Important: oPenEfficiency is a personal, experimental collection of productivity tools for Microsoft PowerPoint. It is shared as-is with the open-source community as a hobby project.
oPenEfficiency is a Microsoft PowerPoint VSTO Add-in built to bridge the gap between standard PowerPoint features and the high-speed requirements of professional consulting and design workflows.
As a personal collection of tools, it focuses on eliminating the repetitive, manual "pixel-pushing" that consumes valuable time during presentation building. Whether it's ensuring 20 shapes are perfectly aligned to a specific anchor, transforming messy text into structured tables, or maintaining a consistent narrative flow with automated agendas, oPenEfficiency provides a "Swiss Army Knife" of automation directly within your PowerPoint ribbon.
The toolkit is designed with a "Consultant-First" mindset, prioritizing features like:
- Zero-Effort Alignment: Tools that understand context, like "Align to First" and "Move Until Collision."
- Smart Data Visuals: Lightweight, editable vector components like Harvey Balls and Star Ratings that feel native to PowerPoint.
- Table Mastery: Solving the long-standing frustration of PowerPoint tables with specialized formatting and structural manipulation tools.
- Workflow Automation: One-click solutions for agenda generation, style auditing, and branding anonymization.
Built on the .NET Framework and deep PowerPoint COM integration, oPenEfficiency offers a responsive, native-feeling experience while remaining highly customizable through its integrated Settings and Sidebar system.
This is a hobby project and not a commercial product. It is provided WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY, express or implied. The author assumes no liability for any data loss, performance issues, or other problems caused by the use of this software. Use it at your own risk.
- Align to First - Align selected shapes to the first selected shape (left, right, top, bottom, center).
- Stack & Dock - Instantly stack shapes adjacent to each other or dock them to slide/shape edges.
- Stretch & Match - Stretch shape edges to match an anchor or standardize Width/Height across a selection.
- Swap Positions - Swap locations of two shapes relative to customizable anchor points (Center, Top-Left, etc.).
- Multi-Swap - Swap multiple shapes based on selection order and direction (Top-Down, Bottom-Up, etc.).
- Arrange Tools - Arrange shapes in perfect grids, circles, triangles, or complex "Pro" patterns (spirals, concentrics).
- Precision Spacing - Increase/decrease horizontal/vertical gaps by fixed increments or remove gaps entirely.
- Diagonal Align - Position shapes along a diagonal axis.
- Position Painter - Copy and apply the exact coordinates and size from one shape to another.
- Rectify Rotation - Reset rotation to 0 or snap to the nearest 90-degree increment.
- Table Cell Alignment - Precision alignment of shapes within PowerPoint table cells.
- Infographics - Generate and manage Harvey Balls, Star Ratings, Thermometers, Traffic Lights, and Checkboxes.
- Color Overlay - Combines two shapes into a single colored overlay geometry based on their intersection.
- Glass Hide - Create semi-transparent overlays to obscure content or add frosted glass effects.
- Progress Series - Create automated chevron/arrow sequences for process steps.
- Smart Components - Synchronized Smart Corners for multiple shapes and Align Shape Proportions for consistency.
- Color Tools - High-speed Theme Color Palette, global Color Picker (Eyedropper), and Color Eraser (Transparency).
- Object Connector - Create dynamic, locked connectors between shapes that follow movement.
- Advanced Formatting - Optimize Free Form (smooths hand-drawn paths) and Bulk Format Replacer (batch update fonts/colors).
- Stickers & Tags - Insert professional status stickers (WIP, Confidential) or custom Numbered Bullets.
- Sync Objects - Keep properties (size, color, text) synchronized across multiple shapes.
- Format Painter - A "Format Painter" designed specifically for table cells (Up, Down, Left, Right).
- Structural Tools - Transpose (flip rows/columns), Split Table, and Sum Table Cells (adds automatic totals).
- Table Intelligence - Table Heatmap for data visualization and Table Sort for organizing rows.
- Conversion - Convert any selection of shapes into a native table or explode a table back into editable vector shapes.
- Dimension Control - Precise control over column widths and row heights with copy/paste functionality.
- Table Branding - Apply consistent company styling to existing tables with one click.
- Structure - Split by Paragraphs (distribute text into multiple shapes) or Merge Text.
- Translation - Integrated translation using DeepL, LibreTranslate, or LLM services directly on slides.
- Numerical - Number Formatter for standardized decimal/thousands styling.
- Transformation - Swap Text (exchange content between shapes), Change Case, and Apply Text to Selection (batch edit).
- Formatting - Align Text, Fit Form to Text, Delete Text, and quick access to Spell Check Languages.
- Agenda Wizard - Full-featured system for generating and maintaining presentation agendas and layouts.
- Action Titles - Extract and review all slide headlines in a single view to check narrative flow.
- Excel Link Manager - Manage and bulk-update links to Excel charts and data ranges.
- Review Tools - Style Checker (scans for inconsistencies), Slide Guidelines (layout grids), and Cleaner (strips hidden data).
- Sticky Notes - Manager for internal comments and "off-slide" annotations.
- Flight Mode - Privacy toggle to temporarily obscure logos and branding during public presentations.
- Asset Library - Searchable repository for your custom Shapes, Slides, and Images.
- Snap Tools - Advanced Snap to Grid and Snap to Objects for pixel-perfect placement.
- Selection & Locking - Select Same Type, Shape Locking, and Dimension Lock to protect your layout.
- Coordinate Tools - Copy/Paste Coordinates for precise positioning across different slides.
- Visibility Manager - Hide Selected, Show Hidden, and Hide Master Objects to focus on what matters.
- Automation - Export Wizard, Series Generator, Map Wizard, and Document Automation.
- Technical - Tag Inspector for viewing hidden shape metadata and Motion Path Creator.
- Windows 10/11
- Microsoft PowerPoint 2016 or later
- .NET Framework 4.8
- Visual Studio 2022 Tools for Office Runtime
- Clone or download this repository.
- Open
oPenEfficiency.slnxin Visual Studio 2022. - Ensure the "Office/SharePoint development" workload is installed.
- Build the solution in Release configuration.
- The add-in will be registered on your machine. Restart PowerPoint to see the new ribbon.
Once installed, oPenEfficiency adds a custom "oPen Efficiency" tab to the PowerPoint ribbon.
- Select shapes or elements on your slide.
- Click a feature in the ribbon or sidebar.
- Configure settings in the Settings Window (Gear icon) to customize your experience.
oPenEfficiency is designed to be highly personalizable. The Sidebar serves as your primary productivity hub and can be tailored to match your specific workflow.
- Custom Sections - Create, rename, or remove sections to group your most-used tools.
- Feature Management - Add or remove any button from the sidebar. You can also reorder features within sections to optimize your "click-path."
- Layout Presets - Choose from built-in presets like Consulting Standard, All Features, or Minimalist.
- Visibility Toggle - Instantly hide entire sections you don't need for specific projects.
- Themes - Switch between Dark Mode and Light Mode to match your PowerPoint environment.
- Custom Colors - Set specific hex colors for the Sidebar background, Section headers, and Button backgrounds.
- Typography - Adjust the Font Family, Section Font Size, and Global Icon Size for better legibility on high-DPI displays.
- Transparency - Enable transparent backgrounds to let the Sidebar blend seamlessly into the PowerPoint workspace.
- Anchor Logic - Toggle between "First Selected" and "Last Selected" as the default anchor for all alignment tools.
- Incremental Control - Define custom point-increments for the "Precision Spacing" and "Magic Resizer" tools.
- Sticker Defaults - Customize the list of standard status stickers (e.g., "Draft," "Client Review") and their default colors/fonts.
- Sticky Note Styles - Configure default fonts and colors for annotations to ensure they stand out or remain subtle.
- Full Export/Import - Your entire configuration (shortcuts, layout, and colors) can be exported to a single JSON file.
- Layout Sharing - Export only your sidebar layout to share an optimized workflow with your team without overwriting their personal color settings.
- Emergency Reset - One-click "Reset to Defaults" to restore the factory consulting-standard layout.
Default shortcuts (Customizable in Settings):
Ctrl+Alt+S- Toggle SidebarCtrl+Alt+M- Match SizeCtrl+Alt+A- Align to First
oPenEfficiency/
├── Features/ # Core feature logic (Alignment, Tables, Visuals, etc.)
├── Models/ # Data structures and configuration models
├── Services/ # Business logic and PowerPoint interaction layer
├── UI/ # WPF dialogs, sidebar panels, and custom controls
└── Utils/ # Helper classes and Win32 hooks
This project is licensed under the GNU AGPL 3.0 License - see the LICENSE file for details.
This project is built using Microsoft's VSTO (Visual Studio Tools for Office) framework.
Icon Credits:
- Icons are sourced from the excellent open-source libraries: Phosphor Icons, Lucide, and Hugeicons.
- Design elements are inspired by standard consulting productivity tools.