Branded PPTX

Branded PPTX - Pluggable Brand Themes

This skill extends Anthropic's base pptx skill with pluggable brand themes, the same way branded-docx extends the base docx skill. Install the base skill separately (/plugin marketplace add anthropics/skills, then the document-skills plugin); nothing from it is bundled here. Follow all of its technical rules (pptxgenjs API, the QA loop, the file-corruption pitfalls). This file adds the brand layer on top.

The governing design idea, borrowed from the base skill and worth restating: a deck is spatial composition, not flowing text. Brand tokens give you palette and type for free, but the layout decision on each slide is yours to make. Distil; do not pour paragraphs onto slides.

Preflight: why two runs of this skill can look very different

A skill encodes the process, not the finished pixels. The same SKILL.md yields a sharp deck on one machine and a rough one on another, and the cause is almost always environment, not taste. Confirm all three before generating. Skip this and the deck ships with substituted fonts and unspotted overflow.

1. The brand font must be installed AS STATIC CUTS

This is the single most common cause of "the fonts don't fill the boxes." The deck names the brand font (e.g. Montserrat). If the machine that GENERATES, or the machine that OPENS the deck, lacks it, the app substitutes a font with different widths: text reflows and boxes overflow. A bare variable font (Montserrat[wght].ttf) is read by LibreOffice and some Office installs as "Montserrat Thin", so headings render thin and the QA preview lies. Install static Regular and Bold cuts named plainly "Montserrat".

Run the preflight, which instances static cuts from a variable font and FAILS LOUD if the font cannot be made available (never silently substitutes):

python scripts/setup/font_preflight.py --family Montserrat \
  --source-url "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/google/fonts/main/ofl/montserrat/Montserrat%5Bwght%5D.ttf" \
  --weights 400,700

See references/font-fidelity.md for the full doctrine, including substituting a metric-compatible face when a proprietary font is absent (Gelasio for Georgia, never a look-alike like Lora).

If the font is missing on the user's own machine, the deck is correct but renders as a substitute. Either tell them to install Montserrat (free under OFL), or embed it before sending (see Distribution, below). A correct file on a font-less machine is the rough result they will see.

2. The QA render tools must be present

LibreOffice (soffice) and Poppler (pdftoppm) are what let you SEE a slide and catch overflow. Absent, you generate blind and ship first-draft defects. Install them first (brew install libreoffice poppler, or apt), not after.

3. Then run the QA loop for real

The polish lives in the loop, not the templates. See the Definition of Done below.

Brand Selection

1. List files in brands/ to see available brands.
2. If the user names a brand matching a filename (e.g. "coral deck" matches brands/coral.md), read that file.
3. If only one brand file exists, use it without asking.
4. If multiple brands exist and the request is ambiguous, list them and ask.
5. Read the selected brand file. Use its BRAND tokens, slide palette roles, type scale, and motif for everything that follows.

NODE_PATH Preamble

Every generated script starts with this so a globally-installed pptxgenjs resolves regardless of working directory:

const { execSync } = require('child_process');
if (!process.env.NODE_PATH) {
  process.env.NODE_PATH = execSync('npm root -g').toString().trim();
  require('module').Module._initPaths();
}
const pptxgen = require('pptxgenjs');

Markdown-to-Slides Mapping

When the user provides markdown, apply these mappings. Slides are not documents: distil body prose to the point, and push the full wording plus any speaker notes into Presenter View with addNotes().

Text fidelity vs. distillation

For documents, preserve wording verbatim. For slides, the opposite: distil onto the slide, preserve the user's exact wording in the notes. Preserve specific metaphors and any carefully-worded attributions exactly, even when distilling around them.

Helper Function Templates

Copy these into generated scripts. They reference BRAND.* from the active brand file. Layout coordinates assume LAYOUT_16x9 (10 x 5.625 inches), 0.5" margins, content width 9".

Setup constants and a shadow factory

PptxGenJS mutates option objects in place, so shadows MUST come from a factory (never share one object across calls, or the second shape corrupts).

const W = 10, MX = 0.5, CW = W - 2 * MX;
const softShadow = () => ({ type: "outer", color: "000000", blur: 7, offset: 3, angle: 90, opacity: 0.10 });

Eyebrow + title (every content slide)

function eyebrow(slide, text) {
  slide.addText(text, { x: MX, y: 0.40, w: CW, h: 0.3, margin: 0,
    fontFace: BRAND.heading, fontSize: 12, bold: true, color: BRAND.accent, charSpacing: 2 });
}
function slideTitle(slide, text, onDark) {
  slide.addText(text, { x: MX, y: 0.70, w: CW, h: 0.95, margin: 0,
    fontFace: BRAND.heading, fontSize: 28, bold: true, color: onDark ? BRAND.white : BRAND.dark, valign: "top" });
}

Title / closing slide (dark bookend)

function bookend(pres, eyebrowText, titleText, subText) {
  const s = pres.addSlide();
  s.background = { color: BRAND.dark };
  s.addText(eyebrowText, { x: MX, y: 1.55, w: CW, h: 0.35, margin: 0,
    fontFace: BRAND.heading, fontSize: 13, bold: true, color: BRAND.accent, charSpacing: 2 });
  s.addText(titleText, { x: MX, y: 2.0, w: CW, h: 1.4, margin: 0,
    fontFace: BRAND.heading, fontSize: 40, bold: true, color: BRAND.white });
  if (subText) s.addText(subText, { x: MX, y: 3.5, w: CW, h: 0.4, margin: 0,
    fontFace: BRAND.body, fontSize: 14, color: "CFCFCF" });
  return s;
}

Callout bar (the accent-tint emphasis strip)

function calloutBar(slide, text, y) {
  slide.addShape(pres.shapes.ROUNDED_RECTANGLE, { x: MX, y, w: CW, h: 0.62, rectRadius: 0.06,
    fill: { color: BRAND.accentTint }, line: { type: "none" } });
  slide.addText(text, { x: MX + 0.25, y, w: CW - 0.5, h: 0.62, margin: 0,
    fontFace: BRAND.body, fontSize: 13, bold: true, color: BRAND.dark, valign: "middle" });
}

Numbered card (the motif)

function numberedCard(slide, x, y, w, h, n, head, bodyText) {
  slide.addShape(pres.shapes.ROUNDED_RECTANGLE, { x, y, w, h, rectRadius: 0.06,
    fill: { color: BRAND.lightGray }, line: { color: BRAND.lightGray, width: 1 }, shadow: softShadow() });
  slide.addShape(pres.shapes.OVAL, { x: x + 0.25, y: y + 0.23, w: 0.5, h: 0.5, fill: { color: BRAND.accent } });
  slide.addText(String(n), { x: x + 0.25, y: y + 0.23, w: 0.5, h: 0.5, margin: 0,
    fontFace: BRAND.heading, fontSize: 18, bold: true, color: BRAND.white, align: "center", valign: "middle" });
  slide.addText(head, { x: x + 0.25, y: y + 0.83, w: w - 0.5, h: 0.55, margin: 0,
    fontFace: BRAND.heading, fontSize: 14, bold: true, color: BRAND.dark, valign: "top" });
  slide.addText(bodyText, { x: x + 0.25, y: y + 1.37, w: w - 0.5, h: h - 1.5, margin: 0,
    fontFace: BRAND.body, fontSize: 11, color: BRAND.dark, valign: "top" });
}

Flow diagram (native shapes — for mermaid sources)

function flowBox(slide, x, y, w, h, label, highlight) {
  slide.addShape(pres.shapes.ROUNDED_RECTANGLE, { x, y, w, h, rectRadius: 0.06,
    fill: { color: highlight ? BRAND.accent : BRAND.lightGray },
    line: { color: highlight ? BRAND.accent : BRAND.lightGray, width: 1 }, shadow: softShadow() });
  slide.addText(label, { x: x + 0.06, y, w: w - 0.12, h, margin: 0,
    fontFace: BRAND.heading, fontSize: 10.5, bold: true, color: highlight ? BRAND.white : BRAND.dark,
    align: "center", valign: "middle" });
}
function arrow(slide, x, y, w) {
  slide.addShape(pres.shapes.LINE, { x, y, w, h: 0, line: { color: BRAND.accent, width: 2, endArrowType: "triangle" } });
}

Big stat callout

function stat(slide, x, y, w, value, label) {
  slide.addText(value, { x, y, w, h: 1.0, margin: 0,
    fontFace: BRAND.heading, fontSize: 60, bold: true, color: BRAND.accent, align: "center" });
  slide.addText(label, { x, y: y + 1.0, w, h: 0.5, margin: 0,
    fontFace: BRAND.heading, fontSize: 12, color: BRAND.midGray, align: "center" });
}

Branded table

function brandTable(slide, headers, rows, x, y, w, colW) {
  const head = headers.map(h => ({ text: h, options: { fill: { color: BRAND.dark }, color: BRAND.white,
    bold: true, fontFace: BRAND.heading, fontSize: 11 } }));
  const body = rows.map((r, i) => r.map(c => ({ text: String(c), options: {
    fill: { color: i % 2 === 0 ? BRAND.white : BRAND.lightGray }, color: BRAND.dark,
    fontFace: BRAND.body, fontSize: 11 } })));
  slide.addTable([head, ...body], { x, y, w, colW, valign: "middle",
    border: { pt: 0.5, color: BRAND.lightGray }, margin: [4, 8, 4, 8] });
}

Speaker notes

slide.addNotes(fullProseAndAnyBlockquoteNotesForThisSlide);

Layout discipline (from the base skill, restated as brand rules)

• Vary layouts across slides: card grid, two-column, flow, stat, table. Do not repeat one layout.
• Left-align body and lists; centre only titles.
• Strong size contrast: titles 28pt+ above 13-15pt body.
• No accent bars, no underlines beneath titles, no edge stripes on cards. Use tint or shadow to set a card apart.
• Never ship text that overflows its box.

pptxgenjs pitfalls that corrupt files (do not violate)

• Hex colours never start with #.
• Never encode opacity in an 8-char hex; use the opacity property.
• Bullets use bullet: true, never a unicode "•".
• Fresh shadow object per shape (use the softShadow() factory).

QA: Definition of Done (not optional)

The templates give a reasonable first draft. The sharpness comes from rendering every slide and fixing what you see. Do not deliver until this passes.

1. Render the whole deck to images:

python <base-pptx-skill>/scripts/office/soffice.py --headless --convert-to pdf out.pptx
rm -f slide-*.jpg && pdftoppm -jpeg -r 110 out.pdf slide

2. Look at EVERY slide. Check text bounds first: no run may cross or overflow its shape; no card may touch a callout or a neighbour; a title that wraps must not crowd the line beneath it.
3. Fix by nudging coordinates or reducing font size, then re-render the affected slides. Expect one or two genuine defects on the first pass (a wrapped title, a card grid run too tight). Fixing them is the job, not an extra step.
4. Hidden slides are dropped from PDF export, so to QA an appendix, render a temporary copy with hidden turned off.
5. If the brand font is not installed as static cuts (Preflight 1), the preview substitutes and its text-fit is unreliable; install the font so the preview tells the truth, and still add ~10% height slack on heading boxes.

Declare done after seeing every slide render clean, never after merely generating.

Distribution: before the deck leaves your machine

Installing the brand font on your machine makes the deck render true for YOU. It does nothing for whoever you send it to: without the font, their PowerPoint substitutes and the text reflows, the exact rough look the Preflight fixed on your end. pptxgenjs CANNOT embed fonts, so close the gap one of two ways:

• Embed in PowerPoint: File, Options, Save, "Embed fonts in the file", choose "Embed all characters". The .pptx now carries Montserrat and travels self-contained.
• Or send a PDF (export embeds and subsets fonts automatically). Verify with pdffonts deck.pdf: every row should read yes yes.

See references/font-fidelity.md, "Distribution", for the full rule. A deck that looks perfect on your screen but was never embedded is the single most common way the brand breaks on someone else's laptop.

Setup

1. Node.js (node --version)
2. npm install -g pptxgenjs
3. For the QA render only: LibreOffice (soffice) and Poppler (pdftoppm). On macOS: brew install libreoffice poppler. The docx skill never needed these; the slide QA loop does.
4. Run the font preflight (scripts/setup/font_preflight.py) so the brand font is installed as static cuts and the QA preview is trustworthy (see Preflight 1). This is the step that most often gets skipped and is the usual reason a deck looks rough.

All base pptx technical rules apply - read that skill for images, charts, masters, and XML editing.