powerpoint advanced - Pictures

Hi Fiona,

You can download a free tool which can 'colour pick' an exact pixel on your screen (eg. your company's colour/logo).

This is for PC. Please let me know if you have a Mac and the instructions will differ.

I've just searched for a free tool now, and this color converter seems to do the job perfectly. Download and run it (no installation is required, it's a stand-alone executable file).

Now that it's running, you'll need to switch to a window containing the colour you want to 'pick' (eg. your company colours). This may be a web site, or image file you can open. Once you're at the correct window, press the PrintScreen button on your keyboard. This captures your entire screen to the windows clipboard.

Now go back to the Color-Converter window and press the Paste button on the middle right. Your screenshot should appear in the bottom of the Color Converter area. You can now scroll around your screenshot until you can see the colour you want to pick. Click your mouse on the colour, and you will see an zoomed enlargement at the top right of Color Converter. You can now click the zoomed area to ensure you get the exact pixel colour you're after.

Now look at the stats/numbers on the left. The first column is the one we want. See each row is labeled R G and B. This stands for Red, Green and Blue. Write these down, or remember them.

Now go to Powerpoint and find or insert your autoshape. Right click the autoshape and choose Format AutoShape. Ensure you're on the Colours and Lines tab. At the top, under 'Fill' section, there is a colour drop down box. Click this, and choose 'More Colours' from the drop-down options. The 'Colours' dialogue box appears. Now you can see the R, G and B boxes again. Enter each number you wrote down from Color Converter window. Press OK, and then OK again.

Your autoshape should now be the exact colour as your company's colours.

Tip: If you have image editing software such as Paint Shop Pro or Photoshop, you can usually use them to get the RGB values too.

Below are some screenshots of Color converter and the Powerpoint 'Colour' dialogue box.

Hope this helps. Let me know how you got on.

Regards, Rich