Google Slides on the web is getting a rather notable addition with a new right sidebar that provides quick access to creative tools, including some new ones.
This new sidebar shows three groupings of icons that show a text label upon hovering. The goal is to provide a “consistent location for insertion-related actions.” You can access:
Image generation: Powered by Imagen 3
Templates: Google introduced a new batch in November
Building blocks: This is the first of two new features today. Like in Google Docs, building blocks are a “library of pre-formatted pieces of content… that help you create professional, visual presentations much quicker.” These are native Slides elements that “can be de-grouped and customized once inserted into your slide.” They include: Agendas, Lists, Key statistics, Quotes, Headlines, People, and Cards.
Stock images: “Easily access millions of high-quality stock images in our expanded library, web images, stickers, and GIFs to bring additional visual elements into your presentation.”
Folder: There also appears to be a shortcut to access/upload your own images. This joins another update earlier this month that lets you proportionally scale “fonts, borders, shadows, and other attributes.”
Slides recordings: “Users can easily record themselves presenting, and then share the presentation with others to view when it works for them.”
Speaker spotlight: “Presenters can insert their video feed directly into their Slides content.”
This sidebar is rolling out over the coming weeks, with all Google Slides users getting Templates and building blocks. Image generation requires Gemini, while Speaker spotlight and Slides recordings is for Workspace Business and Enterprise tiers.
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