Want to set your PowerPoint slide size based on pixels? While PowerPoint doesn’t make this option obvious, it’s surprisingly easy to do. The little-known secret, regardless of the measurement system set on your computer, you can actually enter pixel dimensions for your slide size just by typing in a number followed by a “px” for a “pixel” size. The pixel measurements will not stay visible because PowerPoint automatically converts to inches (on our U.S. centric computers, or millimeters for those rest-of-world users on the metric system).
Everyone struggles with the “Microsoft Math.” As example, the default slide size is 13.33in. x 7.5in, which is a 16:9 ratio. If measured in pixels @96dpi, this default size would be 1280px x 720px, which works for most presentation applications.
But the “Microsoft Math” when creating a 1920px x1080px, the standard for High Def 16×9, gets a bit confusing. Go to the Slide Size under Design > Customize. Enter the size in pixels and tab or enter and PowerPoint converts the pixels size into inches (or centimeters). The “Microsoft Math” for this conversation example is accurate, but does not match PowerPoint’s default page sizing – confusing. PowerPoint’s default page size for a 16×9 slide is 13.333″ x 7.5″. The PowerPoint conversion of 1920 x 1080 px converts to a slide size of 20″ x 11.25″. Both work, but it would make sense that PowerPoint would convert to its default page size…
Another example could be an Instagram post. The optimal size for a square Insta image is a square 1080 x 1080 px. Enter pixels in the Slide Size options and PowerPoint automatically will convert to 11.25″ x 11.25″. Which means PowerPoint’s native image export will create images at the needed 1080 x 1080 px.
And the pixel conversion works with shapes too! Same concept. In the Format Shape panel, again just change the size in the Height and/or Width box to the desired pixel and hit enter. Automatic conversion.
TIP: To change the height of a 4” square to 720px, enter the new measurement in pixels and PowerPoint will automatically convert to 7.5” tall.
So now you know about a hidden conversion in PowerPoint. You don’t have to do the conversion math on your own, you can let PowerPoint work out the math!
The TLC Creative Team