- PPTX Generator
- When to Use This Skill
- Use this skill when:
- Creating presentations programmatically from data or specifications
- Populating branded templates with dynamic content while preserving corporate styling
- Extracting text and structure from existing PPTX files for analysis
- Combining slides from a library of approved templates
- Automating presentation generation workflows
- Do NOT use this skill when:
- User wants to open/view presentations (use native PowerPoint or viewer)
- Complex animations or transitions are required (limited support)
- Working with older .ppt format (PPTX only)
- Prerequisites
- Deno installed (
- https://deno.land/
- )
- Input PPTX files for template-based operations
- JSON specification for scratch generation
- Quick Start
- Two Modes of Operation
- Template Mode
-
- Modify existing branded templates
- Analyze & Replace: Find
- {{PLACEHOLDERS}}
- and replace with content
- Slide Library: Select and combine slides from a template library
- Scratch Mode
-
- Create presentations from nothing using JSON specifications
- Instructions
- Mode 1: Template-Based Generation
- Step 1a: Analyze the Template
- Extract text inventory to understand what can be replaced:
- deno run --allow-read scripts/analyze-template.ts corporate-template.pptx
- >
- inventory.json
- Output
- (inventory.json):
- {
- "filename"
- :
- "corporate-template.pptx"
- ,
- "slideCount"
- :
- 10
- ,
- "textElements"
- :
- [
- {
- "slideNumber"
- :
- 1
- ,
- "shapeId"
- :
- "shape-2"
- ,
- "shapeName"
- :
- "Title 1"
- ,
- "placeholderType"
- :
- "ctrTitle"
- ,
- "position"
- :
- {
- "x"
- :
- 1.5
- ,
- "y"
- :
- 2.0
- ,
- "w"
- :
- 7.0
- ,
- "h"
- :
- 1.2
- }
- ,
- "paragraphs"
- :
- [
- {
- "text"
- :
- "{{TITLE}}"
- ,
- "fontSize"
- :
- 44
- ,
- "bold"
- :
- true
- }
- ]
- }
- ]
- }
- Step 1b: Create Replacement Specification
- Create
- replacements.json
- :
- {
- "textReplacements"
- :
- [
- {
- "tag"
- :
- "{{TITLE}}"
- ,
- "value"
- :
- "Q4 2024 Results"
- }
- ,
- {
- "tag"
- :
- "{{SUBTITLE}}"
- ,
- "value"
- :
- "Financial Overview"
- }
- ,
- {
- "tag"
- :
- "{{DATE}}"
- ,
- "value"
- :
- "December 2024"
- }
- ,
- {
- "tag"
- :
- "{{AUTHOR}}"
- ,
- "value"
- :
- "Finance Team"
- ,
- "slideNumbers"
- :
- [
- 1
- ]
- }
- ]
- }
- Step 1c: Generate Output
- deno run --allow-read --allow-write scripts/generate-from-template.ts
- \
- corporate-template.pptx replacements.json output.pptx
- Mode 1 (Alternative): Slide Library
- Step 2a: Preview Template Slides
- Get information about available slides:
- deno run --allow-read scripts/generate-thumbnails.ts slide-library.pptx
- For visual preview, extract the thumbnail:
- deno run --allow-read --allow-write scripts/generate-thumbnails.ts
- \
- slide-library.pptx --extract-thumb --output-dir ./previews
- Step 2b: Select and Combine Slides
- Create
- selections.json
- :
- {
- "slideSelections"
- :
- [
- {
- "slideNumber"
- :
- 1
- }
- ,
- {
- "slideNumber"
- :
- 5
- }
- ,
- {
- "slideNumber"
- :
- 12
- }
- ,
- {
- "slideNumber"
- :
- 3
- }
- ]
- ,
- "textReplacements"
- :
- [
- {
- "tag"
- :
- "{{TITLE}}"
- ,
- "value"
- :
- "Custom Presentation"
- }
- ]
- }
- Step 2c: Generate Combined Presentation
- deno run --allow-read --allow-write scripts/generate-from-template.ts
- \
- slide-library.pptx selections.json custom-deck.pptx
- Mode 2: From-Scratch Generation
- Step 3a: Create Specification
- Create
- spec.json
- :
- {
- "title"
- :
- "Product Launch 2025"
- ,
- "author"
- :
- "Marketing Team"
- ,
- "slides"
- :
- [
- {
- "background"
- :
- {
- "color"
- :
- "003366"
- }
- ,
- "elements"
- :
- [
- {
- "type"
- :
- "text"
- ,
- "x"
- :
- 1
- ,
- "y"
- :
- 2.5
- ,
- "w"
- :
- 8
- ,
- "h"
- :
- 1.5
- ,
- "options"
- :
- {
- "text"
- :
- "Product Launch 2025"
- ,
- "fontSize"
- :
- 44
- ,
- "bold"
- :
- true
- ,
- "color"
- :
- "FFFFFF"
- ,
- "align"
- :
- "center"
- }
- }
- ,
- {
- "type"
- :
- "text"
- ,
- "x"
- :
- 1
- ,
- "y"
- :
- 4
- ,
- "w"
- :
- 8
- ,
- "h"
- :
- 0.5
- ,
- "options"
- :
- {
- "text"
- :
- "Revolutionizing the Industry"
- ,
- "fontSize"
- :
- 24
- ,
- "color"
- :
- "CCCCCC"
- ,
- "align"
- :
- "center"
- }
- }
- ]
- }
- ,
- {
- "elements"
- :
- [
- {
- "type"
- :
- "text"
- ,
- "x"
- :
- 0.5
- ,
- "y"
- :
- 0.5
- ,
- "w"
- :
- 9
- ,
- "h"
- :
- 0.7
- ,
- "options"
- :
- {
- "text"
- :
- "Key Features"
- ,
- "fontSize"
- :
- 32
- ,
- "bold"
- :
- true
- ,
- "color"
- :
- "003366"
- }
- }
- ,
- {
- "type"
- :
- "table"
- ,
- "x"
- :
- 0.5
- ,
- "y"
- :
- 1.5
- ,
- "w"
- :
- 9
- ,
- "h"
- :
- 3
- ,
- "options"
- :
- {
- "rows"
- :
- [
- [
- "Feature"
- ,
- "Description"
- ,
- "Benefit"
- ]
- ,
- [
- "Speed"
- ,
- "2x faster processing"
- ,
- "Save time"
- ]
- ,
- [
- "Quality"
- ,
- "HD output"
- ,
- "Better results"
- ]
- ,
- [
- "Integration"
- ,
- "Works with existing tools"
- ,
- "Easy adoption"
- ]
- ]
- ,
- "border"
- :
- {
- "pt"
- :
- 1
- ,
- "color"
- :
- "CCCCCC"
- }
- }
- }
- ]
- }
- ]
- }
- Step 3b: Generate Presentation
- deno run --allow-read --allow-write scripts/generate-scratch.ts spec.json output.pptx
- Examples
- Example 1: Corporate Quarterly Report
- Scenario
- Generate quarterly report from branded template. Steps :
1. Analyze template for replaceable content
deno run --allow-read scripts/analyze-template.ts quarterly-template.pptx --pretty
2. Create replacements.json with Q4 data
3. Generate report
- deno run --allow-read --allow-write scripts/generate-from-template.ts
- \
- quarterly-template.pptx replacements.json Q4-2024-Report.pptx
- Example 2: Custom Pitch Deck from Slide Library
- Scenario
- Combine approved slides for a specific client pitch. Steps :
1. View available slides
deno run --allow-read scripts/generate-thumbnails.ts pitch-library.pptx
2. Create selections.json picking slides 1, 3, 7, 12, 15
3. Generate custom deck
- deno run --allow-read --allow-write scripts/generate-from-template.ts
- \
- pitch-library.pptx selections.json acme-pitch.pptx
- Example 3: Data-Driven Presentation
- Scenario
- Generate presentation from JSON data (e.g., API response). Steps :
1. Transform your data into spec.json format
2. Generate presentation
- deno run --allow-read --allow-write scripts/generate-scratch.ts data-spec.json report.pptx
- Script Reference
- Script
- Purpose
- Permissions
- analyze-template.ts
- Extract text inventory from PPTX
- --allow-read
- generate-thumbnails.ts
- Get slide info and extract previews
- --allow-read --allow-write
- generate-from-template.ts
- Modify templates (replace/combine)
- --allow-read --allow-write
- generate-scratch.ts
- Create PPTX from JSON specification
- --allow-read --allow-write
- Element Types (Scratch Mode)
- Type
- Description
- Key Options
- text
- Text box
- text
- ,
- fontSize
- ,
- bold
- ,
- color
- ,
- align
- image
- Image from file or base64
- path
- ,
- data
- ,
- sizing
- table
- Data table
- rows
- ,
- colW
- ,
- border
- ,
- fill
- shape
- Geometric shapes
- type
- ,
- fill
- ,
- line
- ,
- text
- chart
- Charts and graphs
- type
- ,
- data
- ,
- title
- ,
- showLegend
- Common Issues and Solutions
- Issue: Text not being replaced
- Symptoms
-
- Output PPTX still contains
- {{PLACEHOLDER}}
- tags.
- Solution
- :
- Run
- analyze-template.ts
- to verify exact tag text
- Tags may be split across XML runs - ensure your template has tags in single text runs
- Check
- slideNumbers
- filter in replacements
- Issue: Slide order incorrect
- Symptoms
-
- Slides appear in wrong order after combining.
- Solution
- :
- Slides are added in the order specified in
- slideSelections
- Verify slide numbers match original template (1-indexed)
- Issue: Images not appearing
- Symptoms
-
- Image elements are blank in output.
- Solution
- :
- Use absolute paths or paths relative to spec.json location
- Verify image file exists and is readable
- Check supported formats: PNG, JPEG, GIF
- OOXML Placeholder Inheritance (Advanced)
- Understanding how PowerPoint's OOXML format handles placeholders is crucial for template development.
- The Inheritance Chain
- PowerPoint uses a hierarchical inheritance model:
- Theme → Slide Master → Slide Layout → Slide
- Theme
-
- Defines colors, fonts, effects
- Slide Master
-
- Defines default placeholder positions and formatting (including bullets)
- Slide Layout
-
- Overrides master settings for specific layout types (e.g., Title Slide, Content)
- Slide
-
- Contains actual content, inherits formatting from layout
- Key Principles
- Text Content Does NOT Inherit
-
- Slides must contain their own text content. The
- {{placeholder}}
- text in a layout does NOT automatically appear on slides using that layout.
- Text Formatting CAN Inherit
-
- When a slide shape has an empty
- , it inherits formatting (color, size, bullets) from the layout's
- .
- Placeholder Linking
-
- Slides link to layouts via
- . The
- type
- (e.g., "title", "body", "ctrTitle") and
- idx
- must match.
- Bullet Suppression
- To prevent bullets on a placeholder that would normally inherit them from the master's bodyStyle, add
< p: txBody
< a: lstStyle
< a: lvl1pPr algn = " ctr "
< a: buNone />
< a: defRPr sz = " 4400 " b = " 1 "
< a: solidFill
< a: srgbClr val = " FFFFFF " /> </ a: solidFill
</ a: defRPr
</ a: lvl1pPr
</ a: lstStyle
< a: p
< a: r
< a: rPr lang = " en-US " /> < a: t
{{placeholder}} </ a: t
</ a: r
</ a: p
</ p: txBody
Slide Shape Structure For slides to properly inherit from layouts:
< p: sp
< p: nvSpPr
< p: cNvPr id = " 2 " name = " title 2 " /> < p: cNvSpPr
< a: spLocks noGrp = " 1 " /> </ p: cNvSpPr
< p: nvPr
< p: ph type = " ctrTitle " />
</ p: nvPr
</ p: nvSpPr
< p: spPr />
< p: txBody
< a: bodyPr /> < a: lstStyle />
< a: p
< a: r
< a: rPr lang = " en-US " />
< a: t
{{placeholder}} </ a: t
- </
- a:
- r
- >
- </
- a:
- p
- >
- </
- p:
- txBody
- >
- </
- p:
- sp
- >
- Common Issues
- Issue
- Cause
- Solution
- Text shows as black instead of white
- Color defined in
- not
- Move color to layout's
- in
- Unwanted bullets appearing
- Master's bodyStyle has bullets, layout doesn't override
- Add
- to layout's
- Placeholder text not appearing
- Text only in layout, not in slide
- Include text content in slide's
- Formatting not applying
- Slide has explicit formatting
- Use empty
- and
- Reference: Placeholder Types
- Type
- Usage
- ctrTitle
- Centered title (title slides)
- title
- Standard title
- subTitle
- Subtitle
- body
- Content area (use
- idx
- for multiple)
- pic
- Picture placeholder
- dt
- Date/time
- ftr
- Footer
- sldNum
- Slide number
- Limitations
- No slide rendering
-
- Cannot render slides to images directly (use LibreOffice for this)
- Limited animation support
-
- Basic animations only in scratch mode
- No master slide editing
-
- Template mode preserves but doesn't modify masters
- PPTX only
-
- Does not support legacy .ppt format
- Text run splitting
- Complex formatting in templates may split tags across XML elements