Easily Insert Bing Images and YouTube Videos in MS PowerPoint 2010

Posted by dkszone on August 3, 2009

MS PowerPoint 2010 has a new feature which lets you embed videos from your hard disk or any video sharing site on the web without any need for extra add-ins. However for embedding a video from websites like YouTube, Veoh, etc., you need to first get the embed code and paste it into ‘Insert video from Online Video Site’ dialog box. A plug-in for MS PowerPoint 2007 and 2010 is now available to simplify this process.

A new Desktop plug-in from authorStream

AuthorStream’s free Desktop plug-in for MS PowerPoint 2007 and 2010 lets you search for images, videos on internet and insert them into your Slides without ever leaving the application. After installation you can find authorStream as a new ribbon, added after the Add-Ins ribbon.

Click on the screenshot to enlarge

Search and Insert Images and Videos in PowerPoint Slides

Searching the web for images and videos is simplified with authorStream’s integrated search box in PowerPoint. You can either search from authorStream ribbon or click on the Images icon or the Videos icon on the ribbon to open up a search panel in the right side bar.

Currently authorStream supports only Bing for image search and YouTube for video search. Right-click on any of the search results displayed in the panel and choose ‘Insert’ to insert the image or the video into the current slide in PowerPoint. You can preview videos in a separate window by clicking on either the ‘Play’ button or selecting ‘View and Insert’ from the right click context menu.

Insert Options for Images

AuthorStream allows only one video to be inserted into one slide. However for images, you can either choose to insert all the selected images on the current slide or each of them on their own slide from the Options menu. Insert Options for images are available from the right click context menu of images and also from the Options text link that can be found at the bottom of the search panel when image results are displayed. (see screenshot below)

Other Features

If you know the URL of the image or the video that you want to embed in your slide, then you can insert it through the ‘Insert by URL’ button on the authorStream ribbon. Though images from any online source can be inserted, video insertion is available only for YouTube videos. authorStream lets you preview the image/video before inserting it.

You can move or resize the Search and Insert panel by clicking on the drop down arrow (see screenshot below). Embedding a video initially places a shockwave object in the form of an envelope in the current slide. However after previewing the slide once by pressing F5, you will be be able to see the embedded video.