Often we need to convert text to pictures in PowerPoint. Many effects like Artistic effects, Color effects, Brightness / Contrast, etc. cannot be applied to text – but can be applied to images. Here is how you do it. (Reading time 3 min)
Create text as usual. Use large font size and make sure the font looks big enough as a picture. If you use very small font, all the picture effects will not be visible. Also, try to make the font look dissimilar – add 3d depth, put some pattern, put gradient, etc. If you just keep plain flat font, the resulting image does not look very different after applying various picture effects. Download Sample File to see for yourself.
Finally, Copy the text and paste it. After pasting click on the icon which appears and choose Picture. Now it is a picture! Don’t be in a hurry to delete the original text. Delete the original text only after you are sure that the picture is as per your needs.
Now you will see the Picture Tools menu instead of Drawing Tools menu when you click on this object. I have increased the brightness and contrast in this picture to make the original text look different.
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Crop and paste as picture again
Usually when text is pasted as a picture, there is some extra border which appears. It is transparent but you can see its boundary when you select it. If you do not like this extra boundary, use crop on the picture to remove unwanted areas. Ideally, copy the cropped picture and paste it again as a picture. This way the final picture has cropped dimensions.
Creating transparent pictures from text
Go to Text Fill and choose a gradient. Make one or more colors in the gradient transparent.
Now copy and paste the text as Picture. The resulting picture will maintain the transparency. Notice the transparent area.
What next
Once it is converted to a picture, you have a large number of interesting options. See this article for details: Applying Artistic Effects to Text
