Short demos. No waffle.
Every video here is under two and a half minutes, because you’re probably watching it with a show to build. Start with the overview, then jump to whichever tool you need.
Demo videos
Start here
Forty-three seconds on what Ninja Tools is, who it’s for, and why a PowerPoint add-in ended up being built by someone who spends their life at the back of conference halls.
Font Report
Find every font in the deck, see which ones aren’t embedded, and swap them straight from the report before the show machine substitutes Calibri for you.
Image tools
Image Report, Collect Images and Export Slides as Images — finding the heavy files, gathering the linked ones, and getting stills out at the resolution you need.
Fade Image
Real transparent fades on an image — directional or custom, with live preview. Not a gradient rectangle sat on top and hoping the background matches.
Shape Ninja
Numeric control over stroke, shadow, corner radius, gap, size and position — instead of six separate trips through the format pane.
Snap Ninja
Put the end of an arrow or line exactly where you want it, without PowerPoint snapping it somewhere else at the last moment.
VT Countdown
An on-screen countdown for video cues so the operator and the director both know how long is left. Amber at ten seconds, red at five, silent on loops.
Common questions
Is it safe to run on a show machine?
That’s the whole design brief. Ninja Tools doesn’t contact a server, doesn’t check licences, doesn’t pop up dialogs of its own accord and doesn’t steal focus during a slideshow. Nothing in it should surprise you mid-cue.
The sensible habit, as with any add-in, is to install it and test the deck properly during rehearsal rather than ten minutes before doors.
Does it change my deck permanently?
Only where that’s the point of the tool. Reports and scans are read-only — they tell you what’s in the deck and change nothing. Tools that do modify things (Collect Fonts, Reset Images, Format Notes, Section Ninja) act when you tell them to.
Work on a copy before any bulk operation on a show deck. Not because it’s risky, but because that’s how you’d treat any bulk operation the night before a show.
Do I need a licence key?
No. Ninja Tools is free and every tool is unlocked from first launch. There’s no key, no trial period, no account and no activation step. If you’re coming from an older paid build, install the new one over the top and your old key is simply ignored.
Will it work on a Mac?
No. Ninja Tools is a VSTO add-in, and VSTO add-ins are Windows-only — PowerPoint for Mac can’t load them. You’d need Windows PowerPoint, which on a show machine you almost certainly have anyway.
Which PowerPoint versions are supported?
PowerPoint 2013 and later, including Microsoft 365. You’ll also need .NET Framework 4.8, which is already on Windows 10 version 1903 and later.
The Ninja Tools tab has disappeared
PowerPoint sometimes disables add-ins after a crash. Go to
File → Options → Add-ins, choose COM Add-ins in the
Manage dropdown at the bottom, and click Go. Tick Ninja Tools if it’s
unticked.
If it isn’t listed at all, close PowerPoint and reinstall — see the Download page.
Can I use it on commercial jobs?
Yes. Use it on client work, install it on as many machines as you need, and put it on show PCs you don’t own. There’s no per-seat licence and nothing to count.
If it earns its keep on a paid job, the tip jar at checkout is how the updates keep coming.
I’ve found a bug, or I want a tool that doesn’t exist
Both are worth sending. Ninja Tools is built and maintained by one person, and most of what’s in it started as somebody describing a problem. Bug reports from operators are the fastest route to a fix.
Include your PowerPoint version, your Windows version and what you were doing at the time. A deck that reproduces the problem is even better.
Still stuck?
Three ways to get hold of me. All of them reach the same person.
Seen enough? Go and get it.
Free to download. Pay what you think it’s worth — including nothing.