Ever inserted a clipart, photo, or other picture into a Microsoft PowerPoint 2003 presentation and noticed that the image is just too dark? Or, perhaps you want to place an image behind some text and need to lighten it so the text stands out and remains readable?

You don't have to open an image editor to adjust image brightness or contrast levels in PowerPoint 2003 - just make sure the Picture Toolbar is visible and perform these operations with a quick click of the mouse button.

1. In PowerPoint 2003, click on a picture to change.

2. The picture toolbar should appear, as shown below:

3. If this toolbar does not appear, right-click the image and select "Show Picture Toolbar".

4. To brighten an image, click the button showing a sun and an upwards-pointing arrow. Likewise, to darken an image, click the button showing a sun and a downwards-pointing arrow.


You can also adjust the image contrast (the difference between light and dark areas of the image). Click the half-black, half-white circle with the arrow pointing up to increase contrast. Or, to decrease contrast, click the image of the light and dark-gray circle with the arrow pointing down.

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