Resource/Misc

Back in July 2021, we wrote about PowerPoint’s visual refresh and Microsoft’s generous use of rounded corners throughout the user interface. At the time, Microsoft was referring to the style as “Soft Corners,” and we pointed out how it showed up across the Ribbon, the QAT, and, especially, the slide thumbnails in the left filmstrip.

Now we have an update, five years later.

THE UPDATE

The rounded corners are still there, and for presentation design work, they are still not great. 

The main issue still is the slide thumbnails. A PowerPoint slide is a rectangle, and designers build around that rectangle. And while the actual slide canvas still displays correctly, the thumbnail preview rounds off the corners, which slightly changes how the slide appears at a glance. 

Sometimes that is barely noticeable… but other times, especially with slides that use strong borders, corner details, or a very clean linear style, the thumbnail can make the slide look different from what it actually is!

That sounds like a tiny UI detail, but in a visual design tool, small UI details like this matter so much. 

Rounded corners can make an interface feel modern and consistent with current app and web design trends, but in PowerPoint, the slide thumbnail is not just decorative; it’s a working reference. Designers use thumbnails to scan layouts and spot design issues quickly. When the thumbnail changes the perceived shape of the slide, it becomes less reliable as a reference tool. 

So, five years later, our view has not really changed: the rounded UI is still part of PowerPoint, and the rounded slide thumbnails are still not ideal.

-Troy @ TLC Creative

Episode 253 welcomes Presentation Summit founder Rick Altman to chat with hosts Troy Chollar, Sandy Johnson, and Nolan Haims about the upcoming 2026 Presentation Summit. Celebrating its 24th year, the Summit remains the gold standard for presentation training and networking.

It is a fully virtual event, globally accessible (for both attendees and presenters!), a packed schedule with the industry’s best presentation instructors, and amazing non-industry guest keynotes.  Want to know what makes this year’s event special? Tune in and get a behind-the-scenes preview before the conference begins. Listen on your favorite podcast app, or at The Presentation Podcast site here. 

TLC Creative Services has maintained an Adobe Stock (https://stock.adobe.com) subscription for our design team for several years. Yes, it is a budget expense, but the freedom when designing of not having any issue with getting high-quality, royalty free images for design projects has been worth the expense.

Well this is something new that I observed just this week – and I am not certain how I feel about it…

Adobe Stock has had a limited number of “standard” images available for free, to anyone that has a free Adobe Creative Cloud account. But this week as I am searching for images the “Download for free” label has been on upwards of 50% of the images! Good for everyone, but kind of makes me wonder what TLC Creative is paying for as we rarely used the monthly credits (which do not roll over to the next month’s allotment).

I am going to look into what changes Adobe has made to their image offerings – my assumption is their push to expand the Adobe Express app use included a significant increase in free assets. So if you need art assets for a presentation, or any design project, Adobe Stock appears to have more (lots more!) available for free!

-Troy @ TLC

New episode of The Presentation Podcast now available!

As we reach the midpoint of 2026, the world of presentations is undergoing profound transformation, thanks to the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence. This episode we are joined by presentation experts who share their real-world experiences, frustrations, and triumphs with AI-powered tools for their PowerPoint-related workflows.

Across all conversations, a clear theme emerged: AI is a powerful assistant, but not a replacement for human expertise. Listen on your favorite podcast app, or at The Presentation Podcast site here.

Yes, a new episode of The Presentation Podcast now available!

Episode 251 of The Presentation Podcast is Lori and Troy talking about how quickly the presentation landscape is changing. Just two years ago, AI in PowerPoints and presentation design was mostly a topic of speculation. Now, in the first half of 2026, it’s a reality on the front lines.

The Presentation Podcast is available on all major podcast platforms. Or listen at The Presentation Podcast website, plus read the show notes here!

New episode of The Presentation Podcast now available!

Episode 250 of the Presentation Podcast brings together industry experts Troy Chollar, Sandy Johnson, Nolan Hames for a deep dive into how artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping the workflow of professional presentation design. Drawing from a real-world case study Lori Chollar of TLC Creative Services talks about a real-world success story that is literally at the intersection of AI and presentation design. Lori shares how an end client leveraged AI to develop a reference presentation before engaging the presentation design team. Listen on your favorite podcast app, or at The Presentation Podcast site here.

“The updated PPT is in process.

“Do you have bandwidth to help design a new PPT?

“Look at the PPT slide 23 layout!

Question, why do people say “PPT” when referencing a PowerPoint file?
The answer is almost 20 years old, which proves it is difficult to change a name once it has been assigned!

We are going back even further, to 1997, when Microsoft released Office 97. PowerPoint was in the Office 97 bundle and all Office files; Word, Excel, PowerPoint, used 3-letter file extensions. PowerPoint files had the extension .ppt. So when hear some reference a PowerPoint file as a “PPT”, they are literally referencing a file format from over 2 decades ago!

Why did we start with saying the answer is almost 20 years old?
Because in 2007, 19 years ago, Microsoft release Office 2007. Office 2007 gave us the modern version of PowerPoint, powered largely by PowerPoint being rebuilt in the Office Open XML (OOXML) standard. With this update all of the 3-letter file extensions added the letter “X” for the new 4-letter file extensions; .pptx, .docx, .xlsx, etc. The “X” representing the XML code base.

And why did we say the XML version of PowerPoint, .pptx, is the modern version?
Because each XML file is really a .zip folder with all of the XML code, images, text files, videos and more inside that PowerPoint uses to display the slides. Modern meaning smaller file sizes (it is a .zip folder!), modular components inside (so 1 corrupt file does not ruin the entire presentation!), interoperability (the XML file structure is how Apple Keynote, Google Slides and every other presentation program can convert their presentation to a PowerPoint file!), embedded video and audio (it is a .zip folder, so things like videos and audio files can be added!).

-Troy @ TLC

New episode of The Presentation Podcast now available!

In this podcast episode, Troy, Nolan, and Sandy explore how AI is reshaping presentation design today. The conversation revolves around the two key spaces where AI operates: thinking (e.g. outlining, structuring) and design (e.g. visuals, layouts). While all three agree AI enhances efficiency, they also agree AI is not set to replace human storytelling, editorial judgment, and contextual understanding in professional presentation design. Ultimately, as AI produces “good enough” results, which makes human expertise more critical in creating authentic, memorable presentations that stand out.

Listen on your favorite podcast app, or at The Presentation Podcast site here.