Top 15 Tips for Editing Pictures in Google Slides

What would a presentation be like without any pictures? Undoubtedly, pictures add more value and aesthetics to your slides. However, some users skip the idea of ​​adding images as their images are not suitable for slides. Some of the problems are that pictures are clipped or lack perfect brightness. Fortunately, you can perform various image editing tasks directly in Google Slides. In this post, we bring you 15 tips for editing images like a pro in Google Slides.

This post lists the steps for Google Slides on the web. However, the tips will also work in mobile apps. Also, many of the tips are also available for other Google Drive services such as Google Docs and Google Drawings.

Induced? Lets start.

1. Resize and Rotate Image

When you add an image to Google Slides, it will be used in its original size. Therefore, you may need to resize or rotate it.

Click on an image to resize it. When the blue border appears around the picture, resize the picture by dragging it with the help of the corner boxes. You can use the small boxes in the middle of the frame, but that will not preserve the aspect ratio.

Pro Tip: Learn how to batch resize images.

Similarly, to rotate an image, select it by clicking on it. Then rotate the image using the small circular icon at the top of the image. Alternatively, if you want to rotate an image 90 degrees or flip it horizontally/vertical, right-click the image and select Rotate. Choose the appropriate option.

You can also manually adjust the dimensions of the image, the rotation angle, and even lock the aspect ratio. For this, right-click on your image and select Format options. The right sidebar will open. Click Size and rotation to expand. Then set the parameters according to your need.

Pro Tip: To change the position of an image, simply drag it. Or right click the image and go to Format options. Then manually enter the location of the image under the Location section.

2. Enable Alignment Lines

When aligning images, it is not possible to ensure that they are properly placed for other elements. You can enable alignment lines to make things easier. These will guide you as you move your images.

To enable them, go to View > Snap To. Click on Guides.

Now whenever you move the images you will see red lines. Use them for proper alignment.

3. Crop Image

Sometimes your image may have unnecessary parts. You can crop directly in Google Slides. For this, click on the image and press the Crop icon in the top menu bar. Alternatively, right-click the image and select Crop image.

You will see a black border around the image when the crop tool is active. Using the slightly darker black bars, drag the image inward to crop it as needed. Then click anywhere outside the image or press Enter on your keyboard to crop the image.

4. Mask Image

You can crop your image in various ways in Google Slides. To do this, first click on the picture. Then click the small arrow next to the Crop icon in the menu bar. Select the required shape. We have covered this tip in detail. See our post on how to mask images in Google Slides.

Fly: Don’t like the shape cropping feature in Google Slides? Check out five websites that let you mask your images in various ways.

5. Adjust Image Transparency, Brightness and Contrast

You can customize the brightness and contrast of your image in Google Slides. You can even make your image transparent by adjusting the transparency. For this, right-click on the image and select Format options. Expand the Adjustments section. Adjust the available options using the sliders.

6. Add Image Effects

Google Slides allows you to recolor your image, add shadows and create a reflection for your images. All three options are accessible by right-clicking the image and selecting Format options. You can customize the Drop shadow and Reflection parameters.

7. Layer Images

Layering helps hide some of the images. When using multiple images, you can change the order of the images in Google Slides and move them forward or backward. To layer an image, right-click on it and select Sort. Select the required option.

8. Add Border

To further customize your image, you can add a border to it. Select the image and choose the border style, size and color from the top menu bar.

9. Add Frame

If the existing border styles and formats don’t suit your needs, you can add the frames in another way. Basically, you will need to add a shape, fill it with the required color (and add a border), and finally add the image on top of the shape.

Here are the detailed steps:

Stage 1: Click Insert from the menu bar and go to Shapes. Select the required shape.

Step 2: Draw the required shape on your slide using your mouse. With the shape selected, click the Fill color tool and choose your preferred color for an image frame.

Stage 3: Move your picture above the frame. If the shape hides the image, change the layering/ordering of the images from the right click menu > Sort.

10. Group Items

If you want to perform the same action (move, rotate, resize, etc.) on multiple items or images at the same time, you can group them. To do this, click on the first picture. Then press Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac) and click other items/images to select them while holding down the keyboard key. Then go to Organize > Group By. For example, I grouped the frame shape and the real image.

11. Animate Images

You can animate individual pictures in Google Slides. For this, right-click on the image and select Animate. From the sidebar, choose the animation type and the action that started the animation. Learn more about animations in Google Slides in our special post.

12. Create a Color Overlay

You can add the color layer effect to create beautiful graphics in Google Slides itself. However, this requires some manual work on your part. Here is the final result and then the steps.

Stage 1: Add the background image and increase its size to fill the entire slide.

Step 2: Go to Insert > Shape. Select the rectangular shape.

Stage 3: Using the mouse, draw the shape so that it covers the entire image.

Step 4: Click the Fill color tool from the top bar. Click on the little add icon under custom.

Step 5: Select the color you want to use. Download the transparency as per your need using the slider. Click the OK button.

Step 6: The color layer will appear in your image. Now you can add other images, text, shapes, etc. on top of the overlay depending on your need. you can add

Pro Tip: Another way to add a layer of color to images is to duplicate the image and add a shape. Fill the shape with color and set its transparency.

13. Remove Image Background

A few Google Slides users want to make the background of an image transparent. Unfortunately, this is not possible directly in Google Slides. However, you can remove image backgrounds for free without any technical knowledge using the website www.remove.bg.

Pro Tip: Check other free tools to remove image background.

14. Change Picture

Sometimes when you make certain changes to an image, you find out that it is the wrong image. You can change the image instead of starting from scratch. To do this, click on the picture and press Change picture from the top bar. Select the new picture.

15. Reset Picture

Finally, if you want to remove changes to your image, you don’t have to delete it and re-add it. Just right click on the image and select Reset image.

Edit Pictures with More Tips

We hope you enjoyed the Google Slides image editing tips mentioned above. Interestingly, you can hyperlink your images and direct viewers to a website or a different slide. You can also add Bitmoji photos to your Google Slides if you like Bitmoji.

Next: Looking for more ways to increase your productivity in Google Slides? Check out 11 useful templates for Google Slides at the next link.