Microsoft dumped their Clip Art gallery access from within PowerPoint back in 2014 in favor of a Bing image search (which I often find better than even a Google image search), but now Shutterstock is helping them take a further step forward in improving the quality of imagery in presentations with the release of the Shutterstock add-in for PowerPoint.
Through the Microsoft Office App Store (found in PowerPoint on the “Insert” ribbon), PC users can now activate the Shutterstock Images add-in giving immediate search and insertion access to most of Shutterstock’s image collection.
The Office App Store is not well-known or publicized, but it provides a route for 3rd party developers to create add-ins for Office Programs which are generally free. There is still not all that much for PowerPoint to be found there now (and even less on the Mac side), but it’s relatively easy to use—for users of Office 365. The App Store is tied to your Microsoft account, so you can access it from within programs on the Insert Tab or online. In either case, you need to first add an add-in to your profile after which it will always be available to pull up in-program under “My Add-ins.”
Why Shutterstock is Getting in the Presentation Game
“This is the first dedicated plug-in [from Shutterstock] for any platform,” Janet Giesen told me in a recent conversation. As Senior Director of Business Development and Strategic Business Partnerships at Shutterstock, Janet knows that PowerPoint users have been using stock imagery for years, but that it wasn’t always the easiest thing to do—and do legally. The add-in is geared towards users of all types, but certainly makes it easy for graphic design novices to make use of Shutterstock’s collection. All from within PowerPoint, users can search for imagery, insert on a trial basis (with watermarks) and purchase/insert at appropriate sizes.
Users don’t need a Shutterstock account to “Try” images, but if they do want to purchase imagery, they will need some type of paid subscription. Shutterstock offers monthly subscriptions as well as image packs starting as low as $29 for 2 images, so if you really just need a single image for a presentation, you don’t have to spend a fortune. That said, the more expensive packs and subscriptions drop your per-image cost down dramatically.
Right now, add-in users have access to nearly the entire Shutterstock catalog with the exception of vectors. So, if you’re looking for easy access to icons, you may need to keep waiting. Additionally, Shutterstock does give you a few curated collections from the search screen such as “Backgrounds,” “People,” “Education,” etc.
As this is the first release of the add-in expect improvements to come (which are automatic and don’t require any user action.) My own wishlist includes access to Shutterstock light boxes, better filtering out of cheesy imagery, iconography, presentation friendly images (such as horizontal shots with lots of negative space to allow for overlaid content) and, of course, availability on the Mac.
To see the plug-in in action, take a look at the video below. And the first 25,000 people to install the plug-in get a free image from Shutterstock! Let me know if you install it and what you think of it.
