PowerPoint For WEB Makes Selections Like Adobe Illustrator – Really!
At TLC Creative Services Inc, we spend every day inside PowerPoint, and most of the time, our muscle memory serves us well. We know the keyboard shortcuts, the menus, the add-ins and, of course, how to manipulate and format objects. But there is one specific UI inconsistency that creates chaos with our workflow, and it’s when we switch between the Desktop and Web versions of PowerPoint. This is not a missing feature; it’s literally how you select objects.
Let’s start outside PowerPoint, in Adobe Illustrator. First, Illustrator is a much (much) more robust vector image app vs. PowerPoint (but PowerPoint does have a lot of vector image editing and creation features!). The most basic feature is selecting elements or objects. Illustrator has a few variables based on the tool being used, but we are keeping this very simple – and Illustrator’s process is very simple. When drawing a selection marque in Illustrator, if ANY pixel of an object is within the selection, that object is included in the selection.
Okay, that is how most graphic designers learn how object selection works. But the rules change in PowerPoint – and they change based on which PowerPoint app version is being used! Desktop or Web.
If you’ve been using Desktop PowerPoint for years, you are used to the strict selection rule (which is completely different from Illustrator). To select an object or a group of objects by dragging your mouse, you must fully enclose all objects. If you draw a selection box around a group of items, but miss even just one corner by a pixel, that object is ignored and isn’t included in the selection.
PowerPoint forces you to be deliberate. You must draw a massive box to ensure the entire object is “roped” in. Miss just one pixel, and that object is not part of the selection. This can be used to the advantage of the designer, or it can become a tedious part of the object selection process!
But take the same slide and the same objects to PowerPoint for Web, and the rules change completely! PowerPoint for Web behaves much more like Adobe Illustrator. Draw a selection marque, and if the selection box touches even just one pixel of an object, it’s included in the selection. So yes, you can enjoy Adobe Illustrator-like selections in PowerPoint…for Web.
It seems like a small detail, but when you’re moving fast, the inconsistency in selection methods between Adobe Illustrator and PowerPoint, and between Desktop PowerPoint and PowerPoint for Web, can easily throw off muscle memory workflows!
Our ask of the PowerPoint Dev team – please add a preference setting in the future to both Desktop and Web versions of PowerPoint to toggle this behavior! Until then, you simply must remember which “mode” your brain needs to be in when you’re designing in the worlds of Adobe and Microsoft.
Talk about a difference in user interface design! Which selection do you prefer, the precision of Desktop or the speed of Web?
-Jake and the TLC Creative Services Design Team
PowerPoint Shortcut – Shift+F3 (WOW!)
After using PowerPoint daily for years, one starts to have a handle on everything the app is capable of. It becomes rare to stumble across a new shortcut that genuinely surprises you, let alone an extremely useful one. Recently, I discovered a keyboard combo that solves an annoying part of slide formatting: fixing capitalization.
I’m sure this has happened to some of you out there: you paste a list of bullet points from an email, and the text is all lowercase. Or you frustratingly leave Caps Lock on while typing a long title. Usually, the fix would involve deleting and retyping or hunting down the feature on PowerPoint’s ribbon.
It turns out that there is a keyboard shortcut that does it instantly: Shift + F3.
Shift + F3 is a universal “Text Case Cycler” for all Microsoft Office apps. It works in PowerPoint, Word, Outlook, etc. This keyboard shortcut cycles through 3 these capitalization options:
NOTE: This is one of Windows’ shortcut keys, meaning it’s the same shortcut in the web version of PowerPoint. For MAC users, the shortcut is Shift + fn + F3.
When trying to correct capitalization, basically, there are different ways to fix it:
- Retype everything. Sometimes it’s just a couple of words or a name that needs to be fixed, in which case simply retyping is quick and painless. Of course, anything more than a couple of words, and it turns into a slower process.
- Users more familiar with PowerPoint can use PowerPoint’s Change Case feature. Go to the Home tab > click the dropdown menu found under the font size.
3. And finally, the ultimate keyboard shortcut: highlighting the text or clicking the text box and using the Shift + F3 keys. Do this one time for sentence case, two times for all caps, and three times for small caps (unfortunately, Capitalize Each Word is not included):
The best keyboard shortcuts aren’t the complex ones that launch macros; they are the simple ones that fix daily annoyances. Shift + F3 turns a five-second frustration into a split-second fix. It’s a tiny trick, but once you start using this hotkey, you’ll wonder how you ever managed without it.
-Jake @ TLC Creative Services, Inc.
New Podcast Episode Available! “Behind the Scenes: Lori Chollar’s Ultrawide Presentation Session at the Presentation Design Conference”
New episode of The Presentation Podcast now available, listen to here!
This episode of the Presentation Podcast we talk with Lori Chollar, CEO of TLC Creative Services, Inc. We get a behind-the-scenes look at Lori’s experience presenting at CreativePro’s Presentation Design Conference.
Lori shares insights into the process of being asked to present, preparing her session content, and the conference experience. On the presentation side, we talk about the technical and creative challenges, workflow tips, and the evolution of presentation technology as related to creating ultrawide presentations to fill the amazing LED wall configurations at events. Listen in to gain valuable perspectives on both the art and logistics of modern presentation design!
Listen on your favorite podcast app, or at The Presentation Podcast site here.
Received a Fun Color Scheme!
A lot of our presentation design projects are adapting provided content the event branding; color scheme, fonts, LED wall aspect ratio, accent graphics and more. Today I received the brand style guide for an upcoming event we are supporting, and the color scheme’s color naming made me smile 😊. The internal designer, or agency, obviously paid attention to the small details – look at the color names!
Tennis Ball Neon – Turf Green – Blacktop – Baseline White. I appreciate the small details in design and find it fun when others do to!
-Troy @ TLC
Is Your Home Office WiFi Router Old & Holding You Back?
Here’s Why You Should Probably Check Your Internet Plan (A Real‑World IT Story)
Hello! I’m Eddie, the IT Manager here at TLC Creative Services, Inc. In the design studio, there’s always plenty to keep me busy. Whether it’s maintaining the staff computers (over 35 high‑performance presentation show computers), managing our onsite servers, or keeping our entire Microsoft 365 ecosystem running smoothly. On top of that, most of our design team works remotely, so I handle a lot of VPN‑related support and remote access procedures.
Recently, one of our remote designers reached out with an issue: their VPN connection to the Studio kept dropping.
Time to investigate.
The Unexpected Culprit
I connected to their machine using our remote support tools and quickly noticed something strange—their connection speeds were painfully slow. After gathering a bit more info, the truth came out:
Their home router was over 10 years old, and worse, they were still on a 100/100 Mbps fiber plan.
For today’s workflows (large design files, real‑time cloud syncing, video calls) that speed is extremely outdated. To put it into perspective: most modern providers offer ten to twenty times that bandwidth as their entry-level plans.
Since I’ve worked with this designer’s ISP many times over the years, I already had a good sense of the current offers and price points. After a little digging, I found something surprising… and exciting.
A Huge Upgrade for Almost No Additional Cost
I walked the designer through a quick chat session with their ISP, helping frame the right questions and watching out for the usual sales tactics. In the end, we secured a new 2000/2000 Mbps fiber plan, a brand‑new WiFi 7 router, and only $10 more per month!
Yes, nearly 20× the speed and bandwidth for about the same price!
Immediately after setup, their VPN connection stabilized, file transfers sped up dramatically, and their entire workflow became far smoother.
Why This Happens More Often Than You Think
With more than a decade in enterprise IT, I’ve noticed a recurring issue: people upgrade their phones, laptops, and apps—but completely forget about their internet plan and hardware. Internet providers love to advertise things like “Price Lock for 12 Months!”, but here’s the catch:
- They almost never reach back out when:
- New speeds become available
- Prices drop
- Infrastructure upgrades hit your neighborhood
This leads to thousands of people (and many businesses) paying yesterday’s price for yesterday’s speeds without realizing better options exist.
My Recommendation
If you haven’t checked your home, or business, internet plan in 2–3 years, it’s probably time.
- Look up your provider’s latest speeds and prices
- Compare your current plan to today’s offerings
- Check whether your router or modem is more than 4 years old
- Ask about fiber upgrades or promotional pricing
If newer speeds are available in your area, you can usually move to them, often for the same price or close to it. Who knows? You might find an upgrade as dramatic as our designer did!
By Eddie Prieboy, IT Manager at TLC Creative Services
New Podcast Episode Available! “From Sofia to London: We Chat with Boris Hristov About The Journey of the Present to Succeed Conference”
New episode of The Presentation Podcast now available! In this episode of our hosts, Troy Chollar of TLC Creative, Sandy Johnson, and Nolan Haims are joined by Boris Hristov, founder of the Present to Succeed conference.
Listen in as they discuss the unique dual-location format for 2026 (taking place in both London and Sofia)! Boris shares insights on speaker selection, branding, and their high production values for the conference. Plus tips for using AI and design tools in presentations. And, bonus! Listeners will receive a 20% discount code for tickets, so be sure to get The Presentation Podcast listener promo code!
Available on all major podcast platforms. Or listen at The Presentation Podcast website, plus read the show notes, at https://thepresentationpodcast.com/2026/e240/
Copilot is not being helpful – but humorous!
At this point in the evolution of Microsoft Copilot – I use it a lot, just not for presentation work. As example, this interaction I had with Copilot, which was frustrating, and at the same time something that made me laugh.
The scenario is two slides, each with an image of a waterfall chart. Neither had a lot of data points and something I could recreate in 5 minutes each. Instead I opted to spend 20 minutes trying to encourage Copilot to recreate the charts.
Because Copilot accessed within PowerPoint would not recognize the selected image, I had to save the image from the slide to the computer desktop. Then I opened the M365 Copilot app (to clarify, I only work in the paid/pro version of Copilot with the Enterprise Data Protection, the green shield, active) and added the image to the chat. I entered a detailed prompt instructing Copilot to recreate the chart as an editable chart placed on a PowerPoint slide. Copilot’s processing notes were impressive and all was looking good until I had to request a way to access the PowerPoint slide 3Xs! Spoiler alert, I gave up after 20 minutes and recreated both charts in 5 minutes. Copilot as an assistant for editing slide content, well it still needs a lot more to be helpful.
But Copilot’s response to my 3rd attempt to get access to the PowerPoint slide it was promising it had created with the needed chart made the effort worth it – or at least worth a laugh 😆. To quote Copilot (seen above in the image),
“You’re right – I (Copilot) need to actually create the PowerPoint file and give you a real download link, not just reference it.“
Literally incompetence that is just funny!
-Troy @ TLC