Software/Add-Ins

Teams – What, The Audience Can See ALL of My Slides!

This is a feature – and one we at TLC Creative are not fond of (at least as the default behavior). While sharing a PowerPoint presentation in Teams, participants can scroll through your slides out of sync from you. This means anyone in the meeting can move through your slides, forward or back, away from the slide you are currently speaking to. They can see ahead, effectively ruining any big reveal. They can be distracted looking at other slide content and not focusing on you and the your presentation. AND, this is the default behavior when you present a slide deck in Teams!

To disable this function, click the eyeball icon next to the “Stop Presenting” button

The eye icon will now have a line through it, indicating it is now disabled.

Troy @ TLC

By |2021-12-18T11:03:51-07:00December 17th, 2021|PowerPoint, Software/Add-Ins|

Windows 11 Date Calculator!

I am getting familiar with Windows 11 and discovered this gem. I am assuming it is new with Windows 11, but maybe it has been there for awhile and I have been missing out!

Here is the Windows calculator (I seem to use it multiple times each day).

Clicking the upper left menu shows the list of various types of calculators. I discovered the DATE RANGE calculator function, and I am thrilled!

Select DATE CALCULATION. Pick a starting date and an end date from calendar pickers. The bottom row instantly displays the number of days in the range selected. No more counting days in the Outlook calendar!!

Troy @ TLC

By |2021-11-04T06:47:40-07:00November 11th, 2021|Resource/Misc, Software/Add-Ins|

Convert Keynote file to PowerPoint File Online, Free and Fast!

Do I know Apple Keynote for Presentation design? Absolutely!

Is Apple Keynote your main presentation design app? No, not for a long time.

Can I give you a Keynote file? Absolutely, but all of our Mac computers are at the studio and everyone is working remote, so I will convert the file to PowerPoint.

Now, the big question is, how do you convert an Apple Keynote file to PowerPoint if you do not have a Mac computer available? The answer is easy – and free – and fast – and very accurate conversion! I use cloudconvert, an online file convert app. The website lists they support “nearly all audio, video, document, ebook, archive, image, spreadsheet, and presentation formats.” And I have used this resource for many file types – and just last week, for converting another Keynote presentation to PowerPoint format so I could integrate a presenters slides into the master show presentation (which is being run in PowerPoint).

Go to cloudconvert.com

In the CONVERT menu select PRESENTATION and KEY (Keynote)

In the TO menu select PPTX (PowerPoint)

Click SELECT FILE

Click CONVERT

When done processing, download the .pptx version of the presentation to work with (knowing the conversion process does not provide a full feature PowerPoint template file, no matter how good or bad the Keynote file is setup).

Troy @ TLC

By |2021-11-04T06:48:15-07:00November 9th, 2021|Resource/Misc, Software/Add-Ins|

SlideWise – Turn Off Auto-open

Starting with Slidewise v1.2, the default is for Slidewise to auto open with each presentation opened. For some, this is good. For me, I want to focus on the slides and open Slidewise when I need it. So, how do we turn off the auto open setting?

Go to the SLIDEWISE tab and click the PREFERENCES button to open the Slidewise Preferences dialog. The middle option, “show the slidewise pane when opening a presentation” is checked. Now, for me, unchecking this, click OK and closing PowerPoint to lock in the settings, did not work. Opening the next presentation, Slidewise again auto launched – frustrating.**

**Note: in talking with the good people at Neuxpower (developer of Slidewise), this behaviour of the Preferences not sticking was a v1.2 bug and resolved with v1.3 and above. Because I have already applied the below registry update, and then updated to v1.3, I cannot confirm the preference settings now stick and work, so the below may be informational and not needed at this point! (as of this post date, slidewise v1.3 is available)

I am guessing my experience is not isolated as Neuxpower has a specialty action tool to force Slidewise to not open. Go to the Neuxpower website’s Slidewise support page here.

Download the “DisableAutoOpen.reg” installed that will change the Slidewise OS registry to force it to not auto launch (there is also a download installer that re-enables the auto launch in the registry if needed). Follow the instructions on the webpage to install.

Troy @ TLC

By |2021-10-26T08:44:18-07:00October 29th, 2021|Software/Add-Ins|

Slidewise v1.3 is Here!

First, if you work with presentations from others, I highly recommend having Slidewise installed. For those not familiar with this add-in, Slidewise is the asset manager that PowerPoint has been missing (and it is not for a lack of everyone asking Microsoft for a presentation asset manager!).

As example, this slide deck uses 3 fonts, has 4 images, has 1 audio file, and 1 video file. All of these details instantly summarized in a single window – the Slidewise info pane. In addition, we can instantly see the file size of everything and expand to see individual assets.

Neuxpower has released v1.2 and v1.3 in rapid succession, and things just get better with each version! Here are a few of my observations on the new version:

The HOME tab now has a show/hide button to bring up Slidewise (same button as on the Slidewise tab, just now also available on the Home tab)

There is now a separate Master slide tab to identify what slides use what master layout. As example, this sample slide deck has 1 master slide, and only 1 master layout. Slidewise displays this in the SLIDE MASTERS tab (1 slide master, 25 slides using the 1 master layout)

And my favorite feature, which has been in Slidewise since release, is it’s REPLACE FONT system! First, find random fonts with Slidewise identifying the exact slide and exact object where the font is used (amazing!). In addition, the Slidewise Replace Font system is not limited by the single-byte vs double-byte file issue that PowerPoint’s native replace font cannot.

If you have Slidewise, I definitely recommend installing the updated v1.3. Download here.

Get all the info about slidewise at the Neuxpower website here.

Troy @ TLC

By |2021-10-22T08:33:22-07:00October 27th, 2021|PowerPoint, Software/Add-Ins|

Talk to Your Slides!

With everyone working remote, I have found myself using more dictation and voice command options than I was in our design studio (where everyone could overhear, and be distracted by, my “conversations” with my computer). Microsoft Office, and specifically PowerPoint, has a really good voice-to-text tool called “Dictate”. It is super easy to use, and I find it almost perfect on converting me talking to my slide to text on the slide.

[videopack id=”14795″]https://thepowerpointblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Office-Dictation-Demo.mp4[/videopack]

Of note: in the demo video I am using the Windows desktop version of PowerPoint. The same feature is on Mac and PowerPoint for web.

Troy @ TLC

By |2021-05-20T13:30:30-07:00May 7th, 2021|PowerPoint, Software/Add-Ins|

What is Google Slides?

Google Slides is a web-based (aka, online) presentation design software offered by Google as part of their Google Drive service.

Presentations can be created and run as slideshows from any desktop through all major browsers, as well as mobile device support. Because it is a cloud based app, being online is a key part of use – however, Google Slides does have an offline mode when used through the Chrome browser.

Presentations can be downloaded as a PowerPoint file, PDF, or different image types (jpg, png, svg). One big feature is while being a web app, it has a Presenter View! And there is also a live audience Q&A feature.

My opinion, any presentation can look amazing with the assistance of a presentation design expert. While Google Slides does not offer the breadth of features and template/master slide options of PowerPoint, it is a viable solution. I see it used primarily as a good option if for simple content presentations without a lot of flash. I am not a fan of stock templates and themes, which may be why Google Slides does not offer an abundance (26 as of June 2020). There are animation and video options. If you have a chart heavy presentation, Google Slides is a tedious process of going outside Google Slides and working through Google Sheets for all edits, revisions and formatting.  

Sharing and co-authoring are super simple with seamless integration with Google Drive. And, Google Slides is free! 

Troy @ TLC

By |2020-06-30T22:35:44-07:00July 10th, 2020|Software/Add-Ins|

BrightSlide Image To Fit Slide

The BrightSlide PowerPoint add-in has so many great features it is impossible to say what the “favorite” feature it. But I will list this as one of my top 3! BrightSlide’s ‘Match Size’ tool is brilliant.

Through a series of emails with the BrightSlide lead developer I detailed the process I would go through on virtually every large presentation event to create a custom photo loop for the meeting walk-in, generally being given a folder of images with minutes until doors open! The result was an addition to the Match Size options (thank you BrightSlide!).

The scenario is, an image does not scale to fill the full slide. The fastest solution is now to select the image, go to the BrightSlide tab, and click the Match Size button. There are actually 3 options in the drop-down: Match Size, Match Width, Match Height. But the top level, Match size, button is all that is needed. 

Select the image, click Match Size and the image is not distorted or stretched, but it is cropped to fill the slide. AND it is centered within the crop! Position within the crop can be adjusted by selecting the image and the crop tool to adjust what is the live/visible image.

If resizing all photos in a slide deck, such receiving a folder of images, importing them into a slide deck using PowerPoint Photo Album feature, then use BrightSlides BATCH tool to apply the resize and crop to every image in the deck instantly! 

Using the Batch tool brings up this dialogue, where you want to select yes.

The end result is nearly instantly created beautiful full bleed images that fit the slidet!

The BrightSlide add-in for PowerPoint can be downloaded for free at: https://www.brightcarbon.com/brightslide/

Troy @ TLC

By |2020-06-18T13:17:32-07:00July 6th, 2020|Software/Add-Ins, Tutorial|

New INSERT Image Options!

There is something new* in your PowerPoint, but it may not have been discovered yet. The Insert Picture button has expanded to offer more options, and NEW images.

Here is before the update. Insert PICTURES was just a button with no options.

It opened this standard, go-find-the-image-on-your-computer dialog

But now (*as of today this applies to Windows Monthly Targeted and Office Insider builds, I have not tested on standard release, Mac or online versions) the PICTURES button is a split button with more options!

Let me show what each option offers. Click the THIS DEVICE option and we get the same go-find-the-image-on-your-computer dialog

I am going to jump to the third option, ONLINE PICTURES, and save the new stuff for last. Online Pictures is an image search via Bing Images. Nothing new here.

Click the STOCK IMAGES option and we are treated to a new library of high quality photo images. These are all Royalty Free for use in Microsoft app products (eg. my understanding is they can be used in a PowerPoint, Word, Publisher, Excel document and there is no legal issues. But if they are extracted and added to an Illustrator or InDesign document or provided as a stand alone image, the royalty free status may not be enforce). I found the images very nice, great quality and good to use and look unique right now (after 18 months I feel everyone will have seen these images so many times, they will feel “old”).

 

The CUTOUT PEOPLE tab are all .png images of people with transparent background. These are going to get a lot of use and it is a great first release package.

The ICONS tab is also what the INSERT > ICONS button opens. It has a new layout to the icons and expanded set of icons (yay!). PRO TIP: 1 click access vs. 2 clicks. It is 2 clicks to open this dialog if we go to PICTURES and click for the drop down menu and a second click to open the dialog to STOCK IMAGES. But it is 1 click to click the ICONS button to bring up this dialog (opened to the icons tab).

The STICKERS option is new. I know some people are going to love these, and others (like me) cannot see a need for them… These are not animated .gifs, just static fun, full color “cartoons”.

Behind the scenes, Microsoft has done a lot of work on the search. This includes metatags for all images in the library, AI assisted recognition of entries, and a more streamlined process.

Something new for everyone to check out, experiment with and possibly use in your next presentation!

Troy @ TLC

By |2020-04-15T11:40:43-07:00April 15th, 2020|Resource/Misc, Software/Add-Ins|

BrightSlide – A PowerPoint Add-in You Want!

If you use PowerPoint on Windows and do not have this add-in on your PowerPoint toolbar, you are missing out on one of the best productivity options to be released in 2019! The BrightSlide add-in has become a must have on all of our computers.

BrightSlide is a PowerPoint add-in with a suite of amazing (truly amazing!) productivity tools. It is graciously made available, for FREE, by presentation design company, BrightCarbon. 

Note: If you use the YouTools add-ins, or have read our review of them here or heard us mention them on ThePresentationPodcast, you are familiar with BrightSlide – but may not know it. YouTools basically expanded and became the BrightSlide add-in.

Get all the details and download it here.

Troy @ TLC

By |2019-11-23T16:53:51-07:00November 26th, 2019|Software/Add-Ins|
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