Format Tab for Audio Clips in PowerPoint 2016 for Windows

Insert an audio clip in your PowerPoint slide, and you see two contextual Audio Tools tabs on the Ribbon. These are the Format and Playback tabs, as shown highlighted in blue within Figure 1, below.

Figure 1: Audio Tools contextual tabs for an audio clip

In this tutorial, we will explore the Format tab. Once you explore options within the Format tab, you'll wonder why there are options to adjust, arrange, resize, and apply picture styles. Also, why does PowerPoint provide picture format options for an audio clip? That's because the audio clip is represented by a sound icon as shown in Figure 1, previously on this page.

By default, PowerPoint provides a sound icon for the audio clip. You can select this sound icon and use the picture format options provided within the Audio Tools Format tab. One feature though has been deprecated in PowerPoint 2016; this is the Change Picture option for sound icons. In PowerPoint 2013 and previous versions, you could change the sound icon to any other picture. To do so, you right-clicked the sound icon in PowerPoint 2013. From the resultant contextual menu, you could choose the Change Picture option. Thereafter, you could choose any picture of your choice.

Follow these steps to understand options within the Audio Tools Format tab in PowerPoint 2016 for Windows:

1. Select your inserted audio clip on the slide, and then access the Audio Tools Format tab of the Ribbon. Options within the Audio Tools Format tab are explained below, in the order they appear, starting from left. We already have individual tutorials for all of these options. Click on the provided tutorial links to explore more about individual options:

1. Remove Background

2. This option figures out the boundaries of an object in the picture automatically, and allows you to keep some portion of the picture, and remove the rest. If you want to retain only some selected part of the picture, this is the best option to use. To learn how this option works, refer to our Remove Background from Pictures tutorial.

2. Corrections

3. This option is used to adjust the sharpness, softness, brightness, and contrast values of the picture. To learn more about this option, refer to our Picture Corrections tutorial.

3. Color

4. This option comes handy when you want to change the color of the picture. The resultant effect changes the overall color feel of the picture, like a monochromatic tint. You can find more information about this option in our Changing Color of Pictures tutorial.

4. Artistic Effects

5. Here you can select various artistic effects from the Artistic Effects drop-down gallery. To learn more about this option, refer to our Artistic Effects for Pictures tutorial.

5. Compress Pictures

6. By default, PowerPoint embeds your inserted pictures into your presentation leaving the size and format largely unchanged. You can reduce the size of the inserted picture using the Compress option. More information can be found within our Compress Pictures in PowerPoint 2016 for Windows tutorial.

6. Reset Picture

7. This option resets the picture to its original state. However, this option will not do a full reset if you have already used the Compress Pictures option, explained earlier on this page.

7. Picture Styles

8. Similar to Shape Styles for your shapes, PowerPoint provides Picture Styles. With a single click, Picture Styles transform a simple looking picture to something that's more highlighted.

8. Picture Border

9. Apply a border to your picture. This can be a simple outline or even a beautiful frame.

9. Picture Effects

10. Apply any of the effects individually to your pictures. In all, PowerPoint provides 6 effects: shadow, reflection, glow, soft edges, bevel, and 3-D rotation. You can find more information about this option in our Picture Effects tutorial.

10. Resize, Rotate, and Flip Pictures

11. These are very significant yet basic picture editing options that you should consider. These include learning how you can resize, rotate, and flip pictures.

11. Align and Distribute Pictures

12. You can align your audio clip.

12. Reorder Pictures

13. You may need to reorder the audio clip as there could be other slide elements also present on the slide.

13. Crop

14. Crop plays a major role in picture adjustments. To explore more about Crop options, refer to our following tutorials:
• Crop Picture
• Crop Pictures (Crop to Shape)
• Picture Fills with Crop
2. Choose options based on your requirements. Make sure to save your presentation often.