PPTX Skill

Quick Reference

| Task | Guide |
|------|-------|
| Read/analyze content | python -m markitdown presentation.pptx |
| Edit or create from template | Read [editing.md](editing.md) |
| Create from scratch | Read [pptxgenjs.md](pptxgenjs.md) |

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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/

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Editing Workflow

Read [editing.md](editing.md) for full details.

• Analyze template with thumbnail.py
• Unpack → manipulate slides → edit content → clean → pack

Creating from Scratch

Read [pptxgenjs.md](pptxgenjs.md) for full details.

Use when no template or reference presentation is available.

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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

• 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. Use these palettes as inspiration:

| Theme | Primary | Secondary | Accent |
|-------|---------|-----------|--------|
| Midnight Executive | 1E2761 (navy) | CADCFC (ice blue) | FFFFFF (white) |
| Forest & Moss | 2C5F2D (forest) | 97BC62 (moss) | F5F5F5 (cream) |
| Coral Energy | F96167 (coral) | F9E795 (gold) | 2F3C7E (navy) |
| Warm Terracotta | B85042 (terracotta) | E7E8D1 (sand) | A7BEAE (sage) |
| Ocean Gradient | 065A82 (deep blue) | 1C7293 (teal) | 21295C (midnight) |
| Charcoal Minimal | 36454F (charcoal) | F2F2F2 (off-white) | 212121 (black) |
| Teal Trust | 028090 (teal) | 00A896 (seafoam) | 02C39A (mint) |
| Berry & Cream | 6D2E46 (berry) | A26769 (dusty rose) | ECE2D0 (cream) |
| Sage Calm | 84B59F (sage) | 69A297 (eucalyptus) | 50808E (slate) |
| Cherry Bold | 990011 (cherry) | FCF6F5 (off-white) | 2F3C7E (navy) |

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 (image on one side, grid of content blocks on other)


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

• Large stat callouts (big numbers 60-72pt with small labels below)


• Comparison columns (before/after, pros/cons, side-by-side options)


• Timeline or process flow (numbered steps, arrows)

• Icons in small colored circles next to section headers


• Italic accent text for key stats or taglines

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.

| Header Font | Body Font |
|-------------|-----------|
| Georgia | Calibri |
| Arial Black | Arial |
| Calibri | Calibri Light |
| Cambria | Calibri |
| Trebuchet MS | Calibri |
| Impact | Arial |
| Palatino | Garamond |
| Consolas | Calibri |

| Element | Size |
|---------|------|
| Slide title | 36-44pt bold |
| Section header | 20-24pt bold |
| Body text | 14-16pt |
| Captions | 10-12pt muted |

Spacing

• 0.5" minimum margins
• 0.3-0.5" between content blocks
• Leave breathing room—don't fill every inch

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 skimp on size contrast — titles need 36pt+ to stand out from 14-16pt body
• Don't default to blue — pick colors that reflect the specific topic
• Don't mix spacing randomly — choose 0.3" or 0.5" gaps and use consistently
• Don't style one slide and leave the rest plain — commit fully or keep it simple throughout
• Don't create text-only slides — add images, icons, charts, or visual elements; avoid plain title + bullets
• 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
• 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
• NEVER use accent lines under titles — these are a hallmark of AI-generated slides; use whitespace or background color instead

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](#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:
1. /path/to/slide-01.jpg (Expected: [brief description])
2. /path/to/slide-02.jpg (Expected: [brief description])
Report ALL issues found, including minor ones.

Verification Loop

• Generate slides → Convert to images → Inspect
• List issues found (if none found, look again more critically)
• Fix issues
• Re-verify affected slides — one fix often creates another problem
• Repeat until a full pass reveals no new issues

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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

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Dependencies

• pip install "markitdown[pptx]" - text extraction
• pip install Pillow - thumbnail grids
• npm install -g pptxgenjs - creating from scratch
• LibreOffice (soffice) - PDF conversion (auto-configured for sandboxed environments via scripts/office/soffice.py)
• Poppler (pdftoppm) - PDF to images