SlideFab v10.0 introduced a bugfix to properly set the slide layout. However, this bugfix has a side effect. This can become visible by seemingly irrational content format or position changes in the output.
Update March 5th, 2025: A fixed version is in the making. First results are promising.
What was the layout bugfix in SlideFab v10.0 all about?
PowerPoint slides are based on layouts which are defined in the Slide Master. These layouts shall help creating consistency across the overall presentation. To achieve these, there are placeholders for titles, images, … available for these layouts.
Up to version 10.0 SlideFab did not apply these layouts properly. But with the fix in the new version, SlideFab re-applies the layouts to the created output slides. For instance, this is important to make sure that any backgrounds defined in the layout are reflected in the output presentation as well.
However, the drawback of this fix is that it affects placeholders as well. This is no problem if the placeholders on the template slide were not changed manually from the definition in the Slide Master. Then the output will just be fine. But if the placeholders were changed, then the fix from SlideFab version 10 will reset the placeholders to the definition from Slide Master layout. Though, it will not remove any content.
A brief example of what happens
This screenshot shows a slide in a template presentation with a mere title shape. The title shape is actually a placeholder from the Slide Master. While the original placeholder definition was a wide rectangle at the top, the shape was distorted in the actual template slide.
The following screenshot shows the output based on the template slide above. As can be seen, the title was reset to its original position as defined in the Slide Master.
How to deal with the situation?
The situation is kind of tricky. I think that it is common practice to change placeholders in slides to differ from their definition in the PowerPoint slide master. However, PowerPoint offers no option to apply the slide layout (which is what was fixed in version 10.0) without also resetting the placeholders. So a programmatic solution in SlideFab is not easy.
As quick fix I see two options currently:
- Make sure that placeholders are not changed in the template slide from their definitions in the Slide Master.
- Revert back to SlideFab version 9.0 temporarily (and disable the check for automatic updates via SlideFab Preferences) .
Of course, option 1 is the cleaner solution but option 2 gives an immediate remedy until a fixed version of SlideFab is published. To download SlideFab v9.0 are here two links:
Download v 9.0 Batch Installer
Download v 9.0 Graphical Installer
In case that you need support, please reach out.
What are the plans for SlideFab regarding this issue?
The issue explained above has no simple solution, unfortunately. However, the current behaviour of SlideFab version 10.0 resetting the placeholders is not practical at all. Most likely there will be an upcoming version 10.1 which will introduce a switch for each template slide. This will then control how SlideFab will act.
If you face any technical issues with SlideFab, please refer to this list for guidance on how to get SlideFab working.