Here are a series of tutorials that offer some nice techniques on creating picture frames in PowerPoint.

Picture Frame Example

Bruno De Pace of Evolve Training  & Consulting has a couple of good examples of picture frames created in PowerPoint.  You can see it by itself or on a desk in a scene.

Picture Frame in Action

View the PowerPoint picture frame.

Part of the Scene

View the picture frame tutorial.

Picture Frame Tutorial 1

Stephanie Harnett of ICE offers two cool tutorials on how to create some funky picture frames.  Check out her two tutorials.

Funky Frame 1

Click here to view the tutorial.

Funky Frame 2

Click here to view the tutorial.

Picture Frame Tutorial 2

I was watching Tracy Hamilton’s tutorial on nudging objects and it made me think about a few ways to create the picture frame look she desired.  So here’s my simple picture frame tutorial.

Click here to view the tutorial.

So there you have.  A whole series of tutorials on creating picture frames in PowerPoint.

I like to use PowerPoint for most of my basic graphic design work.  First, I don’t need to leave the application and open something else.  Second, PowerPoint’s a pretty decent program for some simple graphic design.

I needed to create a stack of papers for a project recently, so I built this quick tutorial to show you what I did.  As you can see, it’s pretty easy to do.

Once you have the graphics built, just right click and save them as image files.

PowerPoint Tutorial

Click here to view the PowerPoint tutorial.

The only way you’ll become a superstar is by learning to really use PowerPoint.  Here are some tutorials featured on the Rapid E-Learning Blog recently that help you learn more about PowerPoint.

PowerPoint for Rapid E-Learning

• Create interactive animated scenarios.
• Create a click and zoom effect to view images.
• Create a pan & zoom effect for your elearning scenarios.
• Working with hyperlinks in PowerPoint-based elearning.
• Create interactive scenarios in PowerPoint.
• Snapshot focus effect.
• Animated text effect to highlight key words.
• Animated effect to introduce new scenes or information.
• Lighting effects from the award winning guru course.
• Create a lightbox effect.
• Re-use animations to save time in your course design.
• Continuous animation effect for elearning.
• Why it’s a good idea to create hyperlink shapes in PowerPoint elearning courses.
• Production tip: how to view in slide show and edit the slide at the same time.
• Hide and reveal background fill and an alternative example using Tagxedo.
• Create custom email links for your elearning course.

PowerPoint Tips for Graphic Design

• Use PowerPoint as an image editor.
• Tips on manipulating images in PowerPoint.
• Use hidden slides as a working canvas.
• How to create custom drop shadows.
• Easily extend a photo’s background.
• Get more out of the free images you get from Microsoft Office.
• Get more mileage out of your PowerPoint clip art.
• Two tutorials on creating depth and perspective: tutorial 1 and tutorial 2…and a bonus tutorial while we’re at it.
• Create 3D perspective using the rotation feature.
• Simulate a pop-up light box effect.
• Create a faded image.
• Use gradients to control focus on the screen.
• Creating a faded background to frame your content.
• Removing backgrounds using shape fills.
• Make text stand out by filling it with an image.
• Masking and composition effect.
• Create a spotlight effect.
• Advertising effect for visual foreshadowing.
• Visual surprise and slicing image effects in PowerPoint.
• Add contrast to characters to make them stand out.
• How to remove the background in PowerPoint 2007.
• Remove background images using shapes and clipboard fills.
• Using fill effects to enhance free notebook template
• Graphic design tip using cropping and soft edges.
• Use gradient fills to create areas of focus.
• Use background fill effect to create see though image.
• Create an animated social media-inspired menu in PowerPoint
• Use the freehand drawing tool to trace images for custom clip art.
• Modify clip art to create custom characters for elearning.
• What to do if the ungroup clip art feature doesn’t work for you.
• Ungroup clip art and apply image filters.

Create Illustrations & Objects in PowerPoint

• Create a TV monitor.
• Create a flat screen LCD panel.
• Create a TV style frame.
• Create an iPhone or iPad graphic.
• Create an iPhone scrolling effect in PowerPoint.
• Create the front and back of an iPad; and then build the interface one and two.
• Glassy marble effect in PowerPoint
• Create an envelope graphic.
• Building a briefcase in PowerPoint
• Easy photo corners to hold images.
• Make images look like they’re magazine cutouts.
• Create transparent tape objects.
• Polaroid page curl effect
• Page curl sticker images.
• Create a stack of paper.
• Create a push-pin graphic.
• Create a calendar graphic.
• Create index card graphics.
• Create a South Park style character.
• Create a magnifying glass.
• 3D spotlight effect to go with the magnifying glass.
• Use Wordle to create silhouette graphic fills. Wordle site
• Create a whiteboard graphic.
• Create a chalkboard graphic.
• Create a picture frame.  And then create funky picture frames and more funky picture frames.
• Create a torn image effect and an alternative approach.
• Customize clip art in PowerPoint.
• Tips while working with custom clip art.
• Simple way to create silhouette characters.
• Create advanced text graphic effect.
• Create folders to use in your elearning course.

Animation Tips & Tricks in PowerPoint

• Three ways to animate in PowerPoint.
• How to create a pivot animation.
• Create re-usable animated hands for elearning.
• Zoom effect in PowerPoint.
• Grow and shrink for animation effects
• Animating a clip art character’s head.
• Create rolling screen credits.
• Create a game show spinner.
• Animated domino effect.
• Animate your custom clip art.
• Create an Etch-a-Sketch animation.
• Polishing animation to bring content into focus.
• Create an animated table one row at a time.
• Combine animations in PowerPoint with an alternative version.
• Animated hands applied to a folder theme design.

How to Use PowerPoint Tutorials

• How to move objects on a slide.
• How to quickly swap images in PowerPoint.
• Here’s the difference between PNG and EMF images.
• How to generate random text in PowerPoint.
• How to save as a PowerPoint template.
• How to reduce file size by saving slide as a PNG.
• Duplicate objects with CTRL + drag.
• Animate with motion paths.
• Basic animation tips.
• Working with the slide master.
• Create custom image and clip art collections.
• How to minimize the ribbon.
• How to use the format painter.
• Create a transparent background.
• Edit points in PowerPoint shapes.
• How to compress images in PowerPoint.
• How to use selection pane to manage layers in PowerPoint.
• How to embed fonts in PowerPoint.
• Use slide masters to apply universal image effects.
• Understanding accent colors in PowerPoint 2007+.
• How to use the slide background fill feature.
• Controlling layers with the selection pane in PowerPoint 2007.
• Add hyperlinks to PowerPoint slide masters.
• Customize the quick access toolbar in PowerPoint 2007+.
• How to fill shapes with images.
• Use the ruler to adjusting spacing on numbered text.
• Using masters to customize the screen layout.
• Tour of Microsoft Online and how to find images.

People are always asking for storyboard templates.  Personally, I just use PowerPoint.  I can put anything on the slide and if I want comments I can add those to the notes section or drop in a simple comment box.  Plus I can edit and preview on the fly. I prefer this more than I do drawing everything out on paper.

In addition, PowerPoint 2010 has some better commenting features and can link to OneNote (which I’ll cover in an upcoming tutorial).  So, I recommend starting with PowerPoint. 

But if you want to create a storyboard and you don’t want to use PowerPoint, here’s a free tool that let’s you do so.

Check the quick storyboard tutorial below.

Click here to view the tutorial.

Here’s a link to the web site that will generate the free storyboard PDF.

Some key points from the tutorial:

• He sets up the scenario.  You have a set of criteria with which to evaluate some people.
• You evaluate the people.  As you return to the original slide, you notice the person visited has been marked off.
• He provides a tour of the interaction and a flow chart to show how it works.
• Here’s a link to the PDF that explains how he built the branched interaction in PowerPoint.

Check out the tutorial.

Click here to view the tutorial.

I get a lot of questions about PowerPoint 2010.  Personally, I think it’s pretty slick.  There are a lot of new features.  In fact, I’m starting to put together some simple tutorials on PowerPoint 2010.  I’ll have them listed soon.

You can always check out this blog post where I discuss a recent free PowerPoint 2010 webinar: Become a PowerPoint 2010 Rock Star!

Some of the things I cover in the screencast tour below:

• sleeker interface
• access recent files quickly
• customize the PowerPoint ribbon
• insert slide sections
• paste as image option
• capture and insert screenshots
• insert math equations
• sophisticated audio and video features
• new design themes
• improved slide transitions
• smoother animations
• animation painter
• animation interface has changed
• share a link and broadcast your PowerPoint slide shows
• translation feature
• links to OneNote pages
• reading view for quick preview
• able to open multiple PowerPoint files
• alignment guides for objects on the slide

Watch tour of PowerPoint 2010’s new features:

Click here to view the PowerPoint 2010 tour.

I’ll be adding some free tutorials soon.  If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask. 

Doing a presentation tomorrow on some PowerPoint 2010 features.  You can access the webinar via the Training Magazine network.  They’ll have an archive of the presentation.  You can also see the previous presentation on PowerPoint.

Here’s a link to the free PowerPoint 2010 resources I share with a bunch of tutorials and helpful links.

I really like what Microsoft’s done with the new Office Online.  It’s a much better user experience.  There’s a quick screencast below, but here’s a high level overview:

• Better sorting of media types
• Selections of image sizes
• See similar images

I like the ability to quickly scan the images of similar type.

View Tutorial

Someone asked how I animated the office people in the Security Demo that I posted a while back.  So here’s a quick tutorial to show you three ways to do that type of animation.

 The basic techniques are here:

• Create a single motion path
• Create a series of motion paths
• Use the Flash once animation and duplicate the object

PowerPoint Animation Tutorial

Click here to view the PowerPoint animation tutorial.

Here’s a quick tutorial that I did for a friend who wanted to know how to customize clip art characters.

Basically steps

• Select the character
• Ungroup the clip art
• Customize it
• Select all and group to make a single image
• If you like, save the character as a distinct graphic file. EMF = keeps it vector so you can scale.  If you’re using gradient colors, you might want to save as a .PNG.

Clip Art PowerPoint Tutorial

Click here to view the tutorial.