Cut and past photo from PP results in poor quality

[Rick J]

I need to modify a photo that is already on a powerpoint slide. I copied
and pasted the photo from PowerPoint into PaintShop Pro to airbursh out some
information. The quality of the photo when pasted into PaintShop Pro was
terrible - the resolution appeared quite low. When the modified photo was
saved to the clipboard then pasted back on the slide, the poor quality
remained. I also tried saving the modified picture to a jpg file then
"inserted picture from file." The quality was still very poor. Seems like
I should be able to maintain the quality of the photo as it is in the
original slide ... unless of course Microsoft does something funky with the
graphics in PowerPoint to reduce their size therefore not allowing me to
make the changes I need to make without the quality suffering big time. I
don't have the file of the original photo. Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Rick

 

[Guest]

I'm sure Steve or someone can tell you why this happens, but if I were in your shoes, I'd just save the slide out as an image (use File/Save As and choose an image type -- PNG works well -- from the "as type" dropdown at the bottom of that dialog box) and edit that image in PaintShop Pro.

Then save the edited image and use Insert/Picture/From File to reinsert into PPT. (But I think you already know that part. <g>)

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

I should be able to maintain the quality of the photo as it is in the

original slide ... unless of course Microsoft does something funky with the
graphics in PowerPoint to reduce their size therefore not allowing me to
make the changes I need to make without the quality suffering big time. I
don't have the file of the original photo. Any thoughts?

Explanations as to why this happens, no.
Workarounds, yes.

If you have an Office version prior to 2003, it included MS Photo Editor (if
you don't have it, you may need to rerun setup to get it installed)

Select a photo in PPT, then choose Edit, Copy (or Ctrl+C)

Switch to Photo Editor and choose Edit, Paste As New Image.
Save as PNG and open that in Photoshop. It will be the same resolution as the
image you originally brought into PPT via Insert, Picture, From File (and
that's how you should bring the edited image back in from Photoshop.

If you don't have Photo Edit, the best bet might be to select the image, scale
it up way big (several times the size of the slide if need be) then copy/paste
it into Photoshop.

 

[Adam Crowley]

If you have an Office version prior to 2003, it included MS Photo Editor (if
you don't have it, you may need to rerun setup to get it installed)

If you have PowerPoint XP or 2003 then just right click the image, choose
Save as image and click the little arrow next to the Save button to select
'Save original'. This retains the original resolution in the same way.

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

If you have PowerPoint XP or 2003 then just right click the image, choose
Save as image and click the little arrow next to the Save button to select
'Save original'. This retains the original resolution in the same way.

Beautiful! Thanks, Adam.

I've added this to
Extract images from PowerPoint
http://www.rdpslides.com/pptfaq/FAQ00344.htm

 

[Adam Crowley]

It even works for background images inserted using Format>Background, which
is a bonus compared to screen grabs. Right click>Save background. I don't
get the 'Save original' option but it seems to save the original anyway.

 

[Adam Crowley]

....or should I say it keeps the original size and file format. It
recompresses JPEGs.

 

[John Langhans [MSFT]]

[CRITICAL UPDATE - Anyone using Office 2003 should install the critical
update as soon as possible. From PowerPoint, choose "Help -> Check for
Updates".]
[TOP ISSUE - Are you having difficulty opening presentations in PPT 2003
that you just created in PPT 2003? -
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=329820]

Hello,

If you (or anyone else reading this message) have suggestions for how to
make this easier to do in PowerPoint, don't forget to send your feedback
(in YOUR OWN WORDS, please) to Microsoft at:

http://register.microsoft.com/mswish/suggestion.asp

It's VERY important that, for EACH wish, you describe in detail, WHY it is
important TO YOU that your product suggestion be implemented. A good wish
submssion includes WHAT scenario, work-flow, or end-result is blocked by
not having a specific feature, HOW MUCH time and effort ($$$) is spent
working around a specific limitation of the current product, etc. Remember
that Microsoft receives THOUSANDS of product suggestions every day and we
read each one but, in any given product development cycle, there are ONLY
sufficient resources to address the ones that are MOST IMPORTANT to our
customers so take the extra time to state your case as CLEARLY and
COMPLETELY as possible so that we can FEEL YOUR PAIN.

IMPORTANT: Each submission should be a single suggestion (not a list of
suggestions).

John Langhans
Microsoft Corporation
Supportability Program Manager
Microsoft Office PowerPoint for Windows
Microsoft Office Picture Manager for Windows

For FAQ's, highlights and top issues, visit the Microsoft PowerPoint
support center at: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=ppt
Search the Microsoft Knowledge Base at:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=kbhowto

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
Use of any included script samples are subject to the terms specified at
http://www.microsoft.com/info/cpyright.htm

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

....or should I say it keeps the original size and file format. It
recompresses JPEGs.

What if you save as PNG though?

 

[Adam Crowley]

In my experience, for images applied using Format>Background>Fill effects,
then saved using Right click>Save background:
If you insert a JPEG it spits out a JPEG.
If you insert a PNG it spits out a PNG.
Unlike the 'save original' option for inserted pictures, however, it appears
that you don't get exactly the image you put in.
The size is the same (pixels, of course! - in fact the DPI gets reset to 96)
but as mentioned before JPEGs seem to get recompressed (at the usual low
quality that PowerPoint chucks out) and, it seems from file size
comparisons, PNGs are re-rendered too.

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

In my experience, for images applied using Format>Background>Fill effects,
then saved using Right click>Save background:
If you insert a JPEG it spits out a JPEG.
If you insert a PNG it spits out a PNG.
Unlike the 'save original' option for inserted pictures, however, it appears
that you don't get exactly the image you put in.
The size is the same (pixels, of course! - in fact the DPI gets reset to 96)
but as mentioned before JPEGs seem to get recompressed (at the usual low
quality that PowerPoint chucks out) and, it seems from file size
comparisons, PNGs are re-rendered too.

Aha, I see. Thanks!