Software/Add-Ins

Techsmith’s Snagit app is a must-have at TLC Creative. Literally everyone from the design team, to IT manager, to Project Coordinator and Accounting department – everyone has Snagit installed on their computer and uses it daily (note: TLC Creative maintains an Enterprise license for Snagit. It is a great value – and no sponsorship to endorse it!). 

One of the go to features is Snagit’s ability to capture documents or webpages that are longer, or wider, than your screen. Start an image capture, scroll as long as needed, and Snagit creates a super long, or super wide, image! For many years the access has been a series of click; expand the task bar, right-click the Snagit icon, go to Presets, and select SCROLLING CAPTURE. (TIP: on my computer setup I added a custom hotkey in the Snagit app and created a button on my Stream Deck to launch that hotkey, making it nearly instantaneous to start a Snagit Panoramic Capture) 

TIP: long images, like webpages or apps, are great to use on PowerPoint slides and animate under an image of a computer screen or mobile phone! 

TIP: capture extra wide Excel documents using this feature! 

Well, Snagit at some point in the past year eliminated the need for something like my Stream Deck hotkey by adding Panoramic Capture as a button directly on its capture bar! 

Christie on the TLC Creative design team takes us through how to get this new shortcut. And demonstrates how to use it. 

In order to use this new feature, Snagit must be updated to Version 2024.2.4, or higher. 

Updated Capture Dialogue Box: 

• Capture an image with Snagit by using the PRINT SCREEN button on your keyboard 

• A new dialogue box will appear with several capture options 

• 1. Image, 2. Video, and the new 3. Panoramic ratio, then info about the pixel size of the capture, reset and close options. 

• What we are excited about is the “new” Panoramic Capture button on the Snagit dialog. 

TIP: the pixel width and height, and position, of the capture can still be adjusted before the capture type is selected.  

• Click the PANORAMIC CAPTURE button and choose to scroll down vertically or horizontally to the right. 

• When all of the content is added to the small Snagit capture thumbnail, click DONE.  

• Depending on how big the capture is, a progression bar with cute clipart and phrase tells you how things are going for the image to process. 

• When processing is complete the Snagit editor opens showing the image. 

• Modify the image here (crop, add callouts, merge with other images, etc. – Snagit is powerful and full of useful editing tools). 

• Here is my example vertical panoramic capture of the TLC Creative website – as one long image. The capture process took around 25 seconds to create this image – and no needing to manually stitch separate captures together!  

PowerPoint has a wonderful eye dropper tool to update a shape fill, outline, shadow, etc. to any color on the slide. Outside PowerPoint, the TLC Creative team has a small Windows app installed on every computer – Instant Eyedropper.

Instant Eyedropper is a FREE color detection tool. Instant Eyedropper is an installed app, and Windows OS only. To use: click the Instant Eyedropper icon, move the mouse to spotlight the color needed, and click. The color value is added to the clipboard. This color eyedropper is an app that does 1 thing and does it well.

There are numerous supported color formats; RGB, Hex, HTML, HSL, and others. Our team preference is between RGB, like what the eyedropper in Paint and PowerPoint uses, and HTML. To get started, click the icon in the taskbar.

The cursor becomes a target (A), displays the color to be picked up (B), and the color value that will be copied (C).

Click and done, the color value is copied to the clipboard. The cursor then reverts back to a regular cursor. Paste the color value into any project notes or app as needed.

Instant Eyedropper is free to download from their website: http://instant-eyedropper.com/

If you’re frequently working with large files, especially images and presentations like the TLC Creative design team does every day, you might already be familiar with the pain point of dealing with oversized files. WeCompress is an online app designed to alleviate this problem by compressing a wide variety of file types — whether you want to compress PDFs, PowerPoint Presentations, Word documents, or images.

At its core, WeCompress is essentially a free, web-based version of the popular NXPowerLite desktop application. Developed by the same team at Neuxpower (who makes NXPowerlite), WeCompress allows users to upload and compress files without the need for installation, account or subscription. This makes it incredibly convenient for anyone who needs quick, on-the-go file compression, especially for presentations or documents that exceed email attachment limits.

One thing to keep in mind when using WeCompress, especially for images, is that it doesn’t save your files into different formats. For instance, if you’re working with a TIFF image that you’d like to use in a presentation, you want to convert it to an optimized PNG. But that’s not how WeCompress works. Instead, it will compress the file while keeping its original format intact. So, if format conversion is part of your workflow, you’ll need to use a different tool.

TIP: there is a file size limit. WeCompress will allow files up to 50MB.

TIP/or maybe this is a Public Service Announcement (PSA): the wecompress website contains A LOT of sponsor ads – everywhere on it. While these ads help keep the service free, they can be distracting or misleading, so be cautious about what you click on. Stick to the main functionality of the site, and you’ll be good.

The TLC Creative design team has the desktop version, NXPowerlite, on all design computers. NXPowerlite allows for larger file sizes (ugh, 2GB + presentations!), batch compressing of multiple files, and more advanced features like custom profiles.

Let’s walk through a demo of how to compress a file using WeCompress.com:

1. On https://www.wecompress.com/, upload a file for compression by either dragging the file to the upload area or clicking the purple + icon in the middle of the screen.
   
2. Select a file for optimization, then click OPEN.
   
3. The file uploads (FAQ says it is a temp file and not stored after file compression completes)
   
4. After the upload is complete, there is a notice that file compression is in process.
   
5. Once the file is ready to download, a “File Ready” notice appears with the new file size, and information about the percentage of compression.
   
6. Click DOWNLOAD FILE. The new file name has (wecompress.com) added to the original file name.
   
7. After download, a successful download notice with a link to compress another file if needed.
   

That’s it. Easy, quick (depending on file size and internet speed), and free! WeCompress offers only 1 compress option with no levels of compression or profiles, which is possible in NXPowerlite. Bookmark WeCompress and test it, the TLC Creative design team has used it many times (especially when working on provided show computers that lack our suite of apps and settings).

-Amber

Build-A-Graphic seamlessly integrates with Microsoft PowerPoint, whether you’re using it on Windows, Mac, or PowerPoint Online. It offers a massive 10K+ library of pre-made, but fully editable graphics. Including graphs, charts, infographics, a favorite- Isometric (2D with a fixed 45º grid to easily align and mix-and-match) elements, and much more.

On the technical side, this is a JS Add-in (install through the “add-in” button on the PowerPoint Insert tab). As a JS add-in it enables it to be used within PowerPoint Online, and on any computer you are logged in with the registered Microsoft account.

Click the Build-a-Graphic button on the PowerPoint HOME tab. From the Build-A-Graphic action pane, search its library, or view the graphics by category and then by graphic type.

One of the best things about virtually all of the Build-A-Graphic content is they can be edited in PowerPoint; colors, text and other elements can be adjusted to align with a brand or the theme of the presentation. As an example graphic, here is a before (default on left) and after (customized on right) graphic. Colors and font changed; some content removed for a graphic customized to align with the presentation’s design.

A lot of the graphics include tips on how to edit them. As example, This Funnel graphic has a tip in the lower left about ungrouping to customize.

TIP: remove these tips before presenting!

As mentioned earlier, the primary advantage we see, is Build-A-Graphic content is PowerPoint native vector art and significant edits can be made directly within PowerPoint, saving time and simplifying the workflow. When ungrouped, elements can be deleted, customized, or replaced. A good example is that many of the graphics include icons. But the icons are not “locked” to the graphic, but separate elements (when ungrouped in PowerPoint) allowing each graphic element to be modified with different icons easily. For advanced editing beyond PowerPoint’s capabilities, graphics can be exported from PowerPoint as .SVG vector graphics and edited in Adobe Illustrator (then copy/pasted back to the slide).

Aside from the main draw of the graphic design library, one feature we like is the “Chunking” feature (yes, that is the real name!). With one click you can turn a slide full of text into separate smaller text blocks, in a stylized visual layout. Those smaller text blocks can then be modified as needed to better fit on the slide.

As example, here is a slide with 3, dense, paragraphs of text (Lorum Ipsum text for the example):

Using the “Chunk Text by Paragraph” tool, it separates the Lorem Ipsum text into separate text boxes and into separate paragraphs in one click. This can be just a starter and the new text boxes and styling elements can be edits, resized, recolored as best for the slide and content/message.

Incorporating Build-A-Graphic into a design routine can be a good time saver and an easy path to creating visual slides that stand out. Being able to quickly tweak graphics inside PowerPoint keeps things simple, especially when you’re working against tight deadlines. While it may not replace specialized graphic design software for more complex projects, it has the breadth of graphics to offer a convenient solution for enhancing slides directly within PowerPoint.

Note: Build-A-Graphic is a subscription and locks the subscription to the registered Microsoft ID (eg. your Microsoft 365 account) – and this is the first software we have used that leverages the Microsoft ID as the user.

See examples and details at the Build-A-Graphic website here.

Figma is a collaborative web-based design tool that many consider a competitor to Adobe. There are different capabilities between Figma and Adobe apps, but the key difference being that Figma operates entirely web-based, requiring no software installs, or updates. Figma works on any operating system, Windows, Mac, Linux, and any device; computer, tablet, phone, even on Chromebooks.

Figma is popular in the design and UX communities. Its real-time collaboration capabilities are good for teams to work simultaneously on project design elements. Figma has integrated Slack as its communication channel, and any design edits or comments are easily “slacked” to the design team. The collaboration goes further with any update requests automatically update anywhere that design element is embedded in other files (very cool!). And similar to Microsoft Teams and Google apps, you can see who also has the file open (via small onscreen avatars).

FIGMA ENTERS PRESENTATIONS

Figma announced Figma Slides on June 26^th, 2024. The CEO’s clever reveal is worth a watch – go to 51:55 of the video:

FIGMA SLIDES

Figma Slides is like all other presentation and slideshow software. It creates visual aids for presentations as a series of “slides” with each slide being a combination of text, images, charts, diagrams, videos and other graphic elements. The interface is familiar, matching the layout PowerPoint established in 2010 with navigation pane on the left, current slide in the center, presenter notes under the slide, and a tools pane on the right.

The Figma slides as presentation software highlights we found include:

• Presentation templates and many customization options with workflows that seamlessly connect to the other Figma Design tools.
• Supports co-authoring of slides, presenter notes, and co-presenting controls.
• Slides can have several interactive element options, including live polls, alignment scales, and voting features designed to capture live feedback and facilitate decision-making.
• Figma expands beyond its app with a range of plugins that enhance workflows, such as a seamless Unsplash image integration, and the Figma integration with Slack.
• The Figma Slides app has integrated Figma AI within it, and focuses on the slide copy (aka text) with a unique way to modify copy using a “tone” slider to rewrite it.

Using these features, slide decks can be created from scratch or from the many templates, which can be customized. Each template is a set of layouts with preset text, image, diagram and chart placeholders.

PRESENTING

To present a Figma Slides presentation, simply click the play button in the upper right corner of the interface:

The option to present your slideshow with or without presenter notes is available. Similar to Google Slides, if presenting with notes, 2 browser tabs open; one for slides (that automatically opens full screen with no interface) and one of the presenter notes and slide navigation.

Advancing through slides can be using keyboard (eg. arrow keys), a standard presentation remote, or the onscreen interface.

You’ll see that the presenter view will open with the presenter notes, and the full screen presentation on the right.

WHO

Figma has designed its online platform to focus on graphic designers and work teams. Figma slides is going to appeal to those already using Figma for design projects that need to present content from those design projects, as everything in a Figma project is seamlessly available in Figma Slides.

FIGMA VS POWERPOINT

It’s difficult to imagine Figma Slides disrupting the position PowerPoint and Microsoft Office have in the industry. PowerPoint’s extensive feature set and integration with the other Office apps, and its 30 years of use in the business world.

PowerPoint is the king of presentation software from user base and features. PowerPoint Online, a standalone online app, has continuously improved and allows collaboration via sharing a link with permissions. You can save projects in real time to OneDrive and its UI is a little bit more streamlined than its desktop counterpart, which could be good for those newer to the platform or does not need as many robust features. However, the TLC Creative design team still prefers the desktop version for presentation design.

What’s The Price?

Figma slides, at the time of this review, is in beta and free to all Professional and above packages through the end of the year. It does not clarify if Figma Slides will continue to be included in the packages or become an add-on. For reference, Figma is available in 4 tiers:

1. Free: Access to the Figma editor, 3 collaborative design files, unlimited drafts (Free)
2. Professional Team: Unlimited files, team libraries, advanced prototyping etc. ($15/mo)
3. Organization: Organization wide libraries, design system analytics, branching and merging etc. ($45/mo)
4. Enterprise: Advanced design system theming, default libraries by workspace, etc. ($75/mo)

Conclusion

Figma Slides, like other web-based presentation apps, require a stable internet connection to function. The Figma Slides collaborative approach is robust and great to work with. Its fresh, modern appearance of the user interface makes Figma Slides a welcome addition to a Presentation Designer’s toolbox.

~Thanks Jake, on the TLC Creative presentation design team, for researching and assisting with this blog post

Starting with Slidewise version 2.1 there is a FREE version – and you should have it!

The free version is a feature-limited version of Slidewise. But the features it does include are invaluable (paying for all of the features is better)!

Basically, free-Slidewise is going to allow you to inspect a presentation, but not have access to the tools that automate fixing presentation issues.

As example, Slidewise shows there are are 25 fonts in this slide deck (ugh!) and several are not Microsoft fonts, because they are not embedded. The free version provides this super helpful information. The paid version enables tools to quickly update fonts throughout the deck (which is amazing!).

Another example is Slidewise Free shows a list of all images in the presentation – and displays the image file size of each image. This is super helpful in finding oversize images that are making the presentation file large. Slidewise Free keeps the ability to select an image from the list and jump to that slide, with that image selected (try it, it is fantastic!). But some of the image management tools are not available.

Two notes:

1. Slidewise is currently a Windows PowerPoint add-in. No Mac PowerPoint option available.
2. Just download the trial version and after the trial period ends it automatically goes to the free mode.

Checkout Slidewise at the developer website here.

Troy @ TLC

Slidewise 2.1 has released! Version 2.0 was released in October 2024 and added an amazing set of new tools (color audit, find cropped images, improved way to see assigned layouts and update the layout assigned to slides, and more). Now, only 3 months after having access to version 2.0, version 2.1 has been released!

Open a presentation and click the Slidewise button on the HOME tab to get an amazing audit of the slides.

Version 2.1 replaces the row of icons to select Slidewise tools with a dropdown menu. I particularly like this navigation improvement for 2 reasons; first, if the PowerPoint action pane was too narrow, not all of the icons displayed. And second, I was constantly spending time mousing over and waiting for the tooltip to display to remind me what icon led to what tool – in the drop down menu the tool names are instantly there (yay!)

The ability to audit what slides use what Master Slide, and what Master Layout has been a huge time saver in presentation clean up. The Consolidate Masters feature has gotten better!

• First note, this feature is still hard to find, so I feel a lot of people miss it (and it is awesome!). Go to the SLIDE MASTERS tool. Click the down arrow on any master slide listed and select CONSOLIDATE MASTERS from the fly out menu
  
• This is the updated Consolidate Masters dialog. The big improvement are the checkboxes next to each master. (1) select the Slide Master you want to move other slides too. (2) check mark 1 or more (yay!) of the “bad” Slide Masters. (3) click CONSOLIDATE MASTERS and all of the slides assigned to the “bad” Slide Masters are instantly moved to the selected “good” Slide Master (double yay!!).
  • Note: if the “good” Slide Master does not have a Master Layout of the same name, PowerPoint will create new/Frankenstein layouts for those slides, but everything is consolidated to the Slide Master selected.
    

The last Slidewise tool I am covering in this blog post is the IMAGE AUDIT and the addition of a CROPPED images audit.

• The first note is I think a lot of people miss the true Image Audit tool and features, because when Slidewise opens the default view is the FONTS AND MEDIA tab, which has an IMAGES section that provides a lot of great info and options.
  
• But the IMAGE AUDIT tab offers even more! For me, the Image Audit is turned off when going to the tab (not sure why(
  
• Turn ON the Image Audit and a number of amazing options are available to inspect, and correct, by image size – compression – quality – and more.
  
• Version 2.1 adds to the list of options, a CROPPED image audit. Expand and see a list of every image that has a PowerPoint crop applied.
  
• Click the down arrow next to any image and from the fly out menu click SHOW IN POWERPOINT to go directly to that slide and have that image selected.
  

Bonus: I am not 100% certain this is new in v2.1. I may have been added in v2.0, but it is new to me, all images and videos have an option to EXPORT ORIGINAL IMAGE/MEDIA now, which is another great addition to an already amazing productivity set of tools!

Check out the Slidewise PowerPoint add-in here.

Troy @ TLC

ToolsToo released v10 of the PowerPoint add-in suite in January 2022. There was a sprinkling of updates through 2022. Fast forward to 2024 and v11 of the ToolsToo  productivity suite has been released!

Here are my top 3 new tools from my initial few weeks running the new version.

1. AUTOFIT TEXT TO SHAPE

Here is this one-click formatting tool in use. The top bar is the template default font and font size – too small for the callout bar. Select the text box and go to ToolsToo > Shape Tools > Autofit Text to Shape and the font is instantly sized to fit the bar.

This is not a dynamic sizing. resize the bar and text does not automatically change size (which is the way I prefer text boxes to behave). On the bottom image I updated the text margins and reapplied the Toolstoo text sizing. Easy – fast – reliable!

2. MAKE SAME CROP

This is like Make Same Size, which easily one of the most helpful add-in tools to PowerPoint!, with the crop tool. As example, here are two images I added to a slide.

I cropped the left image.

To make the right image match, I used the ToolsToo Make Same Crop. Select the left/cropped image, then the right image > ToolsToo > Make Same > Make Same Crop

The right image is one-click cropped!

I do not know the algorithm being applied behind the scenes, but I am impressed that the crop is not just center-center of image, but appears to take into account the content! Just fine tune the image in the crop to be sized and positioned as needed.

3. Select Same Size

This is one of those tools you never thought of, or needed – until it was given to you and now I’m addicted to using it!

Question – which of these shapes are not the same size? (no scrolling down to see the answer )

Select all of the shapes, go to ToolsToo > Select Same > Select Same Size

The first shape selected is the reference for sizing, I selected shape #2 from left. And ToolsToo did not select the 2 of the shapes – they do not match the others!

ToolsToo is one of the best values at ~$20 USD for an amazing set of productivity tools. Version 11 is another great addition to the presentation designer tools. Details at the ToolsToo website here.

Troy @ TLC