Powerpoint: Set picture as background

Do you want to enhance your PowerPoint presentation with a chic image as a background? In this practical tip we will show you how you can quickly and easily insert your own background image for your slides.

How to set a PowerPoint background image

As of Office 2007, you have to change the background images of one or more slides using the Design tab.

1. Select the appropriate slide and switch to the "Design" tab at the top of the menu bar.
2. Click Background Format on the right.
3. You will now see several templates with backgrounds. You can either select a background directly or use the "Format background" item for your own image.
4. After you have selected the "Image or texture fill" you can select and insert an appropriate image under "File".
5. Under the path you can change your background image even further, for example by tiling textures across the entire screen to make the image transparent.
6. If you only want to use the background for the current slide, you can close the window by clicking "Close".
7. If you want to apply the image to all slides, click on "Apply to all".

Already knew? You can also insert YouTube videos into your PowerPoint presentation. We explain how this works here.