Stay on brand and make your text pop by using color overlays with your photos.
Learn 3 methods in PowerPoint that are quick and easy to incorporate.
Let's get started.
Add a shape with a transparency fill
The first strategy is to use a shape with a transparency fill
Once you have your picture on your slide
Add a rectangle from the Shape drop down option on the home tab
Draw over about a third of the image
change the color fill if you want
Set the outline to No outline
To use a custom color scheme it helps to have those colors already selected
I created another video on how to choose a color scheme so make sure you check that out
Then change the transparency setting between 20 and 35 percent
The darker the color the more transparent your setting can be
Now add your text
Even though you can add a fill to a text box
I prefer using a shape because I can resize it to the height and width I want
Text boxes can only be resized horizontally and not vertically
In the comments let me know how you use filled shapes and images together
Recolor tool
The next strategy for adding a color overly to a photo is using the Recolor tool
Use this option when you need to align your photos with your color scheme
Watch my video on creating colors schemes in PowerPoint to learn how to do this
Select the image on your slide
In the Picture Format tab
click the Color button
In the Recolor section you will notice that the color options match your color scheme
Chose the option you want
What I like about this option is that the image stays crisp and viewable
Now you can add your text
The disadvantage of this option is that depending on your image
it can be hard to get a good contrast between your text and image
Using a shape with the same fill color as the picture help create contrast
You can even add transparency to the shape if you want
Color Saturation
The third strategy for adding a color overly to a photo is using the Color Saturation option
Select the image on your slide
In the Picture Format tab
click the Color button
In the Color Saturation section choose zero saturation
This will change the image to grayscale
Now add a rectangle from the Shape drop down option on the home tab
Draw over the entire image
change the color fill if you want
Set the outline to No outline
As I mentioned earlier, it helps to have your color scheme ready
From the Shape Format tab open the Format Pan
Display the Fill option
Then change the transparency setting to about 35 percent
With the image coloring at grayscale
it allows the shape color to be predominant
Here is an example of the same shape and transparency
over the image without the zero saturation settings
with this image the difference is subtle
Here is an example with an image with bold colors
The visual impact is very different between the two
It is important with color overlays
your images are playing a supporting role
so you don't want them to dominant over your text or message
Now add your text
With the three examples
Each provides a slightly different visual effect
and allows you to stay on brand with your custom color scheme
Stay on brand and make your text pop by using color overlays with your photos.
In this video, I will show you 3 methods in PowerPoint that are quick and easy to incorporate.
Let’s get started.
The first strategy is to use a shape with a transparency fill [have example displayed]
Once you have your picture on your slide
Add a rectangle from the Shape drop down option on the home tab
Draw over about a third of the image
change the color fill if you want
Set the outline to No outline
To use a custom color scheme it helps to have those colors already selected
I created another video on how to choose a color scheme so make sure you check that out
Then change the transparency setting between 20 and 35 percent
The darker the color the more transparent your setting can be
Now add your text
Even though you can add a fill to a text box
I prefer using a shape because I can resize it to the height and width I want
Text boxes can only be resized horizontally and not vertically
In the comments let me know how you use filled shapes and images together
The next strategy for adding a color overly to a photo is using the Recolor tool
Use this option when you need to align your photos with your color scheme
Watch my video on creating colors schemes in PowerPoint to learn how to do this
Select the image on your slide
In the Picture Format tab
click the Color button
In the Recolor section you will notice that the color options match your color scheme
Chose the option you want
What I like about this option is that the image stays crisp and viewable
Now you can add your text
The disadvantage of this option is that depending on your image
it can be hard to get a good contrast between your text and image
Using a shape with the same fill color as the picture help create contrast
You can even add transparency to the shape if you want
The third strategy for adding a color overly to a photo is using the Color Saturation option
Select the image on your slide
In the Picture Format tab
click the Color button
In the Color Saturation section choose zero saturation
This will change the image to grayscale
Now add a rectangle from the Shape drop down option on the home tab
Draw over the entire image
change the color fill if you want
Set the outline to No outline
As I mentioned earlier in the video it helps to have your color scheme ready
From the Shape Format tab open the Format Pan
Display the Fill option
Then change the transparency setting to about 35 percent
With the image coloring at grayscale
it allows the shape color to be predominant
Here is an example of the same shape and transparency
over the image without the zero saturation settings
with this image the difference is subtle
Here is an example with an image with bold colors
The visual impact is very different between the two
It is important with color overlays
your images are playing a supporting role
so you don’t want them to dominant over your text or message
Now add your text
Let’s take a look at the three examples
Each provides a slightly different visual effect
and allows you to stay on brand with your custom color scheme