pptx

Name: pptx
Author: anthropics

byanthropics· 237 skills

Installs

189k

Stars

164k

Forks

20k

How to install pptx?

anthropics/skills/pptx

$npx -y skills add anthropics/skills --skill pptx

Installs into the current project.

›Prefer a prompt? Paste this to your agent

Use this skill

Run `npx skills use "https://github.com/anthropics/skills" --skill "anthropics/skills/pptx"` and follow the generated skill instructions now. Read its complete output, redirecting it to a temporary file first if necessary. Resolve relative paths from the supporting-files directory it provides.

Use the whole pack

Use the skills in "https://github.com/anthropics/skills" that are relevant to the current task. Run `npx skills add "https://github.com/anthropics/skills"` and select the relevant skills, then follow their instructions.

Files · 1

View on GitHub

SKILL.md

1	# PPTX creation, editing, and analysis
2
3	A `.pptx` is a ZIP archive of XML files. Choose your approach by task:
4
5	\| Task \| Approach \|
6	\|---\|---\|
7	\| Create a new deck \| Write a `pptxgenjs` script — see gotchas below \|
8	\| Edit an existing deck, or build from a template \| unzip → edit `ppt/slides/slideN.xml` → zip \|
9	\| Read content \| `markitdown deck.pptx` (one block per slide under `<!-- Slide number: N -->` markers); visual grid: `python scripts/thumbnail.py deck.pptx` \|
10
11	## Scripts
12
13	Paths are relative to this skill's directory. Everything else is plain Python, `node`, or shell.
14
15	\| Script \| What it does \|
16	\|---\|---\|
17	\| `scripts/thumbnail.py deck.pptx [prefix]` \| Labeled grid of every slide, for picking template layouts. `.pptx` only. Pass `prefix` — it defaults to `thumbnails`, which overwrites the grids of any other deck done in the same directory \|
18	\| `scripts/add_slide.py unpacked/ slide2.xml [--after slideN.xml]` \| Duplicate a slide (or a `slideLayoutN.xml`) with all the package bookkeeping. Also takes a `.pptx` directly with `-o out.pptx` \|
19	\| `scripts/clean.py unpacked/` \| Delete slides, media, and rels no longer referenced. Run after `<p:sldIdLst>` is final \|
20	\| `scripts/office/validate.py deck.pptx [--original src.pptx]` \| Schema, relationship, content-type, chart and slide checks; each failure names its fix. Pass `--original` for any template-derived deck — it baselines the schema checks against the template, so the template's own XSD errors don't read as yours \|
21	\| `scripts/office/soffice.py --headless --convert-to pdf deck.pptx` \| LibreOffice wrapper — bare `soffice` hangs in this sandbox \|
22
23	## Creating with pptxgenjs — gotchas
24
25	`pptxgenjs` is preinstalled — do not run `npm install` first; write the script and `require('pptxgenjs')` directly. Only if that require fails: `npm install pptxgenjs`. The model knows the API; these are the footguns:
26
27	- Set `pres.layout` before adding slides. The default canvas is `LAYOUT_16x9` = 10" × 5.625", not 13.3" wide. Coordinates past the edge are written, not clamped — the shape just isn't on the slide. (`LAYOUT_WIDE` is 13.3" × 7.5".)
28	- Hex colors: never `#`, never 8 digits. `color: "FF0000"`. Both `"#FF0000"` and alpha baked into the hex (`"00000020"`) corrupt the file. For translucency: `transparency: 0-100` on fills and images, `opacity: 0.0-1.0` on shadows — each is silently ignored on the other.
29	- pptxgenjs mutates option objects in place (converts values to EMU on first use). Never share one `shadow`/options object across two `add*` calls — build a fresh object each time.
30	- Shadow `offset` must be ≥ 0 — a negative offset corrupts the file. To cast a shadow upward, use `angle: 270` with a positive offset.
31	- `letterSpacing` is silently ignored — the real option is `charSpacing`.
32	- Lists: `bullet: true` on each item, never a literal `•` (renders double bullets). Set `breakLine: true` on every array item except the last. Space bulleted paragraphs with `paraSpaceAfter`, not `lineSpacing` (huge gaps).
33	- One `new pptxgen()` per output file — never reuse an instance.
34	- `rectRadius` only works on `ROUNDED_RECTANGLE`, not `RECTANGLE`.
35	- Gradient fills aren't supported — use a gradient image as the background instead.
36	- Text boxes have built-in internal padding — set `margin: 0` whenever text must align with a shape, line, or icon at the same x.
37	- Speaker notes go in `slide.addNotes("...")` (plain text, once per slide), never in a text box on the slide.
38	- Keep charts native. Use `addChart()` for everything PowerPoint can chart (pass an array of `{type, data, options}` for combos). For PowerPoint-native features the library doesn't expose (trendlines, error bars), compute the extra series yourself or post-process the generated OOXML — do not fall back to a rendered image. Only chart types PowerPoint has no native form for (Sankey, network, chord) go in as images.
39	- Default charts render bare — no title, no data labels, dated palette. Set `showTitle` + `title`, `showValue: true` + `dataLabelPosition`, `chartColors: [...]` from your palette, and quiet the frame (`catAxisLabelColor`/`valAxisLabelColor`, `valGridLine: { color, size }`, `catGridLine: { style: "none" }`, `showLegend: false` for a single series).
40	- On a stacked bar or column chart, `dataLabelPosition` must be `ctr`, `inEnd`, or `inBase`. `outEnd` corrupts the file.
41	- A combo series using `secondaryValAxis`/`secondaryCatAxis` needs both `valAxes` and `catAxes` on the chart options, two entries each. Without them pptxgenjs writes axis ids it never declares, and PowerPoint discards that chart and reports the file as corrupt. Supplying only `valAxes` is not enough.
42	- After `writeFile()`, run `python scripts/office/validate.py deck.pptx`. It reports the two chart faults above and the slide-XML defects PowerPoint refuses, and names the fix for each. Fix them in your generator, not by hand-editing the packed XML.
43	- Never reorder the children of `<p:presentation>`. pptxgenjs writes `<p:notesMasterIdLst>` right after `<p:sldIdLst>` and points both masters at one theme part. PowerPoint reads that happily — move the element and the same deck becomes unopenable.
44	- Icons: render `react-icons` to SVG (`ReactDOMServer.renderToStaticMarkup`), rasterize with `sharp` at ≥256px, and insert via `addImage({ data: "image/png;base64," + buf.toString("base64") })` — the `image/png;base64,` prefix is required (`react-icons`, `react`, `react-dom`, and `sharp` are preinstalled — `npm install react-icons react react-dom sharp` only if a require fails).
45
46	## Editing existing decks and templates
47
48	Pick layouts first: `python scripts/thumbnail.py template.pptx template-thumbs` writes a labeled grid of every slide and prints the file(s) it created — `template-thumbs.jpg`, split into `template-thumbs-N.jpg` past 12 slides. Always pass that second argument, named after the deck. It defaults to `thumbnails`, so two decks thumbnailed in one directory silently overwrite each other's grids — the first deck's are simply gone (template analysis only — visual QA needs the full-resolution renders from [Converting to Images](#converting-to-images); it only accepts `.pptx`, so copy a `.potx` to a `.pptx` name first). Use it with `markitdown` to map each content section onto a template slide, and vary the layouts — don't put every section on the same title-and-bullets slide.
49
50	```bash
51	python3 -c "import sys,zipfile; zipfile.ZipFile(sys.argv[1]).extractall('unpacked')" deck.pptx
52	python scripts/add_slide.py unpacked/ slide2.xml --after slide2.xml # duplicate a slide (or slideLayoutN.xml); prints the new slide's path
53	# reorder / delete slides = edit <p:sldIdLst> in ppt/presentation.xml
54	python scripts/clean.py unpacked/ # after deletions: removes orphaned slides, media, rels
55	# edit slide content in ppt/slides/slideN.xml
56	(cd unpacked && rm -f ../out.pptx && zip -Xr ../out.pptx .) # zip from INSIDE the dir; rm first or deleted parts survive
57	python scripts/office/validate.py out.pptx --original deck.pptx
58	```
59
60	- Do all structural work — add, delete, reorder — before editing any slide's content. `add_slide.py` copies a slide file verbatim, so duplicating after you edit clones the edited content; and `clean.py` deletes any slide missing from `<p:sldIdLst>`, including one you just wrote.
61	- Never copy a slide file by hand — `add_slide.py` does every registration a new slide needs and reports what it made (`Created ppt/slides/slide17.xml from slide2.xml`). It also works directly on a file: `add_slide.py deck.pptx slide2.xml -o out.pptx` — pass `-o`, or it rewrites the input deck in place. A duplicated slide still references its source's chart/SmartArt/embedded-object parts rather than cloning them, so editing one slide's chart changes the other's.
62	- If you use `python-pptx`, three things it won't do: duplicate a slide (its only entry point is `add_slide(layout)`), preserve formatting through `text_frame.text = "..."` (that collapses the paragraph to a single unstyled run — assign `run.text` instead), or read the SVG/EMF most template art uses (`add_picture` raises `UnidentifiedImageError`).
63	- Legacy `.ppt` must be converted first: `python scripts/office/soffice.py --headless --convert-to pptx file.ppt`. `.potx` templates unpack and pack identically — keep the `.potx` extension on the output.
64	- To reuse a template icon or image, duplicate a slide or layout that already contains it.
65
66	When filling in a template:
67
68	- If you script an XML transform, parse with `defusedxml.minidom` — round-tripping OOXML through `xml.etree.ElementTree` rewrites namespace prefixes and corrupts the deck.
69	- Template slots ≠ source items. If the template shows 4 team members and you have 3, delete the 4th member's entire group (image + text boxes), not just its text — then check for orphaned visuals in QA.
70	- One `<a:p>` per list item — never concatenate items into a single paragraph. Copy the sibling `<a:pPr>` to preserve spacing, and put `b="1"` on the `<a:rPr>` of titles, section headers, and inline labels (`Status:`, `Owner:`).
71	- Let bullets inherit from the layout; only add `<a:buChar>`, `<a:buAutoNum>` (numbered), or `<a:buNone>` to override — never a literal `•` in the text.
72	- Text with leading or trailing spaces needs `xml:space="preserve"` on its `<a:t>`.
73
74	## Design Ideas
75
76	Don't create boring slides. Plain bullets on a white background won't impress anyone. Consider ideas from this list for each slide.
77
78	### Before Starting
79
80	- 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.
81	- 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.
82	- Dark/light contrast: Dark backgrounds for title + conclusion slides, light for content ("sandwich" structure). Or commit to dark throughout for a premium feel.
83	- 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).
84
85	### Color Palettes
86
87	Choose colors that match your topic — don't default to generic blue. Use these palettes as inspiration:
88
89	\| Theme \| Primary \| Secondary \| Accent \|
90	\|-------\|---------\|-----------\|--------\|
91	\| Midnight Executive \| `1E2761` (navy) \| `CADCFC` (ice blue) \| `FFFFFF` (white) \|
92	\| Forest & Moss \| `2C5F2D` (forest) \| `97BC62` (moss) \| `F5F5F5` (cream) \|
93	\| Coral Energy \| `F96167` (coral) \| `F9E795` (gold) \| `2F3C7E` (navy) \|
94	\| Warm Terracotta \| `B85042` (terracotta) \| `E7E8D1` (sand) \| `A7BEAE` (sage) \|
95	\| Ocean Gradient \| `065A82` (deep blue) \| `1C7293` (teal) \| `21295C` (midnight) \|
96	\| Charcoal Minimal \| `36454F` (charcoal) \| `F2F2F2` (off-white) \| `212121` (black) \|
97	\| Teal Trust \| `028090` (teal) \| `00A896` (seafoam) \| `02C39A` (mint) \|
98	\| Berry & Cream \| `6D2E46` (berry) \| `A26769` (dusty rose) \| `ECE2D0` (cream) \|
99	\| Sage Calm \| `84B59F` (sage) \| `69A297` (eucalyptus) \| `50808E` (slate) \|
100	\| Cherry Bold \| `990011` (cherry) \| `FCF6F5` (off-white) \| `2F3C7E` (navy) \|
101
102	### For Each Slide
103
104	Every slide needs a visual element — image, chart, icon, or shape. Text-only slides are forgettable.
105
106	Layout options:
107	- Two-column (text left, illustration on right)
108	- Icon + text rows (icon in colored circle, bold header, description below)
109	- 2x2 or 2x3 grid (image on one side, grid of content blocks on other)
110	- Half-bleed image (full left or right side) with content overlay
111
112	Data display:
113	- Large stat callouts (big numbers 60-72pt with small labels below)
114	- Comparison columns (before/after, pros/cons, side-by-side options)
115	- Timeline or process flow (numbered steps, arrows)
116
117	Visual polish:
118	- Icons in small colored circles next to section headers
119	- Italic accent text for key stats or taglines
120
121	### Typography
122
123	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:
124
125	- 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.
126	- 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.
127	- 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.
128	- 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.
129	- 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.
130
131	\| Element \| Size \|
132	\|---------\|------\|
133	\| Slide title \| 36-44pt bold \|
134	\| Section header \| 20-24pt bold \|
135	\| Body text \| 14-16pt \|
136	\| Captions \| 10-12pt muted \|
137
138	### Spacing
139
140	- 0.5" minimum margins
141	- 0.3-0.5" between content blocks
142	- Leave breathing room—don't fill every inch
143
144	### Avoid (Common Mistakes)
145
146	- Don't repeat the same layout — vary columns, cards, and callouts across slides
147	- Don't center body text — left-align paragraphs and lists; center only titles
148	- Don't skimp on size contrast — titles need 36pt+ to stand out from 14-16pt body
149	- Don't default to blue — pick colors that reflect the specific topic
150	- Don't mix spacing randomly — choose 0.3" or 0.5" gaps and use consistently
151	- Don't style one slide and leave the rest plain — commit fully or keep it simple throughout
152	- Don't create text-only slides — add images, icons, charts, or visual elements; avoid plain title + bullets
153	- 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
154	- 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
155	- NEVER use accent lines under titles — these are a hallmark of AI-generated slides; use whitespace or background color instead
156	- 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.
157	- 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`
158	- 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
159
160	## QA (Required)
161
162	Your first render usually has a few real issues — overlaps, overflow, misalignment. Find and fix those, re-render only the slides you changed, and stop.
163
164	### Content QA
165
166	```bash
167	markitdown output.pptx
168	```
169
170	Check for missing content, typos, wrong order.
171
172	When using templates, check for leftover placeholder text:
173
174	```bash
175	markitdown output.pptx \| grep -iE "\bx{3,}\b\|lorem\|ipsum\|\bTODO\|\[insert\|this.(page\|slide).layout"
176	```
177
178	If grep returns results, fix them before declaring success.
179
180	### File QA (required)
181
182	```bash
183	python scripts/office/validate.py output.pptx # built from scratch
184	python scripts/office/validate.py output.pptx --original src.pptx # built from a template
185	```
186
187	If the deck came from a template, always pass `--original`. A template may itself
188	contain parts the XSD rejects, so a bare run can report failures you never caused — and
189	a genuine regression can hide among them. `--original` baselines
190	the schema and slide checks against the template, suppressing errors it already had.
191	The structural checks — relationships, content types, charts — ignore `--original` and
192	report template-inherited problems either way, so read those on their own merits.
193
194	pptxgenjs emits chart XML PowerPoint refuses to open, and every other tool
195	accepts: python-pptx opens those decks, LibreOffice renders them, the XSD
196	passes them. Every failure names its fix. Fix it in the generator and rebuild.
197
198	### Visual QA
199
200	Convert the slides to images (see [Converting to Images](#converting-to-images)) and inspect every one. After staring at the generating code you tend to see what you expect rather than what rendered, so look at the images fresh (a subagent works well for this if you have one). User-visible defects to look for:
201
202	- Text overflow or text cut off at a box or slide boundary — check this first. It is the most common defect and always user-visible. (For a font the previewer renders unreliably per Typography, the preview is approximate: trust the ~10% slack you left, not its apparent fit.)
203	- Overlapping elements (text through shapes, lines through words, stacked elements)
204	- Source citations or footers colliding with content above
205	- Elements too close (< 0.3" gaps) or cards/sections nearly touching
206	- Uneven gaps (large empty area in one place, cramped in another)
207	- Insufficient margin from slide edges (< 0.5")
208	- Columns or similar elements not aligned consistently
209	- Low-contrast text (e.g., light gray text on cream-colored background)
210	- Template decoration mispositioned after text replacement — e.g., a title underline positioned for one line, but the replaced title wrapped to two
211	- Low-contrast icons (e.g., dark icons on dark backgrounds without a contrasting circle)
212	- Text boxes too narrow causing excessive wrapping
213	- Leftover placeholder content
214
215	## Converting to Images
216
217	Convert presentations to individual slide images for visual inspection:
218
219	```bash
220	python scripts/office/soffice.py --headless --convert-to pdf output.pptx
221	rm -f slide-*.jpg
222	pdftoppm -jpeg -r 150 output.pdf slide
223	ls -1 "$PWD"/slide-*.jpg
224	```
225
226	Pass the absolute paths printed above directly to the view tool.

6 picks

Type

Run `npx skills use "https://github.com/anthropics/skills" --skill "anthropics/skills/pptx"` and follow the generated skill instructions now. Read its complete output, redirecting it to a temporary file first if necessary. Resolve relative paths from the supporting-files directory it provides.

Use the skills in "https://github.com/anthropics/skills" that are relevant to the current task. Run `npx skills add "https://github.com/anthropics/skills"` and select the relevant skills, then follow their instructions.

pptx

How to install pptx?

Related

pptx

How to install pptx?

Related