Jun 23, 2016

A recent update to Office 2016 for Office 365 subscribers added a new feature to PowerPoint 2016 called PowerPoint Designer.

The way it works is: You insert a graphical object into a Title or Title & Content slide, and then the Design Ideas task pane automatically appears with a selection of layouts to choose from.

The first time this happens, a user will be asked if they want to enable the PowerPoint Designer:

Assuming the user clicks Let’s Go then the feature is enabled. If they later change their mind, they can go to File, Options, General and deselect the Enable PowerPoint Designer checkbox.

So let’s say a photo is then added to the title slide; the task pane appears and lists the various layouts that the Designer finds to showcase the photo on the slide:

If you have closed the Designer and want to bring it back, just go to the Design tab on the Ribbon and click Design Ideas:

This is just one of a few new features for PowerPoint 2016 in recent months for people on an Office 365 subscription.