How to Change Image Color in Microsoft Office

This article explains how to customize image color or recolor options in Microsoft Office, giving you greater control over saturation, tone, and transparency. Instructions cover Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) 2019, 2016, 2013, Microsoft 365, and Office for Mac.

Changing Image Color in Microsoft Office

When you want to fix or change the color of a picture or apply a sepia or grayscale effect, follow these steps:

1. Open the Microsoft Office program as well as a document with images inserted.

2. If you do not yet have images inserted, go to Insert > Illustrations, select either Pictures or Online Pictures.

3. To change the color, you can use the pre-made correction presets or use Picture Color Options for fine-tuning. (Shown in step 7.)

   The presets you see will vary depending on which program and version you are working in, but should include Saturation, Color Tone, and Recolor.

4. Saturation refers to the depth of color applied to your image. Notice how these presets range across a spectrum of color depths. If you see one that would work well for your project, select it here, among values between 0% and 400%.

5. Color Tone refers to the warmth or coolness of the image color, and this preset also offers choices along a spectrum. You will notice these values have different temperature ratings, denoting how warm or cool the image tone is. 

6. Recolor refers to a color wash placed over an image. This means your image will be treated as black and white, but with other options for the "white". It means the fill or background color, as well as some tones in the line art itself, will take on that color. Presets typically include Sepia, Grayscale, Washout, and other options. 

7. Alternatively, select Color > Picture Color Options.

8. Adjust the Saturation using the dial or numerical input.

9. Adjust the Color Tone using the dial or numerical input, remembering that Color Tone is adjusted in terms of temperature and refers to how warm or cool the image hues appear.

10. If you wish, Recolor the entire image using the drop-down menu.

Additional Tips

• If you want additional Recolor options, try selecting Format > Color > More Variations. This allows you to customize the color shade more precisely.
•  An interesting tool to use that's located at Format > Color > Set Transparent Color, allows you to make a color in the selected image transparent. After selecting this tool, when you select a specific color in the image, all other pixels with that color will become transparent as well.