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ToolsToo v10 Available!

The ToolsToo PowerPoint add-in recently released a big update, version 10.0.0.0.

We run this add-in on all design computers at TLC Creative and find many features invaluable. Here on ThePowerPointBlog ToolsToo has been reviewed and referenced several times (most recent full review looks like it was in 2016, here).

Version 10 has several new features that I have been experimenting with:

REMOVE DESIGN ELEMENTS: this is pretty cool. 1 click to remove all non-placeholder content on slide master and slide layouts. This includes placed images (full background, logos, etc.), placed PowerPoint shapes/lines/text boxes/basically everything but the placeholders.
- For me so far, I would like to see this tool expanded to be able to just strip out content from a selected slide layout (vs. every layout in a file).
HIDE ALL BUT SELECTED: Actually, not certain if this is brand new, but it is a huge time saver when designing. Select 1 or more elements on a slide, use this tool to turn them off in the Selection Pane, without opening the Selection Pane! One step further is the option to do the opposite, select 1 or more elements and hide (or turn off in the Selection Pane) everything not selected!
- Also, each tool can be separately added to the QAT
TOOL CHAINS: Basically, this allows every user to create their own multi-action custom VBA code. It is constrained to using only Toolstool PowerPoint tools (I am hopeful that this great feature will expand to allow native PowerPoint tools and maybe even other 3rd party tools be included in a chain – please!).
- The interface for creating Chains is simple. Find the tool on the left, add to the right column, adjust order on right, give the Chain of actions a name and save.

Note: ToolsTool is a PowerPoint for Windows add-in (no Mac version option and does not work with PowerPoint for Web).

Get more information at the ToolsToo website here. ToolsTool is $20 and not only an amazing set of productivity tools, but an amazing value!

Troy @ TLC

By TLC Creative Services, Inc.|January 10th, 2022|Software/Add-Ins|

Keyboard Shortcut – Reset Graphic Driver

Have you ever been working on something important and all of a sudden, the screen or app window freezes up?

Before losing any of your work by restarting the app or full computer, try this keyboard shortcut. We are going to restart the graphics drivers – which I found is something most people did not know was an option! Click the Windows logo + CTRL + SHIFT + B keys to restart your graphic drivers.

Reset graphic drivers keyboard shortcut

The common solution is first to open the TASK MANAGER and attempt to close the application (if the Task Manager will open). The next action is generally to FORCE SHUTDOWN the computer – argh! which means losing all work since the last save!! Try this trick before shutting down the entire computer! Often the issue is the graphics driver has crashed and this handy keyboard shortcut restarts the graphics driver and hopefully restores access to your computer and the slide deck you were working on (hopeful!). Note, this is a Windows OS hack (sorry Mac people, I do not know if there is a graphic driver reset option there). And this works on Windows 8, 10 and 11.

Troy @ TLC

By TLC Creative Services, Inc.|January 6th, 2022|Resource/Misc, Tutorial|

Start 2022 with a podcast on Presentation Design Predictions!

2022 has just begun, and the very first week of the new year, Troy, Nolan and Sandy are sharing 5 predictions (each) of what they see as trends in the presentation industry for 2022. All based on their client requests, what’s happening in the presentation world, and hunch’s (eg. this is not scientific, survey results or anything measurable!). Listen in for a fun conversation about (possible) trends in the presentation industry for 2022. Listen here!

By TLC Creative Services, Inc.|January 4th, 2022|Resource/Misc|

FREE PowerPoint Template – “Happy New Year”

Thank you to Josh on the TLC Creative design team for creating this year’s New Year’s themed PowerPoint template!

Download the full PowerPoint template, for FREE, here.

By TLC Creative Services, Inc.|December 31st, 2021|PowerPoint, Templates/Assets|

TLC Creatives’s Top 10 of 2021

2021 has overall been a very good year here at TLC Creative Services. Here is a quick slide deck the team created (thank you Amber!) exported as a video showcasing our Top 10 2021 highlights.