Format templates
With a format template you capture the complete look of the table of contents and divider slides once and apply it to any new agenda with a single click. The principle is "template by example": you design a sample slide in the normal PowerPoint way, and PPPTools reads from it how your agenda should look.
Pro feature
Format templates are part of the Agenda Master and are available from the Pro licence tier upwards.
Selecting and editing are separate
On the Template tab you edit and manage your format templates (create, rename, delete, rework the sample). Which template this deck uses is chosen on the Presentation tab under Format template instead. That way you can edit a template without changing what the current presentation is set to.
Creating a template
- Generate sample slides — button 🧩 Generate sample slides. PPPTools creates example slides for the table of contents and dividers, which you can design freely.
- Design — adjust font, colours, positions, background and additional decorative elements in the normal PowerPoint way.
- Mark decoration — flag purely decorative elements (bars, logos, shapes) with 🎨 Mark selection as decoration (see below).
- Save — give the template a name under Template name and save it.
The template is then available in both selection boxes — on the Presentation tab (to use it) and on the Template tab (to keep editing it).
Applying a template
Switch to the Presentation tab, pick the desired template under Format template and click ✨ Generate at the bottom. The table of contents and dividers are created in the saved look. Switching template changes only the design — your agenda items stay untouched.
Managing templates (Template tab)
On the Template tab, use Template to edit to pick the template you want to manage — independently of which template the deck is currently using. These buttons act on it:
| Button | Effect |
|---|---|
| ✏ Rename | Gives the selected template a new name. |
| 🗑 Delete | Removes the selected template. |
| ✎ Edit (open sample presentation) | Opens the template's sample presentation for reworking. |
Editing or managing a template does not change the assignment chosen on the Presentation tab. Only if you delete the template currently in use does the deck fall back to Standard.
Editing a template
When you open the sample presentation via ✎ Edit, the pane in the new window already has the matching template pre-selected and its name filled in. Change the sample and save again, and the template updates.
Marking decorative elements
Not every element of a sample slide is content — much of it is pure design: a coloured bar, a logo, an ornamental shape. So that PPPTools redraws this decoration on generation (instead of confusing it with the content placeholders), you mark it explicitly:
- 🎨 Mark selection as decoration — flags the selected objects as decoration.
- ✖ Clear decoration mark — removes the mark again.
Elements marked as decoration are cloned faithfully onto every generated slide. The mark itself is invisible and affects neither printing nor export.
Accent stays accent
Elements that carry the accent colour are treated by PPPTools as content (they should recolour with the design) — not as fixed decoration. This keeps the template consistent when the theme changes.
Portability: templates are local
Format templates are stored on your computer, not inside the presentation. If you send a finished presentation to another person, they will see the generated slides in full — but your template is not available to them. If that person wants to generate new agendas from the same template, the template must be shared separately.
In progress
Embedding the template directly into the presentation, so that it travels along, is planned as an enhancement.