Isolating images to create your own clip art is a great way to professionally add interest and aid in comprehension when creating your worksheets. Here, I’ll show to do it in PowerPoint on my MacBook Air. I have no idea if this works the same with Windows, though I would assume it does.

Drag an Image Onto Your Slide

I picked a tricky one for a worksheet I am working on. Here’s the screenshot of the picture when I initially drag it onto my blank slide.

This is Daisy Buchanan with a lot going on in the background. I want the students to focus only on Daisy and I think it’s more ascetically pleasing without the background noise. So, I’m going to use the icon, in the top left, called Remove Background to isolate Daisy.

Tidy It Up A Bit

Once you select the Remove Background icon, you will need to adjust a box around the image you want. 

I drug the box around Daisy, which was the whole picture really, and this is what it came up with initially. Everything in color is what is kept, everything in purple will disappear. Sometimes the computer will get exactly what you want and this is the only steps you will take. However, this is a tricky picture with a lot going on, so the computer is having trouble figuring out what I want.

To fix it, you click anywhere in the purple and drag a line across an area you want to keep. Or, you click somewhere in the color and drag a line across an area you want to get rid of. You can only do straight lines.

Here is my final picture so you can get a feel for how many clicks it took to get what I wanted. Each white dot is a click. This took me all of five minutes to do. It was very quick. When I finished, I clicked Remove Background again.

Here is my final isolated image of Daisy Buchanan.

Why Go Through The Hassle?

I really enjoy making my own worksheets and I feel it helps students to have a visual cue. I’m including the worksheet I created with this isolated image to show why I took the extra 5-10 minutes.

Remember, I chose a really elaborate picture to demonstrate with. I’ve also had instances where Powerpoint did all the work for me and I was able to isolate with just a quick click of the icon.

Another Way

Just in case you don’t have PowerPoint, don’t use it to make worksheets, etc, there is another way. I also have the app Super PhotoCut. I bought it before I realized PowerPoint already had an image isolating feature. However, there are times where PowerPoint just doesn’t cut it and I’m happy to have the professional app.

If you’re interested in the app, click here for the link (an affiliate link).

My personal review of the app is that it works well and will benefit you if you think you will frequently need/use isolated images. I use them all the time on my worksheets so I’ve absolutely gotten my money’s worth. Sometimes, PowerPoint just doesn’t understand what I’m trying to do and I like having this as a back up.

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