Editing audio

You can modify your audio files using the commands on the Playback tab. For example, if you add a song to a slide you can trim it to play only a brief section. You can also add a fade in and fade out and can add bookmarks that allow you to jump to specific points in the audio file.

To trim an audio file:

Select the audio file, then click the Playback tab on the Ribbon.



Click the Trim Audio command.

A dialog box will appear. Use the green handle to set the start time and the red handle to set the end time.



To preview the audio file, click the Play button.



Adjust the handles again if necessary, then click OK.

To add a fade in and fade out:

On the Playback tab, locate the Fade In: and Fade Out: fields.

Type the desired values, or use the up and down arrows to adjust the times.

To add a bookmark:

Click the timeline to locate the desired part of the audio file.

From the Playback tab, click the Add Bookmark command.



The bookmark will appear on the timeline. Click the bookmark to jump to that location.

Audio options

There are other options you can set to control how your audio file will play. These are found in the Audio Options group on the Playback tab.

• Volume: Changes the audio volume.

• Start: Controls whether the audio file starts automatically or when the mouse is clicked.

• Hide During Show: Hides the audio icon while the slide show is playing.

• Play Across Slides: Continues playing the audio file across multiple slides instead of just the current slide.

• Loop until Stopped: Replays the audio file until stopped.

• Rewind after Playing: Returns the audio file to the beginning when it is finished playing.

To change the audio icon:

By default, an audio file will appear as a speaker icon in the slide. If you want, you can change the icon to a different picture.

Select the audio file, then click the Format tab.

Click the Change Picture command.



The Insert Pictures dialog box will appear. Click Browse to select a file from your computer.

Alternatively, you can use the online image search tools to locate an image online. In our example, we'll search using the phrase music note.



Locate and select the desired picture, then click Insert.



The icon will change to the new picture.



For information on corrections, color adjustments, borders, shapes, and effects, check out our lesson on Formatting Pictures.