Anyone found a good way to automate PowerPoint formatting checks?
Been pulling some late nights cleaning decks and it got me wondering is everyone still manually checking fonts, titles, and alignment slide by slide?
I know some people hack it with templates, others just brute force it. Grammarly helps with typos, but I haven’t seen much for actual slide consistency.
I recently came across a tool called slidecheck it auto-flags formatting/brand issues in a deck (fonts, titles, numbering, spelling). Analysts at Deloitte are apparently already using it unofficially to save ~30 minutes per deck.
Curious if anyone’s firm would actually let people use something like this? Or is this still one of those “unpaid analyst tax” tasks that will never get automated?
My company recently began using Macabacus PPT extension and it's a game changer for sure. It tracks different size/style of fonts and allows for subsections in PPT so you can easily view stuff + a bunch of other quality of life fixes. Honestly, I've been a huge fan that I may just get my own license for my personal computer. It's like $300 USD / yr and just saves an ungodly amount of time in a given year.
In a past life, more for consistency in builds, I used Efficient Elements as well. I'd say these two together are like PPT on steroids - easily saves hours of work.
First, work on your marketing as we can clearly see you're the founder (Ryan S) posting on your own company behalf.
Second, this is a fly-by-night, Claude-programmed trash web-app that you literally coded exactly none yourself, and are trying to charge people money for? Sounds extremely scummy.
THIS is your big idea to decide to flood WSO community with and come out the gate swinging? Wow.
Based on the most helpful WSO content, automating PowerPoint formatting checks is still a developing area, but there are a few approaches and tools that can help streamline the process:
Slide Master Templates: Using the Slide Master feature (Alt+W+M) is a foundational way to ensure consistency across slides. By setting up fonts, colors, and layouts in the master template, you can minimize manual adjustments. This is especially useful for ensuring brand compliance.
Gridlines and Alignment Tools: Utilize gridlines (Alt+W+S) and the align functions to ensure objects are perfectly aligned. These tools are built into PowerPoint and can save time when dealing with dense slides.
Color Palette Management: Create a color palette using your firm’s RGB codes and embed it into the Slide Master. This ensures consistent use of colors across all slides.
Third-Party Tools: Tools like SlideCheck, which you mentioned, are gaining traction for automating formatting checks. While not universally adopted, they can flag issues like font inconsistencies, misaligned titles, and numbering errors. If your firm is open to innovation, it might be worth pitching the tool, especially if it can save significant time.
VBA Automation: For those with basic VBA skills, automating repetitive tasks like font and color checks is possible. Some WSO threads highlight how VBA can reduce manual effort for formatting tasks.
Manual Checks with a System: For firms that are less open to automation, developing a systematic approach to manual checks is key. This includes:
While tools like SlideCheck are promising, the adoption of such tools often depends on firm culture and willingness to invest in efficiency. For now, many analysts still rely on templates, manual checks, and brute force to ensure deck quality.
Sources: The Monkey's Guide to PPT Slides, Practicing attention to detail, PowerPoint Skills, What to Know on PowerPoint before IB internship, https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forum/investment-banking/comprehensive-list-of-resources-tools-on-the-job?customgpt=1
PPT Productivity PowerPoint add-in has a Proofing Tools feature for this. It checks font styles, sizes, line weights, bullet point consistency, margins/ indents, single/double space after periods. Plus trickier stuff like objects off the slide, objects hidden behind other objects, empty/invisible shapes, hidden slides, large images... (and more) You can customize the settings to be specific about what to check, and review/auto fix/ or ignore what the tool flags.
It doesn't use AI, everything stays in your IT stack, software downloads locally. Created for high security requirements (there are teams in various IB, HF, AM, PE, VC that use it) - so no guarantee, but you would likely get approval for it from your org.
Feature info and brief demos on PPT Productivity website / look for Proofing Tools
(there is a free trial and no credit card required to access trial).
Disclosure - I work at PPT Productivity.
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