ppt presentation 16x9

Change the size of your slides

Basic steps.

To change the slide size:

Select the Design tab of the toolbar ribbon.

Select Standard (4:3 aspect ratio) or Widescreen (16:9) or Custom Slide Size .

For more about the predefined sizes (including formats like Overhead, A3, A4, Banner, B4, and B5) or your own custom sizing, click a heading below to expand it and see the details .

Detailed steps

Choose the standard or widescreen slide size.

On the Design tab of the Ribbon, locate Slide Size in the Customize group, near the far right end of the toolbar.

Select Slide Size , and then select either Standard (4:3) or Widescreen (16:9) .

When PowerPoint is unable to automatically scale your content, it prompts you with two options:

Maximize : Select this option to increase the size of your slide content when you are scaling to a larger slide size. Choosing this option could result in your content not fitting on the slide.

Ensure Fit : Select this option to decrease the size of your content when scaling to a smaller slide size. This could make your content appear smaller, but you’ll be able to see all content on your slide.

The 16:9 widescreen setting is the default value for new presentations you create. When you change the slide size for a presentation, the size you choose only applies to that presentation.  However, you can make it easy to create a new 4:3 presentation for yourself whenever you want—by defining a custom theme that uses the 4:3 aspect ratio. See the section below named "Make a default size to start from when creating new presentations."

Choose another size, such as A3, B4, or Overhead

Select Slide Size , and then select Custom Slide Size .

In the Slide Size box, click the down arrow next to Slides sized for and select an option. Their dimensions are listed below:

Overhead provides an aspect ratio very close to the standard 4:3 slide size.

There are two options for 16:9 aspect ratios:

On-screen Show (16:9) sets the slide dimensions to 10 in x 5.625 in.

Widescreen sets it to 13.333 in x 7.5 in.

Both of these options are the same aspect ratio so they will look the same in Normal View , since PowerPoint automatically adjusts the zoom level. Widescreen (13.333 in x 7.5 in.) provides more slide surface area for the content, so that is the best choice for presentations. Widescreen won’t fit on an 8.5" x 11" sheet of paper without you having to scale it down.

Select OK to accept the dimensions and close the Slide Size dialog box.

Choose custom dimensions (in inches, centimeters, or pixels)

The Slide Size dialog box opens.

In the Slide Size dialog box, ensure the orientation is set the way you want it.

In the Height and Width boxes, PowerPoint accepts measurements in inches , centimeters , or pixels . Type a number followed by a space and then the appropriate abbreviation: in , cm , or px .

PowerPoint then converts measurements, if necessary, to the type of unit your operating system uses.

You can change the unit of measure that is shown in PowerPoint dialog boxes if you like.

Make a default size to start from when creating new presentations

This version of PowerPoint has a default size of 16:9 for new presentation, but you can create a different default for yourself.

Start PowerPoint.

On the File tab of the toolbar ribbon, select New . Then double-click the Blank Presentation to create a new, empty presentation.

Then on the Design tab, click Slide Size and choose the size you want for a default.

(If you want a different default slide size than what's listed there, select Custom Slide Size and then choose your size in the Slide Size dialog box, and then click OK .)

Select Save Current Theme .

Give your theme a name that you'll remember easily and click Save . Don't change the folder that the new theme is to be saved in.

On the Design tab, click the More arrow again in the bottom-right corner of the Themes group. You'll see your newly saved theme under a Custom heading.

Right-click that new custom theme under the Custom heading, and then select Set as Default Theme :

Close PowerPoint. Don't save any files if it prompts you.

Open PowerPoint again. On the File tab of the toolbar ribbon, select New .

The custom theme that you just saved is listed at the top left corner, named Default Theme . The thumbnail image looks like a widescreen slide, but in reality, when you create a new presentation based on that theme, the presentation has the aspect ratio that you've defined for this default theme.

The next time you open PowerPoint, you'll see your default theme in the upper-left of the theme gallery. When you select it, all the slides will be the custom size you chose by default.

Sizing applies to all slides in a presentation

PowerPoint isn't able to resize one slide within a presentation. All slides in a presentation are the same size.

If this is a feature you’d like to request, please send us your feedback to help us prioritize new features in future updates. See  How do I give feedback on Microsoft 365  for more information.

Orientation applies to all slides in a presentation

PowerPoint isn't able to change the page orientation of certain slides. All slides in a presentation have the same page orientation.

Change the page orientation in PowerPoint between landscape and portrait

Use portrait and landscape slide orientation in the same presentation

Reduce the file size of a picture

On the File menu, select Page Setup .

In the Page Setup dialog box, under Slides sized for , select the predefined size you want, or choose Custom and specify the dimensions you want.

Select Slide Size .

Select Standard (4:3) or Widescreen (16:9) .

PowerPoint may prompt you about scaling your content. Choose one of the following options:

Scale: Select this option to decrease or increase the size of your slide content. When scaling to a smaller slide size, this could make your content appear smaller, but you’ll be able to see all content on your slide.

Don't Scale: Select this option to maintain the size of your slide content. Choosing this option could result in your content not fitting on the slide.

Choose Page Setup from the menu that appears.

Page Setup gives you an assortment of predefined slide/page size options. The options and their dimensions are listed below:

In the Slide Size box, click the down arrow next to Slides sized for and select an option.

Widescreen sets the dimensions to 13.333 in x 7.5 in.

Choose custom dimensions (in inches, centimers, or pixels)

Select Slide Size , and then click Page Setup .

The Page Setup dialog box opens.

In the Width and Height boxes, PowerPoint accepts measurements in inches , centimeters , or pixels . Type a number followed by a space and then the appropriate abbreviation: in (inches) or cm (centimeters) or px (pixels).

PowerPoint then converts the measurements, if necessary, to the unit of measurement your operating system uses.

Make a new slide size the default for new presentations

Select Slide Size , and then select Page Setup .

Follow the steps in the prior section to choose the slide size you want.

On the Design tab, click the More arrow below the standard themes.

Click Save Current Theme at the bottom of the window.

Give your theme a name that you'll remember easily and click Save .

On the Design tab, click the More arrow below the standard themes again. You'll see your newly saved theme under Custom .

Right-click your new custom theme, and then click Set as Default Theme .

The next time you open PowerPoint, you'll see your default theme in the upper-left of the theme gallery. When you select it, all the slides will be the size you chose for your default theme.

Some folks have asked about resizing one slide within a presentation. PowerPoint isn't able to do that. All slides in a presentation are the same size.

Some folks have also asked about changing the page orientation of certain slides. PowerPoint isn't able to do that. All slides in a presentation have the same page orientation.

On the Design tab of the toolbar ribbon, click Slide Size in the Customize group.

Click Standard (4:3) or Widescreen (16:9) .

When PowerPoint for the web is unable to automatically scale your content, it prompts you with two options:

The 16:9 widescreen setting is the default value for new presentations you create. When you change the slide size for a presentation, the size you choose only applies to that presentation. 

You can also change the orientation of all the slides in your presentation. See Change the page orientation for instructions.

Choose custom dimensions

In the Width and Height boxes, type a measurement in inches . PowerPoint doesn't accept measurements outside the minimum and maximum shown below:

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Correct PowerPoint Aspect Ratio: 4:3 or 16:9

Nov 16, 2015 | Articles , How-To

During the day I had a business meeting and when I arrived back at the hotel in the evening, I immediately noticed that the professional video playback was replaced by a simple PowerPoint slideshow. The presentation welcomed a specific company to the bar of the hotel, for a kind of reception or celebration of something. The contrast between that initial video and now this PowerPoint presentation, could not have been bigger.

• First of all was this PowerPoint, that was set up like so many people do with PowerPoint. They use PowerPoint like Microsoft Word. Start with an empty white sheet, add a title, add some text as bullets and optionally, insert a picture to the right of it. 70% of the PowerPoint presentations are built like that.
• The second problem that I noticed, was a professional earthquake. The slideshow was set up as a standard size of 4:3 on a wide screen 16:9 television screen. You recognize this problem when you see those black bars at the left and at the right of the slideshow, in order to equally center the slideshow on the larger screen or resolution.

The first problem can be fixed by investing in a professional PowerPoint design agency or freelancer. Let them set up a PowerPoint template with your logo, a given font, your style and so on. Force everyone in your company to start with this template. It is so much easier to start off with a good template. Don’t trust yourself with the promise that the white presentation will be enhanced later on when you have time. Don’t fool yourself. The second problem can be easily fixed. When you start with a new presentation, you will first have to know; what is the aspect ratio of the device where I will show my slideshow or presentation? When you don’t know the aspect ratio, don’t start with the presentation. Changing the aspect ratio after the design of the presentation, could easily ruin your design. There are two commonly used aspect ratio’s:

• Wide screen aspect ratio, or 16:9 screens. Since a year of 5, almost all computer screens are wide screens, with the resolution aspect ratio of a television screen. The current HD computer screens have a resolution of 1920 pixels in width by 1080 pixels in height.

PowerPoint followed this evolution. From the beginning, a new PowerPoint presentation was created with a 4:3 slide setup. Since PowerPoint 2013, a new presentation is now created with 16:9 slides. So when people are still using PowerPoint 2010 nowadays, they tend to always create 4:3 presentations, for playback on the recent 16:9 television screens. People still use PowerPoint 2010 while you can’t buy 4:3 monitors anymore. This results in the slide show aspect ratio problem, as I experienced at this hotel. So as an AV professional, let me teach the 2 things that the user should know before start typing the first words on the slides . Both are related to the device where the user will run the slideshow:

• Check the orientation of the screen. Most common orientation is landscape like a television screen. But there are exceptions; at shopping malls, airports and exhibition halls, the user often see television screens in portrait mode.
• Know the resolution of the playback device and see if it is a standard monitor or wide-screen monitor.

When the user knew the orientation and size of the playback device, the user can start with the presentation. In PowerPoint, click File , New , Blank Presentation from the menu. Then click the  Design tab and click on the Slide Size button.

Here the user can choose between a portrait or landscape orientation and set the width in pixels or inches or centimeters. Now with these correct settings, you can add slides and add your messages. Remember not to start with those empty white slides like in a Microsoft Word document and be creative. Good luck…

10 Ways to Optimize PowerPoint for Information Screens

Common mistake: wrong aspect ratio used at information screens

10 Comments

Sorry, but this is no solution because placed images, like company logos, become distorted!

That is completely correct Michael. Doing this action on an existing presentation, has an influence on the images. That is also stipulated in the article that you always know upfront the orientation and the resolution of the final output device BEFORE you start a presentation. When you don’t know the resolution, then you best have to create a 4:3 and a similar 16:9 presentation, to serve both most important aspect ratios.

That is some inspirational stuff. Never knew that opinions could be this varied. Be certain to keep writing.

Our client requires full-size landscape hard-copy handouts on letter-size paper (8-1/2″ x 11″) which of course is 4:3 in addition to 16:9 presentation slides. So we prepare both aspects for them and bill accordingly!

Thanks fot this post.It’s a helpful information for professional presentations desigency. wwww.powerpoint.geek

Thanks for this post. It’s a helpful information for professional presentations.

iDealshare VideoGo also works great to convert 4:3 to 16:9 by Click “Setting…” -> Advanced ->Aspect Ratio where you can directly overwrite the original 4:3 aspect ratio to 16:9 or directly select 16:9 as the final aspect ratio.

Thanks for bringing this to our attention!

longrifle, not true, 11 x 8.25 is 4:3, if you insert an 11 x 8.5 background on a standard ppt deck, it will not fit.

Sorry but I can’t reproduce what you are saying here. And your valid email address is needed for a dialog so that you get notifications:-)

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How to Change Your PowerPoint Slide Size (16:9 vs. 4:3)

• PowerPoint Tutorials
• March 10, 2019

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to change your slide size in PowerPoint.

That way you can create slides for any situation including on-screen presentations, printed documents, posters, postcards, handouts, etc.

First off, the two most used PowerPoint slide sizes are:

• 16:9 ratio  for onscreen presentations and new overhead projectors. This is the default setting for the latest versions of PowerPoint.
• 4:3 ratio  for printing slides on standard 8.5 x 11 pieces of paper as handouts.

When starting with a blank PowerPoint presentation, changing your slide size is super easy and straightforward. If not, there are a few issues you’ll need to deal with, each covered below.

That’s why it’s worth figuring out what slide size you need BEFORE you build your presentation. If you later convert your presentation to a different size, it can be painful!

It’s just like the old carpenter saying, “measure twice and cut once.” In PowerPoint, you’ll want to “ask twice (to double confirm the required size) and build once.”

Changing your PowerPoint slide size does not make your PowerPoint presentation larger or smaller. To reduce your PowerPoint file size, you need to learn how to compress a PowerPoint presentation .

Table of Contents

How to change your powerpoint slide size.

By default, new PowerPoint presentations start in the 16:9 slide size format.

This is the NEW standard for most modern overhead projects and monitors and is recommended for most presentations. That said, you can easily change your slide size to something else.

To change your slide size in PowerPoint, simply:

• Navigate to the  Design tab
• Open the  Slide Size  drop down menu
• Select  4:3 ,  16:9  or  Custom Slide Size  (see options below)

When starting with a blank presentation, you are now good to go. You will not have to worry about any of the conversion issues discussed below.

Notice too, how much wider the 16:9 slide size is versus the 4:3 slide size in the picture below. The new size gives you more room for the content on your slides.

When you are converting an existing presentation to a new slide size, you will additionally be given the following prompt:

“You are scaling to a new slide size. Would you like to maximize the size of your content, or scale it down to ensure it will fit on the new slide?

Maximize  leaves all your content as is on your slide, even if it no longer fits on the new slide size that you selected.

Ensure Fit  scales down your content in proportion to the new slide size you have selected. You will only see this option when moving from a larger slide size to a smaller one.

Custom PowerPoint slide sizes

Choosing  Custom  for your slide size gives you additional options to work with. Inside the dialog box you can choose your size on the left and your orientation on the right.

On top of that, you can also input your own custom slide size. However, I recommend using one of the preset PowerPoint dimension options.

• On-screen show (4:3)
• Letter Paper (8.5×11 in)
• A3 Paper (297×420 mm)
• B4 (ISO) Paper (250×353 mm)
• B5 (ISO) Paper (176×250 mm)
• 35mm Slides
• On-screen Show (16:9)
• On-screen show (16:10)

For your orientation options on the right-hand side of the dialog box, you can choose between  Landscape  and  Portrait .

In most situations, you will want one of the default settings. Best practice is  Landscape  for your presentation slides and  Portrait  for your printed notes, handouts and outlines.

Issues when converting 4:3 to the 16:9 slide size in PowerPoint

When converting an existing 4:3 presentation with content into the 16:9 format, you are not given any conversion options. Instead, PowerPoint simply does the conversion for you, which can create several problems.

There are two issues you will face in the new 16:9 slide size.

The first issue is that all the images on your slide master (including company logos) will be stretched to fit the new, larger slide size.

To fix the stretched images, you will need to fix those images (or reinsert them) on your slide master, as if you were creating a PowerPoint template from scratch.

The second issue you will face in the larger 16:9 slide size is that you will have a lot of extra white space on your slides.

While you can leave the space blank, doing so will make your content look weird. Ideally you don’t want a lot of white empty space like that on your slides. Especially since all your font sizes will be so small.

That’s why if you have the time, I recommend resizing your content to fill in the white space. You can do this by either increasing the font size of your content, or adding additional visuals that support your message.

Issues when converting 16:9 to the 4:3 slide size in PowerPoint​

When converting an existing 16:9 presentation to the 4:3 slide size, you are given the option to either  Maximize  or  Ensure Fit  (both covered below).

1. The Maximize option

This option means that the content on your slides will not be resized to fit the 4:3 slide size. The same is true if you move to any smaller slide size.

Maximize Issue #1:  All the images on your slide master (including your company logo) will be distorted.

You might also have issues with other content placeholders, slide backgrounds or anything else that was built on your slide master.  For these issues, you’ll first need to navigate to your Slide Master. Once you are there, you either adjust (or rebuild) your PowerPoint template so that everything fits properly.

Maximize Issue #2:  Your content will not be scaled down to the smaller slide size. Instead, you’ll have overhanging content as pictured above.

For these kinds of spacing issues, you will need to work through your slides to adjust your content.

One recommendation as you move from the larger 16:9 slide size to 4:3, is to break up your slides. Take the contents from one larger slide and break it into two (or even three) separate slides.

Breaking up your content is preferable to just cramming more content on the smaller slide space. Doing so will make your content easier to read when presented on an overhead projector.

2. The Ensure Fit option

This option means that PowerPoint will scale down your content to fit the smaller slide size based on the size you selected.

Ensure Fit Issue #1:  Distorted images, slide backgrounds and anything else that PowerPoint had to automatically resize on your slide master.

To fix these issues, you’ll need to navigate to your slide master and adjust (or rebuild) your template to make everything fit.

Ensure Fit Issue #2:  Your content will be scaled down to fit your new slide size, leaving you with a lot of white space. In addition, all your font sizes will be smaller, making them hard to read.

For small content like this, you’ll need to work through your slides and resize your content accordingly. Keep in mind the people at the back of the room too when choosing a new font style and size.

Saving your custom slide size as a PowerPoint theme

If want to use your own custom slide size for all your future PowerPoint presentations, you can save and set it as a PowerPoint theme.

This is a two-step process as discussed below.

1. Save your custom slide size as a theme

To save your custom slide size (and settings) as your own custom PowerPoint theme, simply:

• Open the M ore options
• Click  Save Current Theme
• Name your Theme (and don’t change the file location it saves to)
• Click  Save

2. Set your custom theme as the default

To set a custom PowerPoint theme as the default for all your future presentations, simply:

• Open the  More options
• Right-click  your custom theme
• Select  Set as Default Presentation
• Close out of PowerPoint (and do not save any presentations if it prompts you)

Once you’ve set your own custom theme as the Default Presentation, it will open every time you start PowerPoint. This saves you from always having to switch your slide sizes.

So that’s how you can change your PowerPoint slide size, either before or after you create your presentation.

And although you are given a lot of flexibility in the slide sizes you can choose from, I recommend using the default slide sizes as used by most people.

It’s also important to remember that switching slide sizes after you have built your presentation can be a total pain. So, to the extent possible, figure out your PowerPoint slide size first before you build out your presentation.

If you enjoyed the depth of this article, you’ll love our PowerPoint training courses and other free resources that you can learn more about here .

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Ready for widescreen? How to manage aspect ratios in PowerPoint (16:9 vs. 4:3)

• Holly Thomas
• Personal and family
• Small business

While you can copy slides without graphics or logos from one presentation into another without a hitch, sometimes when you reuse slides that have art, you can get unexpected results, such as stretched or distorted graphics.

This occurs when the templates for the original presentation and the destination presentation use different aspect ratios (aspect ratio: The ratio between picture width and picture height. This ratio can be maintained even when resizing a picture.) Most templates use either a 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratio.

Big-screen presentations, such as major keynote addresses at conferences, often use templates with a 16:9 aspect ratio. The dimensions of templates with a 16:9 aspect ratio vary depending on the screen-projection requirements, but they are almost twice as wide as they are tall.

Here are five tips for moving slides and graphics between presentations that use the 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratios. The information below is fairly long, but we think you’ll find it quite helpful.

1.     Enter text on shapes and graphics by using an Office program

Text entered by using PowerPoint is resized proportionally, even if the shapes or graphics containing the text are stretched. The text will not be distorted when you copy it from one template to another, although the text might wrap differently within the shapes.

2.     Restore the original dimensions for a graphic

You can “fix” a distorted graphic by resetting it to its original dimensions. Simply double-click the graphic and then on the Format tab on the ribbon menu, in the Adjust group (in PowerPoint 2010) or the Picture Tools group (in PowerPoint 2007), click Reset Picture.

3.    Move slides and graphics by copying and pasting

You can avoid distorting graphics by copying them from one slide to the Clipboard, and then pasting them into the destination presentation that uses the different aspect ratio.

• Click the graphic in the original presentation to select it.
• On the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click Copy or press CTRL+C.
• Switch to the slide in the second presentation or template, click the distorted graphic, and then press DELETE.
• On the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click Paste or press CTRL+V.

If you have a large number of slides to move, you might want to paste all the slides into the destination presentation (letting the graphics distort), and then go back slide-by-slide and copy and paste the graphics individually (after deleting the distorted ones). You might find, however, that after pasting the graphics they are still either too large or too small. To fix this, you can resize your original template before copying the graphics (see the next tip).

4.    Resize your original template

Suppose that you want to copy a graphic from a template that uses a 4:3 aspect ratio into a template that uses a 16:9 aspect ratio. If you want the graphic to appear the same height in the 16:9 template, change the height of the 4:3 template to match the 16:9. If the 4:3 template has a width of 10 inches and a height of 7.5 inches, and the 16:9 template that you want to copy into has a width of 16 inches and a height of 9 inches, you can use the Dimensions proportional to 4:3 table later in this article to determine that a new height of 9 inches in a 4:3 template would have a corresponding width of 12 inches.

So in the Page Setup dialog box (located on the Design tab, in the Page Setup group), you would change the Width to 12 inches and the Height to 9 inches in the 4:3 template. You won’t see a change because it is still 4:3 proportional, just scaled up. But when you copy the graphic from the resized 4:3 template into the 16:9 template, it will be the same height as it appears in the 4:3 template. If you want a graphic to appear the same width, resize your original template to match the width of the destination template.

Note   If you have a precise height or width that you must match, you might need to calculate the corresponding width or height yourself. If the height will remain the same, calculate the width for the 4:3 template. Remember, you want the ratio of 4.3 width (or height) to be the same for the 16.9 width (or height). Thus, the formula to calculate the new width for 4:3 = (16:9 width x 4:3 height) /16:9 height.

Copy a graphic while maintaining the height

• Click the graphic to select it.
• On the Design tab, in the Page Setup group, click Page Setup .
• In the Height box, enter the number that you want to keep the same.
• In the Width list, enter the number that you want to change to.

Use the following tables to determine the new width.

Copy a graphic while maintaining the width

• In the Width box, enter the number that you want to keep the same.
• In the Height box, enter the number that you want to change to.

Use the following tables to determine the new height.

5.    Aspect ratio conversion tables

This is actually a very simple concept, but it’s a bit tricky to explain without sounding very technical. So if you are a bit confused, here’s another way to think about this.

The tables below provide width and height dimensions for 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratio templates. So for instance, in PowerPoint, you can set the page dimensions for a 4:3 template to 4″w x 3″h, or 8″w x 6″h or 10″w x 7.5″ high. These are all 4:3 aspect ratios. (You change the page dimensions on the Design menu, under Page Setup .)

The standard size for a 4:3 template is 10″w x 7.5″h. If you read the section above “ Resize Your Original Template “, it described how you can copy and paste a graphic (not a slide, but just the graphic or all the graphics on the slide by marqueeing them, and choosing Copy) from a 4:3 template into a 16:9 template, or vice versa. Copying and pasting the graphic or graphics is a workaround to avoid distorting them. But if the graphic you pasted drops into your target presentation too large or too small, sometimes, you can’t easily resize it. For instance, even if you first group it, text won’t scale down with the graphic, and you may end up with a mess.

The workaround is to go back to the 4:3 template and first resize the template so it is larger or smaller as needed. Use the tables below to find a larger or smaller page size that is still proportional. For example, if your template is standard 4:3, 10″w x 7.5″ h, and the graphic you copied and pasted from it into the 16:9 template was a little too large, go back and change your 4:3 template to 8″w x 6″h.Then copy and paste the same graphic/s into the 16:9 template and this time they will drop in about 20% smaller.

So the idea is, scale the PowerPoint file up or down, then copy the graphics, then go to the second PowerPoint file and paste. If the graphics aren’t the right size and aren’t easy to resize in your target file, go back to the first file, resize the page, copy and paste again. Got it?

Honest, the steps can take some getting used to, but once you’ve done it once or twice it’s not that hard. Any questions?

You can also download a wide variety of widescreen PowerPoint templates from the templates collection at Office.com.

–Erik Jensen and Mary Feil-Jacobs

Erik writes about  PowerPoint  and other Office products for Office.com. Mary manages presentations for senior executives.  

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How to change slide size in PowerPoint 16:9, 4:3 and custom?

• March 25, 2021

Trying to change slide size in PowerPoint presentations? PowerPoint lets you choose between a couple of standard slide sizes plus a custom option. In this hints and tips blog post we provide a guide to:

• The different slide sizes in PowerPoint 16:9, 4:3 and custom sizes
• How to change a PowerPoint slide size
• How to change the orientation of PowerPoint slides from landscape to portrait
• A workaround to change selected slides to portrait for printing

Where to change slide size in PowerPoint?

From the PowerPoint Design tab on the ribbon, select the Slide Size feature button. You can find the slide size feature button on the far right end of the ribbon - refer to the screenshot below.

The three slide size options of standard, widescreen and custom will display, as shown in the screenshot below.

What are the PowerPoint slide size options?

PowerPoint offers three different slide sizes. What's the difference 4:3 vs 16:9 PowerPoint slide sizes? The Standard 4:3 and Widescreen 16:9 both have the same slide width , but have different slide heights:

• PowerPoint Standard (4:3) Slide Size: This is the original PowerPoint slide size. The standard screen size is easy to print and works well on older style pull down projector screens (when the screen shape is closer to a square than the newer widescreen layout). Powerpoint 4:3 dimensions are 10 in x 7.5 in (which is 33.867 cm x 19.05 cm). Standard PowerPoint slide size pixels = 1024 px x 768px
• PowerPoint Widescreen (16:9) Slide Size: The PowerPoint 16:9 widescreen option was a later addition but is now the default value in PowerPoint for new presentations. Widescreen is more commonly used now because the size is well suited for presenting on digital screens (typically shaped like elongated rectangles similar to a current TV screen). Powerpoint 16:9 dimensions are 10 in x 5.625 in (33.867 cm x 14.288 cm). Widescreen size 16:9 size ppt dimensions pixels = 1920 px x 1080 px
• On-screen show (4:3)
• Letter Paper (8.5x11in)
• Ledger Paper (11x17in)
• A3 Paper (297x420mm)
• A4 Paper (210x297mm)
• B4 (ISO) Paper (250x353mm)
• B5 (ISO) Paper (176x250mm)
• 35mm slides
• On-screen Show (16:9)
• On-screen show (16:10)

You can either select from one of the many options in the drop down list, or you can directly key in your preferred Width and Height for your PowerPoint presentation. As soon as you key in width and/ or height values, the drop down menu will update to show the Custom option.

Note that when you are entering a custom slide size you have the option to specify your PowerPoint size in pixels (e.g. specify pixels for width and height). You can do this by typing in your preferred height and width in pixels using px at the end. The minimum width or height in pixels for PowerPoint slides is 120 px and the maximum width or height is 720 px. When you specify the pixel size of PowerPoint slide, PowerPoint will convert the pixels automatically to your default unit of measurement (e.g. either cm or in).

You can then select the Orientation of the PowerPoint slides. You have the option of Portrait or Landscape orientation and you can select separately for the slides and the Notes, Handouts & Outline.

Can I resize selected slides in a PowerPoint presentation?

No - the PowerPoint resize option is applied to all slides in your presentation. You cannot change size of selected slides in your PowerPoint presentation.

Does PowerPoint auto resize content if slide size changes?

If you select to change the slide size for an existing presentation, PowerPoint will display a slide scaling popup menu. The menu will give you the following options for scaling your slides:

• Maximise : The maximize size scaling option in PowerPoint will make the content larger, but it may spill over the edges of your slide.
• Ensure Fit: The ensure fit scaling option in PowerPoint ensures that all content remains visible on the slide, however the content may shrink to ensure that it fits.

Can I change orientation of PowerPoint slides from Portrait to Landscape?

Trying to work out how to change PowerPoint to portrait layout? You can change the orientation of your PowerPoint slides from Landscape to Portrait for the entire presentation, (you cannot change only selected slides in a presentation). To change orientation of PowerPoint slides:

As per the steps above, from the PowerPoint Design tab on the ribbon, select the Slide Size feature button (on the far right end of the ribbon).

The three slide size options will display, as shown in the screenshot below. Irrespective of what size layout you want this time, you need to select the Custom Slide Size option from the PowerPoint ribbon.

From the Slide Size popup menu on the PowerPoint ribbon, you have the option to select Portrait or Landscape mode. You can select the orientation display without modifying your slide size if you already have the correct slide size selected.

You can change the orientation for both your PowerPoint slides and handouts. Note that changing the orientation does not automatically adjust your template (for example your logos will likely appear distorted and the title page of your presentation will look squished). You need to adjust your PowerPoint template separately. If you are changing orientation only for a single PowerPoint presentation, you can do this via your presentation's Slide Master. Or if you plan on creating multiple presentations in the new orientation, its worth spending the extra time to create a new .potx template file suited to the new orientation.

Can you have different orientation slides in a PowerPoint? presentation?

Trying to add a vertical slide in PowerPoint, but keep the rest of the presentation horizontal? Unfortunately it's not possible to have a combination of Portrait and landscape slide orientations in a single PowerPoint presentation. But there is a workaround if you are printing rather than online presenting your PowerPoint presentation.

If you are preparing a PowerPoint presentation that will be printed, a workaround to include different orientation pages in PowerPoint is to create a slide master layout with the orientation on its side. This is a way to rotate PowerPoint slides to Portrait without changing all slides. Refer to the screenshot below for an example.

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Scott Hanselman

How to: convert a powerpoint presentation from 4:3 ratio to 16:9 without distorted or stretched images.

It always sucks to show up to a conference with a slide deck that looks lovely with lots of pictures and evocative hipster stock photography all nicely formatted for a 4:3 ratio (1024x768 pixels is common) and then find out their projectors are 16x9 and run something like 1280x720 pixels.

Nobody wants to be THIS stretchy guy:

It is true that some people have a genetic inability to see that 4:3 content has been uncomfortably stretched to fit a 16:9 screen. We have a name for these people. They are called "Bad People.™"*

As an aside, there are few sadder technical things than 4:3 content stretched across an expensive 16:9 widescreen HDTV. From electronic stores to hotel lobbies, airport status displays to café menus. Make it stop.

What's the easiest way to convert your 4:3 slide deck to 16:9 in a pitch and still have your images look nice? There' s a number of ways on the internet but they all involve "math" and "ratios" and "thought." Nonsense. Too hard. Here's what I do.

Step 0 - Switch to 16:9 and see bad images.

Click Design | Page Setup and switch from 4:3 to 16:9. Other folks say to enter in custom numbers and do multiplication. Hang in there, this is easier.

At this point, all your images WILL be stretched out.

Step 1 - Fix image ratios without messing up their sizes

Here's the trick. Right click on an image and select Size and Position. From this dialog, click in the Height box. Now, just click up once and down once. As long as the Lock Aspect Ratio checkbox is checked, just changing the scale by 1 step and then switching back will fix your image. You can do it with your keyboard even faster.

Here's trick #2. You don't need to close the Size and Position dialog. It's modeless. You can leave it open and go from slide to slide quickly changing your images. Just click the image, click Height, then up/down, then do another image. Repeat until it's all done. It'll take just a few seconds per slide.

This trick will fix all your image ratios, but expect to do one more pass to make sure that you're using all the space afforded by this new widescreen layout. Regardless of how you images are sized you might want to make some tweaks to the layout and spacing of your text and images.

How to you switch your slides from 16:9 to 4:3? Exactly the same steps except adjust the ratio in Step 0.

Hope this helps someone.

* They aren't really bad people. They are good people with bad presentations. Relax. It's a blog post.

About Scott

Scott Hanselman is a former professor, former Chief Architect in finance, now speaker, consultant, father, diabetic, and Microsoft employee. He is a failed stand-up comic, a cornrower, and a book author.

Comments are closed.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed herein are my own personal opinions and do not represent my employer's view in any way.

PowerPoint Format 4:3 vs. 16:9

Our questions, your choice.

A while ago, we expressed a preference for the aspect ratio format 16:9 over 4:3. Since then, we’ve re-considered arguments that didn’t seem relevant at the time. Here we weigh up the pros and cons, with a structured guide to help you choose for yourself.

Why exactly?

Originally, there were 4:3 monitors. Then manufacturers realized that the 16:9 format covers the human field of vision a lot better. So, devices changed, and consequently, so did presentations.

But is that a strong enough argument to change course at your company? The following nine questions can help.

1) What’s your main reason for creating presentations?

• Primarily for sales or business pitches?
• For presentations at major events?
• Perhaps more for internal meetings?
• As reports or handouts?

Or is it all of the above? The larger the company, the more varied the use of PowerPoint. Concentrate on what’s most important to you. This will serve as your basis.

2) What equipment do you use?

Based on your most important uses, work out which output devices are most prevalent in each case.

• Does your sales department work mainly with laptops and projectors – i.e., more in the 16:9 format? Or are your colleagues often on the road with tablets? If so, consider the model they use here; the iPad uses an aspect ratio of 4:3.
• Do you use large monitors at events or trade fairs? What type? From extremely wide screens to upright columns, the possibilities are endless.
• Are your projectors state-of-the-art (16:9) or does your equipment vary, and you still use some older devices (4:3)? Consider not only the head office, but also local branch offices, meeting rooms, etc.
• Do you frequently print out presentations? Are they often distributed as handouts? This would tend to favor the 4:3, including for A4 or letter format.

3) What image do you want to convey?

Formats do contribute to your overall image. Many users now see the 4:3 as being a bit outdated, whereas the 16:9 shows you’ve kept up. This argument can trump all other questions, such as those regarding equipment, technology or print-outs, and applies to both the internal and external image of your team or organization.

4) Which PowerPoint format is better suited to your content?

Let’s get rid of one common claim for a start – the 16:9 doesn’t offer you more space per se than the 4:3. More space is created if the format is a good fit for the output device, and optimally utilizes the device’s available space. Besides adaptation to the output device, other factors can also play a role. If, for example, you use presentations as manuals and want to display a screenshot on the left and an explanation on the right, you can achieve this more easily with a wider format. When it comes to presenting detailed content, however, the good old 4:3 is still suitable, as it provides roughly the same amount of space on all sides.

5) How many formats do you want to provide?

If you can’t decide, it’s best if you offer all options, right? If you do this, you need to be really organized. If you offer everything without proper planning, you’ll end up with chaos, as everyone just uses their own preferred format. Try collating multiple staff members’ slides into one presentation with this approach. The result: too much time spent on adapting individual slides, inefficiency, dissatisfied users, even damage to your brand. Choose a base format and build on this by establishing clear guidelines as to which format will be used for which purpose. You’ll then be working with a tool that converts the slides to the desired format quickly, and with minimal loss, at the press of a button.

6) How do you convert?

You’ve decided you want to change something, because you’ve considered each of the questions on their own merit. Our tip: Develop a migration plan. Bear in mind that each of your colleagues are likely to have a stash of old presentations they keep reusing or which serve as their basis for new presentations. This means conversions can quickly become irritating and cause issues. A conversion is most likely to be accepted if it occurs simultaneously with a general design conversion, brand relaunch or template conversion. No one questions these!

Most companies have more slides in circulation than they realize. Sometimes millions. The consequences, time, effort and costs involved, and the project itself are all hugely challenging, making a migration plan all the more important.

7) Which 16:9?

Did you know PowerPoint has two different 16:9 aspect ratios? One is known as “On-screen Show (16:9)” in PowerPoint 2016. The other is “Widescreen (16:9),” which has been the standard since PowerPoint 2013. The former is the same width as the 4:3 format (in the standard PowerPoint dimensions), while the latter is the same height. The space on the screen is exactly the same, though you generally need a smaller font size for the older “On-screen Show (16:9),” to give yourself enough space for content vertically. The newer “Widescreen (16:9),” on the other hand, usually works very well with the font size used in 4:3. The vertical PowerPoint size does not change, so the text can simply run on longer across the width. This also makes it easier to copy content quickly from old 4:3 slides; while a few unsightly blank spaces remain at the sides, the rough fit is good in terms of height. For this reason, we almost always recommend the “Widescreen” option.

8) How do you handle a possible conversion?

“The faster the better” is the general rule. Long transition phases make everyone work differently, so then you have to revise and rework things all over again. However, it’s worth thinking about the areas where a transition phase is wise, as it’s just as inefficient to create work where it’s not needed. When we assist our customers with the conversion process, we try to get onboard as early as possible to ensure optimum preparation and user support:

• Designing the new master(s) smartly – in terms of the conversion itself and the future
• Having as much useful material as possible in time for the go-live – Slide templates, modules, new corporate and sales presentations, tips and tricks
• Tools to automatically convert old presentations
• A conversion service for greater acceptance and efficient, professional conversion of important presentations

9) How much of the conversion can be automated?

Having discovered that all previous solutions available on the market (including our own) were unable to deliver what users really needed when it came to format switches, we spent several months on developing a completely new automation solution. This incorporates not only our entire gamut of developer expertise, but also all our experience from countless conversion processes. The result was a conversion tool that can automatically create new, reasonable-looking presentations out of most of the old ones:

• The presentation is set in your new target master from a pre-defined source master – with great precision
• The layouts are reallocated. In doing so, the tool utilizes the advantage offered by PowerPoint when users have worked with layouts and placeholders the way they should. But – and this is the smarter part by far – it can also handle the often much greater number of presentations in which layouts have been copied wildly and placeholders moved at random.
• Next, the slide content is smartly adjusted to the new aspect ratio. This includes various methods for scaling and repositioning items on the slide. Text is scaled, and images are not distorted.
• Depending on the requirements of the old and new masters, various corrections are then performed automatically to ensure the rest of the look also complies with the new specifications.
• There is literally no ready-made solution for this. The conversion tool is configured individually for each customer – based on old and new masters, what the user does with them, and how the marketing department intends to use them.

This type of migration plan for PowerPoint conversions requires a holistic approach, lots of experience, and application expertise. In return, however, it promises a seamless conversion, a high degree of acceptance among users, a good reputation, and the speed marketing departments dream of. What it also needs is preliminary talks early on, the right questions, reliable analysis, and intelligent, personalized implementation. The preliminary talks alone provide great food for thought which can also genuinely boost efficiency in cooperation with the hired brand agency.

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Free 16:9 PowerPoint PowerPoint Templates

Free Digital Assistant PowerPoint Template

Immerse yourself in the world of advanced robotics with this free Digital Assistant PowerPoint Template, adorned with a striking image of a blue-hued humanoid robot. As technology advances, artificial intelligence, and robotics have become integral to our daily lives, shaping decisions, streamlining analysis, and enhancing efficiency in various sectors. This humanoid robot PPT template encapsulates …

Here you can download free widescreen 16:9 PowerPoint templates and slide designs prepared for widescreen projection in monitors or LCD screen. You can download free PowerPoint backgrounds and slide designs featuring the widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio and slide size. Alternatively you may find useful how to make your own PowerPoint templates using widescreen size  in Microsoft PowerPoint 2013.

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Which PowerPoint format: 16:9 or 4:3?

Our clients frequently ask us what is the best aspect ratio to use in PowerPoint. 4:3? 16:9? DIN A4 or Letter? Our recommendation: your best bet is 16:9. This choice is simple. These days PowerPoint presentations are increasingly presented in digital form and are seldom printed. No matter if viewed on laptop, monitor or with a modern projector. They all use the 16:9 aspect ratio that has long become standard. This format looks more modern and more appealing as the area is used far more economically without the need of large black bars to the left and right! Our recommendation is true for most scenarios. There may be some exceptions, for example, if most presentations you create are to be printed. In this case DIN A4  ot Letter is definitely the right choice. If you work extensively with iPads and presentations in the field then 4:3 is the format for you. In most cases, however, 16:9 remains the aspect ratio of choice for PowerPoint presentations.

Why not change and abandon 4:3?

There are several reasons. For one, many users are still used to 4:3. Completely changing to 16:9 can be a considerable design obstacle – proportions are quite different. You can, however help your colleagues tackle this challenge: reapairing conclusive style guides in the form of slide templates. Apart from many inspirational design ideas the user will quickly gain a better understanding of the new format. In addition, the new 16:9 masters or their layouts can be intelligently designed in a way that layouts can guide the user with a clever placement of placeholders and infotexts.

Another reason to keep to 4:3 are projectors that still do not support 16:9. This issue can, of course, not be ignored. Keep in mind, though, that newer projectors have supported this format for years. Equipment 10 years old or older usually offer the possibility to change settings in order to display 16:9. Projectors that exclusively support 4:3 are rare and are becoming increasingly “extinct”. Check in your own organization as to what kind of technical limitations really exist. Talk to clients to whom you often present, or seek out the organizers of the conferences you attend. A reality check is never a bad idea and may be surprised.

If you find out that you need or want to offer both formats, then why not? Since PowerPoint 2013 it has been possible to change the format of a “draft” quite easily. Once could simply switch between both formats. There are some aspects to be kept in mind: logos and round shapes are distorted when using this native PowerPoint function. For this reason,  it is advisable to copy these elements to a separate file and then add them back to the presentation once the format has been changed.

16:9 is going to be introduced. What about all the old slides?

Regardless if you completely abolish 4:3 or use the format in addition to 16:9; the question is what are you going to do with all the slides that exist in 4:3? This is not your only problem. A change in format often also means a change in design. What may sound worrying can be solved with a clearly structured plan. View a number of these older presentations and check what happens when you apply a new master (design) as well as after you change the format. Depending on the results we recommend a neat and structured guideline. Pay particular attention that layouts that are no longer required after switching to a new design are deleted, footers are uniform, and that reformatted placeholders are reset to the requirements of the new master. In a last step, all colors, fonts, font sizes, bullets and other deviations need to be corrected.

Find out about the modern PowerPoint format 16:10  and when to use it in comparison to the format 16:9.

Our conclusion: Take the leap and do not hesitate to move to 16:9! If you tackle this project in a structured manner this change will hardly be an issue. As a result, you will profit from the advantages of using 16:9. The 16:9 format looks more sophisticated, offers more design possibilities and makes the most of the new screen formats.

Easy adaption to a new PowerPoint format with empower®

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Tutorial: How to display 4:3 PowerPoint Presentations in 16:9

The release of PowerPoint 2013 influenced users to display their old 4:3 presentations in the new 16:9 widescreen format. Our tutorial will show you how to easily convert 4:3 presentations into 16:9.

An increasing number of PowerPoint users are confronted with the issue on how to display common 4:3 presentations in the meanwhile established 16:9 widescreen format. In the majority of cases it is not easy to switch the format to a satisfying result.

You will quickly notice that after a simple format conversion the complete slide content looks different. For example, text boxes, tables or charts seem to be misplaced. Images, vector graphics and some diagrams are distorted because PowerPoint just stretches the slide content. Especially circle charts look like ellipses after a simple conversion.

Unfortunately this graphic chaos can’t completely be prevented. But by considering a few tricks much time and effort can be saved with slide adjustment. The following steps will demonstrate on how to easily manage changing the format from PowerPoint 2007 to 2013.

(PowerPoint 2007 and 2010 doesn’t provide any comfortable options to change the format. In this situation improvising is the key to achieve a satisfying result.)

Start a 4:3 presentation and copy it to the same directory. Insert “16×9” to the original filename. For example:  my-presentation-16×9.pptx.

Reopen the presentation and click on DESIGN – SET UP PAGE. Click PAPERFORMAT and choose the option PRESENTATIONDISPLAY (16:9). Click OK. Now you will notice that the slide content is misplaced and distorted.

Simultaneously open the original 4:3 presentation which is required to replace distorted graphics in the 16:9 version. Unfortunately you have to manually adjust each slide. Creating raster graphics to exactly align relevant and reoccurring elements will save an enormous amount of time.

Right click to display the ledger lines as shown in pic.3 and 4. Remove the small hook at ALIGN OBJECTS AT GRID to pixel-precisely arrange objects.

(Microsoft provides intelligent ledger lines starting with PowerPoint 2010. They simplify the arrangement of elements of objects and is activated in PowerPoint 2010 and 2013 by default.)

Replace the distorted objects. Click on the corresponding slide of the simultaneously in the 4:3 opened presentation and copy the object by pressing CTRL+C. Paste it with CTRL+V into the corresponding 16:9 slide. Readjust the graphic.

PowerPoint 2013 provides new options in order to switch the formats. Selecting the widescreen format via the dropdown list enables you to choose between the options maximize and scale suitable.

Choosing maximize, will have the effect that all objects on the slide are proportionally scaled to the maximum slide width, which saves manual scaling but often requires a replacement of the objects.

Choosing the function scale suitable shrinks the original content and places it at the middle of the slide. As this could also cause distortions this option is not recommended.

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What size should my slides be, 16:9 or 4:3?

July 3, 2017 by Laura Foley 2 Comments

Deciding on a slide format used to be easy when there was only one choice. Nowadays, you can choose between 4:3 format or 16:9. What do these numbers mean and which size should you choose for your presentations?

What the numbers mean

The above notation is called the “aspect ratio,” or the ratio of the width to the height of the slide. In the 4:3 aspect ratio, the dimensions are 1024 x 768 pixels (10.67″ x 8″); the height is 3/4 of the width. Back in the Ye Olde Days of PowerPoint, it was your only choice. Why? Because that’s the aspect ratio of actual slides, pictured above, television screens, and early computer monitors.

When high-definition screens came on the scene in the early 2000s, they were built in a 16:10 aspect ratio. But as more and more high-definition screens were manufactured, it became clear that screens with a 16:9 aspect ratio were cheaper to manufacture. So the 16:9 aspect ratio (1920 x 1080 pixels or 13.3″ x 7.5″) became the new standard.

What size should you choose?

From boardrooms to computer monitors to smartphone screens, 16:9 is the default screen aspect ratio so that’s the slide size I always go with. The 16:9 format gives you a lot of slide real estate to play around with! The legacy 4:3 aspect ratio, while still used, creates smaller slides and doesn’t look that great on newer screens.

How do you change an old 4:3 deck to the new 16:9 format?

Oh, this is super-fun to do and you’re a lucky duck if it becomes your job.

To resize your slides go to the Design tab on the ribbon and select Slide Size/Widescreen on the right side of the screen.

After you select the new size, this window will appear:

Now you’re faced with either everything on the slides being stretched out or squished to fill the space. Oh boy! Either way, after you make your selection you’ll need to go through the presentation slide by slide to ensure that everything looks good. This can be fairly straightforward if the creator of the presentation stayed within the template or a real pain in the rear if he/she didn’t. But do go through the deck to ensure that everything looks right.

If you’re a production artist that charges by the hour, reformatting an organization’s slides from 4:3 to 16:9 could be a nice little gig for you!

Other slide sizes for special events

Now, the 16:9 format is great for everyday use but what if you’re designing a presentation for an event? Last year, I was designing slides for a corporate conference where the setup included multiple, massive screens. For that event, the slides measured 52″ x 17″ and had a “leave this space blank” area on the bottom. Each event is different, so if you’re working on slides like these you need to become friends with the AV folks and find out what size slides they recommend for optimal viewing on that particular setup. The last thing you want to see on a gigantic stage are distorted graphics!

Bottom line

Unless you’re told otherwise, use the 16:9 format. You get a lot more space on each slide for your visuals and it’s really the way things are going.

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How can I convert my Presentation from 4X3 to 16X9

I am using PowerPoint 2010  With Windows 7.  

I have a lot of presentations.  All my slides are in a 4X3 ratio.  Is it possible to convert them to a 16X9.

Can you guide me to a step by step.

Thanks. 

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• Article Author |
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As John W says, the Page Setup dialog is where you make the change, but you're probably not going to be happy with the results.

If you can find a friend, acquaintance, school or library computer lab with PCs running PPT 2013 or 2016, you can use John Cena Rock's method to make the conversion.  It'll work far better.

There's also an inexpensive add-in or two that'll make the switch for you in 2010.  I've got one called Resize; the free demo will convert the first five slides of a presentation for you.

http://www.pptools.com/resize/

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