PPTX

PPTX Skill

Quick Reference

Reading Content

# Text extraction
python -m markitdown presentation.pptx

# Visual overview (thumbnail grid)
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

Read python-pptx.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.

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:

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
• Half-bleed image (full left or right side) with content overlay

Data display:

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

Typography

Choose an interesting font pairing — don't default to Arial:

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 default to blue — pick colors that reflect the specific topic
• Don't create text-only slides — add images, icons, charts, or visual elements
• NEVER use accent lines under titles — hallmark of AI-generated slides; use whitespace or background color instead

QA (Required)

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

Content QA

python -m markitdown output.pptx

Check for missing content, typos, wrong order.

Check for leftover placeholder text:

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

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.

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)
- Text overflow or cut off at edges/box boundaries
- Elements too close (< 0.3" gaps) or sections nearly touching
- Insufficient margin from slide edges (< 0.5")
- Columns or similar elements not aligned consistently
- Low-contrast text or icons
- Leftover placeholder content

For each slide, list issues or areas of concern, even if minor.
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

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.

To re-render specific slides after fixes:

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

Dependencies

# Core Python libraries
uv pip install "python-pptx>=0.6.23" "markitdown[pptx]" Pillow

# System tools (macOS)
brew install libreoffice poppler

• python-pptx — create and edit .pptx programmatically
• markitdown[pptx] — text extraction from .pptx
• Pillow — thumbnail generation
• LibreOffice (soffice) — PDF conversion for visual QA
• Poppler (pdftoppm) — PDF to images