How I Created the Faded Background Image in the Rainforest Makeover Course

I recently gave a presentation on visual design techniques non-designers could use to enhance their e-learning courses. I showed a few examples including a before-and-after version of a rainforest course.

After the session, I got a number of emails asking how I did it, so I put together this short Screenr, which starts with just the image and begins to build out the faded background.

The screencast is around four minutes. If you don’t have that kind of time, here’s the 10-second overview:

  1. Place an image that fills your entire slide
  2. Go to Insert Shape > Curve and draw an irregular oval over your image
  3. Change shape Fill to white and remove the Outline
  4. Go to Shape Effects > Soft Edges and apply a high value - 50 or higher - depending on your image
  5. Format Shape > Solid Fill and dial-in a transparency of around 10%

Post written by David Anderson

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