How to Use the "Color by Code" Group of the Time Savers Add-in for PowerPoint

Please note: Some changes may have been made to the Time Savers Add-in for PowerPoint since the making of this video.

The “Mazes” group is part of the “TS Create” tab of the Time Savers Add-in for PowerPoint.

The tools in this part of the Time Savers Add-in make it possible for you to:

Quickly and easily add codes to your color by code templates to create engaging color by code activities.

Note: The add-in does NOT create templates for you. It is designed to help you quickly add codes to templates you already have.

Insert your color by code template
- It helps if you have a color version of the template – this will make it easier when you are adding your code placeholders.
Insert, size and position shapes in the positions that you would want your codes to be in the spaces of your template.

Insert a color code table on the current slide for adding all your codes.
You will add all your codes to this table (both text and shapes/pictures are allowed).
You can change the column headings to suit your code sets OR the colors they will be associated with.

Add pictures or shapes to a column of your color code table.
A window will pop up for you to select which column you want to add your objects to.
If you have shapes selected already, those shapes will be inserted into your chosen column in the color code table.
If you haven’t selected any shapes, you a window will open for you to find and insert pictures that you wish to place in your table.

Add placeholders to your template based on the colors in the template.
If you already prepared your color by code template by inserting, sizing and positioning shapes in the spaces of the template:
- Select all the shapes in a particular color of the template.
- Click the ‘Add Placeholder’ button.
- A window will pop up, asking what code set (column) you wish to insert placeholders for.
- All selected shapes will be turned into placeholders for your chosen code set.
If you have not already prepared your color by code template:
- Make sure that you have added your template to the slide containing the color code table.
- Click the ‘Add Placeholder’ button.
- Generic placeholders will be inserted along the top edge of the slide – one for each column in your color code table.
- You format them as desired and duplicate and position them appropriately on your Color by Code template.

Once you have added all your codes and all your placeholders and you are happy with the positioning of the placeholders on your color by code template, you can click the ‘Create’ button.
The codes will be shuffled and inserted into the positions of the placeholders in a random order.
If the placeholders had a color background and/or outline, they will be made fully transparent when replaced with text codes.

Once you have added all your placeholders to a particular color by code template, you can save it and reuse it – you don’t need to prepare it over and over.
You can simply change the codes in the table and click ‘Create’ again, and a new color by code activity will be created using the new codes.