Inconsistent images displayed with PowerPoint

[adkman]

I have never been able to get PowerPoint to consistently display photographs
that I've dropped onto slides. Some are sharp, some are not. Two different
photos, the originals of which are perfectly fine, but sized to the same
dimensions, one looks great, the other does not.

Is anyone aware of any info regarding what exactly goes on when a photo
image is rendered by the program? Is there a how-to about and pre-processing
that needs to be done to get max quality of photo images? What should images
be sized to for max quality? Is one file format better than another?

I've never been able to find satisfactory answers to these questions, so any
help greatly appreciated.

 

[adkman]

Hi Steve,

I do use Insert->Picture. Sorry for the slip in terminology.

I've not tried using a PNG. Worth a try. Generally use hi-res JPEGs.

The problem for photo pros like myself is that we must be able to count on
consistent rendering, in my own case stricly to a projector. Many of us have
gone to other programs, such as ProShow, when we're doing strictly
presentation of images. The quality is always there, slide after slide. The
drawback being programs of this type are terrible as interactive presentation
or instructional tools.

So when you say 'size it to the max projector resolution plus a little bit
extra' what is actually going on? If you're feeding it additional pixels
somebody is doing an interpolation, with a resulting loss in quality. Is
there any way to figure out exactly what PowerPoint is looking for to make
the highest quality output?

Thanks for your help!

 

[adkman]

Thanks for giving me a little better idea what I'm dealing with. I will try
your suggestions...