Not all of us are blessed with an unlimited array of software. Some folks have to make do with what they can afford or what the boss will agree to purchase for them. So I've met a number of people who basically use PowerPoint as their sole drawing program. It's really not as bad as it sounds, since PowerPoint does have a number of drawing tools that are quite sophisticated once you learn how they work.
However, sometimes you want to move your pictures out of PowerPoint. So how do you get them off the slide? Your first option is to see if you can copy the graphic. First click to select the graphic and choose Draw|Ungroup. Then choose Draw|Regroup. This process converts the graphic to a PowerPoint object, if it isn't already. In fact, sometimes you'll see a dialog box asking whether you want to convert the graphic. (Say "yes" if it asks.)
Now open the program where you want to copy the graphic. Switch to PowerPoint, select the graphic, and click Edit|Copy. Now switch back to your other program and choose Edit|Paste or ideally Edit|Paste Special (if the option exists). If you can use Paste Special, choose Windows Metafile, Metafile, or Enhanced Metafile if you have an option as to the type of picture you want to paste. Your PowerPoint image should appear in the other program.
Alternatively, you can export the entire slide. In PowerPoint, choose File|Save As. In the Save As Type drop-down box, choose the graphic format type you want to save in (WMF, BMP, JPG, PNG, GIF, or TIF), give the file a name, and click OK. PowerPoint asks whether you want to export just the current slide or your entire presentation. Answer No to export just the current slide.
The exported slide file can then be imported into another program just like any other graphic file. In fact, this technique is often used to import a specialized slide back into PowerPoint at times when you want just one or a few slides that don't look anything like the currently selected template. It's basically a sneaky way around PowerPoint's one-template per presentation limitation.
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