The Autohive Slide Maker integration enables automated PowerPoint creation and manipulation, including:

  • Presentation creation - Build presentations from scratch or load existing templates with preserved formatting
  • Content management - Add text, images, charts, tables, and shapes with intelligent auto-sizing and positioning
  • Template filling - Automatically replace placeholders with dynamic content while preserving design (bullets, colors, indentation)
  • Smart formatting - Extract formatting instructions from placeholders (font size, bold, italic, color) and apply automatically
  • Multi-font support - Works with any font family including automatic Google Fonts downloads for commercial font alternatives

Install the integration

  1. Log in to Autohive and navigate to an agent you want to have slide making ability or create a new agent
  2. In the agents settings page navigate to > “Add Integrations and Agents” section
  3. Click on “Add integrations and agents” then > Locate the Slide Maker Integration card and click “Add Slide Maker”
  4. Slide Maker is now installed and ready to use.

What Can Slide Maker Do?

The Slide Maker integration helps you create professional PowerPoint presentations by:

  • 📄 Creating presentations from scratch or templates
  • ✍️ Adding text, images, charts, tables, and shapes
  • 🎨 Filling template placeholders automatically
  • 📏 Auto-sizing text to fit perfectly in boxes
  • 🔤 Supporting any font (downloads from Google Fonts if needed)
  • 📋 Preserving your template’s design (bullets, colors, formatting)

Two Ways to Use Slide Maker

1. Build Presentations from Scratch

What you do: Tell the system what content to add and where to place it.

Example: “Create a presentation titled ‘Q4 Business Review’ and add a text box saying ‘Welcome’ at the top”

Best for:

  • One-off presentations
  • Custom layouts
  • Dynamic content without templates

2. Fill Template Placeholders

What you do: Create a template with placeholders, then fill them with your content.

Example: Template has [Company Name] → You provide “TechVenture Solutions” → Placeholder automatically replaced

Best for:

  • Recurring presentations (proposals, reports)
  • Brand consistency
  • Faster creation (design once, fill many times)

Creating Presentations

Starting Fresh

What you say: “Create a new presentation called ‘[Your Title]’”

What you get:

  • New PowerPoint file
  • Title slide with your title
  • Ready to add more content

Using a Template

What you say: “Use my [template name] template” (Provide a template file in the chat or in your content area)

What you get:

  • Presentation loaded from your template
  • All design and formatting preserved
  • Placeholders ready to be filled

Adding Content

Adding Text

Simple text boxes:

“Add a text box that says ‘[your text]’ in the [location]”

Examples:

  • “Add ‘Welcome to Q4 Review’ at the top center”
  • “Add the executive summary below the title”

The system automatically:

  • Creates the text box
  • Sizes text to fit perfectly
  • Positions it where you want

Text automatically wraps if it’s too long for one line.

Text automatically shrinks if it won’t fit (down to 10pt minimum).

Adding Images

“Add [image description] at [location]”

Examples:

  • “Add the company logo in the top right”
  • “Insert the product photo below the title”
  • “Place the chart image on the left side”

You upload the image, and the system positions it.

Adding Tables

“Add a [rows] by [columns] table with [data]”

Examples:

  • “Add a 3x4 table showing quarterly sales data”
  • “Create a pricing comparison table”

Features:

  • Customizable rows and columns
  • Data fills automatically
  • Text in cells auto-sizes

Adding Charts

“Create a [chart type] showing [data description]”

Chart types:

  • Column charts (vertical bars)
  • Bar charts (horizontal bars)
  • Line charts
  • Pie charts
  • Area charts
  • Scatter plots

Example: “Create a column chart comparing Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4 revenue”

Adding Shapes

“Add a [shape] with [color] at [location]”

Examples:

  • “Add a blue rectangle behind the title as background”
  • “Add a red circle in the corner”

Working with Templates

What is a Template?

A template is a PowerPoint file you’ve designed with placeholders - special text markers that show where content should be filled in.

Think of it like:

  • A form (complete the fields)
  • Mail merge (one design, many versions)

Creating Fillable Templates

In PowerPoint, simply type your placeholders where you want content:

  Slide 1:
  [Company Name]
  [Project Title]
  Prepared for: [Client Name]
  Date: [Date]

Slide 2:
  Executive Summary
  [Project Description]

  Timeline: [Start Date] to [End Date]
  Investment: [Total Amount]

That’s it! Your template is ready to use.

Placeholder Format

Supported formats:

Square brackets (recommended):

  [Company Name]
[Project Title]
[Amount]

Curly braces:

  {Company Name}
{{Date}}

Both work - use what you prefer!

Smart Placeholders (Advanced)

You can add formatting instructions directly in your placeholders:

Basic format:

  [Field Name, Instruction, Instruction, ...]

Example:

  [Title, Fontsize=32pt, Bold, Color=#003366]

This tells the system: “When filling this placeholder, use 32pt font, make it bold, and color it dark blue.”

Formatting Instructions

Font Size

Force specific size (great for titles):

  [Title, Fontsize=32pt]
[Heading, Fontsize=24]          ← 'pt' is optional
[Subheading, FONTSIZE=18PT]     ← Case doesn't matter

When to use:

  • Titles and headers (consistency across presentations)
  • Brand guidelines require specific sizes

When to skip:

  • Body text (let it auto-size based on content length)

Text Styling

Make text bold:

  [Title, Bold]
[Company Name, BOLD]            ← Case doesn't matter

Make text italic:

  [Tagline, Italic]
[Quote, italic]

Underline text:

  [Important, Underline]

Turn OFF formatting:

  [Body Text, !Bold]              ← Exclamation means "NOT bold"
[Regular, !Italic]              ← Not italic

Useful when your template defaults to bold but you want specific placeholders to be regular text.

Font Selection

Choose font:

  [Company Name, Font=Sofia Pro]
[Body, Font=Calibri]
[Code, Font=Courier New]

Don’t have the font? No problem! The system automatically downloads similar fonts from Google Fonts:

  • Sofia Pro → Uses Poppins
  • Helvetica Neue → Uses Roboto
  • Proxima Nova → Uses Montserrat

Text Color

Set color using hex codes:

  [Title, Color=#003366]          ← Dark blue
[Subtitle, Color=#666666]       ← Gray
[Error, Color=#FF0000]          ← Red
[Success, Color=#00AA00]        ← Green

How to find hex codes:

  1. In PowerPoint, select text and open color picker
  2. Click “More Colors” → “Custom”
  3. Use online tool: https://htmlcolorcodes.com/
  4. Format: # + 6 characters (like #FF0000 for red)

Complete Examples

Simple placeholder:

  [Company Name]
  • Auto-sizes to fit box
  • Uses template’s font and formatting

Title with fixed size:

  [Main Title, Fontsize=32pt, Bold]
  • Always 32pt
  • Always bold
  • Consistent across all presentations

Styled subtitle:

  [Tagline, Fontsize=18pt, Italic, Color=#666666]
  • 18pt size
  • Italic
  • Gray color

Complex formatting:

  [Company Name, Fontsize=28pt, Bold, Color=#003366, Font=Sofia Pro]
  • 28pt
  • Bold
  • Dark blue
  • Sofia Pro font (or Poppins if not available)

Filling Templates

Discovering Placeholders

Ask: “What placeholders are in this template?”

You’ll see:

  Slide 1 has:
  - [Company Name]
  - [Project Title]
  - [Date]

Slide 2 has:
  - [Executive Summary]
  - [Budget Amount]

If placeholders have formatting instructions, you’ll also see:

  [Company Name, Fontsize=32pt, Bold, Color=#003366]
  - Font size: 32pt
  - Bold: true
  - Color: #003366

Filling Placeholders

Option 1: Tell the agent directly:

“Replace [Company Name] with ‘TechVenture Solutions’” “Replace [Project Title] with ‘Digital Transformation Strategy’” “Replace [Date] with ‘September 30, 2025’”

Or fill multiple at once: “Fill in: Company Name = TechVenture Solutions, Project Title = Digital Transformation, Date = Sept 30 2025”

Option 2: Provide data in a file (recommended for many placeholders):

You can provide data in various formats:

  • JSON file with placeholder values
  • CSV/Excel with data
  • Text document with structured information
  • Any file containing the data

Example workflow:

  1. Upload your data file (e.g., client_data.json, project_info.csv, or SOW_details.txt)
  2. Say: “Use the SOW template and fill it with the information from this file”
  3. Agent reads the file and extracts the data
  4. Agent fills all placeholders automatically

Example data file (JSON):

  {
  "Company Name": "TechVenture Solutions",
  "Project Title": "Digital Transformation Strategy",
  "Date": "September 30, 2025",
  "Budget": "$61,190",
  "Contact Email": "emma.patterson@example.com"
}

Or plain text:

  Company: TechVenture Solutions
Project: Digital Transformation Strategy
Date: September 30, 2025
Budget: $61,190
Contact: emma.patterson@example.com

Or CSV/Excel:

  Field,Value
Company Name,TechVenture Solutions
Project Title,Digital Transformation Strategy
Date,September 30 2025

The agent automatically:

  • Reads your data file
  • Matches fields to placeholders
  • Fills the template
  • Returns completed presentation

What happens:

  • All placeholders replaced with your content
  • Template design preserved (bullets, colors, layout)
  • Text automatically sized to fit boxes
  • Formatting from metadata applied

Benefits of using data files:

  • Faster for many placeholders (one file vs typing each)
  • Reusable data across presentations
  • Easy to update (edit file, regenerate presentation)
  • Less chance of typos or missed placeholders

What Gets Preserved

When filling templates, these are PRESERVED:

  1. ✅ Bullet points and numbered lists
  2. ✅ Indentation and paragraph levels
  3. ✅ Colors (unless you override with Color metadata)
  4. ✅ Existing bold/italic (unless you override)
  5. ✅ Text alignment (center, left, right)
  6. ✅ Box sizes and positions

What CHANGES:

  • ✏️ Text content (placeholders → your content)
  • 📏 Font size (auto-sized or forced via metadata)
  • 🎨 Formatting IF specified in placeholder metadata

Auto-Sizing

How It Works

Text automatically resizes to fit text boxes. Here’s what happens:

Short text in big box:

  • Template placeholder: 18pt
  • Your text: “Hello”
  • Result: Stays at 18pt (fits perfectly)

Long text in small box:

  • Template placeholder: 18pt
  • Your text: 500 characters
  • Result: Shrinks to 12pt to fit everything

System respects template design:

  • Never makes text bigger than template placeholder size
  • Only shrinks if needed to prevent overflow
  • Minimum size: 10pt

When Size is Fixed

If placeholder has Fontsize=32pt:

  • Text is always 32pt
  • Even if very short or very long
  • May overflow if box too small (template design issue)

Use fixed sizes for:

  • Titles (consistency)
  • Headers (brand guidelines)
  • Specific design requirements

Use auto-sizing for:

  • Body text (varies in length)
  • Descriptions
  • Dynamic content

Best Practices

For Template Creators

✅ Good Practices:

  1. Use clear placeholder names

    • Good: [Client Company Name]
    • Bad: [CN]

  2. Add Fontsize to titles and headers

    • [Title, Fontsize=32pt] ensures consistency
    • [Body Text] auto-sizes based on content

  3. One formatted placeholder per text box

    • Put [Title, Bold] in its own box
    • Put [Company] in separate box
    • Prevents formatting conflicts

  4. Test with sample data

    • Fill template with realistic content
    • Check everything fits and looks good
    • Adjust box sizes if needed

  5. Use consistent placeholder patterns

    • All [square brackets] OR all {curly braces}
    • Don’t mix styles

❌ Avoid:

  1. Mixing formatted and non-formatted placeholders in same box

    • Bad: "[Title, Bold] and [Company]" (bold applies to both)
    • Good: Separate boxes

  2. Ambiguous names

    • Bad: [Name] (whose name?)
    • Good: [Client Contact Name]

  3. Very small text boxes

    • If even 10pt text doesn’t fit, box is too small
    • Make boxes slightly larger than needed

Common Scenarios

Scenario 1: Weekly Report

Template setup (once):

  Slide 1: Weekly Update - [Week of Date]
Slide 2:
  Key Metrics:
  • Revenue: [Revenue Amount]
  • Customers: [Customer Count]
  • Growth: [Growth Percentage]

Weekly filling:

  • Week of Date: “October 7, 2025”
  • Revenue Amount: “$125,000”
  • Customer Count: “847”
  • Growth Percentage: “12%”

Result: Consistent weekly reports, fast and easy to create.

Scenario 2: Client Proposals

Template setup:

  [Client Company, Fontsize=36pt, Bold, Color=#003366]
[Proposal Title, Fontsize=24pt]
[Date, Fontsize=14pt]

---

[Client Name]'s Challenge:
[Problem Description]

Our Solution:
• [Solution Point 1]
• [Solution Point 2]
• [Solution Point 3]

Investment: [Total Amount, Bold, Fontsize=28pt]

For each client:

  • Fill in client details
  • Customize problem and solution
  • Update pricing
  • Design stays consistent!

Scenario 3: Statement of Work

Template with metadata:

  [Client Legal Name, Bold, Fontsize=24pt]

Project: [Project Name, Bold]

Scope:
[Detailed Scope Description]

Timeline: [Start Date] to [End Date]

Investment: [Amount, Bold]

Contact: [Name] | [Email] | [Phone]

Fill once, generate many:

  • Consistent branding
  • Proper formatting every time
  • Professional appearance

Understanding Auto-Sizing

What Gets Auto-Sized?

Body text and descriptions (no Fontsize specified):

  [Project Description]
[Executive Summary]
[Detailed Scope]

The system:

  1. Looks at your text length
  2. Measures the box size
  3. Calculates perfect font size (10-18pt typically)
  4. Ensures text fits without overflow

Titles and headers (Fontsize specified):

  [Title, Fontsize=32pt]
[Section Header, Fontsize=24pt]

Always displayed at specified size.

Size Limits

  • Maximum: Template’s placeholder font size (or specified Fontsize)
  • Minimum: 10pt (readable limit)

If your content doesn’t fit even at 10pt:

  • Text box is too small
  • Or content is too long
  • Solution: Make box bigger or reduce content

Troubleshooting

My placeholder isn’t being found

Check:

  1. ✅ Spelling matches exactly: [Company Name] ≠ [CompanyName]
  2. ✅ Spacing matches: [Date] ≠ [Date ] (extra space)
  3. ✅ Punctuation matches: [Email] ≠ [Email:]
  4. ✅ Case matches: [COMPANY] ≠ [Company]

Tip: Ask “What placeholders are in my template?” to see exact spelling.

Text is too small with lots of blank space

Why: Template placeholder has small font (like 12pt) in large box.

Solution:

  • Increase placeholder font size in template
  • Or add Fontsize=XX to placeholder: [Text, Fontsize=18pt]

Why this happens: System respects your template design - if placeholder is 12pt, replacement won’t be larger than 12pt.

Text is cut off / overflowing

Why: Text doesn’t fit even at minimum size (10pt).

Solutions:

  1. Make text box larger in template
  2. Reduce content length
  3. Split into multiple text boxes

Bold is applying to text that shouldn’t be bold

Why: Multiple placeholders with different formatting in same text box.

Example problem:

  One text box contains: "[Title, Bold] and [Company]"

Bold applies to entire box, including [Company].

Solution: Use separate text boxes:

  Text Box 1: [Title, Bold]
Text Box 2: and
Text Box 3: [Company]

Bullets disappeared after filling

This shouldn’t happen! Bullets are automatically preserved.

If bullets are missing:

  • Template may not have had PowerPoint bullets (just dashes -)
  • Contact support - this is a bug

Bullets are preserved: If template has • bullet points, they stay after filling.

Quick Reference

Placeholder Formats 

  [Placeholder]           → Simple placeholder
{Placeholder}           → Also works
[Field, Instruction]    → With formatting instruction

Formatting Instructions

Instruction What It Does Example
Fontsize=32pt Force specific size [Title, Fontsize=32]
Bold Make text bold [Title, Bold]
!Bold Make text NOT bold [Text, !Bold]
Italic Make text italic [Quote, Italic]
!Italic Make text NOT italic [Text, !Italic]
Underline Underline text [Important, Underline]
Font=Name Use specific font [Title, Font=Sofia Pro]
Color=#HEX Set text color [Title, Color=#FF0000]

Mix and match:

  [Title, Fontsize=32pt, Bold, Color=#003366, Font=Sofia Pro]

Case doesn’t matter:

  • Bold, BOLD, bold all work

Tips for Success

Designing Templates

1. Start simple

  • Create basic template with [placeholders]
  • Test filling it
  • Add formatting metadata later if needed

2. Use formatting metadata strategically

  • Titles: Yes (consistency matters)
  • Body text: Usually no (let it auto-size)

3. Leave room for content

  • Make text boxes slightly bigger than needed
  • Content length varies

4. Test with realistic data

  • Fill template with actual content
  • Check everything fits and looks good

Real-World Example

Creating a Monthly Report Template

Step 1: Design in PowerPoint

Create slides with placeholders:

  Slide 1 - Cover:
  Monthly Report
  [Month Year, Fontsize=28pt, Bold]
  [Company Name, Fontsize=20pt]

Slide 2 - Metrics:
  Key Performance Indicators

  Revenue: [Revenue Amount, Bold, Color=#00AA00]
  Customers: [Customer Count, Bold]
  Growth: [Growth Percentage, Bold, Color=#0066CC]

Slide 3 - Summary:
  Executive Summary

  [Monthly Summary]

  Prepared by [Report Author]
  [Date]

Step 2: Save as Template

Save this PowerPoint file.

Step 3: Fill Monthly

Each month, just say:

  • “Use monthly report template”
  • “Fill Month Year with ‘October 2025’”
  • “Fill Revenue Amount with ‘$142,500’”
  • “Fill Customer Count with ‘923’”
  • (etc…)

Step 4: Get Professional Report

Done! Consistent formatting, proper sizing, professional appearance.

Summary

Slide Maker makes PowerPoint creation easy:

  1. ✅ Templates - Design once, use many times
  2. ✅ Placeholders - Simple brackets mark where content goes
  3. ✅ Smart formatting - Instructions embedded in placeholders
  4. ✅ Auto-sizing - Text always fits perfectly
  5. ✅ Preservation - Your design stays intact (bullets, colors, layout)

You focus on content, the system handles formatting and layout.

Getting Help

Common questions:

“What placeholders are in my template?” → Shows all fillable fields

“Fill [Placeholder] with [Content]” → Replaces placeholder with your content

“Why is my text too small?” → Template placeholder size is maximum - increase it in template

“Why didn’t [Placeholder] get replaced?” → Check exact spelling - copy from “what placeholders” list