Something I realized a few months ago is, the problem with picture placeholders is that Microsoft has labeled them by image type rather than placeholder behavior.
This makes inserting images into PowerPoint super confusing, not to mention more difficult to use. I’m so frustrated with Microsoft for this needless added difficulty. Ugh.
Rather than attempt to explain it here in text, I’ve created a short video which, hopefully, explains things better. (Actually, I attempted to explain it here in text, but it quickly devolved into a convoluted mess! Hence, the video.)
And as an added bonus … huge props to my good friends at Brightcarbon who’ve created a free add-in to surface all the different picture insertion options when you click the button in a Picture Placeholder! GET IT HERE, and watch the end of the video for a quick demo.
So lemme try again to recap, but this time in just a few bullets.
- PowerPoint has 3 placeholders that will handle pictures: content placeholders, picture placeholders, online picture placeholders
- The placeholders behave differently when pictures are inserted
- With content and online picture placeholders, the entire picture will be inserted. The picture will not be cropped.
- With picture placeholders, the inserted picture will fill the entire placeholders, so it may be cropped
- Picture placeholders are best to use for images that should fill the slide, for headshots that all need to be the same size, for collages, things like that
- Content placeholders can be used when you don’t want the picture to be cropped, so they can be good when you expect people to insert screenshots, logos, or icons
- Online picture placeholders can also be used when you don’t want the picture to be cropped. I like this for icons and logos, because tables and charts, etc., shouldn’t inadvertently jump into this placeholder the way they can with content placeholders
- If you click the edge of any of these three placeholders, you can use Insert > Picture to insert pictures from different locations. Don’t click the buttons in the placeholders because they limit the picture source
- Picture placeholder has just one button, from this device, which opens File Explorer (Windows) or Finder (Mac) (So click the edge of the placeholder and choose Insert > Picture to get what you want.)
- Content placeholder currently has two picture options as the first two buttons: stock images, and from this device. (So click the edge of the placeholder and choose Insert > Picture if you need something else.)
- Online picture placeholder has only one button. Unfortunately, it opens the stock image gallery. (So click the edge of the placeholder and choose Insert > Picture to get what you want.)
- We’ve been asking for a logo placeholder literally since 2007. The stupid button behavior is why we never realized the Online Picture Placeholder would actually work for that.
- Get the add-in from BrightCarbon to make your life easier! When you click the button in any of these placeholders, you’ll get a menu where you can choose whatever picture source you want!
