Poster Frames for Videos in PowerPoint 2010 for Windows

When you insert a video in your presentation, you might see that the placed video clip displays a blank or black rectangle on the slide, as shown in Figure 1, below. If your video clip does not show a black rectangle, then of course there is no issue concerned. However, if it does show this black rectangle, your viewers may not find this professional, and you should consider the option we discuss on this page.

With PowerPoint's Poster Frame feature, you can easily overcome this limitation, and change the black rectangle to an image by selecting a frame from the video itself, or even a picture from a different source. Also, the Poster Frame feature presents a good option for displaying a company logo or a picture of a speaker in the video. The Poster Frame is a frame that appears first when you view the containing slide in Slide Show.

Figure 1: Video Tools Format tab of the Ribbon

You can add or change the Poster Frame in two ways:

1. Include a frame from the video itself.
2. Insert an image such as an external JPG or PNG.

In this tutorial, you will learn about both these ways to add a poster frame for your video clips in PowerPoint 2010 for Windows:

Add Poster Frame from the Video itself

1. Open your presentation, and navigate to the slide that contains a video clip. Select or double-click the video clip to bring up the two Video Tools tabs in the Ribbon. These two tabs are Format and Playback. Click the Format tab to activate it, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 1, previously on this page.
2. Within Normal editing view, play the video clip through the Player Control bar, as shown highlighted in blue within Figure 1, previously on this page. Your video clip will now play, as shown in Figure 2, below. When you find the frame within the playing video that you want to display as the poster frame, pause the video by clicking the Pause button, highlighted in red within Figure 2.
3. 
   Figure 2: Pause button within the Player Control bar
3. Doing so pauses the video, and the Pause button will change to the Play button, as shown in Figure 3, below. Note that in the paused status of the video, you can see the frame at which you stopped playing the video. If this is not the frame you want to use for your Poster frame, you can continue clicking the Play and Pause buttons until you are paused at the frame that you want to use for your Poster frame.
4. 
   Figure 3: Paused video shows a frame
4. Now, within the Video Tools Format tab, locate the Adjust group and click the Poster Frame button, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 4, below, to access the Poster Frame drop-down gallery that you can see in Figure 4.
5. 
   Figure 4: Current Frame option within the Poster Frame drop-down gallery
5. Within the Poster Frame drop-down gallery select the Current Frame option, as shown in Figure 4, above. Doing so will set the preview image for the active video clip to the current frame. The Player Control bar now displays a message that the poster frame is set, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 5, below.
6. 
   Figure 5: Current frame set as Poster Frame

Add Image as a Poster Frame

Follow these steps to set an image as a Poster Frame for your video:

1. Select the inserted video clip on your slide. Now, access and click the Poster Frame button, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 6, below. As explained in the preceding section, you will see the Poster Frame drop-down gallery. From the Poster Frame drop-down gallery, select the Image from File option, as shown in Figure 6.
2. 
   Figure 6: Image from File option to be selected
2. Doing so opens the Insert Picture dialog box. Navigate to the folder where your pictures are located, you will see the icons or thumbnails of the pictures as shown in Figure 7, below. Select the picture you need, and click the Insert button, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 7.
3. 
   Figure 7: Insert Picture dialog box
3. This will set the preview image for the video clip to the selected image. The player controls box now displays a message that the poster frame is set, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 8, below.
4. 
   Figure 8: Image set as Poster Frame
4. Make sure you save your presentation.

Remove the Poster Frame

It's easy to remove the Poster Frame at any point in time. To do so, simply navigate to the Poster Frame drop-down gallery, and choose Reset option, as shown in Figure 9, below.

Figure 9: Reset option to be selected