image Archives - The PowerPoint Blog

New INSERT Image Options!

There is something new* in your PowerPoint, but it may not have been discovered yet. The Insert Picture button has expanded to offer more options, and NEW images.

Here is before the update. Insert PICTURES was just a button with no options.

It opened this standard, go-find-the-image-on-your-computer dialog

But now (*as of today this applies to Windows Monthly Targeted and Office Insider builds, I have not tested on standard release, Mac or online versions) the PICTURES button is a split button with more options!

Let me show what each option offers. Click the THIS DEVICE option and we get the same go-find-the-image-on-your-computer dialog

I am going to jump to the third option, ONLINE PICTURES, and save the new stuff for last. Online Pictures is an image search via Bing Images. Nothing new here.

Click the STOCK IMAGES option and we are treated to a new library of high quality photo images. These are all Royalty Free for use in Microsoft app products (eg. my understanding is they can be used in a PowerPoint, Word, Publisher, Excel document and there is no legal issues. But if they are extracted and added to an Illustrator or InDesign document or provided as a stand alone image, the royalty free status may not be enforce). I found the images very nice, great quality and good to use and look unique right now (after 18 months I feel everyone will have seen these images so many times, they will feel “old”).

The CUTOUT PEOPLE tab are all .png images of people with transparent background. These are going to get a lot of use and it is a great first release package.

The ICONS tab is also what the INSERT > ICONS button opens. It has a new layout to the icons and expanded set of icons (yay!). PRO TIP: 1 click access vs. 2 clicks. It is 2 clicks to open this dialog if we go to PICTURES and click for the drop down menu and a second click to open the dialog to STOCK IMAGES. But it is 1 click to click the ICONS button to bring up this dialog (opened to the icons tab).

The STICKERS option is new. I know some people are going to love these, and others (like me) cannot see a need for them… These are not animated .gifs, just static fun, full color “cartoons”.

Behind the scenes, Microsoft has done a lot of work on the search. This includes metatags for all images in the library, AI assisted recognition of entries, and a more streamlined process.

Something new for everyone to check out, experiment with and possibly use in your next presentation!

Troy @ TLC

By TLC Creative Services, Inc.|2020-04-15T11:40:43-07:00April 15th, 2020|Resource/Misc, Software/Add-Ins|

What is “Free”?

Using “free” images in presentations has become a dilemma over the past several years – at least from my perspective as a professional designer working with end clients in dozens of industries. To help protect our clients and TLC Creative Services from potential implications from using unlicensed images, we have in recent years added specific clauses in our client agreements. These statements detail that we are not responsible for the licensing of any images supplied by our clients, and that images we provide are only for use in the specific presentation or project they are being supplied for. There is a lot of confusing legal language coming from the various image companies, each with their own twists as to what is, and is not, permitted.

So a “free” image may be a gamble for everyone. The biggest issue over the past decade has been the ease of searching for a photo online and then pasting virtually any online image into a presentation without regard to image ownership. I have read in several places that up to 85% of images downloaded from the internet are unlicensed and used illegally! This isn’t easy to control, and when an employee uses an online sourced image in their presentation, tweet, blog post, print project, or other publicly viewed creation, it is the company that is at risk of legal action.

Recently, Pickit introduced a new and very clearly defined image licensing model called “Legally Cleared(TM)”. I believe Pickit has done a superb job of not only providing a great image resource but also explaining the big picture (pun intended) of what the legal issues surrounding image use are. I encourage everyone to take 3 minutes to read this informative page on the Pickit site.

Burst, by Shopify, is a good example of how licensing agreements should be worded for end users. They make everything very clear, in non-legalese language, what royalty free means for their images (just scroll to bottom of the home page here).

At TLC Creative Services we annually select an image resource subscription (Adobe Stock, Getty Images, iStock, etc.) and include access to it with all our projects. We purchase images of course, but when possible, we have our client purchase the image licenses and supply those images to us for use in their projects. We also recommend image resource sites that provide licensed images at low or no cost to our clients (The PowerPoint Blog is highlighting several of these images sites throughout the month of July).

The bottom line is, there are legal responsibilities every time an image is added to a presentation, or any project. In this new era of GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), the potential for legal action for using “borrowed” images is increasing. So, “what is free”? From my perspective, it’s not about the price paid to license an image, it’s about understanding the proper licensed uses of your images, which in turn should keep you free of legal issues.

Troy @ TLC

By TLC Creative Services, Inc.|2018-07-06T14:00:47-07:00July 6th, 2018|Resource/Misc|

StockSnap – Free, and Royalty Free Images

StockSnap is a royalty free stock photography site that is worth bookmarking for presentation design.

StockSnap

All images on the website are FREE and do not require attribution, both great things for presentation designers to hear! Photographers choose to share their work with StockSnap and release them under Creative Commons, so they can be used for personal and commercial use. There is a variety of imagery, with categories from business to nature.

Select an image and all the vital information regarding the photo is available; photographer, dimensions, size and relevant tags.

StockSnap

When searching images, the site will advertise some images with watermarks. These, and “sponsored images,” are from outside websites that are not included in the free StockSnap library. If your project needs a good, free, image resource, this is a perfect option to have available.

Troy @ TLC

By TLC Creative Services, Inc.|2018-03-20T13:45:04-07:00March 23rd, 2018|Resource/Misc|