Animated Headshots
By: Geetesh Bajaj
Date Created: March 30th 2009
Last Updated: March 30th 2009
Excerpt/Capsule: Learn how to animate a series of headshots -- very useful for an opening slide sequence. You can also use the same technique for product shots or vacation pictures -- just substitute the headshots!
First, take a look at this embedded presentation below.
Click above to view on AuthorStream
You can download a copy of this presentation from our Presentation Bank.
You can see that a series of headshot pictures are animated in sequence to create an effective collage slide that can function as the starting slide for a presentation for a relevant subject suited for this type of an opening.
So how was this created? Follow these steps:
- First, we collected a bunch of pictures and resized/cropped them into squares in an image editing program. We used Adobe Photoshop, but you can use almost any image editor, including the free Paint .NET program.
Tip: We sourced all these images from Microsoft's Office Online site, where tons of free clip art and pictures are available to Microsoft Office users.
- Thereafter, we placed square shapes on the slide -- these were laid in a grid of 4 x 3 squares (12 squares in all) on the slide, as shown in Figure 1 below.
Figure 1: Square shapes laid in a grid of 4 x 3 on the slide
Tip: To draw square shapes, choose the Rectangle shape (AutoShape), and press the Ctrl key while drag-drawing to restrain the rectangle to a square.
- Right-click any of these squares, choose the Format Shape (or Format Autoshape) option to bring up a dialog box of the same name. Add a picture fill, and choose one of the pictures you have assembled to fill the square.
Related Stuff: Learn how to add picture fills to shapes in PowerPoint 2003 and earlier. Learn how to add picture fills to shapes in PowerPoint 2007.
- Repeat the steps for all the squares.
- Add an entry animation to these squares -- for the first set, we used Wipe animations and alternated between the four Wipe variants:
From Left
From Right
From Bottom
From TopFor the second set, we used the Split animations and alternated between four variants for this style:
Horizontal In
Horizontal Out
Vertical In
Vertical Out
- Set all animations to play After Previous (see Animation Events), and set their speed to Fast.
- Preview the presentation, and save.
Carmine Gallo is a communications coach for the world’s most admired brands. His client list includes Intel, Chase, Barclays, IBM, Nokia, and many others. 
