# PPTX > Use this skill any time a .pptx file is involved in any way — as input, output, or both. This includes: creating slide decks, pitch decks, or presentations; reading, parsing, or extracting text from any .pptx file (even if the extracted content will be used elsewhere, like in an email or summary); editing, modifying, or updating existing presentations; combining or splitting slide files; working with templates, layouts, speaker notes, or comments. Trigger whenever the user mentions \ Trigger for: - [TODO: Add specific triggers for when to use this skill] Don't trigger for: - [TODO: Add anti-triggers for when NOT to use this skill]deck,\" \"slides,\" \"presentation,\" or references a .pptx filename, regardless of what they plan to do with the content afterward. If a .pptx file needs to be opened, created, or touched, use this skill." - Skill: `furkangonel/pptx` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 60 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add furkangonel/pptx` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/furkangonel/pptx/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Docs & Writing - License: Proprietary. LICENSE.txt has complete terms - Author: furkangonel (https://skillmd.com/u/furkangonel) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/furkangonel/pptx --- # PPTX Skill ## Quick Reference | Task | Guide | |------|-------| | Read/analyze content | `extract-text presentation.pptx` | | Edit or create from template | Read [editing.md](editing.md) | | Create from scratch | Read [pptxgenjs.md](pptxgenjs.md) | --- ## Reading Content ```bash # Text extraction, one `## Slide N` section per slide extract-text presentation.pptx # Visual overview python scripts/thumbnail.py presentation.pptx # Raw XML python scripts/office/unpack.py presentation.pptx unpacked/ ``` --- ## Editing Workflow **Read [editing.md](editing.md) for full details.** 1. Analyze template with `thumbnail.py` 2. Unpack → manipulate slides → edit content → clean → pack --- ## Creating from Scratch **Read [pptxgenjs.md](pptxgenjs.md) for full details.** Use when no template or reference presentation is available. --- ## Design Ideas **Don't create boring slides.** Plain bullets on a white background won't impress anyone. Consider ideas from this list for each slide. ### Before Starting - **Pick a bold, content-informed color palette**: The palette should feel designed for THIS topic. If swapping your colors into a completely different presentation would still "work," you haven't made specific enough choices. - **Dominance over equality**: One color should dominate (60-70% visual weight), with 1-2 supporting tones and one sharp accent. Never give all colors equal weight. - **Dark/light contrast**: Dark backgrounds for title + conclusion slides, light for content ("sandwich" structure). Or commit to dark throughout for a premium feel. - **Commit to a visual motif**: Pick ONE distinctive element and repeat it — rounded image frames, icons in colored circles. Carry it across every slide. **Do not use a color bar or accent stripe as your motif** (see Avoid list). ### Color Palettes Choose colors that match your topic — don't default to generic blue. Use these palettes as inspiration: | Theme | Primary | Secondary | Accent | |-------|---------|-----------|--------| | **Midnight Executive** | `1E2761` (navy) | `CADCFC` (ice blue) | `FFFFFF` (white) | | **Forest & Moss** | `2C5F2D` (forest) | `97BC62` (moss) | `F5F5F5` (cream) | | **Coral Energy** | `F96167` (coral) | `F9E795` (gold) | `2F3C7E` (navy) | | **Warm Terracotta** | `B85042` (terracotta) | `E7E8D1` (sand) | `A7BEAE` (sage) | | **Ocean Gradient** | `065A82` (deep blue) | `1C7293` (teal) | `21295C` (midnight) | | **Charcoal Minimal** | `36454F` (charcoal) | `F2F2F2` (off-white) | `212121` (black) | | **Teal Trust** | `028090` (teal) | `00A896` (seafoam) | `02C39A` (mint) | | **Berry & Cream** | `6D2E46` (berry) | `A26769` (dusty rose) | `ECE2D0` (cream) | | **Sage Calm** | `84B59F` (sage) | `69A297` (eucalyptus) | `50808E` (slate) | | **Cherry Bold** | `990011` (cherry) | `FCF6F5` (off-white) | `2F3C7E` (navy) | ### For Each Slide **Every slide needs a visual element** — image, chart, icon, or shape. Text-only slides are forgettable. **Layout options:** - Two-column (text left, illustration on right) - Icon + text rows (icon in colored circle, bold header, description below) - 2x2 or 2x3 grid (image on one side, grid of content blocks on other) - Half-bleed image (full left or right side) with content overlay **Data display:** - Large stat callouts (big numbers 60-72pt with small labels below) - Comparison columns (before/after, pros/cons, side-by-side options) - Timeline or process flow (numbered steps, arrows) **Visual polish:** - Icons in small colored circles next to section headers - Italic accent text for key stats or taglines ### Typography **Font names you write into the .pptx are rendered by the user's PowerPoint, not by this environment.** Your visual QA renders via LibreOffice, which substitutes fonts it doesn't have — and for some fonts the substitute has different widths, so your QA preview can show text overflow (or fit) that the real deck won't have. To keep your QA trustworthy: - **Safe fonts** (render true-to-width in QA *and* ship with Office): **Arial, Calibri, Cambria, Times New Roman, Courier New, Bookman Old Style, Century Schoolbook**. Use these for body text and anything where fit matters. - **Headers with personality at zero QA risk**: pair a safe-list serif header (Cambria, Bookman Old Style, Century Schoolbook) with a safe-list sans body (Calibri or Arial). You get visual contrast without giving up reliable overflow checks. - **If the user asks for a font outside the safe list** (e.g. Georgia or Trebuchet MS): use it where the user asked, but size those containers with extra slack (~10%) and don't trust QA text-fit on those elements — the preview of that font is approximate. If the user hasn't specified, prefer safe-list fonts for body text. - **QA-unreliable fonts** (substitute has different widths — overflow checks can be wrong): Georgia, Trebuchet MS, Impact, Arial Black, Garamond, Consolas, Palatino Linotype. Calibri Light substitution varies by environment; treat as QA-unreliable. Fine for titles/accents with slack; don't trust QA text-fit on these. - **Never default to Aptos** — Office's post-2023 default has no metric-compatible substitute here *and* is missing from older Office installs, so it's unreliable on both ends. | Element | Size | |---------|------| | Slide title | 36-44pt bold | | Section header | 20-24pt bold | | Body text | 14-16pt | | Captions | 10-12pt muted | ### Spacing - 0.5" minimum margins - 0.3-0.5" between content blocks - Leave breathing room—don't fill every inch ### Avoid (Common Mistakes) - **Don't repeat the same layout** — vary columns, cards, and callouts across slides - **Don't center body text** — left-align paragraphs and lists; center only titles - **Don't skimp on size contrast** — titles need 36pt+ to stand out from 14-16pt body - **Don't default to blue** — pick colors that reflect the specific topic - **Don't mix spacing randomly** — choose 0.3" or 0.5" gaps and use consistently - **Don't style one slide and leave the rest plain** — commit fully or keep it simple throughout - **Don't create text-only slides** — add images, icons, charts, or visual elements; avoid plain title + bullets - **Don't forget text box padding** — when aligning lines or shapes with text edges, set `margin: 0` on the text box or offset the shape to account for padding - **Don't use low-contrast elements** — icons AND text need strong contrast against the background; avoid light text on light backgrounds or dark text on dark backgrounds - **NEVER use accent lines under titles** — these are a hallmark of AI-generated slides; use whitespace or background color instead - **NEVER add decorative color bars or accent stripes** — this includes: header/footer bars spanning the slide width, vertical sidebar stripes down one edge of the slide, thin accent stripes along one edge of a card or content block, and "single-side borders" on rectangles. These read as AI-generated filler. If you want to set a card apart, use a subtle background tint, a drop shadow, or an icon — not an edge stripe. - **Don't default to cream/beige backgrounds** — when no background is specified, use white (`FFFFFF`) or the user's brand palette; avoid warm-neutral defaults like `F5F5DC`, `FAF0E6`, `FAEBD7`, `FFF8E1` - **Don't ship text that overflows its shape** — if text doesn't fit, reduce font size, split across slides, or enlarge the container; never leave content cut off or spilling past bounds --- ## QA (Required) Your first render usually has a few real issues — overlaps, overflow, misalignment. Find and fix those, then stop. Don't keep iterating on minor coordinate nudges or chase a "perfect" render. Work, don't narrate: minimize prose between tool calls. Run the check, apply the fix, move on. ### Content QA ```bash extract-text output.pptx ``` Check for missing content, typos, wrong order. **When using templates, check for leftover placeholder text:** ```bash extract-text output.pptx | grep -iE "\bx{3,}\b|lorem|ipsum|\bTODO|\[insert|this.*(page|slide).*layout" ``` If grep returns results, fix them before declaring success. ### Visual QA **⚠️ USE SUBAGENTS** — even for 2-3 slides. You've been staring at the code and will see what you expect, not what's there. Subagents have fresh eyes. Convert slides to images (see [Converting to Images](#converting-to-images)), then use this prompt: ``` Visually inspect these slides for user-visible defects. Look for: - Overlapping elements (text through shapes, lines through words, stacked elements) - Text overflow or cut off at edges/box boundaries - Source citations or footers colliding with content above - Elements too close (< 0.3" gaps) or cards/sections nearly touching - Uneven gaps (large empty area in one place, cramped in another) - Insufficient margin from slide edges (< 0.5") - Columns or similar elements not aligned consistently - Low-contrast text (e.g., light gray text on cream-colored background) - Template decoration mispositioned after text replacement — e.g., a title underline positioned for one line, but the replaced title wrapped to two - Low-contrast icons (e.g., dark icons on dark backgrounds without a contrasting circle) - Text boxes too narrow causing excessive wrapping - Leftover placeholder content For each slide, list user-visible issues. Skip sub-pixel positioning and cosmetic nitpicks a viewer wouldn't notice. Read and analyze these images — run `ls -1 "$PWD"/slide-*.jpg` and use the exact absolute paths it prints: 1. /slide-N.jpg — (Expected: [brief description]) 2. /slide-N.jpg — (Expected: [brief description]) ... ``` ### Verification Loop 1. Generate slides → Convert to images → Inspect 2. **Check text bounds first** — for every text box, confirm the rendered text fits inside its shape. Overflow is the most common defect and is always user-visible. (Exception: for text in a QA-unreliable font per the Typography section, the preview is approximate — rely on the ~10% slack you added, not on the preview's apparent fit.) 3. List any other issues found 4. Fix issues 5. Re-verify only the affected slides 6. **Stop after one fix-and-verify cycle** unless a new *user-visible* defect appears (overlap, overflow, missing content). Do not loop on sub-pixel positioning, minor color tweaks, or issues a viewer wouldn't notice. --- ## Converting to Images Convert presentations to individual slide images for visual inspection: ```bash python scripts/office/soffice.py --headless --convert-to pdf output.pptx rm -f slide-*.jpg pdftoppm -jpeg -r 150 output.pdf slide ls -1 "$PWD"/slide-*.jpg ``` **Pass the absolute paths printed above directly to the view tool.** The `rm` clears stale images from prior runs. `pdftoppm` zero-pads based on page count: `slide-1.jpg` for decks under 10 pages, `slide-01.jpg` for 10-99, `slide-001.jpg` for 100+. **After fixes, rerun all four commands above** — the PDF must be regenerated from the edited `.pptx` before `pdftoppm` can reflect your changes. --- ## Dependencies - `pip install Pillow` - thumbnail grids - `npm install -g pptxgenjs` - creating from scratch - LibreOffice (`soffice`) - PDF conversion (auto-configured for sandboxed environments via `scripts/office/soffice.py`) - Poppler (`pdftoppm`) - PDF to images ## Why/Failure Modes [TODO: Explain the reasoning behind this skill's approach and common failure modes to avoid.] ## Standalone vs Supercharged [TODO: Describe how this skill works on its own vs when combined with other tools/context.] ## Cross-References [TODO: Link to other relevant skills or documentation.]