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
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
Club Ichin LED Wall
New Podcast Episode Released Today!
Podcast Episode Available! “100+ Hours for an Eight-Minute Presentation with John Chen”
In episode 243 of The Presentation Podcast, Troy Chollar of TLC Creative Services, has a conversation with certified speaking professional John Chen. They discuss the immense amount of unseen effort behind every presentation. The conversation focuses on John’s eight-minute keynote at a Canadian Association of Professional Speakers event, and the 100+ hours of preparation, collaboration with coaches, technical stagecraft, that preceded the actual presentation delivery.
Listen in to hear about the challenges of crafting concise, impactful presentations, the value of rehearsal, and innovative techniques as both an in-person and remote presenter. In this high energy conversation, John shares many personal stories and expert insights, and we get to feel John’s dedication and artistry for professional presenting.
Listen on your favorite podcast app, or at The Presentation Podcast site here.
Change Comes to Microsoft
“Something’s in the wind” or “change is in the wind” are phrases that means a transformation is imminent. Over the many years of presentation design projects and upgrades to PowerPoint and Keynote, one observation has been that Apple tends to move forward with software improvements… even when it means that older versions of the software will not be able to have those improvements. Whereas Microsoft has admirably lived by the mantra that legacy versions must be supported – above all, even if it means the newer version becomes bloated or performance impacted.
I can admire, and not admire, the long standing Microsoft position of wanting to assure legacy software versions of PowerPoint, Word, Excel, etc. always work with files from newer versions of the app. BUT, as the saying goes, “change is in the wind”. For the first time I have seen, the Microsoft Suite is officially moving forward – and not bringing along legacy versions of its software (and by legacy, we could be talking about support for PowerPoint 2000!).
-Troy @ TLC Creative
New Podcast Episode Available! “Is Your Content a Presentation or a Document?”
New episode of The Presentation Podcast now available!
In the world of business communication, the line between a presentation and a document is often blurred—especially when PowerPoint is the authoring tool of choice. In episode 242, our three industry experts—Troy Chollar (TLC Creative Services), Sandy Johnson (Presentation Wiz), and Nolan Haims (Nolan Haims Creative) dive into how they view the differences – between presentation slide, and content document. Their conversation is packed with insights, technical tips, and real-world examples for anyone who creates and delivers presentations – or business documents. Listen on your favorite podcast app, or at The Presentation Podcast site here.
Windows 11 Additional Clocks
Meeting in different cities. Clients in different cities. Staff in different cities. Keeping track of time zones is another mental challenge.
Windows has the ability to add 2 additional clocks time zones to the task bar. But Windows 11 has changed how to set/update the additional clocks (side note: I hope you find this blog post helpful – but really, it is for me to have a reference of where to find these settings when I need to update my computer as I generally update one or both of the additional clocks weekly 😊).
- Right-click the clock in the task bar.
- Select ADJUST DATE AND TIME
3. In the DATE & TIME section
4. Locate the LANGUAGE AND REGION section and click the arrow to go to the settings
5. Located the SHOW TIME AND DATE IN THE SYSTEM TRAY section and click the arrow icon to expand
6. Windows 11 enables up to 2 additional clocks to be added. Click the CHANGE button.
7. Select a time zone and give the additional clock a personalized name
8. Done! Mouse over the lower right clock and the popup displays the 1 or 2 additional clocks.
-Troy @ TLC