Software/Add-Ins

BrandIn is a PowerPoint Asset Management Tool that Works!

This is a continuation of the previous post, which introduced BrandIn along with our pro and con list. BrandIn is a new asset management solution for PowerPoint and Word, making templates, image assets, pre-designed slides, and text chunks – all accessible directly in PowerPoint without the need to go to a separate website or app to find and add assets to a presentation!

Let’s Try It! 

Because BrandIn has a fully functional free version, try it! This post is from the perspective of our design team and our studio workflow of adding BrandIn. A special note that our workflow does diverge from some of the official BrandIn support info. 

Install  

Getting started with BrandIn is easy: 

1. Requirements – a business Microsoft 365 plan which includes SharePoint Online (eg., Personal M365 plans will not work at the time of our review). 

2. Download – BrandIn is a PowerPoint web add-in (eg., no separate .exe installer needed). This makes the installation easy and available to all but the most stringent IT-controlled companies. In PowerPoint, go to the HOME tab > ADD-INS > search for BRANDIN. Click ADD to install. 

3. Setup – The BrandIn support info notes that the assigned M365 administrator must link BrandIn to their SharePoint library, then invite users to the BrandIn account, and do the shared asset organization within the SharePoint folders. Don’t let the “SharePoint” references scare you. Our experience at TLC Creative was that very little direct SharePoint activity was needed. 

  • From the HOME tab, click the BrandIn button to launch. Then click the settings (gear) icon at the bottom.  
  • Click “Users and licenses”  

4. Invite Users – at the pop-up dialog, click “invite users” and follow the steps to invite users. 

  • The account must be set up by someone who is an M365 Admin. 
  • After this, anyone assigned as a BrandIn Admin (M365 Admin role is automatically a BrandIn Admin) can invite other users and create new workspaces.  

BrandIn Workspaces 

Workspaces are BrandIn’s way of creating separate areas to silo content for different brands, teams, or departments. The Free version is limited to 2 Workspaces, while the Business and Enterprise plans enable creation of as many Workspaces as needed. Each workspace connects to its own SharePoint site and can include its own asset library, templates, and custom settings, keeping everything organized and tailored to that group’s needs.  

This is another area where the “SharePoint” reference does not need to scare anyone away. Below, we detail our workflow of using Teams to set up and organize the SharePoint folders and content – without needing to venture into “SharePoint”. 

Add a Workspace to a BrandIn account: 

  • In the BrandIn pane, click NEW WORKSPACE (1).  
  • Select LINK EXISTING SITE (2). 
  • For the SHAREPOINT LINK (3), here is the TLC Creative simplified process (eg., we don’t really use SharePoint): 
  • Set up a Team (name the MS Team what you want to show in BrandIn as the Workspace name) > go to the Channel > go to the FILES tab > click the 3-dot drop-down menu > select OPEN IN SHAREPOINT 
  • Copy the web SharePoint browser URL  
  • Back in the BrandIn setup, paste this URL into the SharePoint Link field (3) 
  • Name the BrandIn Workspace, which will be seen in BrandIn (does not need to be the same as the Teams name, but we found it simpler for both the Teams name and the BrandIn Workspace name to be the same). Click CREATE (4). 
  • Note: the number of Workspaces that can be added is based on the account type (for example, the Free version is limited to 2 Workspaces). 

User Access, SharePoint vs. Teams  

BrandIn users have access to the BrandIn pane and each Workspace.  

  • Note: BrandIn users and access to Workspaces are separate, at least from our experience in using MS Teams for the BrandIn available assets. For example, everyone who has access to BrandIn does see all Workspaces, but they may not have access to go into the workspace folders based on the Team and who is set within Teams (more details below). 
  • Summary from the previous post on inviting BrandIn Users: 
    • In PowerPoint, open the BrandIn pane (e.g. click the BrandIn button on the HOME tab) 
    • Click the settings GEAR icon 
    • Click USERS AND LICENSES 
    • Click INVITE USERS (and follow the process) 

  • MS Teams Users
    • Once the Team is setup
    • Go to MANAGE TEAM
    • Add users and assign as Owners, Members or Guests (eg. someone external to the organization)

Using BrandIn 

After the BrandIn account is set up, users are added, and the BrandIn add-in is installed in PowerPoint (and Word), things are pretty easy for users. 

  • In the PowerPoint HOME tab > click BRANDIN > the BrandIn pane opens  
  • From the BrandIn pane, select a Workspace > select an asset folder > click any asset to open or be added to the current slide.  
  • Done! 

BrandIn Libraries and Assets 

Organization and access to assets are the core of what BrandIn is. Understanding the combination of Library types and a plan for organizing the files/assets is going to make implementation smooth… or complex.  

Each Workspace automatically has a “Template” library. Templates, both PowerPoint and Word, are available when clicking the NEW PRESENTATION (or New Document) link in BrandIn. Not only does this create a single folder for templates to be uploaded to, but it also means there is now a single location for templates, making the current template version easy to manage. 

Libraries are basically folders in SharePoint with specific properties applied. The Library properties are added directly in the BrandIn interface (e.g. BrandIn applies the settings to the SharePoint folders for you). 

Libraries (aka folders) can be any name and contain any files. Common libraries are Slides, Images, Icons, Slides (for predesigned, ready-to-use, individual slides), and Content (for things like preset text chunks – which is a really great BrandIn feature!). 

As we quickly learned, having a central organization plan that everyone uses, is critical to a smooth setup of BrandIn. It is recommended someone on the planning side spend a few minutes reading about Libraries in the BrandIn Help Center.

BrandIn details setting up folders and assets within SharePoint; however, TLC Creative is happy to avoid SharePoint, and we’ve found that virtually everything can be done within the Microsoft Teams workflow. Once the folders are set up and connected to BrandIn, the SharePoint Library settings can be applied directly in BrandIn. The one exception is that the PowerPoint templates folder is specific to SharePoint, but BrandIn has a link to open SharePoint in a browser to the folder where template files need to be copied to. 

Tips for MS Teams:

  • When creating a Team, it is easier to manage if it is the same name as the BrandIn Workspace.  
  • Add users for access to each Team. We found this to be a great option for managing who can access assets in BrandIn (again, this can also be accomplished within SharePoint, but the MS Teams workflow was less “IT” and easier to implement for us). For example, everyone on our team sees all of the BrandIn Workspaces. But, if someone has not been given access to the MS Team, they can see the BrandIn Workspace, but do not see nor can access its assets from BrandIn.  
  • For assets to be available in BrandIn, it is as easy as copying the files into the Team, which can be set up in sub-folders, and the sub-folder structure also is in Teams. Go to the FILES tab > add folders and asset files.  
  • Everything added to the Team will be available in BrandIn (with the note that BrandIn needs to support the file types).  

With the above steps complete, we can go to our demo BrandIn Workspace > Client Assets > and see a sub-folder, Together Toward Tomorrow.  

  • The CLIENT ASSETS Workspace is an MS Team 
  • We then added several clients and projects within CLIENT ASSETS
  • The Together Toward Tomorrow folder in CLIENT ASSETS is a separate MS Team with its own assets folder structure, assets, and user access (based on who has been given access to this Team)

To see the logos for the Together Toward Tomorrow brand; open BrandIn > Client Assets > Together Toward Tomorrow > Assets > Logos > PNG > SM 600px > select the logo to add to the slide.

The best part is, everyone is accessing the same folders and assets. So if one of the logos needs to be updated, update it this central folder and everyone now accesses the newest version (YAY!!). Or if a new logo is added to the brand, add it to the logo folder(s) and everyone has access to it (double YAY!!).

Conclusion 

Overall, this is one of the most intuitive DAM (digital asset management) systems for finding and inserting PowerPoint templates, image assets, pre-designed slides, and text assets (a new feature that is really helpful!), and overall is a powerful slide content tool. 

The BrandIn install is available from within PowerPoint and more info is available on the BrandIn website. Additionally, BrightCarbon routinely offers BrandIn intro workshops.  

TLC Creative receives no paid endorsement, but with our successful implementation of BrandIn, we have become a BrandIn Partner (eg., we have created documentation, processes, and training to assist companies with their BrandIn setup and adoption). Contact us at info@tlccreative.com any time. Whether you’re a small company or a large enterprise, if you are looking at BrandIn as an asset management option, we are happy to help.  

-Troy @ TLC Creative 

By |2025-11-01T03:32:27-07:00November 3rd, 2025|Software/Add-Ins|

BrandIn is a New PowerPoint Asset Management Solution

When it comes to creating presentations, a major obstacle for companies is providing access to the same PowerPoint templates, base presentations, and assets for everyone. But we found a product that helps. BrandIn is a new asset management option that works directly in PowerPoint and Word and gives everyone access to the assets they need! AND those assets are easily managed in a central location, with updates instantly available to everyone! 

What is BrandIn? 

BrandIn is an add-in for Microsoft PowerPoint (and Word). It uses SharePoint to power its functionality. This means no additional websites to access or additional apps download and manage. Plus it leverages the full power of Microsoft SharePoint, and bonus, there is a free, full-function version!

BrandIn is a product from BrightCarbon’s team, the same people behind the Brightslide add-in. So they know PowerPoint!  

After our internal testing of Brandin, we have implemented it into our TLC Creative design studio workflow because of its functionality directly within PowerPoint, and that it allows everyone easy access to a core asset library that is easily maintained. 

The Pros 

Here are some features BrandIn provides that we really like: 

  • Free! – Really! The base option is the full software with a limit of 4 users (the paid plans offer additional users and enterprise features). 
  • SharePoint – BrandIn leverages Microsoft SharePoint in a seamless interface, so users do not have to access SharePoint directly – and most users will not even realize they are using SharePoint (which is a win from our perspective!). Also, because BrandIn leverages the SharePoint library functionality, it works across Windows, Mac, and Office Online. 
  • Centralized – One location to access slides, templates, logos, icons, text, and images.  
  • Organized – Set up separate libraries for different brands, departments, clients, or projects.  
  • Search – Add metadata, categories, and tags to assets (and theses are Microsoft metatags, so the tags are native to PowerPoint and Word, travel with the files, and help users find assets quickly). 
  • Optimized Images – An (optional) automatic image compression function is built in (at TLC Creative, we leverage NXPowerlite to optimize presentation images, but BrandIn’s built-in function will be a good feature for many users). 
  • Unlimited – Storage is only limited by your SharePoint’s capacity (1 TB is the Microsoft default), so add as many assets as you need!  
  • Templates – BrandIn adds unique functionality to make PowerPoint templates AND “template slides” (slides that are pre-designed layouts that can be used to build presentations more quickly) easy to find and easy to assure everyone has access to the latest version! 
  • MS Teams – This is the really big differentiator for TLC Creative. As noted, BrandIn is powered by SharePoint. Yet, we at TLC Creative really appreciate the ability to work with and manage the assets BrandIn displays by using Microsoft Teams, without needing to go into the SharePoint environment. 

A Few Cons 

BrandIn is a valuable tool, but it is not perfect. It’s always good to know the limitations that may be encountered. Here are the ones we noted (with the caveat that we know the BrightCarbon team is very focused on this software and has already added new features and has a long road map of improvements): 

  • SharePoint – Yes, this is in our list of Pros, but we are adding it to the Cons too, because it does mean you need to have a Business or Enterprise M365 account that includes SharePoint. The personal M365 accounts that use OneDrive for cloud files will not work with BrandIn (at this time). And because when someone says “SharePoint” it scares away many users. 
  • Setup – Someone needs to curate and maintain the asset library to keep it useful and up to date (that being said, with BrandIn, this can be a shared responsibility and not something that only the IT Department can do). 
  • File Types – BrandIn SharePoint integration means it inherits the capabilities, and limitations, of SharePoint. For example, we can upload videos to the SharePoint folder. But the videos are not displayed in BrandIn as available assets, because SharePoint libraries do not (yet) support video files. Another example is white .svg images. SharePoint makes a .png preview of .svg images – and then displays the white preview image on a white tile. So, when searching for assets in BrandIn (or SharePoint) we see a white image on a white tile, which means we see a blank white tile… (so make sure your asset files are named well)
  • Costs – BrandIn does offer a full-function plan for free. If you have more than 4 users, want more than 2 Workspaces, or want access to some of the more advanced features, a paid plan is needed (details on the BrandIn website). Or maybe this is a Pro because software we pay for means the Dev team will continue to support and improve it, which is definitely the feeling I have from the BrandIn Dev team.   
  • Adoption – This is a challenge for all software and processes. Getting everyone on board to use the new tool and not rely on old habits (like re-using outdated slides or incorrect logos) is hard! 

BrandIn has a lot going for it. My recommendation is to test and try it. Over the years the TLC Creative team has used many DAM (digital asset management) systems with our clients, and internally, we have tested many, many others. BrandIn is the first truly-accessible-within-PowerPoint option we have found that is intuitive and full featured (feel free to reach out to Troy at TLC Creative for an end-user opinion). 

The next post will be an in-depth look at the BrandIn install process and use examples. 

-Troy @ TLC Creative 

By |2025-11-01T02:58:57-07:00October 29th, 2025|Software/Add-Ins|

Export Presenter Notes to Word Doc – The Easy Way!

Presenter Notes in PowerPoint are useful for scripts and internal documentation… but extracting them can be a hassle when you’re using available built-in PowerPoint features!

First, let’s acknowledge PowerPoint’s built-in export option “Save to Word.” Second, we won’t use this export option.

At TLC Creative, our design team uses two trusted PowerPoint add-ins for this task. These tools make exporting quick, consistent, and easy. We’ll demonstrate by using a 22-slide deck with notes on almost every slide. Here’s how to export Presenter Notes from a slide deck into a Word document in under 6 clicks.

Exporting Presenter Notes with Brightslide 

First up is leveraging Brightslide’s “Export to Word File” feature. This, of course, assumes you have the free Brightslide PowerPoint add-in installed (available for Windows or Mac PowerPoint). 

1. Click Brightslide in the menu bar 

2. Toward the right side, click “Review” to open the dropdown menu 

3. Scroll down to “Speaker Notes” 

4. Choose “Export to Word File” 

A pop-up notification will appear, letting you know that the newly exported document has opened directly in Microsoft Word. 

And done! A single continuous scroll Microsoft Word document has been created, complete with large slide numbers and slide titles along with the presenter notes! (Note: if a slide does not contain presenter notes, the slide will simply be skipped in the Word document).

TIP: Brightslide also has options to extract presenter notes to a text file (.txt), which is generally greatly appreciated by teleprompters! And there is an option to extract the presenter notes to an Excel file (.xlsx) too. 

Exporting Presenter Notes with ToolsToo 

Another option is to leverage the ToolsToo suite of PowerPoint tools (Windows PowerPoint only). It offers a similar workflow, but the output is a bit different, which may be better for certain projects. Here is the process: 

1. Click the ToolsToo tab in the menu bar 

2. Then click the “”Slide Tools” button 

3. From the dropdown box, select “Extract Notes” 

At the “Save As” dialog box, save the extracted notes. (Note: “Word doc” is selected by default, but other options are available.)

Saving will automatically open the newly created Word document. What is different with using ToolsToo is that each slide is a separate page. So, our sample 22-slide deck becomes a 22-page Word doc. 

These two different PowerPoint add-ins can make the task of extracting presenter notes from a presentation amazingly quick and easy!  

-The TLC Creative Design Team 

By |2025-07-11T01:27:58-07:00September 22nd, 2025|PowerPoint, Software/Add-Ins|

A Look Back to The Noun Project Used Directly Within PowerPoint

1,000,000+ vector icons are ready to drop straight into your slides while you are working in PowerPoint. And, honestly, what is not to love about that?! Anyone who has gone down the rabbit hole of searching for “the right icon” knows just how much time it can consume. So, being able to grab exactly what you need without leaving PowerPoint is a game-changer. 

Way back in 2018, we shared a post about The Noun Project: a ridiculously low-priced subscription that gives you access to a vast library of icons. And since our blog post, The Noun Project has added so many more icons, photos, illustrations, and other creative assets as add-ons.

The Noun Project PowerPoint add-in was the focus of the original post – how it was a treasure chest of icons you could access and add as vector art, all within PowerPoint. That post still holds today. You can check it out here: Noun Project Add-in. 

Since then, Microsoft has rolled out its own built-in icon library, accessible from PowerPoint, Word, and Excel – and it is a really solid collection of vector icons. Even with that, our team has never uninstalled the Noun Project add-in. We use it all the time. The sheer variety of its now 8M+ icons makes it worth it! Need a super specific icon? You’ll probably find it. Want a full set of icons that match each other in style? You’ll find that too. And because everything is vector, in .SVG file format, you can resize, recolor, and tweak them however you need – directly in PowerPoint! 

At the end of the day, the Noun Project add-in just makes life easier. It keeps the design process moving and cuts out all the back-and-forth of hunting for the perfect slide design assets. PowerPoint’s icons are great, but having access to millions more right in the same place? That is something we are not giving up anytime soon. 

Learn more about The Noun Project at https://thenounproject.com.

-The TLC Creative Design Team 

By |2025-08-25T14:23:54-07:00September 19th, 2025|Software/Add-Ins|

The “Waterfall” Animation Technique

At TLC Creative, we use a technique we call the ‘waterfall’ to make animations feel smooth, connected, and dynamic. It’s all about overlapping animations—not stacking them, but letting each start just before the last begins.

Let’s build our waterfall using five simple shapes. You’ll see how just a few clicks can create a professional-looking sequence! 

For starters, a typical animation has every element set to “Click” on the slide: 

Or “After Previous” is set for every element: 

Let’s create an animation “waterfall” which is an effect only available in PowerPoint (not Google Slides, Keynote, or Canva).  

1. Remove all animations (if needed) and then Apply a “Fade” Animation to all elements: 

  • Select all of the shape elements 
  • Go to the Animations tab 
  • Choose “Fade” from the animation gallery 

2. Open the Animation Pane 

This will give you more detailed control. You’ll now see an animation entry for each box shape. 

3. Change the animation Start to “With Previous” as this is key to the waterfall effect: 

  • Select each animation (you can select them together) 
  • Change the animation Start from “On Click” to “With Previous”  

Why? This makes each shape element animate with one another, not waiting for a click or full completion. 

4. Adjust the Delay for Each Animation

Now the magic happens!

  • Select the second box and set a Delay of 0.30 seconds. 

  • Set the delay for the third box to 0.60 seconds 
  • Set the delay for the fourth box to 0.90 seconds 
  • Set the delay for the fifth box to 1.10 minute 

Each shape element now starts with the previous one but is delayed just a bit — producing a staggered, overlapping fade-in. 

This process can be a bit tedious – but the PowerPoint animation effect is worth the effort! However, the design team here at TLC Creative kinda cheats. We use the ToolsToo PowerPoint add-in to automate the animation settings process to make overlapping (aka waterfall) animations! 

Let’s continue the tutorial! Using ToolsToo, here’s what we do: 

  • Set the last shape element to the time you would like the animation to end 

  • Select the shapes in the order they will animate in, clicking on the final box last 

  • Navigate to the ToolsToo tab 
  • Ensure the “Stagger Animation” is selected 
  • With all shapes still selected, click “Animation Resequence”   

Now all of the shape animations are spaced out evenly in an animated sequence! (So much faster this way, right?) 

Animating slides is my happy place, so… happy animating waterfall animations! 

-Christie and the TLC Creative Design Team 

By |2025-06-26T07:47:18-07:00June 11th, 2025|Software/Add-Ins, Tutorial|

TLC Creative’s Teams External Guest Invite How-to

TLC Creative was an early adopter of Microsoft Teams, and we remain a fan today. We love the collaboration it brings to the table, allowing us to work more efficiently and gain feedback more effectively, whether collaborating with our internal team or co-authoring a presentation with clients.

And while Teams is excellently proficient in many areas (file collaboration, chats, meetings, and @mentions…to mention a few), when it comes to inviting clients into your bubble (tenant) or vice versa, this is where things often go awry.

Being positive, Microsoft is continuously improving Teams. In the future, we hope things will “just work” – but it is not at that level of functionality yet (but we are looking ahead to the “Hero Link” process!). Because things do not always work smoothly today, we invested internal TLC time to work through many of the issues and then created a how-to guide to help overcome this “outside tenant” frustration.

We are sharing our internal Teams tutorial to (hopefully) help your clients connect with and collaborate better with you. Full disclosure, we are mostly PC-based when using Teams, so the nuances of Mac Teams are not captured in these steps.

This guide is written under the assumption that you have a Microsoft Teams account and have already created a “New Team” – which is set up as a “Private” Team. Here are our steps to connect an external person to your Teams project, from the perspective of your client:

1. Once the private Team is created, click “Add Member” to generate the email that is sent to each person added to the Team.

2. Instruct your client to use the “Open Microsoft Teams” button in the email they received (Note: the email will come from an automated address: noreply@email.teams.Microsoft.com.).

3. We recommend using the Teams desktop app. The invite email has a button to download and install if needed.

If the Microsoft Teams app is already installed, this pop-up dialog will appear to open with the invite credentials. Click the “Open Microsoft Teams” button.

4. Once Microsoft Teams is open, a pop-up dialog to sign in with an email address is required next. This email address must be the same address that the Teams invite was sent to.

5. Enter the email address (this is the email address of the person being invited to the Team) and click the “Next” button.

6. There may be an additional pop-up asking permission to use Teams. Click “Yes” or “Agree” (after you’ve read and truly do agree, of course).

7. The external person has now been added to the project team!

8. This is the key step! To access the project team, your client needs to change Teams to your company (in this example, it is changing Teams to the TLC Creative connection).

    • In the upper right, click your “Account” button (the circle with your initials inside).

    • From the list of available accounts, select the company that invited you…for example, if you were to receive a Teams invite from TLC Creative Services, you would click on “TLC” in the menu.

    • Then on the left, go to “Teams”
    • Locate the project Team name and click to expand
    • Click “General”
    • Click “Files” at the top of the right side, or “Posts”, and from that dropdown menu select “Files”

9. Your client should now have access to all project files, to open and edit files, upload new files, etc.

10. TIP: To open a PowerPoint presentation (or a Word or Excel doc), Teams has 3 options: PowerPoint for Teams, PowerPoint for Web, and Desktop PowerPoint. Our team uses the full power of the Desktop version. See our earlier blog post on how to open presentations from Teams in the Desktop app: MS Teams – Open in App – The PowerPoint Blog.

Hopefully, this how-to reference minimizes some of the frustrations we encountered with a Microsoft Teams workflow. Wishing you productive collaboration with your clients and excellent results with your presentations!

-Lori @ TLC Creative Services

By |2025-05-22T08:26:28-07:00May 26th, 2025|Software/Add-Ins, Tutorial|

What are Variable Fonts… and Can PowerPoint Use Them?

Variable fonts are the future for print, web, app, and Microsoft PowerPoint. Variable fonts are a font file type that stores a much larger range of design variants all within one font file. The common current file types are .OTF and .TTF; open type and true type respectively. These fonts use a separate file for each font style available (e.g. condensed, heavy, italic, thin, etc.). But variable fonts not only contain all the font styles in a single file, but they do not have the same font style and specialty glyph limits – by a lot!

Unfortunately, variable fonts are not used everywhere yet, and are not recognized by many apps – including PowerPoint. Everything about them sounds great – and the TLC Creative team is excited to see the design world shift to variable fonts. In reality, web browsers are currently the main apps that recognize and have the ability to leverage variable font features. PowerPoint and Adobe PDF, for example, do not like variable fonts, and can only display the base font style correctly. Encouragingly, Microsoft has started implementing variable fonts into the Windows OS font engine (see note below), and other Adobe apps recognize and can use variable fonts to varying degrees.

DYNAMIC STYLING AND ANIMATION EFFECTS

While it may be a while before we see the animation capabilities that variable fonts bring to typography, it is something we are looking forward to. The above example of web-based variable font animation effects is from this Google page – imagine having this type of animation on slides!).

MICROSOFT AND VARIABLE FONTS

The exciting news is the Microsoft font engine has already been updated to be compatible with variable fonts, and all of their styling features. Further, everyone with Windows has at least two variable fonts: Bahnschrift and Selawik. Bahnschrift offers 13 variations, all housed in a single font file. Selawik only offers 4 font variations in its single file. Ironically, because of legacy and compatibility concerns, most everyone will find these fonts on their computer in the older .ttf format – and multiple individual files… But trust me, Windows is Variable font ready.

ADOBE PHOTOSHOP AND VARIABLE FONTS

One of the easiest apps to see the formatting features of variable fonts is Photoshop CC. Photoshop not only recognizes the multiple font style options in the single variable font file, but allows full control of some of the styling options. For example, in the Character panel, the “weight” and “width” settings use sliders to truly customize for a completely vector-based and non-destructive styling. How the characters of a variable font are displayed for that project is based on the variable font styling applied.

The Bahnschrift font is a Microsoft font. Adobe apps can use Adobe TypeKit fonts (that are automatically locally installed) and all of the Microsoft fonts because they are also installed on the computer.

In Microsoft fonts we cannot do this, but in Photoshop, the Microsoft Bahnschrift variable font is recognized as a variable font and several variable font formatting options are available.

THE FUTURE

Variable fonts are the future, and we are hopeful that that future comes to PowerPoint sooner than later so we can have better typography styling – and integrate the dynamic styling options into animation effects!

Currently, it is better to steer clear of using variable fonts in PowerPoint presentations, as PowerPoint is unable to access most of the styling options and none of the display customization options…

-The TLC Creative design team (special thanks to Christie for creating this article)

By |2025-03-02T12:50:15-08:00March 12th, 2025|Software/Add-Ins|

Slidewise’s Font Management is My Favorite Feature! – A Look Back to July 2022

Font management has unfortunately not improved in PowerPoint since this July 2022 post. As such, the Slidewise PowerPoint Add-in still is the most robust font management solution for PowerPoint – and it has gotten better since the original post!

Neuxpower’s Slidewise PowerPoint add-in has many fantastic tools. When initially testing it, the font audit and management functionality instantly won me over and quickly was installed on all computers at TLC Creative Services!

In this sample demo deck, the Slidewise Font Audit shows there are 5 fonts used in presentation.

Doing a review of the content master slide confirms Arial is the only font that should be used throughout the presentation.

With this information, Slidewise makes it incredibly quickly to consolidate the fonts in the presentation. In a few clicks all instances of Calibri and Century Gothic are changed to Arial by using the the 3-dot menu and REPLACE FONTS function.

From the REPLACE FONTS dialog, choose the REPLACE WITH font (Arial in this deck) and REPLACE FONTS button. Note: the presentation will close, process and then reopen to the same slide. This is a bit unsettling (to have your work file close), but know it is part of the process.

For Century Gothic, I wanted to see where it is used to determine if it should remain or go. Click any slide in the Slidewise list and PowerPoint jumps to that slide and the text box of that font selected (which is amazing!). Clicking through the Century Gothic instances, all are slide content that should use the theme font, Arial. An easy and quick update using the Replace Fonts dialog.

Investigating the Tw Cen MT font, it is the Master Handout text boxes. First, this is a detail level that would virtually never be identified without the Slidewise Font Audit. These fonts can also be updated to the theme font, Arial.

In a very short time every font used in the presentation is consolidated to a single font – Arial.
Tip: review all slides to confirm line breaks, text fitting in shapes, and overall text formatting has not been adversely impacted!

Get more info about Slidewise here.

-Troy @ TLC

This is from our Look Back series, rediscovering previous blog posts with relevant PowerPoint tips, tricks and examples. The original post from July 29th, 2022 can be viewed here.

By |2025-02-11T12:23:47-08:00March 7th, 2025|Software/Add-Ins|

How to use Google Fonts in PowerPoint

Google Fonts is a great resource for finding and using custom fonts for design projects; print, app, web, and PowerPoint.

Google Fonts is one of the most extensive libraries of royalty-free and open source fonts. Read the details, but I interpret the FAQ that these fonts can be used anywhere!

A unique feature of Google Fonts is that they can be used dynamically. For example, when creating a website that uses Google Fonts, users will be able to view the Google Font content without having to install the fonts on their device. However, PowerPoint does not have the ability to dynamically load Google Fonts. That said, because Google Fonts are available as a downloadable file, they can be used for PowerPoint presentation the same way as any other custom fonts (see our “How to Install Custom Fonts” post for more details).

NOTE: this process is for installing Google Fonts on Windows or Mac computers. Microsoft Teams and web-based presentations will not be able to use custom fonts unless they are embedded (and even then, there are lots of variables on if the custom fonts will display).

  • Head over to the Google Fonts website at https://fonts.google.com/ to browse the library, by searching for a specific font family or using their various filters.

  • After choosing a font, simply click the “get font” button in the upper right corner. and download the .zip file.
    NOTE: Google fonts are available in a variety of file formats; OTF, TTF and the newer variable font format, WOFF. Currently, it’s best to install and use the OTF format for maximum compatibility.

  • Uncompress the .zip folder. Install the .OTF file(s) by right clicking the file and selecting “Install”. Or double-click the font to open the preview, and use the install button here.

TIP: Because Microsoft PowerPoint does a poor job of informing users of custom fonts needed for a presentation, be sure to include custom font info in the slide deck (as a hidden slide, or in the Presenter Notes on slide 1).

By |2025-03-03T16:38:13-08:00March 3rd, 2025|PowerPoint, Resource/Misc, Software/Add-Ins|

Adobe Express – Part 3

This Jake at TLC Creative, and I am continuing our series on the new Adobe Express. I am focusing on the collaboration features, tutorials and some other fun design tools within the free to access and use, Adobe Express.

INVITE

One of the biggest features of Adobe Express is the ability for a team or group to collaborate on a project. You can invite others to work with you by sharing single files, projects or brands, by using the main navigation bar at the top and clicking INVITE:

There’s also another way to do this and that’s to click “Share” to share the file(s) within the editor, which allows you to add people or groups to it:

Note that “Share” and “Invite” are pretty much used interchangeably within Adobe Express. The only requirement is everyone must have an Adobe account (free or CC subscription).

SHARE

Along with inviting/sharing files and collaborating with others, the share feature also allows you to create and then upload posts to your social media accounts, all from Adobe Express. You would click “Share”, the same button used to invite others to collaborate, and then click on the “Share to Social” button. You can connect your accounts from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (X), LinkedIn, Pinterest and TikTok. You can also add a caption or even generate a caption with AI.  From there you can choose to publish immediately or schedule for the future.

LEARN

If you’re new to Adobe Express or looking to become well versed in it, the LEARN section is your best friend. Also located in the top toolbar (as a lightbulb icon) it has an extensive collection of tutorials. Each tutorial comes with examples that show the tools in action, making it easier to grasp how to use them.

CHARTS

For those working with data visualization, Adobe Express includes a CHARTS feature. You can build charts and tables directly within the platform and export them as images (JPEG, PNG), PDFs or Videos with animations.

Of course, while Adobe Express offers these features, it’s worth noting that PowerPoint remains a much more robust tool for creating detailed charts and tables. One area Adobe can improve on is the ability to export chart videos with transparent backgrounds or in alpha format, as PowerPoint currently doesn’t have this feature either (exported charts from Adobe Express are on a solid color, white in this example). This would give even more flexibility in how animated charts are used within presentations.

THE CATCH

Like any other tool, Adobe Express has its pros and cons. One thing to keep in mind is that several add-ons are pay-to-use, such as the “Video Effects Pro” add-on, which requires its own subscription for the full version. Also, there are limits on the number of Firefly AI-generated content pieces you can create unless you upgrade to a premium plan. Additionally, while there is a free version, accessing some advanced features requires a subscription.

Firefly itself can actually be accessed via its own website at https://firefly.adobe.com/, “Photos” within the media section are powered by Adobe Stock (which of course also can be accessed via its own website), Remove Background as well as other effects are powered by Photoshop which can also be used in its native application. It’s no surprise that Adobe Express leverages all of the power and features across its Creative Cloud applications. However, some add-ons are free and require no Premium subscriptions, it’s best to explore within the “Add-ons” tab.

GENERATE TEXT

Remember the fun yet now outdated WordArt from early 2000s Microsoft Word? Adobe Express has its own version called Generate Text that actually utilizes generative AI. Of course, we had to experiment with this feature to see it in action:

Create:

Result:

I will continue to experiment with Adobe Express features (I am looking at the plugins options next), and hope this small series on Adobe Express has provided some insights and inspiration.

-Jake @ TLC

By |2025-01-10T17:03:17-08:00February 10th, 2025|Software/Add-Ins|
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