Farewell to Clip Art

In a brusque announcement on the first of this month, Microsoft ended an era; “The Office.com Clip Art and image library has closed shop.”

Yes, that’s right, the days of Clip Art are over. No more will we be able to brighten up dull presentations and documents with those cheery little bean men pictures or other images that, let’s face it, scream of the 1990’s. For some, it’s a good thing; for others it’s time for a solemn moment of nostalgia.

From a library of only 82 illustrations included with Word 6.0 in 1996, the Clip Art library expanded quickly, with over 100,000 static and moving images included on its final online incarnation. However, in recognition of the fact that people have moved towards finding their pictures online, it’s now to be replaced with Bing image search. Naturally, the option to include pictures and other files that you’ve got saved on your computer already will remain – but Clip Art as we’re accustomed to it will be no more.

In some cases, however, this might make it harder to find exactly the right image. Clip Art was designed to be versatile, so the images were designed as vector art to make them almost endlessly resizable, and there were so many that whatever the situation, there’d be a picture to suit - and, of course, some images that you couldn’t fathom any possible use for! Whilst the internet holds a vast store of images, sound files and videos that you could embed into your document, you’ll now need to not only find the right image at the right size, but also make sure that it’s been uploaded with the right kind of copyright license for your work.

It seems it might be far easier – and safer – to simply stick to pictures that you’ve taken or paid for yourself.

It’s not the first icon of the 90’s computing era to go, of course – MSN Messenger, launched in 1999, was closed in 2013 to be replaced by Skype text chat – but it’s a good indication of just how much computing has changed over the years. Here at Tristar IT, our team keep up with the changing face of IT so that you don’t have to, offering professional and up-to-date IT support in London and the surrounding area. For more information, get in touch with us on 01707 378453 today.