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How to extract diagrams and logos from PDFs into PowerPoint

When there is a diagram in a PDF that you want to copy into your slides, this trick is what you need.

Article title plus short animation of a diagram moving from a PDF file to a PowerPoint slide

How to extract diagrams and logos from PDFs into PowerPoint

Article title plus short animation of a diagram moving from a PDF file to a PowerPoint slide

When there is a diagram in a PDF that you want to copy into your slides, this trick is what you need.

Websites we like: free (or great value) resources and tools

There are some fantastic resources out there. Here's our starter list.

A collage of most of the logos of the websites referred to in the article

Websites we like: free (or great value) resources and tools

A collage of most of the logos of the websites referred to in the article

There are some fantastic resources out there. Here's our starter list.

How to use horizontal lists instead of bullets

Presenting a short list of points as bullets can be difficult to read. There is another way.

Article title plus brief animation of three bullet points morphing to three columns

How to use horizontal lists instead of bullets

Article title plus brief animation of three bullet points morphing to three columns

Presenting a short list of points as bullets can be difficult to read. There is another way.

How to create better headshots in PowerPoint

Create consistent, classy headshots from any type of photo

Examples of black and white headshots in circular coloured boxes. Plus an animation of the steps.

How to create better headshots in PowerPoint

Examples of black and white headshots in circular coloured boxes. Plus an animation of the steps.

Create consistent, classy headshots from any type of photo

How to use the full range of free images in PowerPoint

There’s a lot more than just icons available right inside PowerPoint: photos, cutouts and illustrations. All free, no copyright and easy to use.

Collage of images including cut-out photos of two people, a photo of a lightbulb and an illustration of desk equipment

How to use the full range of free images in PowerPoint

Collage of images including cut-out photos of two people, a photo of a lightbulb and an illustration of desk equipment

There’s a lot more than just icons available right inside PowerPoint: photos, cutouts and illustrations. All free, no copyright and easy to use.

How and when to put a Post-it note on your slide

Quickly create a 'sticky' note with a standard PowerPoint shape.

A slide containing various Post-it note and sticker shapes. This slide is the one available for download at the bottom of the article.

How and when to put a Post-it note on your slide

A slide containing various Post-it note and sticker shapes. This slide is the one available for download at the bottom of the article.

Quickly create a 'sticky' note with a standard PowerPoint shape.

How to use the Quick Access Toolbar to save yourself hours

If you’re not using the Quick Access Toolbar, you’ll soon wonder how you managed without it

Image containing the title of this article plus an icon of a computer mouse with a fast-forward symbol on it

How to use the Quick Access Toolbar to save yourself hours

Image containing the title of this article plus an icon of a computer mouse with a fast-forward symbol on it

If you’re not using the Quick Access Toolbar, you’ll soon wonder how you managed without it

How to make the most of PowerPoint's inbuilt icon library

Are you using the icon set that’s built into PowerPoint? It’s a great resource: it’s free and it’s right there on the ribbon. Read on to learn how to tweak the icons to fit better with your slide decks.

A collage of icons available from the in-built icon library, in a variety of colours.

How to make the most of PowerPoint's inbuilt icon library

A collage of icons available from the in-built icon library, in a variety of colours.

Are you using the icon set that’s built into PowerPoint? It’s a great resource: it’s free and it’s right there on the ribbon. Read on to learn how to tweak the icons to fit better with your slide decks.

Quickly change case with Shift+F3

An easy timesaver you’ll use time and time again

Animated sequence showing the three text case permutations that Shift+F3 cycles through

Quickly change case with Shift+F3

Animated sequence showing the three text case permutations that Shift+F3 cycles through

An easy timesaver you’ll use time and time again

How to use a sudden gradient change to fill with two colours

How to use the gradient fill to create a simple, binary colour change

Article title set against a backdrop that is divided diagonally into two different colours to illustrate what the article is referring to

How to use a sudden gradient change to fill with two colours

Article title set against a backdrop that is divided diagonally into two different colours to illustrate what the article is referring to

How to use the gradient fill to create a simple, binary colour change

UPDATED: England roadmap out of lockdown – a visual guide

We've summarised all the key dates for England lockdown easing onto a single page

A GANTT-style simplified plan summarising the key changes in the England roadmap out of lockdown published in March 2021

UPDATED: England roadmap out of lockdown – a visual guide

A GANTT-style simplified plan summarising the key changes in the England roadmap out of lockdown published in March 2021

We've summarised all the key dates for England lockdown easing onto a single page

Ten habits for high-quality PowerPoint documents

Do you wish your PowerPoint documents could look more polished, more professional? So that they reflect the quality of the thinking behind them? Try these 10 simple habits.

An simplified image of a laptop with a five-star rosette on the screen to imply high-quality documents

Ten habits for high-quality PowerPoint documents

An simplified image of a laptop with a five-star rosette on the screen to imply high-quality documents

Do you wish your PowerPoint documents could look more polished, more professional? So that they reflect the quality of the thinking behind them? Try these 10 simple habits.

Six ways to save time in PowerPoint

So you have more bandwidth to focus on high-quality, impactful content, we’ve pulled together some top time-saving tips and tools.

A stylised image showing the PowerPoint application icon as a stopwatch and an athlete sprinting with a keyboard in one hand and a mouse in the other

Six ways to save time in PowerPoint

A stylised image showing the PowerPoint application icon as a stopwatch and an athlete sprinting with a keyboard in one hand and a mouse in the other

So you have more bandwidth to focus on high-quality, impactful content, we’ve pulled together some top time-saving tips and tools.

How to set the PowerPoint highlighter colour – and three practical uses

PowerPoint's highlighter pen doesn't appear all that useful at first glance. Partly because it offers you a choice of neon colours but not your own template's colour scheme. But it is possible to choose the highlighter colour, which opens it up to a lot more practical uses.

LGBTQ+ pride flag as if drawn by a highlighter pen. (Article originally published during Pride month.)

How to set the PowerPoint highlighter colour – and three practical uses

LGBTQ+ pride flag as if drawn by a highlighter pen. (Article originally published during Pride month.)

PowerPoint's highlighter pen doesn't appear all that useful at first glance. Partly because it offers you a choice of neon colours but not your own template's colour scheme. But it is possible to choose the highlighter colour, which opens it up to a lot more practical uses.

How to create a roadmap that everyone can follow

A clear roadmap has never been more essential. Here are five different ways to present your roadmap, as a free PowerPoint download. And some tips on what makes an effective roadmap.

Stylised image of two people in a high place looking at a road stretching into the distance

How to create a roadmap that everyone can follow

Stylised image of two people in a high place looking at a road stretching into the distance

A clear roadmap has never been more essential. Here are five different ways to present your roadmap, as a free PowerPoint download. And some tips on what makes an effective roadmap.

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Prime position: using images to grab attention

One simple change to how you use images can make a big difference

A generated image of two glass eyes encase in eyelids with eyelashes, looking straight at the camera

Prime position: using images to grab attention

How to put icons inside tables the easy way

Ever spent hours lining up icons with table text? Use icon fonts to put them right inside the table instead. And download our list of useful icons to copy-and-paste.

Image a slide containing two tables with a list of useful icons from the Segoe font family

How to put icons inside tables the easy way

How to use cartoon people in PowerPoint

Cartoon people are great: flexible, diverse and already right there in PowerPoint

How to use cartoon people in PowerPoint

Step away from the pies. Have a doughnut instead.

Why a doughnut (chart) is much better for you than a pie (chart).

A graphic of a ring doughnut on a plat on a table, with a pie in a rubbish bin off to one side

Step away from the pies. Have a doughnut instead.

Gantt is a language – are you speaking it clearly? How to make plans clear and effective.

How to build a plan that your stakeholders can understand and trust. So that they trust you.

Stylised picture of a maze with a GANTT-style plan overlaid showing the path through the maze

Gantt is a language – are you speaking it clearly? How to make plans clear and effective.

The Logo Detective: four ways to find a brand logo

If you want to put a company logo in your deck, make sure it’s a good quality one. Easier said than done – here's four ways to hunt them down.

A graphic of a forest at night, with a flashlight illuminating some of the darkness. Behind the trees can be see the word 'Logo' hiding in three places.

The Logo Detective: four ways to find a brand logo

The Curse of Knowledge

Why it’s your fault when other people don’t get it. And how to easily fix that.

Old photo of a space alien with a huge head

The Curse of Knowledge

How to create a great logo cloud

How to showcase client logos without it looking really messy

Various logos that roughly form a cloud shape

How to create a great logo cloud

Headlines, not straplines

Don't be tempted to bury the ‘so what’ of your slide at the bottom of the page. There is a better way.

A slide which says Insightful headline slide titles provide helpful signposting, whereas straplines have less impact

Headlines, not straplines

Decks over docs

Why people are moving from Word to PowerPoint - and how to do it well

Cartoon of an outline of a body o the floor, impaled by a PowerPoint slide and surrounded by spattered blood

Decks over docs

How to format better tables

Tables are great - but don't over-do the formatting. Here's our go-to style.

The same table in two styles. The first is a standard PowerPoint style. The second is our preferred styling.

How to format better tables

10 signs that your PowerPoint template isn't working

Sometimes your frustrations in PowerPoint are down to your template. And that can be fixed.

A graphic showing the PowerPoint insert layout dropdown, covered with yellow 'caution' tape

10 signs that your PowerPoint template isn't working

How to make PowerPoint charts look professional (and not like PowerPoint)

When you want your charts to look sleek and professional. Not like you've done a screengrab from Excel.

A before and after view of a simple bar chart that starts with default PowerPoint chart formatting and ends up looking far more professional

How to make PowerPoint charts look professional (and not like PowerPoint)

How to step away from the bullet points – and what to replace them with

If you’ve been blithely putting bullet points on every paragraph, it’s time to stop. Learn why – and how.

Animation of a pencil erasing the bullet points against three paragraphs. The paragraphs then separate to create white space.

How to step away from the bullet points – and what to replace them with

Websites we like: free (or great value) resources and tools

There are some fantastic resources out there. Here's our starter list.

A collage of most of the logos of the websites referred to in the article

Websites we like: free (or great value) resources and tools

How to use the full range of free images in PowerPoint

There’s a lot more than just icons available right inside PowerPoint: photos, cutouts and illustrations. All free, no copyright and easy to use.

Collage of images including cut-out photos of two people, a photo of a lightbulb and an illustration of desk equipment

How to use the full range of free images in PowerPoint

How to make the most of PowerPoint's inbuilt icon library

Are you using the icon set that’s built into PowerPoint? It’s a great resource: it’s free and it’s right there on the ribbon. Read on to learn how to tweak the icons to fit better with your slide decks.

A collage of icons available from the in-built icon library, in a variety of colours.

How to make the most of PowerPoint's inbuilt icon library

UPDATED: England roadmap out of lockdown – a visual guide

We've summarised all the key dates for England lockdown easing onto a single page

A GANTT-style simplified plan summarising the key changes in the England roadmap out of lockdown published in March 2021

UPDATED: England roadmap out of lockdown – a visual guide

Ten habits for high-quality PowerPoint documents

Do you wish your PowerPoint documents could look more polished, more professional? So that they reflect the quality of the thinking behind them? Try these 10 simple habits.

An simplified image of a laptop with a five-star rosette on the screen to imply high-quality documents

Ten habits for high-quality PowerPoint documents

Six ways to save time in PowerPoint

So you have more bandwidth to focus on high-quality, impactful content, we’ve pulled together some top time-saving tips and tools.

A stylised image showing the PowerPoint application icon as a stopwatch and an athlete sprinting with a keyboard in one hand and a mouse in the other

Six ways to save time in PowerPoint

How to set the PowerPoint highlighter colour – and three practical uses

PowerPoint's highlighter pen doesn't appear all that useful at first glance. Partly because it offers you a choice of neon colours but not your own template's colour scheme. But it is possible to choose the highlighter colour, which opens it up to a lot more practical uses.

LGBTQ+ pride flag as if drawn by a highlighter pen. (Article originally published during Pride month.)

How to set the PowerPoint highlighter colour – and three practical uses

How to create a roadmap that everyone can follow

A clear roadmap has never been more essential. Here are five different ways to present your roadmap, as a free PowerPoint download. And some tips on what makes an effective roadmap.

Stylised image of two people in a high place looking at a road stretching into the distance

How to create a roadmap that everyone can follow

Article title plus a simplistic image of two application windows, each with a PowerPoint icon, numbered 1 and 2

Need to align content in two different places in your deck? Don't keep paging up and down - open a second window.

Article title plus a GIF of a funnel animating in layer by layer

Funnel diagrams are useful - and much easier to create than you might think

What to do with those naughty slide numbers when they won't behave

Article title plus before and after Venn diagrams

When you want a Venn diagram to make a bigger impact – or you need to make a particular overlap stand out – don’t settle for the default format

If you want to make it crystal clear that stakeholders need to make a decision, try a playing card motif

If you need your audience to take specific actions, then make this really clear with a very simple clipboard visual on your slides

Article title plus demonstration of what these labels will look like

If the built-in PowerPoint callout shapes aren't doing it for you, try this simple alternative.

Title of article plus animation of a shape changing

There's a command tucked away that could save you a lot of time and effort

Title of the article plus an example 10x10 image stating that 84% of people like infographics

If you need to convey percentages visually, try a simple 10x10 waffle chart grid. And download our free templates to save yourself time.

An example column chart built with icons

Using icons to build bar charts creates a simple infographic. And you can do it right inside PowerPoint charts.

Title of the article and an icon of a female superhero with a sudden change of colour half way up

If you are looking for a more visual way to share numbers, try using part-filled icons for percentages and fractions. Surprisingly simple to create and they make a great impression.

Slide showing rewind time icon for control Z and forward wind time icon for control Y

You know CTRL+Z is the shortcut for Undo. But do you use CTRL+Y for Redo & Repeat? It’s the timesaver you never knew existed.

Graphic with title of slide and an example of a formatted number list

PowerPoint numbered lists take their format from the first word. Want something different? Take back control over the numbers with this quick workaround.

Title of article written as text fitted into a circle, triangle and hexagon respectively

Do you want a circle with text that follows the shape? Use this really simple hack.

Title of post with three versions of a cutout photo of a woman: normal photo, all black and all yellow

Sometimes you need a visual element that represents people, but icons are not ‘human’ enough. Try silhouettes.

Article title plus short animation of a pixelated white rocket icon transforming to a smooth multicolour icon

If you are using old bitmap icons, you can’t change their colour properly and they don't scale well. Fix that by converting to SVGs.

Article title plus short animation of a diagram moving from a PDF file to a PowerPoint slide

When there is a diagram in a PDF that you want to copy into your slides, this trick is what you need.

Article title plus brief animation of three bullet points morphing to three columns

Presenting a short list of points as bullets can be difficult to read. There is another way.

Examples of black and white headshots in circular coloured boxes. Plus an animation of the steps.

Create consistent, classy headshots from any type of photo

A slide containing various Post-it note and sticker shapes. This slide is the one available for download at the bottom of the article.

Quickly create a 'sticky' note with a standard PowerPoint shape.

Image containing the title of this article plus an icon of a computer mouse with a fast-forward symbol on it

If you’re not using the Quick Access Toolbar, you’ll soon wonder how you managed without it

Animated sequence showing the three text case permutations that Shift+F3 cycles through

An easy timesaver you’ll use time and time again

Article title set against a backdrop that is divided diagonally into two different colours to illustrate what the article is referring to

How to use the gradient fill to create a simple, binary colour change

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