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.

Creating from Scratch

Read pptxgenjs.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. Consider ideas from this list for each slide.

Before Starting

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:

Data display:

Visual polish:

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

Avoid (Common Mistakes)

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:
/path/to/slide-01.jpg (Expected: [brief description])

/path/to/slide-02.jpg (Expected: [brief description])
Report ALL issues found, including minor ones.

Verification Loop

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