PPTX Original

PPTX Skill

Quick Reference

Reading Content

python -m markitdown presentation.pptx        # text extraction
python scripts/thumbnail.py presentation.pptx  # visual overview
python scripts/office/unpack.py presentation.pptx unpacked/  # raw XML

Editing Workflow

Read 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 for full details. Use when no template or reference presentation is available.

Design Principles

Before Starting

• Pick a bold, content-informed color palette: if swapping your colors into a different presentation would still "work," your choices aren't specific enough
• Dominance over equality: one color dominates (60–70%), 1–2 supporting tones, one sharp accent
• Dark/light contrast: dark backgrounds for title + conclusion slides, light for content ("sandwich" structure)
• Commit to a visual motif: pick one distinctive element and repeat it (rounded image frames, icons in colored circles, thick single-side borders)

Color Palettes

Per-Slide Guidelines

Every slide needs a visual element — image, chart, icon, or shape.

Layout options:

• Two-column (text left, illustration right)
• Icon + text rows (icon in colored circle, bold header, description below)
• 2×2 or 2×3 grid with content blocks
• Half-bleed image with content overlay

Data display:

• Large stat callouts (60–72pt numbers with small labels)
• Comparison columns (before/after, pros/cons)
• Timeline or process flow (numbered steps, arrows)

Typography

Choose a header font with personality paired with a clean body font:

Spacing

• 0.5" minimum margins
• 0.3–0.5" between content blocks
• Leave breathing room

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Repeating the same layout across slides — vary columns, cards, and callouts
• Centering body text — left-align paragraphs and lists; center only titles
• Insufficient size contrast — titles need 36pt+ to stand out from 14–16pt body
• Defaulting to blue — pick colors reflecting the specific topic
• Inconsistent spacing — choose 0.3" or 0.5" gaps and use consistently
• Styling one slide but leaving the rest plain — commit fully or keep it simple throughout
• Text-only slides — add images, icons, charts, or visual elements
• Missing text box padding — when aligning lines/shapes with text edges, set margin: 0 or offset to account for padding
• Low-contrast elements — icons and text both need strong contrast against background
• Accent lines under titles — these read as AI-generated; use whitespace or background color instead

QA (Required)

Approach QA as a bug hunt. Your first render is almost never correct.

Content QA

python -m markitdown output.pptx
python -m markitdown output.pptx | grep -iE "xxxx|lorem|ipsum|this.*(page|slide).*layout"

Fix any leftover placeholder text before declaring success.

Visual QA

Use subagents for visual inspection — even for 2–3 slides. Fresh eyes catch what you miss after staring at code.

Convert slides to images (see below), then have the subagent inspect with this prompt:

Visually inspect these slides. Assume there are issues — find them.

Look for:
- Overlapping elements (text through shapes, stacked elements)
- Text overflow or cut off at edges/box boundaries
- Elements too close (< 0.3" gaps) or uneven spacing
- Insufficient margin from slide edges (< 0.5")
- Low-contrast text or icons
- Text boxes too narrow causing excessive wrapping
- Leftover placeholder content

For each slide, list issues found.

Verification Loop

1. Generate slides → convert to images → inspect
2. List issues found
3. Fix issues
4. Re-verify affected slides — one fix often creates another problem
5. Repeat until a full pass reveals no new issues

Complete at least one fix-and-verify cycle before declaring success.

Converting to Images

python scripts/office/soffice.py --headless --convert-to pdf output.pptx
pdftoppm -jpeg -r 150 output.pdf slide
# Creates slide-01.jpg, slide-02.jpg, etc.

# Re-render specific slide after fix:
pdftoppm -jpeg -r 150 -f N -l N output.pdf slide-fixed

Dependencies

• pip install "markitdown[pptx]" — text extraction
• pip install Pillow — thumbnail grids
• npm install -g pptxgenjs — creating from scratch
• LibreOffice (soffice) — PDF conversion (auto-configured via scripts/office/soffice.py)
• Poppler (pdftoppm) — PDF to images