Powerpoint Tutorial for an Art Slideshow

Microsoft Powerpoint is the most popular presentation software in the world. I have been viewing many of the Powerpoint slideshows at Slideshare and recently decided to create one of my own.

In this tutorial I will show you how to make a Powerpoint slideshow, add images and audio, and convert it to video format to be uploaded to Youtube. We will be using Microsoft Powerpoint 2010, but most of these features should be available in previous versions.

 

 

Tutorial for Creating a Powerpoint Slideshow With Audio and Transitions

1. Open up Powerpoint. If you do not have have it, do a search on Google for free Powerpoint download. If you plan on using it a lot, it may be better to invest in a purchase of the software. For Mac users, use Keynote instead for creating your presentation.
   
   
2. Decide on a script and photos for your presentation. It is best to plan it first before even starting. If it is a slideshow of artworks you are creating, select the photos and place them in a folder. Also, decide on whether you are including audio and the number of slides you plan on including.
   
   
3. Click New Slide as many times as you need to. Click the down arrow to select a particular slide theme. If you are including 10 artworks, have 12 slides – 2 extra for an intro slide along with another one at the end with bio information and links.
   
   
   
   
4. Enter text inside the text boxes. Format the text in the top menu, or by selecting text and right-clicking (reveals a small text format menu).
   
   There are 6 icons in the middle, for inserting tables, charts, SmartArt Graphics, pictures, clipart, and video. For the sake of this tutorial, I will only be using pictures, but you can use any of these to enrich your own Powerpoint slideshow.
   
   
   
   Click the picture icon in the bottom left, and find the image on your computer to be added. Adjust the size of the image by dragging the corners, and position it by hovering your cursor until the 4 directional arrows appear, then dragging and dropping. Text can also be easily positioned in this way.
   
   
5. Work on all your slides. If you need to change the order, select the one to move in the left menu, and drag and drop it in another spot.
   
   
6. Title slide
   
   Include a large title for your presentation. I like to include a link to my website here also, which will be clickable.
   
   
7. End Slide
   
   Have a short bio of yourself, and include the URL to your art website. A photo of yourself may look good here as well.
   
   
8. Transitions
   
   Something you may consider, especially if you are planning on converting your slideshow to video format, is using Transitions. Find the button for this in the top most menu. Different transitions (or the same) can be selected for each slide individually. A preview of its effect is displayed before selecting.
   
   
9. Audio
   
   Audio can be included by clicking Insert in the top menu, then the Audio icon (right at the end). You can include audio from a file, clipart audio, or record your own. Audio will be represented by an icon, and inserted into a slide wherever you want it.
   
   
10. Playing audio for your entire presentation.
    
    To do this, first find the audio file, and insert it into your presentation at the beginning slide. Select the Playback option under the Audio Tools menu at the top.
    
    
    Right next to Start (as shown in the image below) click arrow for the menu, and choose Play across slides.
    
    

     

11. Next, click the Animations button, then Animations Pane at the right. You will see the audio file listed in the Animations Pane. Right click this and choose Effect Options from the menu. A Play Audio popup appears. Under stop playing, choose when the audio will end, which should be the total number of slides if you want it to be the entire length of the presentation.
    
    
12. When finished with your presentation, select File. Click Check for Issues and then Inspect Document. Remove any issues the document may have. Also, under Compress Media select a quality. Then, under Protect Presentation, pick Mark as Final. Your file is now ready to be shared with others.
    
    Below you will see my most recent presentation. Soon, I am planning on making some tutorials using Powerpoint. All of these will be added to Slideshare. A tutorial for Slideshare is upcoming, so please subscribe if you do not want to miss this.

 

How to Convert Powerpoint to Video for Youtube

 

Powerpoint presentations can be converted to video in a few short steps. These videos can of course be shared at video sharing services such as Youtube.

To convert to video using Powerpoint, open up the document and click File - Save and Send. Click the Create a Video link. Choose the type of display you want depending on where you plan on viewing – computer & HD displays, Internet & DVD, or portable devices.

For our purpose, we will choose the middle option. Adjust the second part (Timings and Narrations) depending on if you included audio or not. The seconds between each slide is already set at 5 seconds. Adjust this up or down, or keep it like it is.

When complete, click Create Video and find a place on your computer to save the file. Your new video can now be added to Youtube and other video sharing services.

I have only touched on a few of the main features that Powerpoint has for enhancing presentations. Play around with the menus to learn more, and read the popup tooltips. To learn more, just do a Google search for Powerpoint tutorials.

 

Do you have any questions? If you need any help with using Powerpoint, please let me know. I will be glad to help!