Think Cell Versions
Liv Flynt
The leading productivity software, think-cell, is rolling out its latest update, which offers significant enhancements that empower users with better control, connection, and data visualization. think-cell 12 is currently available for all customers through the customer portal as well as to prospective customers through the free think-cell 30-day trial download.
Founded in Berlin in 2002, think-cell is the de facto standard for creating professional presentations in PowerPoint. With productivity tools and support for 40+ chart types, all of the top 10 global consulting firms rely on think-cell. It is the software of choice for the DAX 40 and Fortune 500 companies and is taught at 9 of the top 10 US business schools.
think-cell's subscription-based licensing model allows us to continuously improve our software with no additional costs for our customers. We regularly release free updates that contain great new features besides the usual improvements in stability and speed. This way think-cell becomes more powerful, more efficient and above all easier to use. On this page we would like to take you on a short journey through the version history of our software.
Conveniently import charts created with Mekko Graphics to think-cell. Replace your Mekko Graphics charts with think-cell charts with all their data in corresponding datasheets. Choose the Mekko Graphics charts you want to import, then select Tools > Import Mekko Graphics to think-cell. You can use the complete suite of think-cell tools to edit imported charts.
In the datasheet, the 100%= row contains the totals from which percentages in your chart are calculated. This row is no longer part of the default data layout. You can always add it back in with Edit Data Layout .
When creating presentations through automated workflows, keep the new default data layout in mind. Make sure a chart's data in an Excel range or in JSON matches the chart's data layout in the template (see 24. Introduction to automation).
One of the advantages of think-cell charts and other elements is that you can match the formatting of their features to formatting in their linked datasheets. This includes formatting for fill color, font color, font style, and borders.
Select multiple elements, right-click on one of the elements to open the context menu, and select Group. To ungroup elements, select Ungroup from the context menu. You can also use PowerPoint's native group and ungroup functions.
The reference object has a red dot at its center. To set the reference object, select multiple objects on a slide, then click your chosen reference object. Reference objects work with think-cell elements, or a mix of think-cell elements and PowerPoint shapes.
Match selected objects' dimensions to the reference object. In the think-cell tab, in the Layout group, turn on Set Same Width , Set Same Height , or Set Same Size . Set Same Size matches objects' height and width simultaneously.
Objects responsively match each other's size: When you resize one matched object, the other matched objects resize as well. To turn off size matching, turn off the selected option or delete the Same size arrows.
Resize the plot area independently of the chart area, if locks are closed and Lock Positions by Default is on. Resizing the chart area restores the original proportions of the chart area and plot area.
To add an online image, copy the image's URL into a spreadsheet cell. In the table's mini toolbar, change the cell content to Image from Online Service (see 17.4 Adding Harvey balls, checkboxes and images).
Directly within PowerPoint, leverage an extensive collection of professional stock images and icons. This feature enriches your presentations with visually appealing and relevant imagery, saving you time and enhancing the overall aesthetic.
Utilize a handpicked selection of high-quality slide templates designed to meet a wide variety of presentation needs. These templates provide a professional starting point, ensuring your presentations stand out with a consistent and polished look.
Select the slides you want to copy, then go to Tools > Send Slides. Choose any additional options, then select Copy to Clipboard. think-cell creates a new presentation with the selected slides and stores the file in the clipboard.
You can directly select individual partitions in scatter and bubble charts. This makes it easy to give each partition a different fill color, if desired. Previously, you selected a partition line to choose the fill color to only one side of the line.
This is particularly useful when you want to link charts to an existing Excel sheet whose layout you do not want to modify. Let's say you have an Excel sheet laid out like this, and want to create a column chart out of the selected range:
think-cell tables, text boxes and other elements are automatically resized and positioned. This advanced automation can be a great time-saver, but is also quite different from PowerPoint's standard mode. A new option allows you to have the best of both worlds, getting access to think-cell's new elements while controlling size and position yourself. You can find it in the Tools menu.
You can now align the horizontal (Align Objects Center) or vertical (Align Objects Middle) center of a think-cell layout element, or a group of think-cell layout elements with one another, or with the slide.
Let's say you want to have an image of a fixed size on your agenda slides that is always aligned vertically with the middle of the table of contents, which in turn is always in the center of the slide horizontally. You can now easily achieve this as follows:
Select the table of contents by clicking its border, so that the locks are shown, and click Home > Drawing > Arrange > Align > Align Center. A red line with a closed lock will appear in the middle of the table of contents
You can now customize the appearance of the Gantt chart using the new element in the style file: From setting default background fills for different elements over fine-grained control over the properties of every single kind of line in the chart to new choices for the look of the date scale. For a detailed description, see gantt.
We have also added support to Gantt charts for fiscal years that always start or end on a particular weekday, and thus require leap weeks, as well as support for 4-4-5, 4-5-4, and 5-4-4 calendars. For example, including the following element in your style file will allow you to use fiscal years ending on the Friday closest to Janurary 31st, and with 13 week quarters following a 4-5-4 convention:
To place the chart on top of a picture or visual background, for example, simply right-click the axis and click the Delete button, or left-click the axis to select it and press the Del key. To add it back in, right-click a highlighted segment of the X-axis area, and select Add Axis Line .
You can now delete all disconnected data links in an open workbook. Simply click Delete Disconnected Links from think-cell's Tools menu in Excel, or right-click a linked range highlighted in red and select Delete All Disconnected Data Links from the contextual menu.
think-cell has expanded its cleaning and sanitization options, to help you prevent leakage of sensitive internal or client data, and has bundled them into a single Clean Up... dialog. For example, think-cell can remove all Comments and Presentation Notes, as well as any unused Slide Masters and Layouts embedded in the presentation. It can also automatically replace all numbers contained in the presentation with random ones. The same functionality is available when using think-cell's Send/Save Slides... dialog.
You can now predefine slide layouts in the style file which will be shown as thumbnails on inserting or moving a chart. Click one of the rectangular areas marked on the thumbnail to quickly and precisely insert the chart with that position and size. This is especially useful when combining it with slide templates to ensure consistent placement of charts on the slide in relation to other elements. Think of it as placeholders for think-cell charts, just more flexible. For detailed instructions on how to do this, see D.7 Predefining slide layouts for placing charts.
think-cell now comes with an improved tool for picking colors, accessible by selecting Custom... from any color control. It gives you a useful preview by immediately applying the selected color on the slide. You can also easily switch between choosing colors for different features of the selected element, such as fill color and font color, and even switch to choosing the colors for a different element simply by selecting it on the slide. If you want to select a predefined RGB color in either hex (#82a617) or decimal (rgb(130, 166, 23) or R119 G119 B119) format, simply enter it into the box bottom right.
Using the Stock Image button in the Elements menu, you can directly insert a stock photo that will be part of the automatic slide layout. On first use you need to enter your Getty credentials, or you can use free images from Unsplash. See 18. Images to learn more.
think-cell remembers the connection to the Tableau data! Clicking on the datasheet button of the chart in PowerPoint will open the tab with the view's data in Chrome. There, you can click on Update to transmit updated data to PowerPoint. You can also start the data update from think-cell's Data Links dialog:
The Same Scale functionality is improved and more flexible. It was necessary to move the button to access it. The Same Scale button is not shown anymore when two or more whole charts are selected. Instead, select the parts you want to scale the same in both charts:
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