An Animated GIF Created in PowerPoint
To create this animated .gif we created a small slide size PowerPoint deck. The page size is 1.25″ x 1.5″
From an image from Adobe Stock (TLC Creative has a Teams account to Adobe Stock for project art), we cropped and added the image sequence to 19 slides. No PowerPoint animation and even slide transitions – just multiple slides and a fast auto advance timing.
Troy @ TLC
How To Create Animated .GIFs in PowerPoint!
Exporting slides as a self contained animated .gif is easy (see previous post). Here is an example of creating PowerPoint slides to be exported as an animated .gif.
Adjust page size if needed. For this example the goal is an online add ready square and the PowerPoint slides page size is 4″ x 4″.
1 Insert the photos, 1 per slide.
In this example, for the scenic photos, each was sized, positioned and cropped to fit full frame on the square area.
2. Preset the slide transition effects for each slide. Note: do not set the Auto Transition timing, we will set this in the export step.
3. Go to FILE > EXPORT > CREATE AN ANIMATED GIF
4. There are 4 size options:
Small (240p at 15fps)
Medium (480p at 15fps)
Large (720p at 24fps)
Extra Large (HD quality 1080p at 24fps)
5. Add the delay between each slide in the SECONDS SPEND ON EACH SLIDE dialog
6. Click CREATE GIF
TIP: For this scenic imagery, we can successfully use the lower FPS (frames per second) of 15fps. For animated gifs with more complex animation, the higher 24fps is going to be better, even if you do not need the larger pixel size. With PowerPoint the pixel size and frame rate (fps) are connected and cannot be selected independently.
Troy @ TLC (thanks Jake for creating the sample file!)
Create Animated .GIFs in PowerPoint!
Microsoft has added a feature to PowerPoint, export as .GIF.
Export a single slide, or a series of slides as an animated .gif. Our tests have done a good job with capturing animations, slide transitions and timing – all with good size files.
The Export as Animated GIF is very similar to the Export as Video.
- Go to FILE > select EXPORT
- Select CREATE AN ANIMATED GIF
- Select a size and quality option
Episode 96 “Help Wanted – Presentation Designer (a hiring managers perspective)”
A new episode of The Presentation Podcast is available today! Troy and Lori of TLC Creative Services, Inc. talk about things that help Presentation Design applicants stand out and things that move an application to the “no” list.
Listen on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify and Soundcloud – just search for The Presentation Podcast or “Help Wanted – Presentation Designer (a hiring managers perspective)” or go direct to the episode page here: https://thepresentationpodcast.com/podcast/96
Cut Out PowerPoint Text
An example, and tutorial, of using PowerPoint for text styling. Here is the simple, all caps, text:
I am updating the text to a white fill, on a white background, with a light grey outline
To create the cut out effect, an inner shadow is applied.
Done. A text styling effect, created in PowerPoint and text remains editable.
– Troy @ TLC
Overlapping PowerPoint Text
Typography: The art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable, and appealing when displayed.
PowerPoint is a flexible design app. Sometimes it is not easy to accomplish design ideas as in other apps. As example, text kerning. PowerPoint does not use the design industry term “kerning” and the feature is not easily accessed.
For example, here is some simple, all caps, text on a slide.
To add some visual design, letter colors are updated to the TLC color scheme (RGB).
In preparation for the next effect, the opacity is lowered to 
Now the actual kerning, what PowerPoint labels CHARACTER SPACING. Select the text, open the FONT dialog, view the CHARACTER SPACING tab. Change the spacing option to CONDENSED, which essentially is negative spacing (so the 20 pt used is really -20 pt).
The result is the text slightly overlaps and the transparency overlap creates a dynamic visual.
Done. Custom typography styling created all within PowerPoint and remains editable text.
Download the editable slide HERE.
– Troy @ TLC
Stacked and Mixed Text
Typography: The art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable, and appealing when displayed.
PowerPoint is flexible. Like many design applications, text can be more than bullet lists of black text on a white background. One aspect of graphic design is creating visually engaging layouts with just text. As example, here is a slide one of the TLC Creative design team created – all in PowerPoint.
- Add text to a slide. Boring start, but now we know what we are working with.
2. To start the layout, the first section of the quote was set with a new font, ALL CAPS, and new color
3. The final word of the quote has some more extension PowerPoint styling. Starting with using a custom font and applying a text gradient fill.
4. The custom font was a purposeful selection because the font family includes an outline version. The “everything” text box was duplicated, changed to the outline version of the font, set to a purple outline and white fill. Stacked, the two text boxes look great!
5. Last is adding the name as simple, small text in same blue as the top line.
6. As a final design flare, a background image was added and sent to back.
Done. A complete graphic design text layout, completed in PowerPoint.
– Troy @ TLC