It’s pretty obvious why you need small images on Web sites, the site may take a very long time to publish and load, and you also may have to pay your Web hosting service extra money for more space. You really only need to have Web pictures at 96 ppi (pixels per inch).
Same goes for publications such as flyers, brochures, and cards. If you’re e-mailing a flyer with a large image, it could take a really long time to download (making your recipients annoyed) or even be rejected by your recipients’ Internet service provider (so they never receive it).
If you’re taking a commercial publication to a professional print shop, the resolution should be between 200 and 300 ppi — you can go larger, but definitely not smaller. If you have several high resolution images in the publication, printing will take quite a bit longer (and may cost you more dough).
Note: Before you start compressing your images willy-nilly, consult with your printer at the shop; he or she will tell you what the resolution needs to be.
To compress images in Publisher 2007:
On the Picture menu, click Compress Pictures.
Do one of the following:
To compress your pictures for insertion into a document, under Compress for, click Documents.
To compress your pictures for publication on a Web page, under Compress for, click Web pages.
To compress your pictures for sending in an e-mail message, under Compress for, click E-mail messages.
Click OK.
To undo compression, click Undo on the Edit menu. Compression changes will not be saved until you save them.
Make a picture’s background transparent or opaque
I love this tip because in the past, if you wanted to make a background transparent or opaque, you had to do it in an image editing program. Now you can do it directly in Publisher. Below you can see a picture with a peach-colored background and then, after using the transparent feature in Publisher, without the peachy background.
Add a transparent area to a picture
Select the picture that you want to create transparent areas in.
On the Picture toolbar, click Set Transparent Color 
.
In the picture, click the color you want to make transparent.
Note: The Set Transparent Color option is available for bitmap pictures that don’t already have transparency information. It’s also available for some, but not all, clip art.
To change from transparent to opaque: Select the picture. Press CTRL+T.
Make your PowerPoint diagram a bit smarter
I’m guessing you’re familiar with SmartArt, but if not, here’s a little refresher: A SmartArt graphic (available in the 2007 versions of PowerPoint, Excel, Word, and Outlook) is a visual representation of your information and ideas. You choose a layout that you think expresses your ideas and communicate your message, and before you know it, you have a designer-quality illustration without the designer-quality cost. Below is an example of a SmartArt graphic that uses a layout from the List type:
List layouts are typically for items that you want to group but which don’t follow a step-by-step process.
Learn more about SmartArt graphics.
To convert a diagram that was created in an earlier version of PowerPoint (prior to 2007) to a SmartArt graphic or to a group of shapes. Open the document contains the existing diagram that you want to convert, and then double-click a shape within the diagram.
Do one of the following:
To convert your diagram to a SmartArt graphic, click Convert to SmartArt graphic, and then click Convert.
To convert your diagram to individual shapes, click Convert to Shapes, and then click Convert.
For more detailed information about the dialog box options, click 
in the Diagram Conversion dialog box.
Also helpful is this article: When should I use a SmartArt graphic and when should I use a chart?
Note: If you change your mind and want to reverse the conversion to a SmartArt graphic or to shapes, click Undo on the Quick Access Toolbar. Nobody saw anything…
When you gotta dance: SmartArt animation
And speaking of SmartArt…how about adding a little animation to perk it up?
You can animate your entire SmartArt graphic or one particular shape within it. Three steps: figure out which animation works best for your graphic; decide if you’re going to animate each shape individually or as one; then get the timing down. The basics are this:
Click the SmartArt graphic that you want to animate.
On the Animations tab, in the Animations group, select the animation that you want from the Animate list.
When you animate your SmartArt, depending on the layout you chose, you have various options. The animation can happen:
as one object
all at once
one-by-one
by branch one-by-one
by level all at once
by level one-by-one
The Animation Pane is there to guide you. Also, if you kind of like a certain animation but want to tweak it a little (or a lot), the Custom Animation pane is a good destination for that.
Now, if you decide a layout doesn’t work, you can switch to a new one easily, and each animation you have is transferred to the new layout (no one gets left behind).
Now try it out for yourself. And if you want more in-depth instructions and information, read all about how to animate your SmartArt graphic.
Author: www.microsoft.com – Laurie Anderson