Software and apps

PowerPoint has a feature which allows you to remove the background from an image. Although it has limitations such as needing a high-resolution image and a clearly defined background/foreground, It still has many uses and can allow you to bypass the need for you to search for a cut-out image to start with.

Inserting an Image

The first step to remove the background of an image is to insert the image you wish to remove the background from. If you are not sure how to add an image to your PowerPoint, there is a guide here.

PowerPoint - Zoom Slides

PowerPoint has a new feature which mimics the style of presentation of Prezzi, using one large slide to place all of the subsequent slides on. Throughout the presentation, these slides will be zoomed into when that slide is reached, giving the impression that the whole presentation is encapsulated into a single slide. 

Excel - Find and Replace

Find and/or replace is a powerful feature that allows you to search for a text string within your data set. It will show you all of the times that Excel can see the text string in your document, allowing you to be taken to the next word by clicking the 'next' button. If you then wish to replace a text string with your own input, en masse or individually.

There are multiple ways of highlighting or removing duplicates from an Excel worksheet. 

What is SmartArt?

Create a SmartArt graphic to quickly and easily make a visual representation of your information. You can choose from among many different layouts, to effectively communicate your message or ideas. SmartArt graphics can be created in Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Word, and they can be used throughout Office.

How to create a text box

PowerPoint will generally create placeholders for text and images on each new slide unless you choose a blank slide specifically. However, sometimes you will want to create your own. The insert text-box tool is available for this situation.

GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a free and open-source raster graphics editor used for image retouching and editing, free-form drawing, converting between different image formats, and more specialised tasks.

What is Origin?

Origin is a video game digital distribution platform developed by Electronic Arts. This platform is used by the university to install certain items of software from games to applications. To access this platform, you must have an account. If you already have one you may sign in with it on Campus, if you don't, however, you will need to create one.

Managing your emails - Outlook training videos

This video series aims to highlight the features and tools of Outlook (Desktop App) that will help you to comply with your departmental file retention policies and data protection legislation. We have all become used to having powerful search features within Outlook that seemingly removed the need to organise emails in the way we would do paper files.

Track Changes

Track changes can be used to lock a document. Any changes made to the document after it has been locked will feature in a list of 'tracked changes' that can be approved or denied. These are similar to comments but will update the original document if approved.