Cropping pictures is an essential skill when working with images in Office documents. Whether you want to remove unwanted areas of a photo, focus the viewer’s attention, or make an image fit a specific shape, cropping gives you more control over the images you insert.
In this article, I’ll provide step-by-step instructions on how to crop pictures in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2010. I’ll cover the basics of cropping, as well as more advanced techniques like cropping images to specific shapes.
Cropping Basics
Cropping allows you to remove areas of an image so that only the part you want remains visible. Here are the basic steps for cropping an image in Office 2010 applications:
Step 1: Insert the Picture
Insert the picture you want to crop using the Insert > Picture command. The Picture Tools Format tab will appear once you’ve inserted an image.
Step 2: Select the Crop Tool
On the Picture Tools Format tab, click the Crop button. Black crop handles will appear around the edges and corners of the image.
Step 3: Adjust the Crop Handles
Drag the crop handles inward to remove areas of the picture. Dragging a corner handle crops two sides at once.
Step 4: Finalize the Crop
When you’re happy with the crop, click the Crop button again to finalize your changes.
That covers the basics of cropping an image in Office 2010 programs. Now let’s go over some more advanced techniques.
Cropping Images to Shapes
Office 2010 introduced the ability to crop pictures to specific shapes like circles, triangles, arrows, and more. Here are the steps:
Step 1: Select the Picture
Click the picture you want to crop to a shape to select it.
Step 2: Access Crop to Shape
Go to the Picture Tools Format tab and click the drop-down arrow under the Crop button. Select Crop to Shape.
Step 3: Choose a Shape
Pick a shape from the gallery that appears. The image will crop to the contours of that shape.
Step 4: Adjust and Finalize
Use the crop handles to fine tune the positioning and sizing. Click the Crop button again when finished.
Cropping images to shapes is a great way to add visual interest to your Office documents.
Cropping Multiple Images at Once
You can crop several pictures to the same dimensions simultaneously in Office 2010 for consistency. Here’s how:
Step 1: Select the Images
Hold down the Ctrl key and click each image you want to crop to select them.
Step 2: Access Crop
With all images selected, go to the Picture Tools Format tab and click the Crop button.
Step 3: Adjust One Image
Crop handles will appear on every selected image. Adjust the crop on just one of the pictures.
Step 4: Finalize
Click Crop again. The same crop will be applied to every selected image.
Compressing Images After Cropping
Cropped images can take up more file space in Office documents. You can compress images after cropping to reduce file size.
Step 1: Crop Images
First, crop your pictures as needed for your document.
Step 2: Go to Compress Pictures
On the Picture Tools Format tab, click Compress Pictures.
Step 3: Select Compression Options
Check the box for Delete cropped areas of pictures and adjust other options if desired.
Step 4: Click OK
Click OK to compress the images and remove cropped areas.
Compressing images is especially important if you need to share or email documents with many pictures.
Conclusion
Learning how to crop images gives you greater flexibility when working with pictures in Office 2010 documents. Whether you want to focus attention on key elements or make images consistent, cropping is a useful skill.
Remember these key points when cropping images in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint:
- Use the Crop tool to remove unwanted areas of a photo.
- Crop pictures to specific shapes like circles and triangles.
- Crop multiple images at once to ensure consistency.
- Compress images after cropping to reduce file size.
With these tips, you can take your Office documents to the next level with clean, professional image cropping.
