Do you think you already know how to crop? You are wrong – most probably. There is much more to cropping than what we think we know. I was also surprised when I learnt it myself. Explore this and decide for yourself!
Here is a quick video which explains all the methods.
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The original crop
This is what all of us know. Click on a Picture – go to Picture Tools – Click on CROP button and four adjustment handles appear. We move each one of them to crop the area we want to keep. This usually requires a lot of trial and error to get the precise outcome.
So far all good. But there is more. Much more.
First resize then drag
If you want to simplify the process, there is another method available. First resize the crop handles from any side and finalize the area which you want to keep after cropping. Do not worry about what is being seen in the cropped part right now. Just focus on the intended output size.
This works with Office 2010 and above.
Now the rest of the picture which is outside the crop handles is still visible but it is grayed out.
No worries. Drag the gray part of the image into the cropped rectangle and adjust till the area you want fits well inside. That’s all.
This is what you get finally.
Cropping Videos
Notice that this method works exactly the same way with Videos in PowerPoint.
Did you know that?
This feature also works since Office 2010 or above.
Trimming Videos
Although not related, trimming is also a related feature while working with videos. This will work only with PowerPoint.
Click on the video and choose Video Tools – Playback tab. Choose Trim Video. Now you can see the video in a separate window. There are in-out handles which allow you to decide where trimmed region starts and ends. You can also move frame by frame to get a precise location for the video to begin and end. Note that you can also put an animation and automate it using Bookmarks and Triggers.
In the next article we will see some sophisticated ways in which Crop has been enhanced even further.
