Software/Add-Ins Archives - The PowerPoint Blog

You Need Thor’s Hammer (for your PowerPoint formatting)!

This free add-in for Windows PowerPoint is something everyone (that works in PowerPoint, on a Windows computer) should have! It accomplishes a simple thing – and it’s something the developers of PowerPoint overlooked. It’s also something I use 10-20x a day… sometimes up to 300 times a day while formatting slides!

The long and short of it is that it picks up and memorizes the position of any item on a slide. You can use Thor’s Hammer to place any other item in that exact same location.

The position is held in memory, until you pickup and memorize a new location. Use it on different slides throughout the deck. Use it to position things into that position on OTHER decks!

This is one of those things that you cannot believe you worked in PowerPoint without it, once you have it!

Download this PowerPoint add-in from PPTools here: https://www.pptools.com/free/FAQ00002-THOR-The-Hammer.htm

– Troy @ TLC Creative Services, Inc.

By TLC Creative Services, Inc.|2026-09-17T19:28:52-07:00September 17th, 2026|Software/Add-Ins|

Free PowerPoint QAT Profile!

The PowerPoint Quick Access Toolbar, or QAT, is the #1 native PowerPoint feature everyone should be using to improve their productivity!

Included with PowerPoint
PowerPoint for Mac QAT has limited options (hopefully something the PowerPoint dev team will update to match the Windows PowerPoint QAT!)
The tedious process of setting up the QAT layout with buttons is super easy by importing a saved profile!
note: if the buttons on the QAT are words and not icons, go to this earlier post with the steps to change things back to icons (My QAT is All Words! Give Me Back My Icons, Dec 26, 2204)
Note: all of the examples, and the downloadable preset QAT profile, are all for Windows PowerPoint

FIRST

The default setup for the QAT is to be above the Ribbon.
Move it to under the ribbon.

DOWNLOAD AND INSTALL

Download the TLC Creative QAT (CLICK TO DOWNLOAD)
Open Microsoft PowerPoint.
Go to File > Options > Quick Access Toolbar (or Customize Ribbon).
Click Import/Export
Select Import Customization File.
Choose either a QAT you have saved, or the downloaded “TLC Creative Custom QAT_PowerPoint Customizations.exportedUI”

THE TLC CREATIVE PRESET QAT

This version of the QAT is all native PowerPoint functions (search “QAT” for previous blog posts where I talk about add-in functions I also have on my design computer).
44 formatting functions always available!

Hoping this makes your work time in PowerPoint faster and more efficient!

-Troy @ TLC

By TLC Creative Services, Inc.|2026-09-14T16:13:23-07:00September 15th, 2026|PowerPoint, Resource/Misc, Software/Add-Ins|

Stop Adobe Express From Automatically Opening Downloaded Images

If you are suddenly experiencing (and most likely being frustrated) downloaded images automatically opening in Adobe Express – you are not alone!

My first frustration was – why is Adobe Express installed on my computer, I did not install it! Yes I have Adobe Creative Cloud and have several Adobe apps installed. But Adobe Express is not an app I clicked to have installed. My assumption is that a recent Adobe update silently included this as a companion app – argh!

So here is what I am talking about. I have found this image on our Adobe Stock account and downloaded it. Note: Adobe Stock is not the reason, or connector – any downloaded image, from any web resource, is going to trigger this new “helpfulness”.

To confirm, the image is my downloads folder:

But after downloading, the Adobe Express app launches and displays the downloaded image. Apparently Adobe feels they know a better workflow and feel they should change my workflow to working on this image in their app – argh!!

The only good news is, this is easy to turn off! In Adobe Express, click the account icon in the upper right and then Settings.

There are surprising few settings options. Turn off the “Images Downloaded from the Web” option.

Done. Adobe Express will no longer launch and open each image you downloaded (BTW, I was downloading 20+ icons for a presentation project from The Noun Project – and the constant interruption of Adobe Express opening each image is what set me off on figuring out how to turn of the unwanted behavior!).

Perhaps I will do a future post on Adobe Express’s capabilities as it does offer some good image editing features – and a paid Adobe Creative Cloud account is not needed to install and use it, although there are many limitations in the free version.

-Troy @ TLC

By TLC Creative Services, Inc.|2026-08-22T15:55:42-07:00August 25th, 2026|Software/Add-Ins|

App Inconsistencies – This Time Adobe Premiere and Audition

Recently I have been in several conversations about inconsistencies across PowerPoint on different end points (as example, in Presenter View, why is the “End Show” button at the top in a different order on Windows, Mac and Teams!).

Because inconsistency is something I am thinking about, I caught another inconsistency that encounter daily, but have ignored – for years. While working on a multimedia project this past week, this time I the inconsistency between Adobe Audition and Adobe Premiere registered. Granted, this is a small thing, but in thinking of the design work, this has been a mental pause and break in workflow every time I am moving between these two apps.

Both Audition and Premiere work with layers. And the layer height, for visibility, is adjustable. But why is how you adjust the layers different between the programs!?

With Adobe Audition, to make a layer taller, the adjustment is by dragging the BOTTOM of the layer.

With Adobe Premiere, to make a layer taller, the adjustment is by dragging the TOP of the layer.

No action items or hacks from me, just documenting my design life thoughts – and why companies with many apps do not look at things wholistic and see inconsistencies that their users have to deal with…

Troy @ TLC

By TLC Creative Services, Inc.|2026-06-17T16:11:37-07:00June 18th, 2026|Resource/Misc, Software/Add-Ins|

ToolsToo Remove Masters Part 2: PowerPoint QAT

Sometimes, reducing a formatting process from 6+ clicks to 3 clicks is just not enough. In this case, my previous blog post showcased the ToolsToo Remove Unused Masters feature, which reduces the 6+ click process of opening the PowerPoint presentation master, finding an unused slide master, deleting it, and closing the master slide view.

But I do this process often enough that I have moved it to my QAT, and it’s now a 2-click process!

All you have to do is click the QAT button, then click “Yes”, and you’re done!

Troy @ TLC Creative

By Briana Hernandez|2026-04-20T08:06:41-07:00April 30th, 2026|Software/Add-Ins|

ToolsToo Remove Unused Masters

The ToolsToo add-in has a lot of tools! One of my favorite “hidden” features is the Remove Masters option. I use this on every event where I have a master show file of 2-3-9, or more individual presentations that have been combined into a single presentation to run during that event. At the end of the event I need to break apart the master show file into those original individual presentations again for the archive. But if I only delete the unneeded slides and do a save as – that is a sloppy and unprofessional file. There are lots of steps in finalizing a presentation for the archives or to provide back to the client; remove PowerPoint sections, clear the file properties, optimize, and remove master slides from the other presentations.

ToolsToo makes the step of removing unused master slides, and unused master layouts, a 2-click process!

Troy @ TLC

By TLC Creative Services, Inc.|2026-04-28T11:30:10-07:00April 28th, 2026|Software/Add-Ins|

ToolsToo Modes

The ToolsToo add-in is an amazing productivity suite of tools for PowerPoint (in my opinion). One of the unique options in the suite of tools is the “UI Mode” settings.

This is something I have said for 20-ish years — PowerPoint should have multiple interface layouts to cater to the different uses and user levels. And I can trace this conversation back many years, with Austin Myers, a former Microsoft MVP for PowerPoint, who was the first person I heard talk about this idea for PowerPoint – and that was in the pre-.pptx era of PowerPoint! The idea of PowerPoint has different Ribbon layouts, or interfaces, that would allow the user to choose which configuration works for them.

What reminded me of this past conversation was the ToolsToo PowerPoint add-in. ToolsToo has 3 different toolbar preset layouts. In the Settings for ToolsToo, on the General tab, is the UI Mode setting. When ToolsToo is first installed, one of the dialog options sets the UI Mode for that computer’s ToolsToo interface. Note: this setting can be changed at any time.

ToolsToo has over 75 features and functions. The developer recognized this could be overwhelming and created 3 versions of the ToolsToo toolbar. The ToolsToo toolbar (say that 5X in a row!) is based on the UI Mode selected. The concept is simple. If you want the basic and core functionality, the Beginner UI mode is going to limit the ribbon to make just those features available. If you want more, select a UI mode that displays more.

Beginner ToolsToo toolbar:

Intermediate ToolsToo tool bar:

Note: the right section of the toolbar is all standard PowerPoint tools, now also available on the ToolsToo toolbar.

Expert ToolsToo tool bar:

Note: the right section of the Intermediate and Expert toolbars is all standard PowerPoint tools, but now also conveniently available on the ToolsToo toolbar.

Like PowerPoint, design apps such as Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign also have many features, and the tools can be overwhelming. Yet each has a layout and UI views that streamline the tools and features to your workflow needs.

PowerPoint has a lot of menus and buttons, which are not all needed based on your workflow or skill level. The idea of a selection of preset ribbon layouts, or even better, the ability to customize (and export as .XML files to share with others), PowerPoint ribbon layouts would be a great addition to an already great application.

I’m just grateful that ToolsToo accomplishes this with its UI modes. ToolsToo is a wonderful suite of functional improvements to enhance PowerPoint design and formatting. (Before Mac users get too excited, ToolsToo is Windows only – sorry!). The add-in is under $25, and everyone on the TLC Creative presentation design team has it installed on their computer and uses it as part of their daily workflow.

Get more info and details at the ToolsToo website, https://toolstoo.com

Troy @ TLC Creative

By Briana Hernandez|2026-04-10T10:01:58-07:00April 16th, 2026|Software/Add-Ins|

ToolsToo for PowerPoint 2026 Review

ToolsToo for PowerPoint, an amazing productivity suite of tools (in my opinion), recently released a significant upgrade to v12 – and then quickly released v12.1

My initial goal was to write a post about the new features added in v12. But as I reviewed the ToolsToo ribbon, the release notes, and reflected on where I use ToolsToo features, I was struck not by how great the new features are (and they are great!), I was struck by realizing the number of ToolsToo features that have become a part of my daily presentation design and formatting workflow. So, let me start with a summary of what is new in v12:

New in v12

Make Same Shape

Swap Formatting

Extract Comments

New chain tools; select body and select title

Split Text to Two Columns

Auto check for update

Option to set the layout name to be used by the Agenda Generation tool

Horizontal and Vertical Direction can have the direction specified (eg. Left to Right, or Right to Left)

Changes in v12

Distribute Horizontally and Vertically. Now, use the Direction setting vs the text direction of the Reference Shape

Renamed some tools

Make Same Width, Make Same Height, Make Same Size. Now, set the perpendicular dimension(s) when the target shape is rotated 90 or 270 degrees

The Reference Shape now works, even if the selected shape is a text selection

Several bug-fixes listed (see the ToolsToo website for details, but I can say that none of the listed fixes were anything that impacted my use, or created problems with PowerPoint)

TROY, WHAT DO YOU USE?

I use so many of the ToolsToo functions daily – often hourly! So, needless to say, this is an honest review from someone who truly leverages the tool. Let’s shift a bit and focus on what ToolsToo features I use often and can’t function as a presentation designer without. To start, ToolsToo is a very full ribbon, complete with dozens of additional tools hidden in the many dropdown menu options.

NOT ALL ARE CUSTOM

One of the unique things about ToolsToo is the entire right selection of features in the ToolsToo ribbon (when set to the Intermediate or Expert modes) is three sections of PowerPoint tools added. The theory is that these are so commonly used that it saves clicks to have them on the active ribbon

For me, these are never used, but obviously, others find them helpful

CLEANUP TOOLS

This is one of the v12 updates, and I like it. This set of tools has been put into its own menu, the Cleanup Tools dropdown

Previously, all of these were found in the Side Tools menu – making it a very long, scrolling menu

Of note, the green stars are ToolsToo features I use routinely. These are either a faster, 1-click to accomplish a native PowerPoint option that requires far more clicks to accomplish

REFERENCE SHAPE

It is nice that this selection is easy to locate and use by not being buried in a sub-menu

While I have the FIRST SHAPE selected nearly all the time, the PRESENTATION SPACE is an amazing feature (and highlighted in one of the upcoming posts in this series on ToolsToo), and while not used often, it is my 2nd Reference Shape option

ALIGN

These features are special in that they take over the native PowerPoint alignment tools, making them far more useful

For example, with the First Shape selected as the Reference Shape, when selecting a 3-4-5 image on a slide, the Align Left option will not move all images to the furthest left; instead, all images will align to the left edge of the first selected image

All of the options in the ALIGN section, except the Replicate (grid icon), are on my QAT and used daily, no hourly!

MAKE SAME

On the far left is the SAME section

I use so many of the functions in the MAKE SAME menu!

The yellow stars are tools I value so much that they are on my QAT

The green star tools are ones I find myself going to the ToolsToo ribbon for often

Basically, everything in this menu is of value for presentation design, either saving clicks to accomplish things, or doing things that are not available in native PowerPoint (but should be!)

SHAPE TOOLS

This button hides literally dozens of great formatting features

The yellow stars are functions I find so useful that they have been added to my QAT

The green stars are functions I routinely go to the ToolsToo ribbon for

And the Red star is one that I not only routinely am in the ToolsToo ribbon for, but it has become my replacement for a tool Shyam Pillar, a former Microsoft MVP for PowerPoint, had coded and released almost a decade ago (which is sadly no longer available – but now there is a replacement)

WHY?

A common reason many PowerPoint add-ins exist is to provide functions that are not available in PowerPoint For example, why are these not available in PowerPoint?

You know when a line is just not quite level or perfectly vertical, and we spend too much time manually working to make it straight – well, these accomplish it in 1-click!

ToolsToo for PowerPoint is a wonderous suite of functional improvements to PowerPoint design and formatting. Of note, ToolsToo is Windows only. It is under $25, and everyone on the TLC Creative presentation design team has ToolsToo installed on their computer and used as part of our daily workflow.

Get more info and details at the ToolsToo website: https://toolstoo.com

Troy @ TLC

By Briana Hernandez|2026-03-31T11:47:34-07:00April 14th, 2026|Software/Add-Ins|

Picture Effects in PowerPoint’s New AI Powered Edit Picture

In our last post, we looked at how PowerPoint’s new AI powered Photo Editor can help fix a photo with a variety of tools. This time, we’ll cover the last photo editor tool in the tool bar, which is called “Effects.” These are styling effects, and currently, there are 5 different picture effects:

Glass
Border
Sphere
Pixel
Glitch

To get to this menu, you simply click the Picture Format tab and then click Edit Picture to pull up the interface. Now, we can start editing pictures!

You will see the effects tab all the way to the right. Clicking this will bring up the menu with those 5 picture effects.

Glass creates a sort of frosted glass effect on your picture, and you can adjust how much of the picture uses the effect, and also change the style of the glass texture.

Border removes the background of the image, and then applies 2 borders to the image, an inner white border, and then another border that can be any color of your choosing.

Sphere is sort of a unique effect, like Border, it removes the background, but this one adds a glowing sphere in the background, and subtle highlights to the subject that match whichever color you choose.

Pixel simply applies a pixelization effect to your photo, and you can adjust the area being affected, as well as the intensity of the pixels. The left side of the slider will create smaller pixels, while sliding it to the right will create larger pixels.

Glitch is a pretty cool effect that applies a glitchy look to the photo, and once again, this one has an intensity slider to adjust how pronounced the effect is.

The picture effects panel in the new Image Editor is a bit limited, but it can help make images more interesting, and you can even combine tools to push the image even further. Here’s an example using the background remover tool, glitch effect, and text effects all in one:

The new AI Image Editor toolbox in PowerPoint has introduced some genuinely useful creative tools right out of the box. While it won’t replace professional photo editing software (e.g. Photoshop, Figma, Affinity, etc.) for heavy lifting, it’s perfect for giving your slides a modern edge without the hassle of switching apps. It will be interesting to see where Microsoft takes this in the future, but for now, it’s a solid upgrade to our daily workflow!

-The TLC Creative Services design team

By TLC Creative Services, Inc.|2026-02-06T12:42:47-08:00February 10th, 2026|PowerPoint, Software/Add-Ins|

Presentation App Default Page Size

Here is a question we get from clients pretty often: “What is the difference between page size and aspect ratio? Do either matter?”

The answer is yes! They do matter, and each becomes even more important if multiple presentations are being combined into a single presentation.

Aspect Ratio is the shape of the slides, and the aspect ratio needs to match the AV technology if the presentation is going to fill the AV screen properly. Nowadays, the standard aspect ratio is 16:9 – basically a rectangle.
Page Size is the actual measurements used to create that aspect ratio in your presentation software. So yes, 13.333” x 7.5” is the same aspect ratio as 26” x 14.625”. However, and this is important, when the 26” wide slides are pasted into the 13.333” wide presentation, fonts and graphics may not scale down properly, nor maintain the same slide layout.

Obviously, the ideal scenario is for presentations to be created at the correct aspect ratio for where they are being presented (meaning the slides will fill the screen exactly) AND for all presentations to be created with the same page size. If both are done properly then presentations can be combined into a single file, and/or slides can seamlessly be added between presentations as needed.

With that in mind, below is a handy list of common presentation applications, such as PowerPoint and Adobe, and their default page sizes. In the case where an application doesn’t support inches, we simply exported the file to PowerPoint to pull the page size in inches. The great news is that all these apps use the standard 16:9 aspect ratio.

Default Page Size of Presentation Apps:

Microsoft PowerPoint Windows/Mac/Web: 1280 x 720px (~96ppi), 13.333 x 7.5in

*TIP: while the technical resolution of PowerPoint is 720p, the resolution is really based on the output (eg. what the computer projects). TLC Creative Services designs all presentations with images and content based on full HD, 1920×1080 if no end use resolution is specified.