PPTX Processing Skill

Overview

This skill provides three primary workflows for PowerPoint manipulation: creating from scratch, editing existing presentations, and using templates.

Quick Start

from pptx import Presentation
from pptx.util import Inches, Pt

prs = Presentation()

# Add title slide
title_slide = prs.slides.add_slide(prs.slide_layouts[0])
title_slide.shapes.title.text = "My Presentation"
title_slide.placeholders[1].text = "By Claude"

prs.save("presentation.pptx")

When to Use

• Creating automated presentation reports
• Building slide decks from data
• Generating pitch presentations
• Converting HTML content to slides
• Adding charts and tables to presentations
• Batch processing multiple presentations
• Updating existing presentations programmatically
• Creating consistent branded presentations from templates

Creating New Presentations

Basic Creation with python-pptx

from pptx import Presentation
from pptx.util import Inches, Pt
from pptx.enum.text import PP_ALIGN

prs = Presentation()

# Add title slide
title_slide_layout = prs.slide_layouts[0]
slide = prs.slides.add_slide(title_slide_layout)
title = slide.shapes.title
subtitle = slide.placeholders[1]

title.text = "Presentation Title"
subtitle.text = "Subtitle or Author"

# Add content slide
bullet_slide_layout = prs.slide_layouts[1]
slide = prs.slides.add_slide(bullet_slide_layout)
shapes = slide.shapes

title_shape = shapes.title
body_shape = shapes.placeholders[1]

title_shape.text = "Slide Title"
tf = body_shape.text_frame
tf.text = "First bullet point"

p = tf.add_paragraph()
p.text = "Second bullet point"
p.level = 0

p = tf.add_paragraph()
p.text = "Sub-bullet"
p.level = 1

prs.save("presentation.pptx")

Add Images

from pptx import Presentation
from pptx.util import Inches

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

left = Inches(1)
top = Inches(1)
width = Inches(5)

slide.shapes.add_picture("image.png", left, top, width=width)

prs.save("with_image.pptx")

Add Charts

from pptx import Presentation
from pptx.chart.data import CategoryChartData
from pptx.enum.chart import XL_CHART_TYPE
from pptx.util import Inches

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

chart_data = CategoryChartData()
chart_data.categories = ['Q1', 'Q2', 'Q3', 'Q4']
chart_data.add_series('Sales', (19.2, 21.4, 16.7, 28.0))
chart_data.add_series('Expenses', (14.2, 18.3, 15.4, 20.1))

x, y, cx, cy = Inches(2), Inches(2), Inches(6), Inches(4.5)
slide.shapes.add_chart(
    XL_CHART_TYPE.COLUMN_CLUSTERED, x, y, cx, cy, chart_data
)

prs.save("with_chart.pptx")

Add Tables

from pptx import Presentation
from pptx.util import Inches

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

rows, cols = 3, 4
left = Inches(1)
top = Inches(2)
width = Inches(6)
height = Inches(2)

table = slide.shapes.add_table(rows, cols, left, top, width, height).table

# Set column widths
for col_idx in range(cols):
    table.columns[col_idx].width = Inches(1.5)

# Fill cells
for row_idx, row in enumerate(table.rows):
    for col_idx, cell in enumerate(row.cells):
        cell.text = f"R{row_idx+1}C{col_idx+1}"

prs.save("with_table.pptx")

Design Principles

Before Writing Code

State your content-informed design approach:

1. What is the purpose and tone?
2. Select colors that genuinely match the topic
3. Plan visual hierarchy and layout
4. Consider typography choices

Professional Styling

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

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

# Add styled text box
left = Inches(1)
top = Inches(1)
width = Inches(8)
height = Inches(1)

txBox = slide.shapes.add_textbox(left, top, width, height)
tf = txBox.text_frame

p = tf.paragraphs[0]
p.text = "Styled Heading"
p.font.size = Pt(44)
p.font.bold = True
p.font.color.rgb = RGBColor(0x2E, 0x74, 0xB5)
p.alignment = PP_ALIGN.CENTER

prs.save("styled.pptx")

Editing Existing Presentations

Read and Modify

from pptx import Presentation

prs = Presentation("existing.pptx")

for slide in prs.slides:
    for shape in slide.shapes:
        if shape.has_text_frame:
            for paragraph in shape.text_frame.paragraphs:
                for run in paragraph.runs:
                    if "old text" in run.text:
                        run.text = run.text.replace("old text", "new text")

prs.save("modified.pptx")

Extract Text

from pptx import Presentation

prs = Presentation("presentation.pptx")

for slide_num, slide in enumerate(prs.slides, 1):
    print(f"\n--- Slide {slide_num} ---")
    for shape in slide.shapes:
        if shape.has_text_frame:
            for paragraph in shape.text_frame.paragraphs:
                print(paragraph.text)

Copy Slides

from pptx import Presentation
from copy import deepcopy

prs = Presentation("source.pptx")
# Note: python-pptx doesn't directly support slide copying
# Use slide layouts from the same presentation instead

Using Templates

Apply Template

from pptx import Presentation

# Open template
prs = Presentation("template.pptx")

# Add slides using template layouts
slide_layout = prs.slide_layouts[1]  # Use template's layout
slide = prs.slides.add_slide(slide_layout)

# Fill placeholders
for shape in slide.placeholders:
    print(f"{shape.placeholder_format.idx}: {shape.name}")

prs.save("from_template.pptx")

OOXML Editing (Advanced)

For complex modifications, work directly with XML:

Unpack Presentation

unzip presentation.pptx -d presentation_extracted/

Edit XML

Navigate to ppt/slides/ and edit slide1.xml, etc.

Repack

cd presentation_extracted
zip -r ../modified.pptx .

Execution Checklist

• Define presentation purpose and audience
• Plan slide structure before coding
• Use consistent styling throughout
• Verify all images exist and are accessible
• Test output in PowerPoint/LibreOffice
• Check chart data accuracy
• Validate table formatting

Error Handling

Common Errors

Error: KeyError on placeholder

• Cause: Placeholder index doesn't exist in layout
• Solution: List placeholders first with slide.placeholders

Error: Image not found

• Cause: Image path is incorrect
• Solution: Use absolute paths or verify relative path

Error: Font not available

• Cause: System font missing
• Solution: Use common fonts or embed fonts

Error: PackageNotFoundError

• Cause: Template file not found or corrupt
• Solution: Verify template path and file integrity

Metrics

Metric	Typical Value
Slide creation	~50 slides/second
Chart generation	~10 charts/second
Table creation	~20 tables/second
Image insertion	~30 images/second
Memory usage	~20MB per presentation

Quick Reference

Task	Method
Create presentation	Presentation()
Add slide	slides.add_slide(layout)
Add text	add_textbox()
Add image	add_picture()
Add chart	add_chart()
Add table	add_table()
Style text	font.size, font.bold, font.color

Dependencies

pip install python-pptx

Optional tools:

• LibreOffice (for PDF conversion)
• Pandoc (for format conversion)

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Version History

• 1.1.0 (2026-01-02): Added Quick Start, When to Use, Execution Checklist, Error Handling, Metrics sections; updated frontmatter with version, category, related_skills
• 1.0.0 (2024-10-15): Initial release with python-pptx, templates, OOXML editing