerPoint slide sizes, we now offer you a list of the best PowerPoint templates from TemplateMonster.
2019 Pitch Deck PowerPoint Template

2019 Pitch Deck PowerPoint Template is truly one of the best templates that TemplateMonster offers. Among the most important features:
- over 200 unique, fresh and stylish slides
- 12 additional color schemes (you can customize the colors, and choose the appropriate scale for you)
- 16:9 HD aspect ratio, ideal for wide screens
- additional instructions that you can use to quickly and easily set up the template
- fully customizable and editable PowerPoint template elements
- 24/7 technical support
- bright and memorable slides with graphs, diagrams, tables, etc.
We advise you to consider this alternative!
Infographic PowerPoint Template

Infographic PowerPoint Template is a cool example of a powerful template for presenting any business project. Choosing this template you will get more than 600 unique, and professional templates, 2 aspect ratio (4:3 and 16:9), a huge number of vector icons, a wide variety of color schemes (you even have the opportunity to choose your favorite colors, and create schemes), additional and free fonts, calendars, maps, graphs, tables, various types of diagrams, schemes, and columns. There are also many available layouts. All elements are fully customizable. The quality of the slides is at the highest level, so you will not have any problems in working with this template.
Multipurpose Business Infographic Presentation - PowerPoint Template

Multipurpose Business Infographic Presentation is also one of the best PowerPoint templates available. It includes a huge number of unrealistically cool elements, such as:
- 30,000 slides, approximately 500 of which are unique and stylish
- more than 20 color schemes that can be easily edited
- the presence of a light and dark version of the template
- easily customizable elements
- unusual graphs, charts, tables
- a huge number of fonts and maps that can be used for free access
- different vector icons, and more
Albireo Powerpoint Template PowerPoint Template

Another variant of the best template is the Albireo PowerPoint Template . This is a huge collection of slides with different charts, maps, tables, schemes, and diagrams. This PowerPoint presentation template is perfect for presenting business projects or reports. This theme is available in light and dark formats. You will also receive more than 5 ready-made color schemes, free fonts, 24/7 technical support, additional instructions, and information about setting up and using the template.
Redline Creative PowerPoint Template

Redline Creative PowerPoint Template is also a great example of a template for any kind of presentation. Redline Creative has a fairly large number of bright, high-quality, and memorable templates. By choosing this template, you will get access to Google maps and fonts, additional bonus icons, unusual charts, schemes, and diagrams. In this template you can easily change the color, the position of the elements on the page, the size of these elements, etc. You can also use ready-made slide layouts. Redline Creative is an easy to use a theme to present any of your plans, ideas, and projects!
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21 Dec 2022 Here are a few questions that you may face when you start working with the two apps together: What's the size of a PowerPoint slide for Photoshop? What size is a Photoshop PowerPoint template? What's the correct PowerPoint size for backgrounds?
So the 16:9 aspect ratio (1920 x 1080 pixels or 13.3″ x 7.5″) became the new standard. What size should you choose? From boardrooms to computer monitors to smartphone screens, 16:9 is the default screen aspect ratio so that's the slide size I always go with. The 16:9 format gives you a lot of slide real estate to play around with!
Basic steps To change the slide size: Select the Design tab of the toolbar ribbon. Select Slide Size near the far right end of the toolbar. Select Standard (4:3 aspect ratio) or Widescreen (16:9) or Custom Slide Size.
A common output size for this is 1920 by 1080 pixels. Presentation dimension vs screen resolution By default, the size of the new presentation in PowerPoint, is currently a widescreen type presentation, 13.333 inch by 7.5 inch.
If you are creating a Standard resolution background, choose 1024 x 768 pixels as the dimensions. On the other hand, choose 1365 x 768 pixels for Widescreen backgrounds.
(Video) Are you unsure of how to set up PowerPoint dimensions? The wrong dimensions can have a very real impact on the success of your presentation. Watch the video below for a quick walk-through on how to set up PPT slide size: What Are the Right Dimensions for Your PowerPoint Slides? Continue reading to learn even more about PowerPoint size.
Printed image resolution Dimensions are the total number of pixels along the width and height of an image. Resolution is the number of image pixels assigned to each inch when an image is printed - measured in pixels per inch (ppi). Thus, the more pixels an image has per inch, the greater will be its resolution.
Powerpoint doesn't work in pixel dimensions so you'll have to calculate your sizes in inches. 10" x 7.5" is the (4:3) standard size 13.33" x 7.5" is the (16:9) standard size. It's never a bad thing having extra slides and not cramming them full. And audience distance to screen is more relative than what device it's on.
Makes sense (I hope!). Again, if you know up front what size the display will be, you can enter the equivalent of pixels, or if you set up your slide size to something friendlier, you can make it even simper. Slide size 10.24" / 1024 --> A very easy number to work with per pixel when entering sizes. ;-)
Step 1: Change the export resolution setting Step 2: Export the slide as a picture Limitations More information You can change the export resolution in Microsoft PowerPoint by saving a slide in a picture format.
7 I create Powerpoint templates regularly for clients. I use RGB / 1504px x 1129px or 20.889" x 15.681" / 72ppi jpg or png files for full page backgrounds in PowerPoint. This image size will cover the entire slide. Any thing smaller will need to be scaled to match the slide dimension. Share Improve this answer Follow answered Jul 5, 2012 at 17:47
How Big Is a PowerPoint Slide in Pixels? PowerPoint allows you to create awesome presentations with only a little effort. It has numerous customizable options to help you design the best way to show off your ideas and plans. However, you must ensure your content will fit on its slides before you can use it.
If you click the Design tab followed by Slide Size and choose Custom Slide Size, you'll see the size of your slide in either inches or centimetres: Inches are actually easier to deal with here because you're going to see conversions using DPI or Dots Per Inch.
The size of a PowerPoint slide for Photoshop depends upon these options. Check these dimensions, then use the section below to convert the units. ... 7.5 inches wide / 96 dpi = 800 pixels. If your PowerPoint slide is already set up, pixel dimensions are helpful to know. Use your pixel dimensions to create a corresponding document in Photoshop.
Should I create a slide in pixels or inches? Smurf2 October 29, 2021, 1:26pm #2 Create it in PPT. Problem solved. It really depends - what are they using it for Projector TV Monitor Internet based Print out presentation This is all nailed during the briefing process.
Save your slide as a PSD file so you can edit its layers for a new slide if needed. Save a copy of the slide for PowerPoint in JPG or PNG format by selecting "Save For Web" from the File menu. This creates a Web-optimized version of the slide with a small file size, which is perfect for PowerPoint.
PowerPoint defines the area of one slide (in On-screen Show setting of Page Setup) as if it were a piece of paper 7.5 " high and 10" wide at 100 ppi. This gives an area of 750 x 1000 pixels. Compare this to the initial pixel dimensions of the image to be inserted. All those extra pixels are not necessary, as PowerPoint will not use them.
In the "Customize" section of the "Design" tab, select the "Slide Size" button. This will display the two common slide sizes in a drop-down menu. Click either the "Standard (4:3)" or "Widescreen (16:9)" option to switch all of your PowerPoint slides to that size. Unfortunately, it isn't possible to use multiple slide sizes ...
If you can't see the button, press Customize to reveal it, and then click or tap on Slide Size. This opens a dropdown menu with three available options: Standard (4:3) - click or tap on this option to get slides of 10 x 7.5 inches or 25.4 x 19.05 cm. Widescreen (16:9) - press to get slides of 13.33 x 7.5 inches or 33.867 x 19.05 cm.
Open the PowerPoint presentation, and among the various tabs ( Insert, Transitions, Animations, Slide Show, etc.) select the Design tab. Here you will see the themes, their variants, and Format Background. You should click Slide Size. In PowerPoint 2016, this button is located in the last field that is called Customize.