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PPTX Presentation Builder

Official Anthropic skill for creating, editing, and analyzing PowerPoint presentations with design-first approach and professional layouts.

businesspresentationdesign

PPTX Presentation Builder

Official Anthropic skill enabling comprehensive PowerPoint operations through specialized workflows for reading, creating, and editing presentations with emphasis on content-informed design.

Essential for professionals creating data-driven presentations, marketing decks, or business reports that require both visual impact and technical precision.

Core Purpose

This skill provides complete PowerPoint manipulation through three specialized workflows:

  • Read and analyze presentations via markdown or raw XML
  • Create new presentations from scratch with HTML-to-PowerPoint workflow
  • Edit existing presentations while preserving formatting and structure
  • Apply design principles with content-informed visual approaches

Three Primary Workflows

1. Reading & Analysis

Markdown Conversion:

  • Extract all presentation text
  • Maintain slide structure
  • Preserve hierarchy and organization
  • Quick content overview

Raw XML Access:

  • Speaker notes and comments
  • Animation sequences
  • Design elements and themes
  • Complete OOXML structure inspection

When to Use:

  • Content analysis
  • Text extraction
  • Structure understanding
  • Template inspection

2. Creating Presentations

HTML-to-PowerPoint Workflow (html2pptx):

  1. Design First: State content-informed design approach
  2. Build HTML: Create slides as HTML files
  3. Convert: Use html2pptx.js for conversion
  4. Validate: Generate thumbnails for visual check

Key Features:

  • Full control over layout
  • Content-driven design
  • Rapid iteration
  • Visual validation

3. Editing Presentations

XML Modification Workflow:

  1. Unpack: Extract presentation to XML files
  2. Edit: Modify content programmatically
  3. Validate: Check changes immediately
  4. Pack: Reassemble into .pptx file

Preservation:

  • Maintains original formatting
  • Preserves animations
  • Keeps design elements
  • Protects slide relationships

Design-First Philosophy

Content-Informed Design Approach:

Always state your design strategy BEFORE writing code:

  • Color palette: Choose based on content and mood
  • Visual treatment: Geometric, typography, or chart-focused
  • Layout approach: Two-column, full-slide, or structured
  • Hierarchy: Clear visual importance indicators

This ensures intentional, professional-looking presentations.

17 Example Color Palettes

Professional Palettes

Corporate:

  • Navy & Gold: Authority and prestige
  • Slate & Cyan: Modern and technical
  • Forest & Sage: Natural and sustainable

Energetic:

  • Coral & Teal: Vibrant and balanced
  • Purple & Orange: Creative and bold
  • Red & Charcoal: Powerful and serious

Data-Focused:

  • Blue spectrum: Clear data visualization
  • Grayscale with accent: Minimal distraction
  • Sequential colors: Progressive data stories

The skill provides 17+ ready-to-use palette combinations.

Layout Recommendations

Two-Column with Header

Best For:

  • Balanced content and visuals
  • Side-by-side comparisons
  • Text with supporting images
  • Professional presentations

Structure:

┌─────────────────────────┐
│       Slide Title       │
├───────────┬─────────────┤
│   Left    │    Right    │
│  Column   │   Column    │
│           │             │
└───────────┴─────────────┘

Full-Slide Layout

Best For:

  • Maximum visual impact
  • Single powerful image
  • Minimal text overlays
  • Section dividers

Avoid:

  • Vertically stacking charts with text
  • Overcrowded slides
  • Inconsistent alignment

Visual Treatment Options

Design Approaches

Geometric Patterns:

  • Bold shapes and angles
  • Modern and structured
  • Tech and innovation themes

Typography Treatments:

  • Large, impactful fonts
  • Minimal visual elements
  • Strong hierarchy
  • Text-driven narratives

Chart Styling:

  • Data visualization focus
  • Clean, readable graphs
  • Consistent color coding
  • Proper labeling

Layout Innovations:

  • Asymmetric compositions
  • Strategic white space
  • Visual flow direction
  • Focal point emphasis

HTML-to-PowerPoint Process

Step 1: Design Declaration

Before Coding:

"I'll use a navy and gold palette with two-column
layouts. Headers will be bold navy, body text slate.
Charts use sequential blues for data progression."

Step 2: HTML Creation

Slide Structure:

HTML
<div class="slide">
  <h1>Slide Title</h1>
  <div class="content">
    <div class="left">
      <p>Left column content</p>
    </div>
    <div class="right">
      <img src="chart.png" />
    </div>
  </div>
</div>

Step 3: Conversion

Using html2pptx.js:

BASH
node html2pptx.js input.html output.pptx

Step 4: Validation

Thumbnail Grid Generation:

PYTHON
# Generate thumbnails for all slides
python generate_thumbnails.py output.pptx

Visual Checks:

  • Text cutoff or overlap
  • Positioning issues
  • Contrast problems
  • Layout consistency

Template-Based Creation

Template Workflow:

  1. Extract Template: Analyze existing presentation
  2. Understand Layouts: Identify slide master elements
  3. Create Outline: Plan content for each slide
  4. Rearrange Slides: Use rearrange.py tool
  5. Extract Text: Get all text content
  6. Generate Replacements: Create new content
  7. Apply Changes: Use replace.py to update

Critical: Always preserve original template formatting and structure.

Editing Existing Presentations

Unpack-Edit-Pack Process

1. Unpack Presentation:

BASH
unzip presentation.pptx -d extracted/

2. Edit XML Files:

  • Locate slide files in ppt/slides/
  • Modify content in XML format
  • Preserve XML structure and namespaces

3. Validate Changes:

  • Test immediately after modifications
  • Check for errors before proceeding
  • Verify visual appearance

4. Repack:

BASH
cd extracted && zip -r ../modified.pptx *

Text Replacement While Preserving Formatting

Strategy:

  • Identify text runs in XML
  • Replace text content only
  • Keep all formatting properties
  • Maintain character styling

Example:

XML
<!-- Before -->
<a:t>Old Text</a:t>

<!-- After -->
<a:t>New Text</a:t>

<!-- Formatting properties remain unchanged -->

Quality Assurance

Validation Checklist

Visual Validation:

  • Generate thumbnail grid for all slides
  • Check text cutoff and overlap
  • Verify positioning accuracy
  • Confirm contrast and readability

Technical Validation:

  • Test file opens in PowerPoint
  • Check animations still work
  • Verify hyperlinks function
  • Confirm slide transitions

Content Validation:

  • All placeholder text replaced
  • Data accuracy verified
  • Consistent terminology
  • Proper citations included

Common Use Cases

Data-Driven Presentations

Scenario: Quarterly business review

  • Extract data from databases
  • Generate charts and visualizations
  • Apply consistent color palette
  • Create professional layouts
  • Automate slide generation

Marketing Decks

Scenario: Product launch presentation

  • Content-informed design approach
  • High-impact visuals
  • Consistent branding
  • Compelling narrative flow
  • Professional polish

Template Processing

Scenario: Monthly report automation

  • Use existing template
  • Replace data automatically
  • Update charts and graphs
  • Maintain company branding
  • Generate consistently

Technical Requirements

Dependencies:

  • markitdown: Markdown conversion
  • pptxgenjs: PowerPoint generation (Node.js)
  • playwright: Browser automation for conversion
  • react-icons: Icon library
  • sharp: Image processing
  • LibreOffice: Advanced operations
  • Poppler utilities: PDF/image conversion
  • defusedxml: Secure XML parsing (Python)

Best Practices

Design Principles

Content-Informed:

  • Choose design based on message
  • Match mood and tone
  • Consider audience
  • Maintain consistency

Visual Hierarchy:

  • Clear title prominence
  • Logical content flow
  • Appropriate emphasis
  • Guided eye movement

Technical Excellence

Validation:

  • Always generate thumbnails
  • Test in actual PowerPoint
  • Check on different screens
  • Verify animations

Preservation:

  • Maintain template integrity
  • Keep original formatting
  • Preserve relationships
  • Protect animations

Error Prevention

Common Pitfalls:

  • Stacking charts vertically with text
  • Inconsistent alignment
  • Poor contrast choices
  • Overcrowded slides
  • Missing validation step

Solutions:

  • Use recommended layouts
  • Apply design principles consistently
  • Validate visually always
  • Keep slides focused

About This Skill

This skill is an official Anthropic skill from the Anthropic Skills Repository. It represents best practices for PowerPoint automation in Claude Code.

Official Skills are maintained by Anthropic and provide production-ready, well-tested functionality for presentation workflows.

Official Anthropic skill for creating, editing, and analyzing PowerPoint presentations with design-first approach and professional layouts.