PPTX

PPTX Skill

Quick Reference

Reading Content

# Text extraction
python -m markitdown 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 for full details.

1. Analyze template with thumbnail.py
2. Unpack → manipulate slides → edit content → clean → pack

Creating from Scratch

Use python-pptx to create presentations (auto-installed, no extra setup needed).

Basic Presentation

from pptx import Presentation
from pptx.util import Inches, Pt, Emu
from pptx.dml.color import RGBColor
from pptx.enum.text import PP_ALIGN

prs = Presentation()
prs.slide_width = Inches(13.333)   # Widescreen 16:9
prs.slide_height = Inches(7.5)

# Title slide
slide_layout = prs.slide_layouts[0]  # Title Slide layout
slide = prs.slides.add_slide(slide_layout)
slide.shapes.title.text = "Presentation Title"
slide.placeholders[1].text = "Subtitle text"

prs.save('output.pptx')

Adding Text Boxes

from pptx.util import Inches, Pt
from pptx.dml.color import RGBColor

slide_layout = prs.slide_layouts[6]  # Blank layout
slide = prs.slides.add_slide(slide_layout)

# Add text box
txBox = slide.shapes.add_textbox(Inches(1), Inches(1), Inches(8), Inches(2))
tf = txBox.text_frame
tf.word_wrap = True

# First paragraph
p = tf.paragraphs[0]
p.text = "Title Text"
p.font.size = Pt(36)
p.font.bold = True
p.font.color.rgb = RGBColor(0x1E, 0x27, 0x61)

# Additional paragraph
p2 = tf.add_paragraph()
p2.text = "Body text content"
p2.font.size = Pt(16)
p2.space_before = Pt(12)

Adding Images

slide = prs.slides.add_slide(prs.slide_layouts[6])

# Add image with position and size
slide.shapes.add_picture('image.png',
    left=Inches(1), top=Inches(1),
    width=Inches(5))  # height auto-calculated from aspect ratio

Adding Tables

slide = prs.slides.add_slide(prs.slide_layouts[6])

rows, cols = 4, 3
table = slide.shapes.add_table(rows, cols,
    Inches(1), Inches(1.5), Inches(8), Inches(3)).table

# Set column widths
table.columns[0].width = Inches(3)
table.columns[1].width = Inches(2.5)
table.columns[2].width = Inches(2.5)

# Header row
headers = ['Name', 'Role', 'Status']
for i, header in enumerate(headers):
    cell = table.cell(0, i)
    cell.text = header
    for paragraph in cell.text_frame.paragraphs:
        paragraph.font.bold = True
        paragraph.font.size = Pt(14)

# Data rows
data = [['Project A', 'Active', 'On track'],
        ['Project B', 'Planning', 'Pending'],
        ['Project C', 'Complete', 'Done']]
for i, row_data in enumerate(data):
    for j, text in enumerate(row_data):
        table.cell(i+1, j).text = text

Adding Shapes

from pptx.enum.shapes import MSO_SHAPE

slide = prs.slides.add_slide(prs.slide_layouts[6])

# Rectangle shape
shape = slide.shapes.add_shape(
    MSO_SHAPE.ROUNDED_RECTANGLE,
    Inches(1), Inches(1), Inches(4), Inches(2))
shape.fill.solid()
shape.fill.fore_color.rgb = RGBColor(0x06, 0x5A, 0x82)
shape.text = "Content"
shape.text_frame.paragraphs[0].font.color.rgb = RGBColor(0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF)
shape.text_frame.paragraphs[0].font.size = Pt(18)

Slide Backgrounds

slide = prs.slides.add_slide(prs.slide_layouts[6])

# Solid color background
background = slide.background
fill = background.fill
fill.solid()
fill.fore_color.rgb = RGBColor(0x1E, 0x27, 0x61)  # Dark navy

Speaker Notes

slide = prs.slides.add_slide(prs.slide_layouts[6])
notes_slide = slide.notes_slide
notes_slide.notes_text_frame.text = "Speaker notes go here"

Advanced: Creating with PptxGenJS (requires Node.js)

For advanced chart types, icons, or features not supported by python-pptx, use PptxGenJS. Read pptxgenjs.md for full details.

npm install -g pptxgenjs  # One-time setup

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, thick single-side borders. Carry it across every slide.

Color Palettes

Choose colors that match your topic — don't default to generic blue. Use these palettes as inspiration:

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

Choose an interesting font pairing — don't default to Arial. Pick a header font with personality and pair it with a clean body font.

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

QA (Required)

Assume there are problems. Your job is to find them.

Your first render is almost never correct. Approach QA as a bug hunt, not a confirmation step. If you found zero issues on first inspection, you weren't looking hard enough.

Content QA

python -m markitdown output.pptx

Check for missing content, typos, wrong order.

When using templates, check for leftover placeholder text:

python -m markitdown output.pptx | grep -iE "xxxx|lorem|ipsum|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), then use this prompt:

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

Look for:
- Overlapping elements (text through shapes, lines through words, stacked elements)
- Text overflow or cut off at edges/box boundaries
- Decorative lines positioned for single-line text but title wrapped to two lines
- 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)
- 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 issues or areas of concern, even if minor.

Read and analyze these images:
1. /path/to/slide-01.jpg (Expected: [brief description])
2. /path/to/slide-02.jpg (Expected: [brief description])

Report ALL issues found, including minor ones.

Verification Loop

1. Generate slides → Convert to images → Inspect
2. List issues found (if none found, look again more critically)
3. Fix issues
4. Re-verify affected slides — one fix often creates another problem
5. Repeat until a full pass reveals no new issues

Do not declare success until you've completed at least one fix-and-verify cycle.

Converting to Images

Convert presentations to individual slide images for visual inspection:

python scripts/office/soffice.py --headless --convert-to pdf output.pptx
pdftoppm -jpeg -r 150 output.pdf slide

This creates slide-01.jpg, slide-02.jpg, etc.

To re-render specific slides after fixes:

pdftoppm -jpeg -r 150 -f N -l N output.pdf slide-fixed

Dependencies

Auto-installed (via metadata.dependencies):

• python-pptx: Creating and editing presentations (default)
• Pillow: Thumbnail generation, image processing
• markitdown[pptx]: Text extraction

Manual install (for advanced features):

• pptxgenjs (npm): npm install -g pptxgenjs — advanced presentation creation
• LibreOffice (soffice): PDF conversion — brew install --cask libreoffice (macOS) / apt install libreoffice (Linux)
• Poppler (pdftoppm): PDF to images — brew install poppler (macOS) / apt install poppler-utils (Linux)